A Seed Grows in (West) Oakland

Whenever you start to feel that our country—not to mention our planet—is going to hell in a handbasket (as my great aunt Holly used to say), it's encouraging to come across a youthful dynamo like Nikki Henderson, the 27-year-old executive director of People's Grocery. A food justice nonprofit in West Oakland, People's Grocery has had a circuitous history but today its mission is to improve the health and economy of West Oakland through the local food system.

What local food system, you might ask? Thanks to the folks at People's Grocery, who planted a garden here a decade ago, and other West Oakland nonprofits such as City Slicker Farms and  OBUGS, there's a lot of urban gardening going on in Oakland. There are also affordable CSA shares, farmers' markets with sliding scale prices, and free nutrition education classes.

I write about Henderson in the September issue of Whole Living (pg. 38). Though my article isn't available on WholeLiving.com, it is a part of the magazine's iPad issue.

(For a PDF of the article, click here: Download NaturalTalent.)