24 May First week @ ReBel
I open my eyes early Tuesday morning to the loud sound of my alarm clock. It’s 8:30 am. I instantly thought to myself —
Time for Rebel Ventures.
I got to the Netter Center for Community Partnerships around 10:50 am, where Jarrett and I were scheduled to have a meeting. My mind was racing with questions.
“Will the other students he hired be there?”
“What are we going to do in this meeting?”
“I wonder what the office atmosphere will be like?”
Jarrett and I met for about an hour and a half. The meeting was very informal. He added me to his payroll, gave me access to the Google Drive, went over important folders and documents, and showed me how to edit the website. He gave me a to-do list of things I needed to complete.
I wanted to begin working on the to-do list as soon as possible. I was ready to jump in. I got as much as I could get done that day, besides the readings, before it was time to meet the crew at the kitchen.
Once I got to the kitchen, The Dorrance H. Hamilton Center for Culinary Enterprises, another set of questions ran through my mind.
“Does the crew even know I’m coming today?”
“Will they recognize me?”
“Will our interactions be as smooth as they were the first time I met them?”
When I walked in the door, they all said hi to me. They seemed to remember who I was. There were a few more minutes left before our actual start time. A few crew members still hadn’t shown up yet, as they were all still probably traveling from school, so I sat down to wait.
I immediately noticed that one of the crew members was eating a bag of chips. I immediately thought to myself how ironic that was. Here they were, a member of Rebel Ventures, a business designed to create healthy deliciousness as a product and culture, by promoting healthy eating, access to healthy food, and food education (Stein, The Venture Plan), yet that individual was eating something that embodied the complete opposite of all those values. I would never say that one should have to change their entire diet around to be a part of Rebel Ventures, but still. It relates to that age old saying of, practice what you preach, especially when you have taken an active role in your community to be an agent of change. But it’s not so easy…
Growing up in Philadelphia, grabbing snacks to and from school has become a deeply ingrained behavioral pattern (Cannuscio, Weiss, and Asch, 2010).The corner stores that provide these snacks are everywhere and usually do not carry healthier options. These snacks include chips, sodas, and candies.
On top of that, grocery stores that do have the ability to provide people and communities with healthy food and snack options are few in number in many disadvantaged neighborhoods (Cannuscio, Weiss, and Asch, 2010).
Even as an individual who has learned about healthy eating, I can see how actually eating healthy may not actually be possible for that crew member due to lack of access to better foods. I then thought about my own eating habits. I too am guilty of unhealthy eating. But realistically, who can say that they eat what would be considered healthy eating 100% of the time even if they had consistent, reliable access to healthy foods? Not a lot of people, and that’s just the society we live in. Our society as a very different view when it comes to food, eating, and nutrition. We have larger portion sizes, eat fast, snack often, favor shelf life over freshness of food, and consume more calories than needed (Rozin, 2005).
Once we began working in the kitchen, another crew member and I were in charge of making superfood and bar mix. It was an easy task that required a lot of work.
But knowing that kids would have healthier snacks to eat made it all worth it.
I thought of how lucky these high school students were to be engaging in an after school activity that focuses on introducing healthy snacks and foods into communities. How many people can say that they do something that truly makes a difference in the lives of others? Adolescents in working class and poor communities often do not get the chance to engage in supervised, organized extracurricular activities at all, usually either because of parenting styles and/or because these activities cost money that their families cannot afford to pay (Lareau, 2003). These young adults are not only participating in something that will help communities and further their own personal growth, but they are also getting paid to do so.
Wednesday went a lot smoother in the kitchen. It was a very productive day. Everyone worked hard and diligently. The mood was a lot lighter since the harder part of our work, bar production, was over. We listened to music, there was some dancing, and we talked about basketball. It was nice to start to see some of the crew members personalities come out even more.
Thursday was a very interesting day. It was my first time attending a Rebel Ventures crew meeting. We began the agenda by doing benchmark goals. Everyone agreed on what goals to set for next week. I think everyone agreed on modest goals. Next, everyone took turns giving their opinion on what they would do next week, like research and development, and how they would do this. After that, we listened to a speech that talked about standards for teamwork — communication, winning and losing together, and hard work. I think it was important for the crew members, all of us really, to think about what our own standards for teamwork are.
As we were listening to the speech, Jarrett set up samples of hummus, carrots, and spinach for everyone to try. The crew seemed to respond well to the samples and said positive things. I was glad that they found healthy eating enjoyable.
Our meeting only lasted about an hour. We had to head over to Houston Hall to attend the AUNI Senior Awards Banquet. Another set of questions popped up in my head.
“Who was going to be there?”
“What exactly was this event going to entail?”
“Will Rebel Ventures be getting some type of award?”
Once I got there, I felt kind of nervous to be in a room full of people that probably all know each other but have no idea who I am. But that soon dissipated.
The awards banquet gave me the opportunity to learn a lot more about AUNI and the other school groups involved. It felt like one big family. I enjoyed hearing about all of the positive things that the award recipients had done, the work that they had contributed to AUNI over the years, and what they planned to do after graduation. Two of our own crew members won well deserved awards. I have not known them long but in that short time they always exhibited a good work ethic, were knowledgeable, and very helpful to me during my first few times in the kitchen.
All in all, my first week with Rebel Ventures went very well. I became well acclimated with what they do in the kitchen and I learned a lot about their overarching organization, AUNI. I feel like I am already becoming a part of the team.
- Rozin, P. (2005). The Meaning of Food in Our Lives: A Cross-cultural Perspective on Eating and Well-Being. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 37, S107-S112.
- Cannuscio, C. C., Weiss, E. E., & Asch, D. A. (2010). The contribution of urban foodways to health disparities. Journal of Urban Health, 87(3), 381-393.
- Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life. University of California Press.
- Stein, J. The Venture Plan. NPLD 792.
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