Farewell, Brainfood!

Blog post by Sarah Lange, Spring Intern

When I graduate from the University of Maryland in 6 days, I will be leaving much more than the friends, classmates, and professors I have spent the last four years with.  I will also be leaving another family I have gained in the last four months, my Brainfood family.

My internship at Brainfood has served as the capstone experience to my coursework in community and public health. After completing my course requirements before coming to Brainfood, I was armed with knowledge of health behavior theories, planning health fairs and giving health presentations. But entering a kitchen of 15 high school students taught me much more than I learned in the classroom. Working at Brainfood helped me see the reality of the landscape I will be working in for the rest of my life. It helped me step back and truly understand the barriers to change related to healthy eating, and helped me change my way of thinking about public health.

One of my favorite and most significant moments with Community MVPs was during the “Our Plate” event hosted at Mary's Center. At the event, four youth groups, including Brainfood’s MVPs, had the opportunity to peer educate about nutrition and fitness. Seeing how successful this event was, I realized: who wants to hear from older people like me preach to them about what they should be eating? These students knew each other and could do that task much better. Stepping back and realizing that sometimes it isn’t my job to teach but to empower people to make change in their own community is just one lesson I will take away from my time at Brainfood.  

I also learned that sometimes it is the unplanned conversations that are the most powerful. One of these conversations was with a Kitchen All Stars student about her school lunches. She was complaining to me how unappealing they were and also noted how unhealthy they were. She also made an astute point that her school had a large outdoor space where they could start a garden, and she hoped the school would create one that would be able to supply their lunches with fresh produce. I told this student that making those kinds of changes a reality is what I hope to accomplish in my work. This conversation made me want to fight even harder for these changes as I begin my career in public health nutrition. Hearing that youth are interested and invested in changing the status quo related to food and health is not only inspiring to hear, but also crucial if the current state of things is going to change.  

So, to the students: I hope you see how smart, powerful and awesome you all are. You have impressed me everyday not only with your cooking skills but with your ability to be leaders. I hope you learned a thing or two from me, and if nothing else, that not all vegans are weird and scary (well, I hope I’m not weird and scary). I can't wait to see what you all do next--whether it be joining the new Brainfood Box Project, or starting a new year in school.

And to the staff: Thank you for welcoming me, treating me like a member of the team, and not like just another intern. I am so grateful that you opened you arms to me this spring. Projects will be assigned and completed, but the relationships I have formed at Brainfood will last much longer.

And of course, thank you to the food that has connected us all, from daily classes to staff lunches. From now on, when I make a recipe from the Brainfood kitchen, I will have fond memories of being a part of the magic that happens when we cook and eat food together.