I’ve got my first week in the bag and i’m almost through with the second one. This week went by a lot faster than the last one, and I had much more to do than I did last week, more places to be and people to see. My first full week in Detroit actually wasn’t so bad and I wasn’t clueless at my placement. FoodLab Detroit is turning out to be all the learning I needed for this summer because day in and day out, I keep getting more and more “food-literate”.
Working at FoodLab is really nice for several reasons. Working with a group that is all about food justice and food sovereignty in order to increase affordable and healthy food access and eventually raise health outcomes of the community appeals to my interest in public health, but more amazing and unique is the fact that FoodLab is fueled by member business that are part of the community that they want to serve. So basically, FoodLab is a community of businesses and partners that work to grow the “good food” business in Detroit by doing things like connecting small businesses to the resources they need such as local farmers and growers, or promoting them by providing pop-up opportunities for businesses that aren’t yet “brick and mortar” restaurants, mentoring the members, and educating them on how they can become more sustainable.
My summer research project is to create a guide for planning a green event from beginning to end. I look forward to getting started on this project and and also to the things I’ll learn about green events. I actually want to implement those steps whenever I or someone I know plan any kind of event. Aside from this, I am currently working on The Dream Cafe, which is a pop up that will be taking over Cass Cafe and allow some of the chefs that are FoodLab members to showcase their culinary expertise to the community by cooking delicious dishes with sustainable practices that promote all the local food businesses involved in the process.
