An Interview with Tahirah Spann

By Jonathan Thomas

Jonathan Thomas: Can you tell me a little bit about the current state of healthy food distribution in the city of Columbia? Would you say there are disparities in terms of food access and education?

Tahirah Spann: Yes, I would say that there is a disparity. In fact I would say there is a great disparity, although it has become a little easier to access healthy food, or whole foods.

JT: What do you mean by whole foods?

TS: Whole foods meaning minimally processed food. Food that’s as close to its natural state as possible, not full of preservatives and harmful chemicals. In certain areas, it’s easier to buy 8 pieces of chicken in a box than to buy a whole chicken. And most of us are so caught up with the day-to-day grind that convenience food has become a necessity. But still, you typically find “health food” stores in specific parts of a city. You find them in pockets of the city, and of course those pockets are associated with affluence or upwardly mobile families. And if “health” foods are what you find in those areas, what do you consider the food found in other parts of the city? You know what I mean? And what I also found is that the education surrounding this food was as problematic as the access to it.

JT: What do you mean?

TS: When you look at the quality of the produce available throughout Columbia, there are certain areas where access to certain products is extremely limited. And one would say that grocers are providing the people with what they want, but then you also have to question why it is that you’re saying that this is what the community wants. You don’t find that in other areas, there’s more variety, more choice.

JT: And you feel this is a matter of food education?

TS: I think to some degree. I mean on the one hand I advocate for people to eat the best possible food they can. But more than that, I want people to have information so that they can choose what to do with it. But I can’t escape the big disconnect in terms of access. Going back to your original question, there’s just a huge disparity in terms of information and access.

JT: What are the consequences of this disparity?

TS: I think there are emotional consequences as well as physical consequences.

JT: Emotional in what sense?

TS: I think we develop food cultures, communities create food cultures, and sometimes “healthy” foods can be perceived as foreign because of what communities might deem as “healthy.”  The term “health” food still conjures images of an unseasoned slab of tofu. I will say this has been equalized a little bit by documentaries, Meatless Monday initiatives, and even churches advocating a month of plant-based eating. These efforts do help with the information disparity.

JT: In terms of physical consequences, I’ve heard that the Eau Claire neighborhood in North Columbia has a high population of diabetic amputees?

TS: Right. I think one of the highest rates in the nation.

JT: That sounds like a crucial point. And I imagine there are emotional ramifications, as you say.

TS: I heard Michelle Obama articulate it best. Going back to those emotional connections, she said you have to be very careful when going into communities with a judgmental approach to diet and what I call food culture, because a lot of times there is family history connected to it.

JT: Right.

TS: It becomes a question of heritage and how you connect to your heritage. When my grandparents were my age, they still had butchers in the neighborhood. They would walk to the butcher and get a hog that was freshly slaughtered, that was fed food scraps from someone’s garden or farm. It wasn’t this mass production of food that we get now. It wasn’t going to get a plate of fried, greasy foods from a drive-through. I mean yes, there were candied yams, but somebody grew, cut, and washed the sweet potatoes, you know what I mean? One of the things I want to focus on is preserving the sense of family culture and food culture, but reconnecting it to a tangible base of whole foods, not something abstract. Now, when most children think of eating chicken, they don’t think of eating “a” chicken, they think of pieces in plastic wrap, or prepared food in a box, eight pieces in a box. They don’t think of a chicken that actually lived. I think part of the problem is there. I mean I’m not an advocate of everyone eating plant-based diets — although studies have shown that it adds to longevity and well-being and so on and so forth.

JT: If we were to shift focus, and if you were talking to a long-lost friend or colleague and you were to explain that you are currently participating in a project called “Two Cities,” how would you describe that project as a whole? I mean, what is Two Cities?

TS: I would draw attention to what is happening in the downtown portion of Main Street, versus what is happening in the North Main communities. The development of downtown may not be innovative when it comes to what’s happening in other, larger cities, but for Columbia, South Carolina, these things are very innovative, whether it be Soda City Market, where there’s a focus on artists and artisans and freshly crafted food, or you can look at First Thursdays, or some of the boutique eateries that are popping up. If you then look at what’s happening on the other side of Main, on North Main, there is a push for some innovative programming, but it’s kind of like watching wheels spin. There’s not the same progression that has taken place on the downtown portion of Main. The Two Cities project aims to have artists address that divide in creative ways, based on their experience, interests, and their expertise. How can we remedy it, even if it’s just in a small way and for a short period of time? How can we add to the spark of new energy in this community?

JT: And under this umbrella of Two Cities, what are some of the specific questions that you’re asking, as one of the participants?

TS: How do we get community members back in touch with healthy food in a way that will contribute to their well-being? And how do we do this in an innovative way, with an approach that steps outside of the norm but is respectful? While it’s important to know more traditional ways of growing food, I think hydroponics or aquaponics has more flare and engages people in a different way.

JT: So you’re building a hydroponic / aquaponic garden?

TS: Right. It’s a laboratory of sorts. So there will be some experimentation, but the point is for the community members to see this working space where food is being produced, and even though it seems abstract when it comes to the methodologies, it’s really pretty simple. But once again, it just comes down to information.

JT: Just one more question. If we limit our focus to North Columbia, what additional creative interventions can be made to improve the neighborhood foodscape?

TS: Hmm. A lot of it has to do with a sensibility, and with education. But also, I think you really have to poll the community and engage the community and see what they want, you know? We have done that to some degree, and it seems like the things we brought to the table were getting people excited. Once we get into the community and The Grow Lab is open, and people are coming in for the programming aspect, I think they will feel some sense of ownership over the Lab and that more community-driven solutions will come about.