Whispering Roots brings nutrition education to Omahans, donates food to struggling community members
Juli Oberlander • September 30, 2021
Whispering Roots brings nutrition education to Omahans, donates food to struggling community members
Photos from Whispering Roots Facebook page
Dedicated to bringing healthy food, nutrition education, employment opportunities and innovative next-generation agricultural technology to communities that need them the most, Whispering Roots responds to food accessibility and community development issues in the Omaha area. Throughout COVID-19, Whispering Roots Director of Culinary and Nutrition Programming Anna Curry says the team has seen the impacts of the pandemic on the community.
"2020 has been a year of extraordinary difficulty for many," Curry says. "While the Omaha community previously faced challenges of food insecurity because of the prevalence of 'food deserts' that prevent families in accessing healthy food, the COVID-19 outbreak created an economic downturn that resulted in astoundingly high rates of job loss, food insecurity and other negative outcomes. These poor outcomes disproportionately affected lower-income families and communities of color living in poverty because of the pandemic."
In these difficult times, Curry says data shows lower socioeconomic status is strongly associated with a higher risk for contracting COVID-19 along with a risk for losing economic self-sufficiency and the ability to provide for one's family.
When the pandemic first started, Curry says many people of lower socioeconomic status found themselves without access to fresh food. Whispering Roots stepped in quickly to help.
"With minimal financial relief for families, the number of people in need of basic support skyrocketed," Curry says. "Whispering Roots responded immediately to our community’s food-insecurity crisis by expanding the operational capacity of its existing community food delivery program to support the high level of food supply and delivery assistance requests received from our Omaha-based basic needs service organizations. In collaboration with food coalitions, such as Catholic Charities and Together, Whispering Roots has been delivering food to families quarantined due to COVID as well as vulnerable groups including elderly, immunocompromised, disabled, and families or individuals lacking transportation to traditional emergency food outlets."
With the help of volunteers and partnering organizations, Curry says Whispering Roots has sourced and distributed over 1.5 million pounds of food to families in need. In addition to emergency food distribution, Whispering Roots has launched a prepared meal program, which provides weekly meals to various community organizations in Omaha.
Curry says Whispering Roots' team of chefs and dietitians have developed meals using produce grown in community gardens or donated from Mulhall's “Plant to Give” program. The team also creates meals from donated and rescued food that might otherwise go to waste.
"Many members of our community are not able to cook meals for themselves, which often forces them to eat processed meals that lack nutrition and flavor," Curry says. "The Whispering Roots meals are filling, balanced and delicious and are delivered weekly to groups that serve seniors, homeless individuals and families. The program has produced over 13,000 meals and soups in the last year."
Along with at-risk populations, Curry says Whispering Roots focuses on helping children gain access to healthy food. Forty percent of children living in North Omaha are food insecure, according to Feeding America. In addition, more than half of all children in food impoverished areas reported rarely eating fresh fruits and vegetables, according to Live Well Omaha.
To decrease that number, Curry says Whispering Roots uses Aquaculture, Hydroponics and Urban Agriculture technology to teach children and priority communities how to sustainably breed fish and grow healthy food.
"Our Culinary Initiative classes are designed to teach members of the community to cook healthy, budget-friendly recipes," she says. "Our classes provide hands-on experiences and focus on using local, seasonal ingredients."
Curry says learners of all ages are welcome to attend classes to learn about healthy meal preparation techniques and to discover recipes that are easy, delicious and affordable.
"At Whispering Roots, we strive to provide culturally appropriate recipes and lessons and to be intentional about creating programming that is community-centered," she says. "In order to achieve this goal, we work with a variety of partners to make sure we are leveraging the expertise of others who are engaged in similar work."
In 2020, Curry says Whispering Roots unveiled its food delivery and logistics program, which has distributed more than a million pounds of food to members of the community who are most in need. The nonprofit is also working on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (S.T.E.M.) Education, urban agriculture, nutrition education, hunger eradication projects, community improvement projects and sustainability projects in the Omaha area and rural communities in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and South Dakota, according to its website. Local partners include Together, No More Empty Pots, ENCAP and Catholic Charities.
Recently, Whispering Roots also collaborated with the Big Garden to host a farm stand offering fresh, local produce to the community. The nonprofit matched Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Senior Farmers Market vouchers dollar for dollar, providing over $11,000 in free, fresh produce. The program sponsor was CHI Health, and local partners included Wenninghoff Farm, Lu's Flowers & Vegetables, OneWorld, Douglas County Health Department and the Douglas/Sarpy County WIC Program.
Between its food distribution and prepared meal programs, Curry says Whispering Roots is working hard to keep up with the community's needs.
"The demand is definitely not slowing down," she says. "Both programs continue to grow every day and Whispering Roots is grateful for the support and partnership of the community."
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