By Alexis Clark
NASHVILLE, TN (TSU News Service) – Ramona Crawford of Nashville, is a 1978 TSU graduate who told the University that she recently started making her own organic juices at home to live a healthier, nutritious lifestyle. Now, along with her juices, Crawford will be creating new and easy recipes after receiving free produce and observing food demonstrations during TSU’s SNAP-Ed program F.R.E.S.H. Fair community event.
“A lot of people, when they get older, they need to eat healthy nutrients to have a long life style,” Crawford said. “I came because I wanted to sample the vegetables and the pinto bean salad. I liked it, and I will try to make it at home myself.”
Crawford was one of more than 60 community goers who attended the first ever F.R.E.S.H. Fair to cultivate a healthier, more connected community.
On July 15, program host, vendors and volunteers arrived early to set up their abundance of produce, resources and cooking demonstrations. Tennessee State University dedicated the morning to continuing its commitment to fill the gap in its North Nashville community categorized as a grocery store desert. Hosted by the SNAP-Ed program, the event took place at Friendship Missionary Baptist church.
The event also brought awareness to the University’s efforts in fighting food insecurity and free available resources. Something that TSU senior, Zahria Austin, said she was grateful to be a part of. Austin, who is a family consumer science major, volunteered for the event.
“I assisted making food demonstrations and teaching everyone the importance of nutritional snacks they can make,” Austin said. “It was a great turn out and a lot of people tried different samples.” In addition to the recent event, Austin had been teaching nutritional classes to lower income residents and local homeless shelter residents.
“I wanted to spread the love and help out the community.”
One of the many demonstrations began with the art of making homemade hummus. A member of the SNAP-Ed program whipped together chickpeas, lemon juice, and an array of ingredients in a blender to show how easy the process is to make a quick snack with several health benefits.
Attendees learned quick and easy, healthy recipes that could be made without cooking and were then given a bag full of ingredients to make the recipes at home. From hummus, to black bean dip to hardy vegetable salad, participants said they enjoyed the samples and demonstrations.
TSU alumnus Reggie Marshall, a farmer from West Tennessee, support[1]ed the event as one of the five vendors.Marshall provided bell peppers, 15 varieties of herbs, freshly made lemon zucchini bread and mint tea. All the ingredients were picked right from his own farm, Reggie Veggie Farm in Antioch.
“I’ve been given so much in life and this is a small token of appreciation and gratitude,” Marshall said about attending his alma maters event. He noted that he wanted to educate the community on different herbs to elevate meals rather than just using salt and sugar. “Try something new,” he told the participants.
“We become creatures of habit. Nothing taste as good as healthy feels.”
The goal of the TSU SNAP-Ed community outreach program was to focus on good nutrition that could benefit the entire family, from households with children to seniors.
The Director of community outreach for TSU, Rita Fleming, said the event did just that. “Today was an opportunity to meet people where they are and give them an idea of what we do for nutrition education,” Fleming said.
“We made great connections today.”
ABOUT TSU F.R.E.S.H. Fair
The fair was presented through a collaborative effort by the University’s SNAP-Education and the Family Consumer Science Programs.
To learn more about the program, visit www.tnstate.edu/snap-ed/.
Here’s a list of the fair vendors:
• Dr. Arvazena Clardy (Associate Professor of Horticulture and Extension Specialist
TSU Community Garden)
• Mary B. Wakefield (TSU FCS Agent)
• The University of Tennessee College of Nursing
• Reggie Marshall (Reggie Veggie Farm)
• Health Hero Tennessee
