Latest / Look Who's Talking / Kristin Hughes - Food Chain
Transcript
- 0:08You are listening to Look Who's Talking. I am
- 0:13Cameron Minter. I am your co -host and the wonderful
- 0:17Laura Sheffield is our guest host. Hey y 'all.
- 0:21What's up? What's up? much cam what's up with
- 0:25you slow motion I cannot call it I cannot call
- 0:28it but I am so glad to see you I saw that Laura
- 0:32was coming today and I was like oh she's cooking
- 0:34but she's not not today unfortunately oh yeah
- 0:40Laura Laura what do you do at community action
- 0:43let everybody know so I'm actually the associate
- 0:45director of child development under Jessica and
- 0:49I am health, safety, and nutrition lead for the
- 0:52agency. So I oversee all the safety compliance,
- 0:55all the health requirements that we're asking
- 0:57for, and the nutrition services. Food, food,
- 1:00food. Laura used to do a cooking show that I,
- 1:07you know, I work in the studio. And if there
- 1:11was any show that I really, really look forward
- 1:14to, it was the cooking show. Because you know
- 1:17what? There is not a live audience here when
- 1:21she's cooking. So guess what? We got to eat all
- 1:24the vegetables. All of it. All leftovers. Except
- 1:27Pam wasn't a huge fan of the tuna. Yeah. No,
- 1:30no, no. And I had to have some meat. She come
- 1:34in here cooking vegetables only. I'm like, what
- 1:37am I supposed to do with this? Healthy eating.
- 1:40Healthy eating. Yeah. Healthy, healthy, healthy.
- 1:43Yeah. She's healthy. But, yeah, it's great to
- 1:47have you on the show as you're sitting in for
- 1:49Jessica. And, yeah, so what's been going on with
- 1:54you? Oh, you know, Cam, I have a five - and eight
- 1:57-year -old, so not much besides caring for them.
- 2:00Hey, tell the audience what you said when I asked
- 2:03you what you do for fun. Okay, so he said, okay,
- 2:05Laura, what do you do for fun? I said, absolutely
- 2:08nothing. I have kids. It's so sad, but so true.
- 2:13So true. So true. I understand it completely.
- 2:15My daughter has, what is he? He's about 19, 20
- 2:22months now, and an 11 -year -old. And while they
- 2:26were staying with us, there was never a dull
- 2:30moment. Oh, no, never. And you never know what's
- 2:33coming out of their mouths either. You never
- 2:34know what's going to happen. You can plan your
- 2:38day. You can. But those little rascals, they
- 2:42will change the day in a second. I promise you,
- 2:46you know, now I'm bringing my grandson to the
- 2:50center. And so I was waiting on my daughter to
- 2:53come drop him off. And I was waiting. I was waiting.
- 2:56And then she comes busting through the door with
- 2:58vomit on one hand. Her daughter's sick. She's
- 3:01trying to hold the baby. And I was like, my.
- 3:04God, I'm so glad I'm not you. Okay. Exactly.
- 3:10Oh, yeah, it's just good times, good times. But,
- 3:13you know, we just celebrated Easter or, what
- 3:18is it, Resurrection Sunday, and we had a good
- 3:21time. Really, really busy, busy weekend. And
- 3:27as a pastor, you can imagine, but. I don't think
- 3:31you can. It was super, super duper busy. But
- 3:34it was really good, and we finally had some good
- 3:37weather. Yes, it was so nice. Perfect for family
- 3:41get -togethers, Easter egg hunts. What did you
- 3:44all do? We did some Easter egg hunts and some
- 3:46family get -togethers. It's been a lot of time
- 3:49outside. Oh, did you cook? I didn't have to.
- 3:52My mom did. See, there it is. There it is. That's
- 3:54the good thing right there. Yeah, so we have
- 3:57to celebrate on Saturday, actually, because our
- 4:02church lets out probably around 4 or 5, and no
- 4:06one wants to come in and start cooking then,
- 4:09so Saturday it is. But I think God has the greatest
- 4:13sense of humor because on Easter, you know, you
- 4:15get your new frocks and your new... Clothes and
- 4:18everything. And most Easter's is raining or snowing.
- 4:22It's like, oh yeah, bring that spring outfit
- 4:25if you want to. Oh man, but it's good to have
- 4:30you here. I just wonder, do you have a Coffie
- 4:37Break? I sure do. We played the intro music.
- 4:45I don't know why yet. We're going to put an intro
- 4:47visual to go along with this, but we'll wait
- 4:52till the beat drops. The future belongs to those
- 5:01who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Wow.
- 5:05And that is Eleanor Roosevelt. Wow. The future
- 5:08belongs to those who believe in the beauty of
- 5:11their dreams. You got to believe it to live it.
- 5:13Oh, wow. That's a good one. That's a good one.
- 5:17Yeah. Yeah, that speaks power. You know, you
- 5:20got to believe it. You got to believe it. You
- 5:22got to. And, you know, what's not said there
- 5:25is you got to dream. You've got to dream. How
- 5:28many people have stopped dreaming? How many people
- 5:32have just given up and said, oh, that's life.
- 5:35This is what I got. The beauty of your future,
- 5:39right? Yes. The future belongs to those who believe
- 5:44in the beauty of their dreams. Wow. That's powerful.
- 5:47That is powerful. So, yeah, we got a dream and
- 5:51we got to look forward. That's right. Always
- 5:54looking forward. Want to do better. That's it.
- 5:56That's it. Okay. All right. All right. I like
- 5:59it. I like it. You like it. I love it. All right.
- 6:03We have a powerful show today. We have a great
- 6:08partner. along with us today. So will you do
- 6:13us the honors of telling us what the show is
- 6:15about and who our guest is? Oh, I would love
- 6:18to. So today we have Kristen Hughes. She is the...
- 6:23co -executive director for food chain she started
- 6:27in food chain as 2019 as the director of education
- 6:30and outreach and she works um with partners and
- 6:35organizations and does a lot with the farm to
- 6:37school programs um and she chairs the fayette
- 6:40county farm to school coalition okay well welcome
- 6:46Thank you for coming and being on the show. How
- 6:48are you? Yeah, I am great. I'm so excited to
- 6:51be here. I've known Laura for years, so it's
- 6:55really great to continue kind of our conversations
- 6:57in person. All right. We're so happy to have
- 6:59you. We're going to get some dirt today, right?
- 7:03So, Kristen, can you just tell us a little bit
- 7:06about Food Chain? Absolutely. So Food Chain is
- 7:09a nonprofit here in Lexington, Kentucky. So we're
- 7:12located downtown. We're in what was the old Rainbow
- 7:16Bread Factory. And we really like to talk about
- 7:19the place really being what sparked the idea
- 7:22of Food Chain. So we do a lot of work across
- 7:26the food system, teaching people where their
- 7:28food comes from, how to grow food, how to process
- 7:31it, how to access it. So our mission is to forge
- 7:34links between community and fresh food. And we
- 7:37do that through education and demonstration of
- 7:40sustainable food systems. I think it's so important
- 7:43right now to be able to grow your food. Absolutely.
- 7:51And be able to have your own source of food.
- 7:55Yes. Because things are just so expensive. crazy
- 7:59right now. I think it's important that we all
- 8:02learn how to get in that dirt. Yes, or water.
- 8:06Oh, that's right, that's right. Tell us about
- 8:10that. Absolutely. So we opened Kentucky's first
- 8:14indoor aquaponics farm in 2013. This was kind
- 8:18of the whole founding of Food Chain, was looking
- 8:21at this form of sustainable agriculture that
- 8:24could be done in an urban setting, that can be
- 8:26done in an underutilized space, an abandoned
- 8:28building. Where we are was closed in the 1980s
- 8:31and then sat empty for 20 years. and just created
- 8:35a lot of kind of, there wasn't access to food
- 8:40in the neighborhood, and this exasperated that
- 8:43by not having the bread factory open. And so
- 8:46when we came in, we took two years to really
- 8:49design and build this aquaponics farm where we
- 8:53grow tilapia, we grow lettuce, we grow herbs,
- 8:56anything leafy, all in an interconnected system
- 8:59where we're using the same water. to grow all
- 9:02of them so the the fish are providing the fertilizer
- 9:05for the plants the plants are absorbing those
- 9:08nutrients and cleaning the water and then the
- 9:10water gets pumped right back up to where the
- 9:12fish are and that's it's an amazing uh thing
- 9:17is and we've been talking about being in the
- 9:19studio here like it's vegas because there's no
- 9:22light but one tell us about how you're growing
- 9:27in the dark because it's a dark there's no windows
- 9:30that i can remember there are no windows so where
- 9:33our farm is located in this building is actually
- 9:36what was the old oven room of the bread factory
- 9:39so that is great when you think about agriculture
- 9:42you do want warmth you want insulation you want
- 9:45heat so it holds heat really well which is great
- 9:48for plants it's great for the fish we don't need
- 9:50to put like heaters in there but we are using
- 9:53just led grow lights in the system that are on
- 9:57on a timer so that it is providing what light
- 10:00is needed for those plants to grow. And it's
- 10:03just, it is this little like slice of heaven
- 10:06every time you walk in there, because especially
- 10:08in the winter when it's cold outside, it's dark
- 10:11outside. You go, hey, just come on. Let's walk
- 10:13through these doors. You won't even know what's
- 10:15in here. And then it's like, bam, here is this.
- 10:18It's very, very cool to see. Very cool. Yes.
- 10:21And the, I mean, when I went, there were. I'm
- 10:27going to say it wrong, but I think they were
- 10:29shrimp. Yes. So we do have a marine shrimp system.
- 10:34Currently, we harvested all of the shrimp a couple
- 10:37of months ago, and we haven't received any new
- 10:39little shrimplets, the tiny little shrimp that
- 10:42we get when they start out and then we grow them
- 10:45to size. But we do have, and it is marine shrimp,
- 10:48so it's a saltwater system. It's not hooked up
- 10:50to our main system because our main system is
- 10:52freshwater. You can't mix those two things. have
- 10:56a grow bed that is hooked up to the shrimp system
- 10:58and so we are able we mainly focus on um salicornia
- 11:02and sea purslane which are two kind of native
- 11:06to any salt water location uh plants that grow
- 11:10really really well in that system and so we're
- 11:12doing aquaponics with salt water as well as fresh
- 11:15water wow that is awesome that is awesome yeah
- 11:18so with with food chain um I mean, the system
- 11:23that you all have is fantastic, but the goal
- 11:26is actually producing food. The goal is it's
- 11:30more education than necessarily producing food.
- 11:33We recognize that with the size of our farm,
- 11:35we can't kind of solve any food insecurity, but
- 11:38we can inspire others and we can teach others.
- 11:41So we always talk about our farm as an educational
- 11:44tool. We do tours of the farm. You all came out
- 11:47and filmed something that we were able to share
- 11:49with all of the Head Start centers so that they
- 11:51could see up close and personal what it means
- 11:54to run an aquaponics farm, what that looks like.
- 11:58then we do work with a lot of classrooms to install
- 12:01mini systems to really get kids excited so we
- 12:03also do this with the head start programs we
- 12:05had this 10 gallon system with some goldfish
- 12:08and some plants and we have all of these different
- 12:12types our newest kind of system for classrooms
- 12:15is a vertical system so it goes high we're using
- 12:18pvc in it so pumping the water through the fish
- 12:21are going to be in the bottom in the aquarium
- 12:23the plants are in the pvc just as a way to connect
- 12:27people to like alternative growing systems things
- 12:30that you can do inside things that really are
- 12:32showing that sustainability but then also introducing
- 12:36the opportunity for these lessons about what
- 12:39is an ecosystem what are living things what do
- 12:41plants need to grow and just being able to to
- 12:45provide that information And then some of the
- 12:48other things that we do, because we don't just
- 12:49have a farm, we also have a kitchen. And so we
- 12:53are producing a lot of meals through our kitchen,
- 12:57but we're also doing a lot of processing. So
- 12:59thinking about the seasonality of fruits and
- 13:01vegetables, purchasing when it's like high peak
- 13:04season, processing, freezing, dehydrating, freeze
- 13:08drying these, making these products available
- 13:11when it's not tomato season. You know, we can
- 13:15go to the freezer and pull out some frozen tomatoes.
- 13:16tomatoes and still make something with Kentucky
- 13:18grown produce. That's awesome. So we did that
- 13:22filming during the peak of COVID. Yes. Yes. And
- 13:27I think it was like an opportunity for the Head
- 13:31Start students because we were so enclosed that,
- 13:35you know, let's take a field trip, a virtual
- 13:38field trip to Food Chain. It was such a learning
- 13:41experience. So you also said that you all make
- 13:44meals. Yes. Who? are you making meals for? Yeah.
- 13:50So we have a lot of different opportunities with
- 13:53meals. Um, we do community free community meals
- 13:56every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from four
- 13:59to 6 PM for anyone in the community. Um, so Mondays
- 14:02and Wednesdays we do hot meals Fridays. We are
- 14:05doing grocery boxes, um, with Kentucky products,
- 14:09um, and then doing some like ready to eat things
- 14:13along with that. Currently we have some funding
- 14:15from the Kentucky department of agriculture.
- 14:18for the LFPA program, which allows us to build
- 14:20boxes and do frozen meals, utilizing all Kentucky
- 14:25grown produce. And then we are also a CACFP sponsor.
- 14:31We are an SFSP sponsor. So really doing a lot
- 14:34of meals for youth and child care programs as
- 14:38well. Well, all right. We're going to take a
- 14:40quick commercial break. And when we come back,
- 14:42we're going to dig in a little bit deeper with
- 14:45Food Chain. You are listening to Look Who's Talking.
- 15:03This past year has highlighted the strength of
- 15:05Community Action Council. Every day, our staff
- 15:08works together to help families recover from
- 15:11this crisis. We're educating children at home
- 15:14and in person, helping parents who lost their
- 15:16jobs, and helping households avoid eviction.
- 15:19Our work at Community Action Council has never
- 15:21been more important than it is right now. So
- 15:24why not join us? We have employment opportunities
- 15:26requiring a range of skills from entry level
- 15:29to advanced. Apply online at... C -O -M -M -Action
- 15:33.org. Community Action Council's Head Start programs
- 15:37are now enrolling for the 24 -25 school year
- 15:39in 15 counties, including Lexington. Head Start
- 15:42offers high -quality early childhood education
- 15:45for qualifying families with children between
- 15:47the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years old. Spaces are
- 15:50limited and filling up quickly. So, to help ensure
- 15:52your child receives the Head Start advantage
- 15:54this year, start your application today by calling
- 15:57859 -233 -4600 or go online at ComAction. That's
- 16:04commaction .org. And we're here with Kristen
- 16:38Hughes of Food Chain. We're going to get right
- 16:40back into it. And Kristen, food literacy is something
- 16:44of importance in educating parents. Oh my gosh,
- 16:46yes. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
- 16:48Absolutely. So a lot of our education programs
- 16:53at Food Chain really center around food literacy.
- 16:56So we talked a little bit about like we have
- 16:58our aquaponics farm that is really showcasing.
- 17:01where your food comes from, how it grows. We
- 17:04have our processing kitchen where we're seeing
- 17:06meals made, tasting meals that are made, looking
- 17:09and being able to kind of touch ingredients and
- 17:13process them. But one of the things that we really
- 17:15focus on, especially with youth, is like how
- 17:18do we increase their food literacy? So I'm going
- 17:21to put you guys on the spot really quickly. Uh
- 17:23-oh. Yes, this is something I love to do with
- 17:26my kids. I'm ready to fail. Let's go. First question.
- 17:30How many different grocery stores or places to
- 17:33buy food can you name? And you can just name
- 17:36them. Kroger, Walmart, Aldi's. Oh, you're going
- 17:40to show out now. Save a lot. You're not going
- 17:43to give me a chance to say a word. Come on, you
- 17:45got to join in, Cam. You took all the good ones.
- 17:50Target. Buy food at Target. I guess so. They
- 17:55have little groceries. Dollar Generals. Yeah.
- 17:58Okay. Okay. So that was quick. We got a lot.
- 18:02All right. Here's the hard part. How many Kentucky
- 18:06farms or farmers can you name? Lost Acres Farm.
- 18:11Black Soil. Good. Stepping Stone Farm. Oh, yeah.
- 18:16And we're done. You guys did a lot better than
- 18:20a lot of my classes. So one of the things that
- 18:24we really focus on at Food Chain is, like, locally
- 18:28grown produce and in -season produce. And it's
- 18:33especially important because, like, you could
- 18:34rattle off all of those grocery stores no problem.
- 18:37You guys came up with some farms. Great. It shows
- 18:40that you have some partnerships with a lot of
- 18:42great ones where you're getting stuff. don't
- 18:46recognize or don't know like who their farmers
- 18:49are, right? You're going to Kroger and you're
- 18:51buying that food, but Kroger's not growing it.
- 18:53But Kroger is the household name. So we're really
- 18:55trying to kind of change that story and make
- 18:59it so that we're uplifting the farmers. We're
- 19:01naming the farmers. We're showing their faces.
- 19:03This is who is out there, rain or shine, in flooding,
- 19:07in tornadoes, you know, like making sure that
- 19:10they are putting food on the table for everyone.
- 19:14And so that's really, really important. So one
- 19:17of the things that we do is we, you know, uplift
- 19:19our farmers. We bring local produce when we're
- 19:22doing taste tests, when we are doing our meals,
- 19:25when we're doing cooking classes with kids. And
- 19:28we're really highlighting that. But one of the
- 19:30other things that we do is we really encourage
- 19:33like exploration of personal food preferences.
- 19:37So you all like what you like. I like what I
- 19:41like. There's maybe some food items we all don't
- 19:44like, but it's probably different and nobody
- 19:47is wrong, right? You are allowed to not like
- 19:49something. You're allowed to like something.
- 19:51And we really do encourage this in kids. But
- 19:54we also want to introduce those opportunities
- 19:57for more food curiosity. So the way that you
- 20:02can, some of the ways you can kind of increase
- 20:04food literacy and especially thinking about a
- 20:07parent working with a kid who might be picky,
- 20:10who might have very strong personal food preferences.
- 20:14Some of the things we suggest are letting kids
- 20:16eat with their hands. Then it becomes a whole
- 20:19sensory experience and they're more likely to
- 20:23touch. look and feel and taste and smell things
- 20:26we encourage taking two bites of something not
- 20:30just one bite because the first bite a lot of
- 20:32times is your mouth and your taste buds getting
- 20:35used to that flavor and it might be shocking
- 20:38the second bite is finally when like oh you can
- 20:41now actually taste this and you can see that
- 20:45maybe this is a flavor you like we also do a
- 20:48lot of like introducing vocabulary so that we
- 20:51can talk about food in a positive way so instead
- 20:54of saying ew yuck gross disgusting you know I
- 20:59don't like this because the texture is chewy
- 21:01I don't like this because it's too salty but
- 21:04also kind of asking youth and thinking about
- 21:08you know what would help you to like this or
- 21:11is there something you can change to like this
- 21:13so that's a lot of what we do and just really
- 21:17encourage like parents to not get frustrated
- 21:21you definitely have to keep trying to get kids
- 21:25to try new things and sometimes it's actually
- 21:27easier coming from somebody else instead of the
- 21:30parent for like getting i mean it research shows
- 21:33as a registered dietitian research shows that
- 21:35you have to have a try of 10 to 15 times yes
- 21:38before you truly know if you like or not like
- 21:41something absolutely now you just said something
- 21:43that got me thinking You just said food literacy,
- 21:47and I believe you're focusing on children. What
- 21:51about adults? Yeah, the same goes for adults.
- 21:54Because I know a lot of adults who have gotten
- 21:59their food group, and that is it. They are not
- 22:02willing to experience or experiment. with anything
- 22:07else yes so one of the ways that we encourage
- 22:11this at food chain we do monthly community cooking
- 22:16classes open to anyone in the community it is
- 22:19the let me remember the third saturday of every
- 22:22month they are invited to come to food chain
- 22:24cook with us make something so a lot of times
- 22:28our classes will focus on a specific ingredient
- 22:31or a food type to really expose Adults and children
- 22:37if children come we've had more adults come to
- 22:39these classes But an example is one of the classes
- 22:42we did was about eggplant if you hand somebody
- 22:45eggplant who's never seen an eggplant has never
- 22:48tasted an eggplant the likelihood is that they
- 22:51are not going to do anything with it but if you
- 22:54invite them in and you provide that education
- 22:57along with that access and you say hey come and
- 22:59learn how you know to make an eggplant not taste
- 23:02so bitter come and learn like these different
- 23:03ways to prepare it you are more likely to try
- 23:06it and we've seen a lot of success that way i
- 23:09think fruit is another example like Chick -fil
- 23:15-A has a dragon fruit drink. Have I ever had
- 23:20dragon fruit? No. But do I like the drink? Yes.
- 23:25So I don't know. It's just, to me, food and different
- 23:32experiences enlighten me. Yes. At my age, I can
- 23:38still learn something new. I can still experience
- 23:41something new. And it's almost a travesty if
- 23:46you decide that you're not going to learn anything
- 23:48new. Absolutely. Even with food. Absolutely.
- 23:52There's so many different things that I've never
- 23:56tried, you know. And, you know, even this is
- 24:00off key. But even like with Chinese food, I don't
- 24:04know. what to order if i go to uh to order but
- 24:10i eat the buffet so i'm not really you know learning
- 24:15you know what i'm saying i'm just you know so
- 24:17yeah and one of the things that we also encourage
- 24:20is like find ways to try one new thing a month
- 24:23keep a food journal write down what what it was
- 24:26that you ate and how it tasted is it something
- 24:30you would order again um one of the things that
- 24:32i try to do is when going to new restaurants
- 24:34or even restaurants that i really like i usually
- 24:37order the same thing but i push myself right
- 24:39let me try something different and let me write
- 24:42down what it was and if this is something i would
- 24:44order again um but especially with like Kids
- 24:48that are in the Head Start program, encouraging
- 24:51families to like go to the grocery store or even
- 24:54better, go to the farmer's market with your child.
- 24:58Have them like select something. Let them pick
- 25:01out what they want to try once a month and then
- 25:04take it home. Look up recipes together, cook
- 25:06together. Keep this running journal of, you know,
- 25:10what was this ingredient? How did we prepare
- 25:13it? did we like it did we not and that's one
- 25:18of the things you know cooking with kids really
- 25:20does help to improve a lot of those food curiosity
- 25:24and food literacy skills that we really would
- 25:27like to see. I mean, Laura's doing so much with
- 25:30child nutrition and with the nutrition program
- 25:32and the Head Start program and providing these
- 25:35opportunities for this food curiosity to happen
- 25:38in the classroom. So we've got to make sure that
- 25:41that's also happening at home. Absolutely. What
- 25:43is that, Laura? What is that program? Talking
- 25:46matters. So we take. families and they come together
- 25:51for family engagement night with their kids and
- 25:53the kids actually prepare the food and the parents
- 25:56get to see oh if my kids involved in the cooking
- 26:00process they're more likely to try something
- 26:02that's right that's right and there's another
- 26:04program where kids try different things in the
- 26:08classroom what is that you know Oh, just put
- 26:12her on the spot. You did just put me on the spot.
- 26:14Yeah, yeah, you send me pictures and tell me
- 26:16to post them on Facebook. Okay, so we actually,
- 26:18as part of our Farm to School initiative, last
- 26:22program year, we partnered with Lost Acres Farms
- 26:25and Stepping Stone Farm to give us the produce,
- 26:29and the kids did taste testing, and they tasted
- 26:32kale, they tasted spinach, they tasted strawberries,
- 26:37and we got to see what they preferred and what
- 26:40they didn't prefer. And then we also do classroom
- 26:43nutrition activities where they make the food
- 26:45fun. Absolutely. I thought you were going to
- 26:47say, we got to see some ugly faces. Yeah, I mean,
- 26:51they do do the happy face or frowny face, so
- 26:55they get to rate how they like the food. But
- 26:57it's so important to keep introducing. I remember
- 27:00I did with my grandkids, every weird fruit that
- 27:04was in the aisle that I never got. Hey, let's
- 27:08try it. Let's get the kiwi. Let's get the one
- 27:11with the bumps on it. Let's forget what that
- 27:13is. You got to go get that dragon fruit. See
- 27:15if you actually like it. Passion fruit, too.
- 27:19Passion fruit. I think that's the one I want
- 27:21to try right there. There are native to Kentucky
- 27:25passion fruit. Really? Yes. So I know that there's
- 27:28a tree actually near us, near our location at
- 27:32Food Chain on the Legacy Trail. That has passion
- 27:35fruit. It grows in the wild. But it is not in
- 27:40season right now, so we've got to wait. Y 'all
- 27:43like Chick -fil -A. You know, I love their peach
- 27:45shake, and they want to say it's seasonal. It's
- 27:47syrup! Give me the syrup! You ain't even going
- 27:51out getting no fresh peaches. They probably are,
- 27:53though, you know. You never know. I know. It's
- 27:57just crazy. So I really appreciate you being
- 27:59on the show today. How can people get in touch
- 28:03with you and learn more? Absolutely. So they
- 28:06can go to our website, foodchainlex .org, or
- 28:09follow us on social media at Food Chain Lex.
- 28:13We are on Facebook and Instagram where they can
- 28:16get the most up -to -date information. And then
- 28:19look out because we are opening a neighborhood
- 28:22green grocery store in 2026. What? Our kitchen
- 28:26is in the same building, and we are super, super
- 28:29excited to be able to provide fresh food. That
- 28:31is great. That is great. So real quick, what
- 28:34can you look for in that store? Absolutely. So
- 28:38we are going to continue our partnership with
- 28:40Kentucky Farmers, being able to procure local
- 28:43ingredients at wholesale and bulk pricing to
- 28:47be able to pass along that savings to our customers,
- 28:49but then also looking at being able to provide
- 28:52some frozen meals or some frozen. processed ingredients
- 28:56to make making a meal at home a lot easier and
- 28:59a lot more like time saving because time is something
- 29:02that does kind of constrain when we are able
- 29:06to, you know, make fresh meals together as a
- 29:09family. Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Kristen,
- 29:12for being on the show. Thank you. You have been
- 29:15listening to Look Who's Talking.