A Los Angeles woman’s idea for a simple food giveaway is a staple of one South L.A. community. Adrienne Wilson’s cheerful face greets volunteers every Friday at Norman O. Houston Park in South Los Angeles.
“We collect gleaned produce from different agencies around Los Angeles and we bring it to South Central L.A. and we give it away. That’s free and it gives healthy and delicious food to people who need it the most,” Wilson said to Atlanta Black Star in a recent interview. “I did not think that this would become as big as it’s become now.”
“I’ve been working in the hospitality industry for about 12 years now, and I really wanted to learn how to grow my own food, but also teach people how to cook the food they were growing,” Wilson said. “So Feed Our Soul has a curriculum where we install hydroponic farms and gardens into schools, churches and community centers, and then we teach through educational workshops how to grow from that hydroponic garden as well as cook from it. So we also teach nutritional literacy, environmental science and food entrepreneurship.”