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Hey, everybody. I'm Connor that Doug, and this

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is the Bethel School district presents podcast, and

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we are talking food once again this week.

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We're gonna include our

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conversation with the fine folks at good roots

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northwest. But before that, we are going to

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talk about some of the food we just

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cannot stand. Last week, we talked best after

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school snacks. We got the good stuff out

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of the way. Now we're talking to the

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gross stuff, Duck. You first. What food really

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turns that tummy of york. That's a great

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turn of phrase. Before I get to my

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personal

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thoughts on this. And of course, you know

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I have to set up some ground rules.

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That's just the per. Way we do it.

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But last week, your go to after school

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snack, just to remind listeners and to turn

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their tum.

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Was dry ramen

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with the flavor packet just sprinkled over to

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ga, like chips, Will connor,

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breaking news from the world of top Bra,

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And they have a new flavor out, and

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I think we're gonna need to have you

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test this. That new flavor is not a

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savory 1. It's sweet. This is Moore's

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flavored

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top ramen,

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what says you as our resident top Robin

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Con.

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Well,

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I'm torn here because I am a top

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ramen lover, but I've only to this point

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had savory top ramen

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sweet top Ramen, I wouldn't even know where

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to begin with that. Is it soup? Is

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it sweet soup? Because if it is, I'm

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a say no. I'm gonna say hard pass

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on that 1. Yeah. I don't know how...

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I I don't know. Maybe we'll have to

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do a on mic taste test down the

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road. And if anyone out there, any of

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you good people wanna take 1 for the

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team and try the S top Ramen Please.

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Let us know how it was. Communications at

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beth dot 0RG.

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Absolutely. Please do. So back to the question

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of the day, least favor. Foods was how

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you posed it? Is this since last week

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was favorite after school snack Is this least

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favorite food is a kid. Least favorite food.

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Now, what what are the rules here? Let's

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say least favorite food all time. If that

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happened, when you were a kid, if you

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discovered it then,

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fantastic. If it happened last week, even better.

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Wow. Okay. This is tough because I had

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a lot of least favorite foods as a

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kid, but I don't know if I wanna

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bring them up and insult my mom who

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is a loyal,

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listener to the show. Hi mom. He's making

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gag noises right now. Was talking to. Thinking

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about some of

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Well, I've never been a fan of just

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of

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Sunday roast with the potatoes and the carrots

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where the carrots get mushy.

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I'd like the potatoes, the roast just it

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never it never hit me the right way.

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That said, I like beef stew. So there's

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some... I have some issues in there. I

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will say, and again, sorry, mom. My mom

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used to make stuffed

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peppers. This is where you take a green

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pepper, and you cut it in half for

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it, you know, maybe a little bit more

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than half you fill it with a ground

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beef,

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rice

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tomato sauce kinda mixture. And, the pepper gets

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soft and talking about it now, it sounds

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good, but as a kid, I hate it.

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Yeah. Well Doug mom, if you ever get

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sick of this.

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Mayor do well complaining about all your food.

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Please send it to me because those all

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sound fantastic.

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Alright. Well, how about you, Connor?

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Least favorite food of all time. Well, and,

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unfortunately, right after I yelled at you for

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yelling at your mom, I'm gonna have to

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do the same thing because this came when

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I was a child.

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And in our family, you didn't have to

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eat anything,

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but you did have to take what my

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mom called a no thank you bike. I

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do at least try everything. Even if you

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knew you hated it. The top of my

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list for most disgusting foods when I was

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a wee boy and, yeah Montana, I think

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we've mentioned that before. Just a couple times

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were asparagus. Couldn't

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stand them. Yeah.

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And something about the smell, the texture, everything

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rubbed me the wrong way, but my mom

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loved him, so she made them couple times

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a month at least, I had to take

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my no thank you bite.

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Now, generally, I would wash my no thank

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you bite down with whatever tasty beverage I

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had to my side.

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And 1 night that tasty beverage was a

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nice cool glass of milk. Oh, man. Took

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my note. Thank you by to a appease

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mom,

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washed that bad boy down with a chug

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of milk and

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gag reflex took over. Oh, no.

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Ralph.

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Ralph on the table, Doug.

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I think just using that term. Just spotlight

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what arrow we're in. And you're a young

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person out there listening to the show, you

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have to Google Ralph and see what that

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means. But we all knew. Yeah. In the

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eighties. And the big plot twist is now

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I absolutely love asparagus. Really? Make it all

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the time,

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grilled,

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bro

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fried.

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I I door.

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Serve it to me you everyone. Love asparagus.

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So I... It's weird how taste buds work

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Well, I will say Asparagus is still not

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in my top 10:15

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20

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hundred.

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I would eat it, but I wouldn't be

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super happy about it, but good for you.

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Excited about that. And that's 1 thing that

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the folks at good roots Northwest are doing

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right. They're not just handing out random food

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to folks that are in need of food,

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They are a different kind of food bank,

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and a really good time visiting them out

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there. Very whole foods, trader Joe's, vibe that

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they have going on there You get your

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shopping cart you pick which you want. What

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your family eats, so they're not buying

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asparagus by the can for the kids. Unless

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the kids really like that. So that's super

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cool. This week, we're gonna talk a little

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bit about another innovation that they have. And

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this is for families that can't get to

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the food bank, and they're now able to

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order food online and go pick it up

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at these lockers that are like Amazon lockers

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except. They've got 1 up on Amazon believe

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it or not the lockers are

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refrigerated. So super cool stuff going on out

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there and let's head back out to Buckle

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and continue our conversation.

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Well, we are back here at the market

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at Good roots

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Northwest. I'll have everybody at the table introduce

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themselves 1 more time. We'll start to my

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left with Scott Martin. Alright. Hey. Good to

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be back. Scott Martin. I'm the director of

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the Pierce County Skill center. I'm Stacy Ser,

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the Ceo of Good Roots Northwest. Hi. I'm

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Kelly Fremont. I'm the director of operations at

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Good roots. So last week, we ended talking

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about food insecurity, and I wanna get back

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to that conversation, but for folks that haven't

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listened to that episode yet. And are just

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catching up here. The market at Good Roots

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Northwest out here in Buckle is really a

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new

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idea when it comes to food banks or

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food.

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It feels like a high end food market,

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Parents have their kids in carts. They use

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membership cards to check out. Their smiling faces

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at a register from Volunteers, some of which

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are in the transition program and the Bethel

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School district. So that's fantastic. And, Scott, you're

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here because good roots Northwest sends food to

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the Pierce County Skill Center to be processed,

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package, recipe, if that's the right word, and

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then sent back here

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to be given out to families, and we

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saw some of that in the freezer, but

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Stacy, this week, I wanna talk about the

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thing that you made Amazon jealous about. Tell

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me about your food lockers. Thank you. That

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is the best lead in ever to that

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question.

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So our primary project that we used to

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be the most known for was our market

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style that looks like Trader Joe's and, you

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know, makes kids happy and our community feel

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valued, and we love that project.

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Our next

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adventure and innovation was

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really born from another customer experience that we

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reverse engineered from. So we were noticing

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that our customers that were coming here were,

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you know, so excited to be here and

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and to be shopping, but there was an

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entire group that

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during operating hours, we're just not able to

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make it here for a whole variety of

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reasons from

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mobility, from transportation issues from working 123

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jobs.

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Some of our patrons were also taking days

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off of work that they really couldn't afford

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to do, but... That trade off needed to

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happen so that they could provide basic needs

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to their families.

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So out of that, we started looking at

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this concept of, like, what would a food

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vending machine?

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Look like. And when you, you know, do

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the Google, there's actually quite a few options

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there that are really used in private business

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in grocery stores in, you know, hardware stores,

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lowe's, big box.

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Now why is it that convenience is only

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afforded

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if you can afford it. Mh. Our solution

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to this really big problem that has not

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been solved Nash and that we are continuing

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to throw a lot of money at is

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what if we had these satellite hubs in

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each of these rural

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underserved

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communities.

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And

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brought the food to them versus

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having an entire percentage of our

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customer base, try to figure out very complex

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ways to get to us. Right. So these

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lockers are these centralized hubs that are cellular

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enabled so they can operate with lack of,

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you know, Ethernet or Internet. We're able to

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put them on a... They're a very own

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isolated cellular channel.

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Our customers now that can't make it still

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have the dignity of choice. They can shop

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online and see

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thanks to Kelly in our operations. They can

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see anything that is in the market will

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hit our online site live. The moment it

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gets scanned to the system off of this

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we're, you know, our loading dock really isn't

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in a loading dock at the back porch

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on a farm. Right? But highly sophisticated technology.

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We are operating in the cloud.

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So right now there are 80 families in

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Pierce County that cannot make it to a

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traditional food bank and would not have another

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option. Yeah. And they are able to shop

269
00:09:45,792 --> 00:09:48,574
online. That order gets picked just like any

270
00:09:48,574 --> 00:09:50,403
kind of to go order, you see at,

271
00:09:50,482 --> 00:09:52,549
you know, Target Walmart, you see those carts

272
00:09:52,549 --> 00:09:53,288
with people

273
00:09:53,677 --> 00:09:56,221
operating, you know, picking orders, we have order

274
00:09:56,221 --> 00:09:56,539
picker.

275
00:09:57,652 --> 00:09:59,162
They get it ready to go in within

276
00:09:59,162 --> 00:10:02,125
36 to 48 hours, your order is waiting

277
00:10:02,125 --> 00:10:04,365
for you. You can shop in any language.

278
00:10:05,004 --> 00:10:06,285
You can pick what day of the week,

279
00:10:06,524 --> 00:10:09,097
what time and even what location is assist

280
00:10:09,097 --> 00:10:11,792
to you. So it's convenience afforded to all.

281
00:10:12,189 --> 00:10:14,092
Really, really awesome to hear all of that.

282
00:10:14,329 --> 00:10:15,994
1 of the things that people can order

283
00:10:15,994 --> 00:10:17,921
online is the food that's coming from the

284
00:10:18,081 --> 00:10:20,555
Pierce County Skill center students. And so, Scott,

285
00:10:20,795 --> 00:10:21,912
tell me a little bit about what the

286
00:10:21,912 --> 00:10:24,626
students get to experience in that... The whole

287
00:10:24,626 --> 00:10:26,636
process of of getting this food in and

288
00:10:26,636 --> 00:10:29,292
out of the skill center. Yeah. Absolutely. Our

289
00:10:29,431 --> 00:10:30,708
mission at the Pierce county skill centers is

290
00:10:30,708 --> 00:10:32,465
to prepare all of our students for high

291
00:10:32,465 --> 00:10:34,780
demand, high wage jobs and post secondary education.

292
00:10:35,355 --> 00:10:38,075
So everything that we do is aimed at

293
00:10:38,075 --> 00:10:41,355
increasing their skills at understanding how to move

294
00:10:41,355 --> 00:10:43,754
into industry and into their future lives successfully.

295
00:10:44,646 --> 00:10:47,271
And so what our culinary program is working

296
00:10:47,271 --> 00:10:49,339
to do is help these students with all

297
00:10:49,339 --> 00:10:53,036
levels of culinary experience. From baking to recipe

298
00:10:53,331 --> 00:10:55,240
preparation, front of house, back of house, all

299
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:56,989
the different ins and outs of that work.

300
00:10:57,546 --> 00:10:59,429
So the piece that becomes a real natural

301
00:11:00,107 --> 00:11:02,419
connection here as they're growing their culinary skills

302
00:11:02,419 --> 00:11:02,919
is

303
00:11:03,296 --> 00:11:06,085
we don't know what's coming tomorrow. We don't

304
00:11:06,085 --> 00:11:08,173
know what items are going to land. And

305
00:11:08,173 --> 00:11:11,227
so when they land, there's this very powerful

306
00:11:11,844 --> 00:11:14,398
educational moment where our chefs sit down and

307
00:11:14,398 --> 00:11:15,116
say, Okay?

308
00:11:15,929 --> 00:11:17,528
You're pulling together. Here's what you have in

309
00:11:17,528 --> 00:11:19,446
front of you here your options. What are

310
00:11:19,446 --> 00:11:21,364
you going to make. And so these students

311
00:11:21,364 --> 00:11:23,442
then are engaging in the whole process that

312
00:11:23,442 --> 00:11:25,575
they would in a culinary space to design

313
00:11:25,774 --> 00:11:26,274
culturally

314
00:11:26,973 --> 00:11:27,212
diverse,

315
00:11:27,852 --> 00:11:29,071
ingredient, diverse

316
00:11:29,769 --> 00:11:31,607
dishes that they can then send back for

317
00:11:31,607 --> 00:11:33,045
folks. I... 1 of the things I was

318
00:11:33,045 --> 00:11:35,367
gonna add that we haven't touched upon is

319
00:11:35,367 --> 00:11:38,541
that this partnership actually caused our culinary department

320
00:11:38,541 --> 00:11:39,017
to shift.

321
00:11:39,652 --> 00:11:42,292
Some of their curriculum pieces Each trimester, our

322
00:11:42,292 --> 00:11:45,166
students have a final project. Our planned final

323
00:11:45,166 --> 00:11:47,342
project for our latest third trimester

324
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,136
in the 23 24 school year was

325
00:11:50,448 --> 00:11:52,119
a dinner. They were going to do a

326
00:11:52,119 --> 00:11:54,187
mystery dinner and and and hosted at our

327
00:11:54,187 --> 00:11:56,971
place. And as this partnership with Good roots

328
00:11:56,971 --> 00:11:57,130
develop,

329
00:11:57,939 --> 00:11:59,764
we decided to back away from that plan.

330
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,701
And so what happened was, we gathered,

331
00:12:03,177 --> 00:12:06,289
from good roots, the information on what types

332
00:12:06,289 --> 00:12:08,606
of ingredients they regularly have at hand and

333
00:12:08,606 --> 00:12:11,403
what can pretty consistently be found here for

334
00:12:11,403 --> 00:12:13,800
people to shop, and our students took those

335
00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:14,540
and then

336
00:12:15,014 --> 00:12:18,204
went wild coming up with recipe ideas, concepts,

337
00:12:18,922 --> 00:12:20,836
part of the credit that they get because

338
00:12:20,836 --> 00:12:22,989
again, we're preparing students for these these high

339
00:12:22,989 --> 00:12:24,996
demand high wage jobs and post secondary location.

340
00:12:25,235 --> 00:12:26,980
So they have marketing work that they do.

341
00:12:27,376 --> 00:12:28,963
They have artwork work that they do. And

342
00:12:28,963 --> 00:12:30,708
they they receive high school credit in in

343
00:12:30,708 --> 00:12:31,342
all these areas.

344
00:12:31,913 --> 00:12:34,609
So our students then took all that information,

345
00:12:34,768 --> 00:12:37,543
and they created dishes. They took photos. They

346
00:12:37,543 --> 00:12:40,333
recipe. They tested the recipes out. They did

347
00:12:40,333 --> 00:12:42,314
the the descriptions and all of the pieces

348
00:12:42,314 --> 00:12:44,532
that go with and then submitted pages for

349
00:12:44,532 --> 00:12:46,855
a cookbook, which we have then put together

350
00:12:47,004 --> 00:12:48,672
so that families here, I believe they can

351
00:12:48,672 --> 00:12:50,523
get it in Pb form at this point,

352
00:12:50,817 --> 00:12:53,518
are able to have a cookbook that they

353
00:12:53,518 --> 00:12:56,327
know has high level culinary work that they

354
00:12:56,327 --> 00:12:58,005
can gather straight from here and take home

355
00:12:58,005 --> 00:12:58,165
and,

356
00:12:59,204 --> 00:13:01,121
hopefully they'll invite me to visit because it

357
00:13:01,121 --> 00:13:02,320
looks pretty good.

358
00:13:02,894 --> 00:13:04,495
I'd love to go over for dinner. That

359
00:13:04,495 --> 00:13:06,415
is incredible. I didn't know about the cookbook.

360
00:13:06,654 --> 00:13:09,075
You know what? We just feel so fortunate

361
00:13:09,134 --> 00:13:10,654
to be able to work with these creative

362
00:13:10,654 --> 00:13:13,466
students and see that they have this product

363
00:13:13,466 --> 00:13:15,061
that we know will benefit members of our

364
00:13:15,061 --> 00:13:15,460
community.

365
00:13:16,576 --> 00:13:17,554
We have also

366
00:13:18,330 --> 00:13:20,961
loved seeing and hearing from students in the

367
00:13:20,961 --> 00:13:21,461
program

368
00:13:21,774 --> 00:13:23,554
some of their own personal experiences

369
00:13:24,415 --> 00:13:25,535
coming to food banks.

370
00:13:26,174 --> 00:13:29,054
And the Cookbook included for each of the

371
00:13:29,054 --> 00:13:31,941
recipes a a brief narrative about why a

372
00:13:31,941 --> 00:13:35,447
student decided to create that that recipe or

373
00:13:35,447 --> 00:13:36,961
include that recipe in the cookbook.

374
00:13:37,693 --> 00:13:40,239
So in addition to, gosh, no, we could

375
00:13:40,239 --> 00:13:42,706
make this laundry list of things why this

376
00:13:42,706 --> 00:13:44,750
place is a special place to be

377
00:13:45,106 --> 00:13:47,406
not only does it provide a dignified experience

378
00:13:47,406 --> 00:13:49,968
for members of the community, It opens up

379
00:13:50,023 --> 00:13:53,131
access to food, the... You know, all days

380
00:13:53,131 --> 00:13:55,275
of the week, all hours of the day,

381
00:13:56,386 --> 00:13:59,641
where people can get fresh, healthy, locally sourced

382
00:13:59,641 --> 00:14:00,141
food

383
00:14:00,688 --> 00:14:03,734
Now you start bringing in the elements of

384
00:14:04,109 --> 00:14:07,848
students becoming career ready by participating in this

385
00:14:07,848 --> 00:14:09,041
culinary arts project,

386
00:14:09,612 --> 00:14:12,387
In addition to that, they are recognizing the

387
00:14:12,387 --> 00:14:13,997
value, the social value

388
00:14:14,607 --> 00:14:16,930
that is evident here

389
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,220
by participating in a system where we are

390
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,820
reducing food waste where we are

391
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:24,860
providing

392
00:14:25,399 --> 00:14:29,084
a much needed thing, food. Stacy mentioned before

393
00:14:29,084 --> 00:14:31,735
that some of the conversations that we have

394
00:14:31,873 --> 00:14:32,373
about

395
00:14:33,068 --> 00:14:35,958
making food accessible to our neighbors

396
00:14:36,509 --> 00:14:38,605
we wouldn't be having those same kind of

397
00:14:38,664 --> 00:14:40,978
conversations if we were talking about making oxygen

398
00:14:40,978 --> 00:14:42,835
or, you know, breathing

399
00:14:43,532 --> 00:14:45,705
accessible for our neighbors. We're talking about things

400
00:14:45,705 --> 00:14:48,264
that people need to live. So here, we

401
00:14:48,264 --> 00:14:49,004
have students

402
00:14:50,024 --> 00:14:51,164
involved in this

403
00:14:51,465 --> 00:14:54,914
social project that is also just another reason

404
00:14:54,914 --> 00:14:57,062
why. I'm so happy to be working here

405
00:14:57,062 --> 00:14:59,448
and partnering with Pierce county skill center and

406
00:14:59,448 --> 00:15:01,534
all their our other food partners. Well said,

407
00:15:01,695 --> 00:15:03,615
and there's a difference between giving people what

408
00:15:03,615 --> 00:15:06,414
they need to survive and taking at that

409
00:15:06,414 --> 00:15:08,034
next level and letting people choose

410
00:15:08,414 --> 00:15:09,134
what they need.

411
00:15:09,788 --> 00:15:11,300
To make their food and and feed their

412
00:15:11,300 --> 00:15:13,051
families. And and you all have some ingredients

413
00:15:13,051 --> 00:15:14,802
here. I wouldn't have expected, and we took

414
00:15:14,802 --> 00:15:17,350
a tour before we started our conversation of

415
00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:19,021
a greenhouse that's growing micro greens.

416
00:15:19,593 --> 00:15:23,271
Yes. We have several really spectacular food partners

417
00:15:23,566 --> 00:15:25,314
when you walk in and you see what

418
00:15:25,314 --> 00:15:27,238
this place is about, and you take a

419
00:15:27,238 --> 00:15:28,914
peek back to the very back wall where

420
00:15:28,914 --> 00:15:31,467
the produce cooler is, and it's full of

421
00:15:31,467 --> 00:15:34,910
this gorgeous produce. And some of that produce

422
00:15:34,910 --> 00:15:37,217
comes from food partners like whole foods. We

423
00:15:37,217 --> 00:15:40,023
got food from whole foods today. We also

424
00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,038
have food that we are fortunate enough be

425
00:15:43,038 --> 00:15:45,190
able to buy with money we received from

426
00:15:45,190 --> 00:15:45,588
grants.

427
00:15:46,146 --> 00:15:48,776
So we usually buy that food from farmers,

428
00:15:49,015 --> 00:15:51,923
local farmers here. I think we started in

429
00:15:52,063 --> 00:15:54,939
last week's episodes, Stacy mentioned about the money

430
00:15:54,939 --> 00:15:56,458
that we are able to contribute to the

431
00:15:56,458 --> 00:15:58,296
local economy by buying from farmers.

432
00:15:59,015 --> 00:16:01,260
So 1 of the farmers that we purchased

433
00:16:01,260 --> 00:16:03,409
from is, mom's micro greens,

434
00:16:04,125 --> 00:16:06,751
and mom's micro greens actually has their farm...

435
00:16:07,404 --> 00:16:10,459
On the same site as the good roots

436
00:16:10,517 --> 00:16:10,917
market,

437
00:16:11,396 --> 00:16:13,152
and we buy some of those from Pat,

438
00:16:13,312 --> 00:16:14,211
who's the farmer

439
00:16:14,589 --> 00:16:16,665
and make them available to customers each week.

440
00:16:17,079 --> 00:16:19,314
Our farmers is, you know, that's another story

441
00:16:19,314 --> 00:16:20,134
of healing

442
00:16:21,230 --> 00:16:23,385
the last mile and the food supply system.

443
00:16:23,545 --> 00:16:25,620
So farmers in our area in Pierce County.

444
00:16:26,114 --> 00:16:28,048
267

445
00:16:28,584 --> 00:16:30,257
small scale farms went out of business in

446
00:16:30,257 --> 00:16:32,032
the last 3 years. Wow,

447
00:16:32,409 --> 00:16:34,241
farmers would be food and insecure if they

448
00:16:34,241 --> 00:16:35,596
weren't in the growing food business.

449
00:16:36,406 --> 00:16:38,792
It's very difficult to produce food in an

450
00:16:38,792 --> 00:16:40,325
economy like ours and

451
00:16:40,859 --> 00:16:44,119
during times of inflation, locally produced food is

452
00:16:44,119 --> 00:16:46,598
very cost prohibitive. So while a farmer is

453
00:16:46,598 --> 00:16:47,552
giving, you know,

454
00:16:48,188 --> 00:16:50,516
blood sweat and tears to produce these crops

455
00:16:50,573 --> 00:16:52,878
and get them to market, they are doing

456
00:16:52,878 --> 00:16:53,378
so

457
00:16:53,688 --> 00:16:55,701
with the knowledge that there is

458
00:16:56,157 --> 00:16:59,102
a great percentage of their neighbors that will

459
00:16:59,102 --> 00:17:01,172
never have access to their food. Mh. Because

460
00:17:01,172 --> 00:17:04,464
of the price. Right. So, you know, the

461
00:17:04,464 --> 00:17:06,884
the healing of that is bringing that together

462
00:17:07,105 --> 00:17:08,244
that now

463
00:17:08,625 --> 00:17:11,347
everybody in the communities has access to food

464
00:17:11,347 --> 00:17:12,141
that's grown locally.

465
00:17:12,697 --> 00:17:13,014
Period.

466
00:17:13,729 --> 00:17:15,078
Like we change that narrative.

467
00:17:15,792 --> 00:17:17,562
And, you know, the farmers

468
00:17:17,935 --> 00:17:18,704
appreciation for that

469
00:17:19,462 --> 00:17:22,493
goes beyond just the monetary, which is providing

470
00:17:22,493 --> 00:17:24,349
them with, you know, this weekly

471
00:17:24,726 --> 00:17:27,039
s of money that we receive from the

472
00:17:27,199 --> 00:17:30,238
Washington Department of Agriculture to do so, it

473
00:17:30,238 --> 00:17:32,565
is also that knowledge

474
00:17:33,018 --> 00:17:36,298
that all people have access to this abundant

475
00:17:36,592 --> 00:17:38,021
nutrition that is here locally.

476
00:17:38,514 --> 00:17:39,253
And that's

477
00:17:40,110 --> 00:17:42,742
another food system story. Right. The market has

478
00:17:42,742 --> 00:17:43,961
become a stage

479
00:17:44,498 --> 00:17:45,615
for what could be.

480
00:17:46,507 --> 00:17:49,136
And I think in systems when you want

481
00:17:49,136 --> 00:17:51,926
to change a system and be innovative, there

482
00:17:51,926 --> 00:17:52,824
has to be

483
00:17:53,281 --> 00:17:54,885
a theater to it. I think you know

484
00:17:54,964 --> 00:17:56,893
Scott knows that there is a

485
00:17:57,426 --> 00:17:59,570
component of that where you are selling what

486
00:17:59,570 --> 00:18:02,447
could be. That's the true innovation. So for

487
00:18:02,447 --> 00:18:05,101
me as I hear about, you know, students,

488
00:18:05,718 --> 00:18:07,792
you know, participating in this healing of a

489
00:18:07,792 --> 00:18:08,431
food system,

490
00:18:09,163 --> 00:18:12,194
as a Ceo of an organization that is

491
00:18:12,194 --> 00:18:14,428
on the front line of innovation in in

492
00:18:14,428 --> 00:18:16,980
food system right now. It's extremely important to

493
00:18:16,980 --> 00:18:19,470
me that the future has our business. Plan

494
00:18:19,470 --> 00:18:22,109
and knows it very, very well. So our

495
00:18:22,109 --> 00:18:24,670
investment in here is yes, reciprocal and that

496
00:18:24,670 --> 00:18:28,117
we are able to, you know, bring food

497
00:18:28,117 --> 00:18:28,935
into the market,

498
00:18:29,547 --> 00:18:33,043
through this very unique supply chain opportunity here

499
00:18:33,043 --> 00:18:34,870
with the students in these 80 chefs that

500
00:18:34,870 --> 00:18:35,449
you have

501
00:18:35,838 --> 00:18:39,256
but it is also an investment in the

502
00:18:39,256 --> 00:18:41,641
future of this business model. And I think

503
00:18:41,641 --> 00:18:43,627
we learned when the students came for their

504
00:18:43,627 --> 00:18:46,183
end of year field trip appear, all of

505
00:18:46,183 --> 00:18:48,245
the chefs had some of the most elegant

506
00:18:48,245 --> 00:18:51,179
things to say about this operation than I've

507
00:18:51,179 --> 00:18:52,631
ever heard any stakeholder

508
00:18:53,179 --> 00:18:55,357
give to us from their own personal experiences,

509
00:18:55,976 --> 00:18:57,994
what they felt their investment

510
00:18:58,613 --> 00:18:59,113
meant

511
00:18:59,571 --> 00:19:02,138
and that it was even greater. Than than

512
00:19:02,138 --> 00:19:03,431
what they had originally

513
00:19:03,963 --> 00:19:06,105
assumed. They were all very shocked. They thought

514
00:19:06,105 --> 00:19:07,375
they said we thought this was gonna be

515
00:19:07,375 --> 00:19:09,455
a regular food pink but this isn't a

516
00:19:09,455 --> 00:19:10,171
food tank at all.

517
00:19:11,444 --> 00:19:12,876
I love that you mentioned that last week

518
00:19:12,876 --> 00:19:15,183
as well, that you don't want children to

519
00:19:15,183 --> 00:19:16,615
come in and know they've been to a

520
00:19:16,615 --> 00:19:18,301
food bank. It's just a This is the

521
00:19:18,301 --> 00:19:19,970
place where they shop for food. I I

522
00:19:19,970 --> 00:19:22,037
love that. You all are doing amazing things

523
00:19:22,037 --> 00:19:23,786
here. And as we wrap things up, I

524
00:19:23,786 --> 00:19:25,217
wanna talk about the future,

525
00:19:26,026 --> 00:19:28,167
Specifically of the culinary program at the Pierce

526
00:19:28,325 --> 00:19:31,180
County Skill center. I hear Pierce County has

527
00:19:31,180 --> 00:19:33,321
allocated some money way for this coming school

528
00:19:33,321 --> 00:19:35,728
year. Yeah. They've done a a ton of

529
00:19:35,728 --> 00:19:37,243
work, Stacy Kelly and the team have done

530
00:19:37,243 --> 00:19:39,158
a ton of work getting this information out.

531
00:19:39,556 --> 00:19:41,550
And, specifically, in this case, getting it in

532
00:19:41,550 --> 00:19:44,676
front of the Pierce County council. Who, looking

533
00:19:44,676 --> 00:19:46,351
at the food waste and the partnership that

534
00:19:46,351 --> 00:19:47,090
we've developed

535
00:19:47,547 --> 00:19:50,100
said, yeah. This this deserves to have some

536
00:19:50,100 --> 00:19:52,413
more funding thrown at it, and let's make

537
00:19:52,413 --> 00:19:54,343
this work. And so There were some money

538
00:19:54,662 --> 00:19:56,498
allocated in the in the upcoming budget.

539
00:19:57,376 --> 00:19:59,052
And so what that has allowed us to

540
00:19:59,052 --> 00:20:02,186
do is we have taken our program from,

541
00:20:02,978 --> 00:20:06,567
2 instructors and approximately 75 students a year

542
00:20:06,567 --> 00:20:08,322
will be at 3 instructors in the fall,

543
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,076
and we will be

544
00:20:10,714 --> 00:20:13,040
bumped up to about 90 students in the

545
00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,505
program each year. And then also, we'll be

546
00:20:15,505 --> 00:20:17,993
purchasing with the funds that that come directly

547
00:20:18,447 --> 00:20:21,268
from the county we'll be purchasing equipment, to

548
00:20:21,403 --> 00:20:23,547
produce things at an even higher rate with

549
00:20:23,547 --> 00:20:25,611
labeling and and things that that make it

550
00:20:25,611 --> 00:20:26,247
really exciting.

551
00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:28,525
Take just a second to say

552
00:20:28,882 --> 00:20:30,789
the new labeling and what a great idea

553
00:20:30,789 --> 00:20:32,695
comes with a Qr code that allows the

554
00:20:32,695 --> 00:20:34,999
customers here to give feedback on what they

555
00:20:34,999 --> 00:20:36,588
might like to eat next time and what

556
00:20:36,588 --> 00:20:38,273
they might like to add or change or

557
00:20:38,273 --> 00:20:40,103
adjust, which then gets put in front of

558
00:20:40,103 --> 00:20:42,490
the students who just like they would, at

559
00:20:42,490 --> 00:20:45,037
a high end Michelin star restaurant, say, oh,

560
00:20:45,196 --> 00:20:46,804
we're getting feedback from our accustomed and we

561
00:20:46,804 --> 00:20:47,924
have an idea of what we're gonna do.

562
00:20:48,085 --> 00:20:50,005
So the whole thing just continues to blossom

563
00:20:50,005 --> 00:20:52,325
them And I... I'm excited for the podcast.

564
00:20:52,565 --> 00:20:54,724
Let's see who hears it. And who else

565
00:20:54,724 --> 00:20:55,704
has another

566
00:20:56,098 --> 00:20:57,686
piece of the puzzle they can add because

567
00:20:57,924 --> 00:20:59,830
this is only getting better. I love that,

568
00:21:00,068 --> 00:21:00,704
Scott Martin,

569
00:21:01,259 --> 00:21:03,562
Stacy Ser, and Kelly Fremont. Thank you all

570
00:21:03,562 --> 00:21:05,247
so much for joining us if that person

571
00:21:05,247 --> 00:21:06,917
is listening and wants to step in and

572
00:21:06,917 --> 00:21:09,404
help or that family's listening and needs help

573
00:21:09,541 --> 00:21:11,211
where can they find you guys online? You

574
00:21:11,211 --> 00:21:13,778
can go to good roots dot org, and

575
00:21:14,169 --> 00:21:15,924
on our contacts page, you can get in,

576
00:21:16,163 --> 00:21:19,195
either there's somebody watching that pretty much all

577
00:21:19,195 --> 00:21:20,711
hours of the day and night and will

578
00:21:20,711 --> 00:21:21,110
respond back.

579
00:21:24,296 --> 00:21:26,697
Wow, another great interview Doug, What an awesome

580
00:21:27,069 --> 00:21:28,907
organization they've got going and so pool that

581
00:21:28,907 --> 00:21:31,054
they're able to get that new technology. Even

582
00:21:31,054 --> 00:21:33,281
beaten out Amazon. Can't say that often. Well,

583
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,348
thanks everyone for joining us. And remember if

584
00:21:35,348 --> 00:21:37,336
you like what you heard, take a moment

585
00:21:37,336 --> 00:21:41,003
to like comment share. 5 star reviews are

586
00:21:41,003 --> 00:21:41,479
appreciated.

587
00:21:41,876 --> 00:21:44,335
1 stars are tolerated. Absolutely. Leave us bad

588
00:21:44,335 --> 00:21:46,239
reviews. We will read them on the air

589
00:21:46,239 --> 00:21:48,228
for sure. And join us next week.

590
00:21:52,032 --> 00:21:52,156
Alright