very early on that health is pretty
important when I was 14 years old my
grandmother took my siblings and I out
for a treat at one of our favorite
eating spots it was a steakhouse very
much it was a steakhouse
shortly thereafter she received a phone
call we’ve got to go she said it took
her about 45 minutes or so to get us
back home when she received a second
phone call
kaylynn he’s gone
and while a cold feeling came over me
and I had a million questions to ask but
look on her face explained to everything
my grandfather passed away he suffered a
massive heart attack and died in a route
to the hospital and the thing is I just
saw him two days prior and the day I saw
him he looks okay and I can remember
having a conversation with him telling
him how his belly had become really
really big and that maybe some of the
food that he was eating wasn’t the best
choice and he made a weird comment to me
saying ah raindrop don’t worry about me
I’m gonna die with my belly full you see
we’re from South Carolina we’re good
southern cooking is a part of every
family function almost everything is
fried and meat is usually the main event
and it doesn’t help either that most
people especially my family are known to
have the sugar no one should live their
life believing that type 2 diabetes is
normal but is where does that comment
was to me I could only hope that he got
his wish because on the day he died he
went to a local eating spot he ordered a
plate of wings and a pitcher of beer he
grabbed his chest and suffered cardiac
arrest in the worst way and he didn’t
even finish his food I later learned
that it was his diet that led
demise poor choice of food and years of
drinking alcohol put an insurmountable
amount of stress on his body and it
didn’t help that he was sedentary either
and I realized that at that moment I
needed to change and I said you know
it’s got to change with me I started on
my journey to seek and obtain optimal
health I played sports in high school
and college I even joined the Marine
Corps which by the way we have no choice
but to be an elite fighting machine
I became soli whole food plant-based and
I teach dance fitness and urban
agriculture to children in my community
I made it my mission at 14 to promote
health and wellness in my community by
teaching and educating about the power
of food but people would need access to
this food and it was clear to see for me
that our communities were changing but
not necessarily to our benefit the more
I saw liquor stores in fast-food places
show up the more I realized that people
in my family as well as my community
we’re getting sicker my community turned
into a food desert food deserts are
areas where residents can’t access
affordable healthy food options
especially fruits and vegetables or
restricted or non-existent due to
grocery stores not being within a
convenient traveling distance for
instance an estimated 750,000 New York
City residents live in food deserts
while another 3 million people live in
areas where grocery stores that sell
fresh produce are few or far away people
are dying
not necessarily because of lack of food
but from poor nutritional quality which
leads to an array of lifestyle diseases
like your type-2 diabetes your heart
disease and some cancers and the
scariest realization that I had was that
it’s affecting our children more and
more every day how are we expected to
survive as a people if we’re expected to
outlive our children
two of the best leadership principles
that I remember from my time as a Marine
are know yourself and seek
self-improvement and set the example
pretty straightforward right someone is
always watching you and there’s always
room for improvement and after many
years of service to my country I decided
to be a service within my community by
teaching health and wellness through
urban agriculture and plant-based living
with children on a sidenote children are
some of the most honest people you will
ever come across they are always there
to provide that raw honest feedback for
you no filter and I knew that in order
for me to set the example in my
community that I definitely needed that
feedback and that’s why I’ve worked with
children for over 18 years but in
working with these children I notice
them physically change and I notice
their food cafeterias were no longer
providing foods made from scratch but
more processed or microwaved meals
snacks that children were being given
were heavy and sugar or very greasy
sometimes both I mean if we don’t get
our health together today right now on
this life’s journey amidst this mess of
a food system then we may never live our
lives to the fullest and again I knew
something had to change I couldn’t
change the way children ate or exercised
overnight but if there was some way for
me to plant the seed all puns intended
then it would have a lasting effect
because I realized that in order to
change a child’s health potential we
needed to provide the tools and the
seeds in order to promote a healthier
future but before I get into that I want
to share a fun quotation from Steven
Ritz who by the way is from the South
Bronx and he planted the seed in
promoting greener classrooms he said I
grow vegetables but my vegetables grow
students lives opportunities and schools
so my question for you today is how does
the simple act of teaching a child to
plan
the seed lead to better health promote
stronger academic performance and lead
to more hopeful communities the health
is wealth project is doing just that we
took the power of aeroponic gardening
applied a curriculum and delved into
teaching our children about urban
agriculture and how to economically
sustain themselves children need to see
it in order to be it and when we teach
children about nature we teach them to
nurture and take better care of
themselves in food desert communities
circumstances don’t have to be permanent
and we must stop placing the blame on
poverty our children from those
communities can rise to higher
expectations however we are the ones
that have to have those expectations no
child or anyone for that matter rises to
lowered expectations and the health as
well that’s why we have the health is
wealth project to afford this
opportunity to children in these areas
to grow their own food to harvest it and
maybe even sell it like having a farmers
market or a co-op within their community
and now we’re touching on the spirit of
entrepreneurship the health is wealth
project is affordable and replicable and
I know what you may be thinking well how
do I bring this health is wealth project
to my community how do I get aeroponic
Gardens in my school here’s how we can
be the change currently I work with five
public schools in Newport News Virginia
using aeroponic gardens and I have to
say having these gardens in the
classroom have been a game-changer
aeroponic garden may be the most cost
effective space saving and certainly
most replica boy to bring gardening into
your classrooms our school district
allocated funding through grants to help
us launch this project or our students
we keep our gardens indoors with row
lights to grow our food all year round
however you could grow your gardens
indoors or outdoors depending
location and the weather its even
building building their gardens here we
also have our gardens on a dolly so I’m
able to move our gardens around with our
students wherever they are and learning
can take place and we also realize that
we can grow more in less time with fewer
resources using these aeroponic gardens
and because it uses aeroponic technology
which compared to soil gardening we’ve
increased our yields by 30% and tripling
our speed of the plant growth own while
only using 10% of water and space our
children get to build their gardens in
this program they plant their seeds they
watch their seedlings grow and they reap
the harvest I believe that food and
farming may be the recipe to help us fix
this problem in food deserts because
think about it if you want to talk about
health care and definitely take a look
at food and farming if you want to
combat the idea of hunger and poverty
take a look at food and farming if you
want to reduce waste respond to climate
change make resources more equitable
look at food and farming but here’s the
kicker if you really want to protect our
future have children engaged in hands-on
learning activities in school that
involve food and farming I’ve witnessed
how these aeroponic Gardens have
transformed and using these Gardens as a
tool to teach children a new way of
thinking about their health and we’re
teaching wellness at the same time and
as educators we also realize that if a
child grows kale and understands the
process and health benefits guess what
they’re more than likely to eat the kale
it’s a win-win situation and this
program brings an opportunity full
circle we are changing the way our
children view their communities by
turning our food deserts into food
owaisi’s I have to admit that there is
no greater honor or privilege than
giving someone the tools needed to live
a healthier lifestyle so today I say to
you
gears in our future and here’s to health as well thank you very much