Left Lovers

Mykela Jackson aka ‘Keiko’ is an artist, herbalist, educator and chef specializing in Dr. Sebi’s African Bio Mineral Balance. She transitioned to the Alkaline Plant-Based diet in 2018 which sparked the beginning of her soul food pop-ups in 2019 across North Minneapolis. Keiko’s food stole hearts and she was later employed as the Head Chef at Trio Plant-based curating their at the time, new vegan menu. As her passion for holistic education and food sustainability grew, her pop-up module turned into a movement to create affordable and accessible health food systems within majority Black and Indigenous communities.

Our mission at Keikosx is to Inform, Educate and Empower the People to take on the African Bio Mineral Balance by creating affordable and accessible health food systems with our Food Trap Project (F.T.P). Currently we offer a variety of products, services and education that teach individuals how to nourish and heal their bodies with alkaline plants.

Understandably, we know that not everyone can afford to make the switch but think it is a basic human right to have access to whole foods, education and natural medicine. The Food Trap Project connects with resource plugs and redistributes plant-based essentials to those in need primarily within majority-Black neighborhoods. It is a collective of businesses, organizations, volunteers and community members creating space for health & wellness within low-income communities.

There is a desperate need, now more than ever, to combat the capitalistic food system and its consequences— food apartheid, Black land loss, diet-related illness, race-based wealth inequities and environmental degradation to name a few —while driving real solutions into our communities.

By implementing the community bodega module we not only solve food insecurity and food waste problems but also provide education and resources which help elevate the collective consciousness by opening dialogue to important conversations surrounding health, community and healing.

What you'll find inside the F.T.P bodega are:

The Food Trap Project offers full transparency over donations received. Our finance spreadsheet will be easily available to the public in efforts to create a trusting relationship with the communities we serve. F.T.P is not a non-profit organization but we are fiscally sponsored by Left Lovers LLC. Funds will be used for the start-up and maintenance of the community bodega, resources, donation storage fees, transportation vehicle and maintenance of it.

Expenses:

$10,000 - Transit Vehicle

$3,000 - Community Bodega Shed

$26,000 - $500 spent weekly on resources (1yr)

$2,400 - Kitchen Pantry ($200/mo for 1 yr)

$7,100 - maintenance, upkeep & food drives

$1,500 - GoFundMe Processing fees

We've already secured our location and fridge!! This project is currently set to open April 2024 at Sanctuary Church in North Minneapolis.

In addition to fundraising we will also be applying for grants and donating a percentage of pop-up proceeds to the project as well. 

$10,000 has been secured from the Mn Black Collective Grant which will be put towards the Bodega structure and Transit Vehicle.

We are currently trying to spread the word and get volunteers, donors and sponsors. If you'd like to know more please email us.

Funds will be issued to our fiscal sponsors then dispersed to the F.T.P initiative.

More information about our fiscal sponsor Left Lovers: The Freedge is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting equal access to healthy food by installing community fridges, which serve as platforms for sharing food and ideas at the neighborhood level. Since 2014, we have been actively involved in installing and supporting community fridges both in North America and abroad. We also provide resources and support to potential community fridge users and hosts, including the Freedge Map and the "Freedge Yourself” guide and micro grants.

Passaic County, NJ, has over 60,000 people struggling with food insecurity as of 2020, highlighting the importance of combatting hunger through the Food Justice Fridge Initiative (FJF). The imbalance between liquor stores, smoke shops, bodegas vs. Whole Foods, Gala Fresh, and nutritious-based grocery stores in inner-city communities vs. the suburbs due to supermarket redlining is staggering. Without proper nutrition, serious health issues such as cancer, diabetes, and obesity are more likley to occur in our people. Not to mention, malnutrition hinders mental/physical development, impacting learning & overall growth potential (especially in our youth). The financial blow many families face after COVID-19 makes it all the more vital for Passaic County families to have access to free, high-quality food that's difficult to obtain in our communities.

Our solution, The Food Justice Fridge Initiative (FJF), aims to empower families affected by poverty, food apartheid, and climate change to lead better lives by providing them with the freedom of choice. To choose the nutritious food they need, but cannot conveniently access. When families begin to shift to a healthier diet, their chances of health related illnesses, high medical bills, and doctor visits decrease. In the same breath, performance in school, sports, and work will increase since families now have access to food that fuels their neurological and physiological productivity rather than depleting or burning it out. This offers an opportunity to save or invest money in other areas such as home renovation, stocks, student debt, vacations, or other financial obligations. The "leave what you can, take what you need" rule is a simple way of showing that our community fridge will support and preserve our people because "we got us!"

By partnering with City Green and Boys and Girls Club Passaic alongside other grassroot organizations like Left Lovers (Freedge), the FJF sources local, fresh, culturally appropriate, and healthy donated produce and offers it to the community for free. Everyone deserves the right to choose fresh produce, and with the support of our community, we can make a significant impact on the well-being of our people. We appreciate anything from a penny to a $20.00.

Donations used to purchase/support:

-refrigerator

-food/restock

-cleaning/maintenance supplies

-security cameras/sensors

-protective shed over fridge

-stipends for maintenance team

-art supplies to decorate fridge

From the climate crisis to the effects of the COVID 19 Pandemic and overwhelming social inequity, the planet and it's people are in a critical time.

We believe that the inequalities that vulnerable and frontline communities have been facing over these last months has only been exacerbated by this crisis, but also that these issues of access to healthy food, whole nutrition, sanitation, natural medicine, and high touch care have been there before the crisis and will remain once everything “goes back to Normal”

We believe that healing is a direct action.

We believe that all people, no matter whether they have shelter, the financial means or the privilege of insight, deserve access to the essential tools to shape their own destiny and dignity.

We believe that by doing this work to restore equity and balance to our communities by connecting people to the land by putting plants in their bodies that we are mending the sacred hoop.

I invite you now to reimagine what “normal” is and stand with us as we shape our new reality.

This project officially began on Dec 10th and we aim to complete it by mid-January, depending on the weather conditions.

Please Donate Today

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to the 2019 Homeless Count which surveyed people in Alameda County who were unsheltered and people who were residing in a publicly or privately funded emergency shelter, safe haven, or transitional housing facility concluded that a total of 8,022 individuals experiencing homelessness were counted as of January 30, 2019, an increase of 2,393 individuals (+43%) from 2017.

As a response the Cob on Wood project was formed...

Miguel Elliott of Living Earth Structures, EFAM - Essential Food and Medicine and Artists Building Communities are collaborating to facilitate the building of a community kitchen and a healing space at the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland, California. Cob on Wood serves the residents and volunteers of the encampment so they can safely and comfortably prepare meals as well as have a warm space to eat communal dinners and seek health advise from holistic

healers and medical professionals.

We are :

Re-purposing trash found on site to serve as wall insulation

Utilizing other found and up-cycled materials

Making the structures fire proof (a major problem plaguing encampments are rampant fires)

Training residents in construction

Bio-remediate the land and soil with intentions to plant a food forest

Mending the sacred hoop

#CobonWood #CommunityKitchen #WestOakland #Sustainable #Cobb #Kitchen #Build by #EssentialFoodandMedicine #EFAM #LivinEarthStructures #LES and #ArtistsBuildingCommunities #ABC #Come #Together to #Improve #Encampments #Now #mutualaid