When she was first trying to build a life for herself and her daughter in New York City on a limited budget, Ashley Tyrner experienced firsthand how limited time, money, and access to farm-fresh produce can impact quality of life. To help solve this problem, she launched Farmbox Direct, a grocery service that delivers affordable, high-quality produce straight from farmers’ markets to customers, focusing primarily on people are who time-pressed or living in food deserts, where fresh fruits and vegetables are not readily available.
Here, she shares her story and what she’s learned about making healthy eating more approachable in day-to-day life and why access to nourishing food matters for your career.
Ashley Turner, Founder of Farmbox Direct
Jessica Cording: When you moved to NYC, you were a single mom juggling a new career and trying to feed your daughter healthy produce. What were some of the challenges you faced?
Ashley Tyrner: Being a single parent, in itself, is a challenge! Even in a city as large as New York, if you include the Bronx, there are 700,000 people that are classified as living in a food desert. I had a hard time finding great options for produce, but also getting produce home—I had a child to carry, my work bag [in addition to] trying to manage my grocery bags as well. Where I lived [it] was about fifteen minute walk to a market. This is a struggle many people face even out of NYC. It’s not just having the produce for sale, it’s also getting to the store that sells the produce.
[My daughter] has always been a plant eater, and I had a really hard time finding great produce even in a city as large as New York. I figured I was not the only person with this problem, [but until I began looking into it] I had no idea the food desert problem was as large as it really is all across the United States.
Cording: How does improved access to nourishing food help people get ahead in school or in their career?
Tyrner: If you stop and think about how you feel when you eat poorly, imagine this being your daily life...You have to feed your body, and that means beneficial things that serve a purpose, not just empty calories. Kids in school...need healthy food to allow them to be at their full potential. Kids are pushing their minds daily, learning new things [and] their bodies need to be properly nourished to support that development. The concept of “you are what you eat” holds true no matter what age you are.
">Having healthy food to fuel your work and academic performance can give you a huge leg up in your career. Unfortunately, socioeconomic barriers can make it harder to get access to those foods. Sure, it’s great that certain fruits and vegetables have powerful antioxidants to boost brain and body function, but if you’ve got limited access to affordable, fresh options, that information doesn’t do you much good.
When she was first trying to build a life for herself and her daughter in New York City on a limited budget, Ashley Tyrner experienced firsthand how limited time, money, and access to farm-fresh produce can impact quality of life. To help solve this problem, she launched Farmbox Direct, a grocery service that delivers affordable, high-quality produce straight from farmers’ markets to customers, focusing primarily on people are who time-pressed or living in food deserts, where fresh fruits and vegetables are not readily available.
Here, she shares her story and what she’s learned about making healthy eating more approachable in day-to-day life and why access to nourishing food matters for your career.
Ashley Turner, Founder of Farmbox Direct
Jessica Cording: When you moved to NYC, you were a single mom juggling a new career and trying to feed your daughter healthy produce. What were some of the challenges you faced?
Ashley Tyrner: Being a single parent, in itself, is a challenge! Even in a city as large as New York, if you include the Bronx, there are 700,000 people that are classified as living in a food desert. I had a hard time finding great options for produce, but also getting produce home—I had a child to carry, my work bag [in addition to] trying to manage my grocery bags as well. Where I lived [it] was about fifteen minute walk to a market. This is a struggle many people face even out of NYC. It’s not just having the produce for sale, it’s also getting to the store that sells the produce.
[My daughter] has always been a plant eater, and I had a really hard time finding great produce even in a city as large as New York. I figured I was not the only person with this problem, [but until I began looking into it] I had no idea the food desert problem was as large as it really is all across the United States.
Cording: How does improved access to nourishing food help people get ahead in school or in their career?
Tyrner: If you stop and think about how you feel when you eat poorly, imagine this being your daily life...You have to feed your body, and that means beneficial things that serve a purpose, not just empty calories. Kids in school...need healthy food to allow them to be at their full potential. Kids are pushing their minds daily, learning new things [and] their bodies need to be properly nourished to support that development. The concept of “you are what you eat” holds true no matter what age you are.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jesscording/2018/04/09/farmbox-directashley-tyrner/Bagikan Berita Ini
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