Jeni, Mary, & Stephanie

announced that I was like what' you call here we what saraphina and I were in a entrepreneurial book club where Stephanie never read the right book and Stephanie was terrible at this book club I really sto at CL I did not fabulous I'm what I just had a visual just had a visual i a proud of it look at us we have assembled yes this is not Hank at my table this morning everyone hello sorry Han he he gave special dispensation for This Crew here this mly crew that has assembled the appreciation for Hank doing that for us I am so pumped to have Mario Keefe and also Jenny wheeler at my table this morning both are leaving for Africa tomorrow we are all right so let's like start at the beginning I or as as wherever we're gonna jump into this journey prequel we've talked about it last night yes we're gonna have to like go back and do the pre journey to Africa yeah seriously so I I get this crazy call and it's like okay so this is what we're doing and we would love you to be a part of it and I said absolutely if it's crazy it's for me well why did I call you to begin with because I already knew that 100% so like talk to everybody and tell everybody what it is that we're where're we're going tomorrow tomorrow I'm gonna let Mary start because then I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell the story of how I like literally roped Mary into this exactly so back in October but I'll I'll let Jenny take care of that but tomorrow we leave for Amsterdam and we we chose Amsterdam because neither of us had been there before and it also breaks up the journey in going then to Kenya so Amsterdam and Kenya and Tanzania for 11 days back to Kenya then to Rwanda back to Kenya and then off to London and then back home again and trying to fit a month's worth of things into the suitcase with limitations has been a challenge that could have been a video unto itself so a whole a whole month of exploring exploring yes that's the down and dirty of the itinerary good morning midday Madness good morning Lisa and Ron chinwe and uh Conley I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing your name but I'm really excited to uh just talk to these ladies this morning about Africa and their their vacation which is not a vacation you guys are going to be working your tails off absolutely exactly my list gets longer and longer and longer that's okay I'm up to the task I am so lucky that she is coming for so many reasons so many reasons but let me just let me just tell you so we are as far as the overarching we are going to explore and have all the fun um we are also going to be meeting with world food at the United Nations in Nairobi because it wouldn't be a Jenny wheeler project if there was not food involved we're talking about it and and we have to work to create sustainable change we are not on the right side of this issue in this country and I think we have a lot to learn and I think that that's part of my um ideal situation is bringing back you know looking at Best Practices and looking at all the things that happen around the world and seeing you know how how can we get back to more real food you know the United States makes up about 5% of the global population and creates almost 25% of the world food waste so we have we have your brain around that we have some we have some work to do and so you know creating sustainable change is a is a core of what I do with the family table collaborative and it's what I believe in and so that's a big part of um my goal um and so but in addition to that we are going to be traveling and filming some cooking shows and then we're also going to be photographing for my passion project my fil my cup project which is cooking with grandmothers around the world so we're going to go find BB's in Africa to cook with and to learn from and to be in awe of um so there's gonna be lots of fun segments and I guarantee there's going to be a lot of things that we just aren't even expecting that come up that's true you think yeah and we're open to that I think Mary and I are both totally open that we're flexible these two are comedy in and of themselves to watch in a kitchen if you've ever been to the Family Table collaborative you will most likely find Jenny and you'll see Mary there Mary is constantly volunteering she Bops in pretty much any what what are what's gonna happen you're gonna be missing our board meetings Mary over at the Boys and Girls Club I know I know and I probably won't phone in I think Ruth will give me a dispensation cover it God thank you thank you but you have you have to really understand so Mary started volunteering with the collaborative a year ago and you know until you get to know Mary she's like quiet and not you know you wouldn't necessarily know she's sleeper what you don't know sneaky sleeper and you know last year Jr Mel who is a friend of mine and the executive director of the um Big Brother Big Sister program were nominated for like Hometown Heroes and we both ended up being interviewed on the same day and I walk in and JR says to me hey one of my board members is volunteering for you now and I was like no way and he's like Mary not for nothing Mary's a fairly common name we have a lot of volunteers I 600 plus I was like I was like Mary Mary Mary and he started describing I was like oh Mary yeah he's like do you know that she drag rac's cars on a NASCAR circuit I was like what she's wild I was like Mary no no are we talking about the she he's like Mary and he launches into this entire story has me completely captivated and I was like I I need to go find out more things I need to find out things well Mary has lived a storied life herself of all of her adventures but she's just quiet about it she sitting there collecting it in her notebook yeah just so I have all the det my Ms to come out next year absolutely World awardwinning chocolate maker with camel milk people serious that's a thing couldn't even make it up nope that's that's a thing so these are all things these tidbits these little nuggets of gold that I have learned over the past several months and all of a sudden I was planning and actually let me bring Megan Murphy and to this because she's really it's her fault thank you Megan let's just lay down the blame where it belongs this is Megan's fault so I met Megan I completely I had you know really been working to kind of grow and work on some things Within Myself and I just loved I loved Megan's energy um her daughter says that she and I operate on a similar wavelength and I I told her I was like I don't know if she meant that as a compliment also here little over here all over yes yeah little fanatic sometime but all positive right and so literally I was just like I gotta do this I'm going I'm going on this trip with with them to Africa and that was how it began so that began in the middle of what became the middle and then I started my brain started working and I was like well I'd like to do this and this and build off of this and I had no real plans and I didn't plan on nestly going with anybody and all of a sudden I'm in the kitchen behind the line cooking and Mary came in and I was like oh my God you want to go I I was like I think this is a good idea you've dragged race you're ially she can attest to this so I bent my head between the lines between the shelves on our line and I was like hey Mary she's like yeah I like you want to go to Africa she's like yes I was like sweet and we were off to the race like any good idea that was the start of it but that's usually where a great idea start is in the kitchen we've got some of our home chefs uh Lynn brederson checking in with us she's a fabulous home Chef morning Lynn uh junior in the kitchen thank you very much for joining us Jamie Nate Mary uh Susan Ashley Emily thank you so much and Mari hi Mari said it hi Mari thank you so much for making room today uh she now has to deal with Hank at home we're sorry Mario they're we'll make it up too later they're leaving for Africa tomorrow and we had to check and make sure because I'm so blessed to be able to Wrangle these two fabulous cats into doing a podcast and Gathering all of their stuff and putting it out to you so basically let Ado is going to be the middleman and sending you a way to keep up with where they are what they're doing how they're feeling what their mode is whether it's they're exhausted from travel or whether they're thirsty because they're in a desert or whether they're playing with gorillas or cooking at the UN or finding grandmas on the side of the road I really I am very excited to be able to follow this and put it all together in a bite-sized nugget for you to ingest every single day thank well we're so excited to invite everyone along because you know this is really the beginning in a way of you know we're launching the podcast while we're away a journey of Joy we're launching the YouTube channel with all the cooking shows I've done in the past several years where launching you know the platform for the educational components of the Family Table collaborative so there's so much going on and we're excited to invite people along for the ride though I have to tell you so I have fondly started referring to Mary people go so are you like are you ready and I was like well I have Mary so are you packed well I have Mary um do you know what I was like Mary so Mary has become not only the tech department she's also my adult Nanny truth I was I was thinking like backpack but I like adult Nanny much better somebody said to me the other day my God that's better than a husband I was like are you kidding oh it's 100% better than a husband literally I'm like and I have one of those and we like him cuz he's also part of the tech department yes exactly St Tech keep him we can't lose him right however for me I like people say like how did you put all this together how do let me be super clear if I had to put all of this together none of this would be happening Mary has coordinated so much of our entire world Gabby itarte who is partners with Megan Murphy um literally in the trips to Africa it's just I mean there's so many people and I talk about this at The Family Table collaborative all the time there is no I in team like this is you know nothing happens in a bubble here and I'm just so excited that I got to like drag her along on this crazy Journey um because it's just I mean I think that both of us realize we don't quite know and it's so we're g to talk about this Stephanie doesn't like the word Journey she does not and so every time we've talked about a title you know every time we're like Stephanie doesn't like journey and we and we keep like marry opens thesaurus we like try to like I love that you worked hard for not do using the words we did we did but you know things like Quest we're not in a video game like feel like I'm watching The Legend of Zelda over here yeah yeah and this is the deal like you have to be present like that was super important and it is not a destination there's no you don't like we're not going a specific place to achieve a specific thing we're open to let whatever happens happen Emily says I can't wait to hear all about it living through you ladies on this trip is there a place that we can see pictures that you take while there we are going to be bringing it all to you on there YouTube channel safe travel says Beth so exciting Sarah Gloria Lydia thank you so much for joining us Mary coming in clutch like Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals that's such a good yes 100% yes so if any of you haven't seen niad I'm just gonna go there so I as as a swimmer I swam at the national level so this movie has completely like captivated the world but you know I swam for a coach that was kicked out of us swimming for a lot of the reasons that were talked about in that movie and you know he was an Olympic coach and there's just there's a lot of there I felt there was a lot of relevance to like our own experiences dealt with you know eating disorder those types of you know because when you're swimming at that level and when you're competing at any type of sport at that level yeah those are things you run into y so but if you haven't seen that movie you have to uh Foster has been you know nominated for an Academy Award she is my Jodie Foster a small little aside about niad the girl who wrote the screenplay Julia was actually one of our friend Ted Murphy's students in thalouth growing up so this is like so joyful for him to watch this he's like are you are you at the awards oh my goodness I know so she got to go to all the Oscar parties and get like it was just really cool to have a little kid growing up in Falmouth taking Ted Murphy's writing classes who wrote the screenplay for that and I didn't even know that when I talked about Nia right that's amazing and it's just really cute fun little Cape connections and I feel like we always get that so I love that you're throwing a tentacle to Africa yeah to have another little cap connection here I need to go find the BB's yeah right the BB's in Africa so I grew up cooking with my grandmother and I feel like you know the reason this is like such a passion project for me is I feel like grandmothers represent so much of what we need more of in the world right you know the the the the thoughts around what grandmothers represent and having grown up cooking with my grandmother and and you know she's just she was such an enormous influence in my world um that for me like that's what I wanted to go find I want to go find grandmothers around the world and we have joked that I'm going to be standing on street corners being like are you a grandmother do you cook will you cook with me are you a grandmother we joked about it but it's actually going to happen family table spoon have you pack the spoons I'll give you an FTC apron good morning Lauren yeah so they tried to avoid the word Journey completely for me and I really appreciate it but if any word anyone were to actually utilize the word proper it's you because when I hear it it's always like on a Tik tocker they're like I'm going to go on this self journey and I'm like oh God please I can't you guys are actually going somewhere so exactly I'll allow it it's it's full but thank you thank you um uh We've we've been given a dispensation it's allowed now all three of us have used that word um but truly it's it's one of those things where you know being present is so important and you know I feel like I've you know I kind of fought through a lot of stuff to not only survive but Thrive and so getting to where we are now it's like people have started to you know I feel like people are like oh you've arrived and I was like I've arrived where where where where have I arrived Just One Stop on the train yeah and there's just so much there's so much more to do both within Family Table collaborative you know the amazing things that we're accomplishing there really to me has always been a pilot program for how we can change how we see and work with food and reducing waste and increasing sustainability and all of those things and so to me this is just one more step along that Journey exactly but but it's both a personal and professional and it's both physical and metaphorical I love that you're doing this really on your own with your adult caregiver Mary but so I'm not alone but there is something to be partners and crime is good yeah I like that one there is something to be said where you kind of threw yourself into The Family Table collaborative after a bad space where you went to your family you went home to your family with this group of people that you threw yourself into I created a family correct I created and that's what it feels like it really does feel like a family so now that you're you're going up finding more people to add to your family it makes but it's weird for you to be alone in this space and you're kind of doing this alone like you're branching your own self and your own brand and your own thing which is really difficult after surrounding yourself with family in a safe space in a safe environment to be able to separate yourself and now I have to Foster self and that's the scary space you know what's interesting about that is that's true and that's where this is where Megan Murphy gets all the blame this is where um I you know I'm so proud of what we've built with the collaborative and so proud of what it does and so excited for all the things it can continue to do but all of a sudden I fought so hard to get through what I went through that I started to feel like my name was associated with FTC solely and all of a sudden I was like who's like who's just Jenny like who who is that who's that girl and that feels probably sounds a little weird it feels a little weird but it's like but that was where I was in my head was like I I feel like I need to kind of figure out who just Jenny is and that is not in any way shape or form I say this all the time I love what I do so much I'm so passionate and I every everybody should get to love what they do like I love what I do like you love what you do you know and so when you're in that space A lot of times it's also a safe place right because it's easy to sit there and not make yourself uncomfortable at all and that was the realization after I kind of met Megan was that the last time I was made really uncomfortable was because of trauma and it was not of my own choice and it was horrific and hard and all the things but also is part of how I got where I am today and had I not gone through what I went through I don't know that I would have ever started the Family Table collaborative with Harry Henry one of my favorite humans on the face of the planet um but I don't know that I would have done that but what I found was all of a sudden not that everything was perfect and that it's exactly where I wanted to be and all the things but I I felt like I got a little comfortable yeah and so this time turning 50 this summer was very empowered Ing and I felt like you know what it's time for me to make myself a little uncomfortable in all the good positive ways because it means growth and it and it's and it's me choosing to make myself a little uncomfortable and that's where that's really where it's at Jamie Carter said Jenny's really great at Taking Chances on herself with lots of Hearts which is good I mean you have to I feel like a lot of people and I feel like I want this to be impactful for girls out there for other chefs out there for people that are um just kind of there in the the regular of your life sometimes and you're like what am I doing where am I going what am I doing to bet on yourself and to maybe take that class or to maybe change your station or to maybe grow in your space where you are I think everybody gets complacent and I think it's just a good reminder to step out of the box whatever maybe you're celebrating your 50th maybe something is is changing for you this shift and energy is there and whatever the impetus is whatever it is yeah just say yes like just just lean in Empower yourself to do it exactly take love yourself enough to want to do that for yourself correct correct and it's funny because um my best friend of 35 years total badass in our own right like amazing amazing human um surgeon tumor specialist amazing um but she got really upset with me a couple years years ago when I was talking about what I had gone through and I just gave credit to everyone else and she was so no one likes to point the sunlight at themselves sometimes it's it's awkward well she was so upset with me and she's like Jenny you saved you like you know yes people showed up but you took advantage of opportunity and that word was interesting to me because really this is where I think the journey piece was critical because it's you have to show up in your own life you can have support you can have but if you don't show up in your own life if you don't take some of those chances if you don't go make chocolate with camel milk or jump know how car that happen right like if you don't but like I mean I that's why I like I'm in awe of this woman like and it's just it's one of those things where I I've chosen to surround myself with people that that that bring sunlight right that people the the women sitting to my right and left right now are people that bring me joy so the thing is that's what for me I'm just like no I'm gonna continue down this and if I feel a little too comfortable then I'm not pushing myself hard enough right good morning Lenor um Nathan said since betting on myself this year I've really started to thrive and becoming a better version of myself every single day and I love that you're recognizing that in this good morning Danielle Lydia Jenny is amazing we know and we're singing it from the rooftops all the way to Africa again only only only with like an adult Nanny but I love the growth of even is reasonable you know over the last two months of trying to track her down track Mary down go over sound making sure that we've got a plan making sure we've got the follow through but we've all the three of us made an effort and a point to we're gonna do this we're going to catalog this we're going to put it together properly and but I feel like your entire trip has become this way big thing very much so where it started where it started in where you are now I can't imagine what it's going to be like when you finish and the people that you collect that's a good way to put it right and lucky for Jenny I have a lot of tech background you know so tech support Barry's like hello Mary's room service I'm working on it I don't know why this batter is not charging she's got lavalier mics lights the cameras like literally Mary is Mary's like okay we're gonna do we're gonna do it right and that's important we'll talk about some of the small challenges just packing for this trip has been and some of the no no the plastic oh yes the the planning so maybe you don't know this about what's going on and what they have to plan for but there's a lot of things that they cannot bring with them right there a lot of things we can't bring with us there's things that you have to do in order to travel we had to get your sh vaccinations all the vaccinations and just in case you didn't know the only travel doctor on Cape cot is in Falmouth yes so here you go welcome to my land and he has a really nice niche business yes he really does operates in cash it's like really amazing so and you cannot not go to him you need all these V you have to go over the bridge yes we have to go over the bridge but but really what it is is like it's one of those things where um we had no idea and you know it's so interesting when you start researching for a project and I'm that person that like wants to dive in and I don't actually want to know too much because I want to be able to be surprised and to learn and really enjoy that um I am not the person that has to like I mean I dot eyes and cross teas when it comes to like legal things and all that stuff but when it comes to the experiential part I'm like I want to be in it so when but I started doing a little bit of research and Kenya was one of the first countries to ban single-use Plastics so like we're not even supposed to have like Ziploc bags in our luggage when we land in Africa which is just like an everyday American thing to waste andow away oh my God the amount that's like so this is where that sustainability piece not just with food but all of a sudden we're seeing the environmental and we're seeing you know all the ways it impacts the water which hello we live on Cape Cod so this is something that our blue economy is very much part of our tourist attraction 100% so all of these things started showing up that we weren't even really expecting and then because Mary is Mary she's making spreadsheets she's ordering things off Amazon she's making bags and little we love you Mary don't worry about it I might not be alive without her so literally and then she might choose to feed me to a lion I don't know no me Megan's checking in that might H can you make sure that that doesn't happen make sure no one gets eaten by lions please and thank you yes Megan you're just tuning in um I laid all of the blame of all of this at your feet welcome we can't wait um but no there's so much to learn from other countries and there's so much about culture and it it kind of goes back to for me the grandmothers it's like grandmothers represent tradition they represent family they represent food for me feeding people real like it's basic human need basic like that's where that Comfort comes from building longer tables bringing people like food is a conven to Sunday dinner had Sunday dinner every single Sunday and you were expected to be there and you better have a damn good excuse while you were not at that table and it didn't even matter it didn't matter how old you got and then all of your children were demanded to come didn't matter then the kids were at the kids table I was at the Kids Table till I was 16 it didn't matter cuz my family was so huge but that's what you were expected to do and they cook together and it was that whole family and when that when she passed that went away yes yes and it was broken for our family well and you see that so there again the differences in different cultures in the United States you watched that like the the ending of that you know being a positive instead of it being viewed as a positive to have that multigenerational you know family house and stuff like that it was almost transitioned to where you know oh you're doing better than the last generation because you're going out and you're doing all the things and yet it's still very common a lot in a lot of the world to see those multigenerational you know really you know that you kind of have Elders still and what that brings to the table and you're seeing it come back a little bit in the United States not because it's revered but out of necessity with cost structures sure but there's all of this research that show shows how much is gained when you put children with Elders when like the interaction whether they're related or not again family can be a lot more than blood related right and you know Mary talked about the you know the way that The Family Table collaborative works I think part of its success I loved coming in there and we did a mic check thing and I'm like soup soup I gotta feed Harry first I'm like hi Harry and we're all just sitting there having a bowl of what whatever that fabulous which I'm now obsessed with and then it popped up on the Food Channel I was like I've had that I tasted that Jenny Jenny made that for me and we're all we're all sitting there having a bowl of soup and it was just like we're all in our own space but it was just so nice to have that communal Meal which I work by myself a lot and it was just really nice to be working around a bunch of people having a bowl of soup it made my it made my day soup was the Cornerstone of Jenny's Joy it was like it's a soup soup is soup is like comfort food for the soul like it really is there's a reason why those books existed Chicken Soup for the Soul Back in the day you didn't you just have like a soup off at Cape Cod beer cuz Super Bowl superow the Super Bowl at Cape Cod beer and there's another one uh there's another Super Bowl coming up this Saturday at kuit Center for the Arts that're doing it as a fundraiser for The Family Table collaborative and this is the cool part though so people call and say like oh can we like do you know drives food drives for you and you know I say like you know we're not a pantry we're really an amplifier we focus on prepared nutritious meals and they're like oh well how can we help support you and I say do a spice drive because I talk a lot about like what is food without spice and we live in a country that has such a heavy Reliance on salt and that comes with such negative Health impacts particularly as we age and so I'm like no give me spices because we're launching in the next couple months we're launching a program that's going to create spice packets with recipes from food that you can traditionally get either at the pantries or kind of you know with that dollar sign in mind when you're shopping to feed a family sometimes it's not cheap and you can't just get a pinch of this or no we don't have spice markets in this country so the thing is is that really and actually that's not there are some level like when I go to Miami or when Sheila lived in Miami and I would go down and visit her there are places that you can get aspects but you still can't get like a pinch of something you could actually see the spices which is lovely and amazing and you know you get to be in awe of the color and the smell and all that stuff but you still can't get just a little bit so spice packets with recipes and again that's to help people help themselves right like let's convince them that they do like good food real food not just the 5-year-old American white food diet and that has led to us being the unhealthiest country in the world so B however but let's do that but then let's also help people help themselves Megan also said and your volunteer opportunities is combating loneliness which is so important as well as building Community which it really does it really does I'm gonna let Mary speak to that um it was interesting as as I as Jenny had mentioned you know rather on the quiet side that's why I'm usually behind the camera and not in front of the camera but starting out a family table um really just the opportunity to do anything and I and that's what I love about it too that you don't have to have knife skills you can push a vacuum around if you can write labels there's so many opportunities and such a wide variety of hours you can fit something into your schedule and if you can't make it let us know or you know and we look at it a month ahead of ahead of time but continuing to work with the same people we all really connected we have a lot of fun we laugh we get a lot of work done there's a lot of steps involved the the other day I was there last week and I did 11,000 steps for the day because it was up and down and up and down so in a sense it's like a gym little workout yes it's a it's a good it's a good workout and and I've really made don't go to the gym just come volunteer for Family Table collaborative exact way more fun and the fact that we've pushed out over 140,000 meals since it was founded during the pandemic wrap your brain around that on Cape Cod it's just amazing and there's so much more ahead as we continue to expand and make make good food attainable and accessible to people it's it's such a passion it's really phenomenal and people goaz like people genuinely are amazed when they come first of all the thing we hear all the time is like they feel like they've really done something and because no no one comes to the Family Table collaborative and eats bon bonss no that Ain happening I don't think we even have bon B well oh hidden stash yeah I was gonna say somebody might have a hidden stash you know I I do stalk the things that keep our people happy like you know I'm not I'm not Beyond bribery completely well maybe talk about how like the you're sourcing your food at this point I mean they're they really it's donations it's donations from Fishers uh the fishermen Fishers those Fisher Cats they're amazing scooping it up come on get to work animals but yeah we have I mean it's it's amazing you know I say all the time that the collaborative is by the community for the community yeah that and that really is the epitome of what it is is that there is no the need is so substantial and it's not just here but we're Super Lucky on keep Cod because we have so many resources we have Farms we have aquaculture we have the blue economy and we have such an amazing community of people willing to step up and help each other and that's really what to me the collaborative is and it's become a family I mean it there are aspects of the collaborative that I'm quite sure you could film reality TV shows in different rooms in our building and kill yourself not everybody needs to see instead of Big Brother like the Big Brother house which I've never watched that show but like instead of like that where the different rooms have those secret panels of recording confessional I guarantee if there's a grant out there to cover this I will happily capture for all to watch our team our team that um runs our basement they handle all of our intake of the food the turnover you get good food I saw Midnight Hour scallops I saw tuna that you guys get from um our fishermen that just donated they're like here you go here's a giant tuna those fresh Tunas are amazing 80 pounds of fresh tuna when that rolls in I'm like ah There Goes My partnership go your Partnerships with Whole Foods I mean you've got a lot of great Partnerships with wonderful food that you're feeding people with and it's not necessarily this might be the only prepared meal that they have that's nutritious we hear that all the time and this is the thing is that like you know this is very th this doesn't just affect those people like this effects one in three on Cape cot we've got a lot of people checking in from everywhere Canada Virginia Florida uh the just to see off the top where people don't understand they think of c c as the kennedies they think of Cap Cod as the you know this space that is so opulent that we don't have this underbelly issue they really do and this is so false and we have such an aged population with elderly incomes that are on a fixed income that they don't feed themselves or they can't physically can't feed themselves and it's very sad absolutely and because of our Reliance our heavy Reliance on prepared food this is the thing if if you want to create any type of change you have to meet people where they're at because not for nothing I can get up here and say you know you should really eat better and all the things going through your head none of them are positive at me right now right seriously you don't think people know that but the reality is we have no reverence for time we have no re you know for sitting down and eating real meals anymore so we have become heavily reliant on prepared food often that prepared food is high in fat salt sugar Andor preservatives or and so the problem is is that it really is our health depends on us creating this change it isn't just it isn't just like oh food the quality of Food Matters like not all food is created equally and it matters because healthier people create healthier communities and that's the dedication of the collaborative and if you get to see the food that comes in people are blown away I'm like look when was the last time you bought a quart of strawberries and the one in the middle wasn't moldy H it's a given right so what do you do when you take it in you take them out you get rid of that one you move on with your day and keep going well commercially if that happens all of that now comes to us and instead of being thrown away and this is a really important point so a lot of the food like the the whole food still donates to all the pantries right it's not we take a lot of food that can can't be given to other places because most places can't take in the perishables the produce and since you're making all these prepared meals you can get it done today and here you go here's a nice but it requires a lot of people it requires a lot of refrigeration and it requires a a a lot of kind of Ingenuity because we never know what's coming in right and so you're taking it in and being like hm what can I create with this you know the top chef Box challenge like that's their every day that is their every day without a doubt this is what we got what do we right and by the way again it gets done by people like this is not this is not um this is not this is not like Mary just went and got um her Serve Safe um her Serve Safe certification that is not just the Serve Safe she got the Serve Safe manager okay and you you're required to have a serve saafe manager on site at all times because of making sure people are safe in food and preparation all that stuff very went and got that so she could be one of those people for us and it's amazing the amount of people that have like stepped up and see she's being your adult caregiver right there so is I'm telling you everybody's everyone needs an adult Nanny note to self life goals bus card a chocolate maker adult n be like Mary I'm gonna make tshirt Mary for for Jenny please be like Mary yeah even Megan says pay attention Food Network Food Network kitchen all of those these are the girls right here this is the place The Family Table collaborative watch it we truly and this is the thing though when you when you lead with joy and people talk about that at the collaborative it is about the culture that's been created so it's about the sustainable change it's about doing it for all the right reasons but nobody's going to show up if it's not fun right y Lisa Bates is on here saying all of your food is delicious my husband went to clam chower heaven and she is 100% no if it's not built no one's coming 100% as a matter of fact she shut her facility down Lisa bit the executive director of the Cape Cod Children's Museum if you haven't been there please go I'm so excited for your hoie exhibit the hoie exhibit's amazing and and we also but we held an event there on just a couple weeks ago first ever adult event at the Cape Cod children museum I mean we served cocktails off the front of a pirate ship so I mean how is that love that pirate ship it's amazing um but she shut her facility down and this is where sometimes we need to do a little bit of renovation whether it's external or internal sometimes we need to like shut it down for a minute so that we can re-emerge now she only took a week to I know like I mean that's that's fast I know and and I saw her a Sunday and she was like my back hurts everything hurts and I'm well you know got done again that's a perfect example Mary we were talking about this yesterday it's like people so my friends refer to my online presence as Jazz and's Jenny it's relatable to me and sometimes it's exhausting to me but we exhaust ourselves correct and so that concept of like the just Jenny of the taking the time to figure that out of shutting it down and Megan has been really good at coaching me through a little bit of that's okay it's not only it's actually not only okay it's necessary it feels selfish though it does it's really weird like it feels weird so that that me coming around to like hey who's just Jenny what do that girl you know like what does she need like you need both of your own t-shirts just Jenny and what would Mary do yes I love that thank you Lynn what W what would Mary do I love that thank you everyone all right everybody what would Mary do and me it's everyone needs a Mary everyone needs but Lisa makes a good point we exhaust ourselves because we love what we do and it's so true we really do it is and what to go further with that you exhaust yourself not only are you making these prepared meals and saying you're not just saying come get them you're delivering them to people and you're delivering to people meeting them where they are ex well meeting people where they're at is critical and by the way this goes for ourselves as well it goes right back to where we were in order to create sustainable change you have to be able to meet people where they're at and right now with food that's prepared food now we're meeting them with more nutritious delicious prepared food getting them to understand hey I actually feel better I do like a wider you know wider variety of food than I'm aware of and then you can get their Ryan and actually get them to help them help themselves with the educational components but when it's you meeting yourself where you're at sometimes I think is a little harder because it's harder to self-identify that you actually need to do that I'm fine everything's fine everything's fine yep it's fine exactly I'll be okay it's totally fine how many times have you Ed that this week fine it's awesome amazing fine I'm fine I'm sleeping on a sliver of my bed that's this wide right now because it's totally covered with all the things Mary has bought to make me take and handed me and I have I have spreadsheets and all the things and then I still call and ask her all the questions however I'm sleeping on this sliver of my bed because my bed you can't see my bed right now everyone's like are you packed I was like started we're working on it I'm right on top of that right on it right on it Mary but I have Mary it's fine it's my it's my favorite line from Don't Tell Mom that the Babysitter's Dead I'm right on top of that Rose no matter what if anybody says or anybody asks you're right on top of it even if you're not that's just the way we talk about it it's fine external persona it's the same thing so you've got your grabbing go fridges at various places where people can go and get a healthy meal Jenny's Mantra eat the rainbow she puts as many vegetables and colored things just so people can eat more variety and those cups of vegetables we actually are supposed to be ingesting it's not really a suggestion should be actually getting those vitamins well you can't you get different vitamins and different nutrients from different colored foods and instead of like actually having that high level conversation about you know okay do you have carbohydrates and starch and protein and this and that and all nobody got time for that nobody has time so if you say hey look down on your plates you see at least at least you really should see four colors but at least three colors it's one of those things that sits with you and even subconsciously you're like the whole Plate's white right right like damn it got to do better okay let me get a couple grapes or a carrot like even if it just plants that seed in the back of your mind that's a simple thing it's a simple thing to do with kids but I always challenge the parents when I'm talking to the kids I'm like and if you think this is good for the kids challenge yourself put it on and you do it for you it's amazing how narrow like we get used to eating the same thing um I do want to you just reference we launched the community refrigerator program this year and it's been with the Hest Public Library Tonia Stevens is amazing she is just a rockstar but she is the executive director of the hus public library and we're actually in the process of working to get them in four additional libraries and we've got so many more you know who have asked for us to look at this but the community refrigerators allow people to have access where they can most easily get there so kids like teen teers it can be at places like you know the boys and girls club and the hus Youth Center stuff like that it's about getting it into the hands of people who need it and by need it I mean anybody that is needs good are you hungry do you need a nutritious meal that's she means by needing it is the only thing you've eaten Fritos right right and there's no prerequisites there's no pre-qualification it's for anyone and everyone that's what I feel like because you take that barrier yeah well because why you need something changes like again it's not the same for everyone it's not the same for everyone and it's not the same for you every day I mean you could be taking care of a sick child a sick spouse a sick parent I mean the amount of nurses I watched during the pandemic having like mental health crises over the fear of taking home covid to their family and not being able to see their family and like not being able to cook or feel like they're taking care of there's a million in one reasons why somebody might need a good meal and here's the deal I don't care what the reason is I mean I care because I care about the individual but I don't care what the reason don't need to mark it on a chart saying it's because of X Y and Z nothing being tracked is nothing good happens when you don't take care of yourself and this is a life lesson for all of us right and this it goes back to where like the the reality of self-care versus like a selfcare I'm fine I'm fine sometimes you need somebody else to be like hey Stephanie you look like you need a bowl of soup thank you and I and I and I did anytime and I was so happy for it but I really did I forget to eat sometimes I get busy it's it's just part of what I do I sit a lot it's not good like if I can have somebody to remind me that there is a nice nutritious meal upstairs I would go eat it and let me be clear the only reason I eat well most of the time is because Kelly runs my kitchen and Kelly is like the person that is like Jenny you need to eat eat this because I made it and you're going to enjoy it and I know we've got listeners from absolutely everywhere good morning dawn on the west coast thank you for joining us very early o'clock there oh my goodness um but I it's just a reminder that if you're here on the cape and whether it's because you run out of money this week or maybe you didn't have or budget enough or maybe the kids need something nutritious and you can't afford a fridge full of vegetables whatever your reason is it doesn't matter just come get a a healthy prepared meal right and if you're somewhere else I mean part of the reason we're launching the YouTube channel and the uh you know the educational component of the collaborative is we're here to help you wherever you are and you know it is not real that cooking or eating well has to be that hard has to be that expensive has to be that timec consuming are there things that can make it that of course but we're here to give you a little bit more of the real deal and like let's shortcut some things like you know let's let's make this easier on all of us and we're gonna feel better for it Megan wants to know how much money it costs to deploy a refrigerator so we have we we go after basically the refrigerators themselves are give or take about $2,000 and ideally would rather put dep and again this is about listen listening to where it's going right like the way you actually help is to listen it's not oh I think I can help you by doing X Y and Z it's to listen to the community figure out what the actual need is so for a lot of communities I would rather put a refrigerator and a freezer commercial grade refrigerator and a freezer side by side so that you can take something home that you you can do the we did grab and grow grab and go mostly in hyas because they interface with with the green like they're on the green and they interface a lot with the homeless population so we actually completely do food that we don't do traditionally In The Family Table collaborative because need to be heated it's sandwiches salads yogurt hard eggs every time yep um yeah fruit cups vegetables so we do those things that are meant to be you know grab and go because of the population they serve most but other areas that might not be the case and so the the fridges and freezers go around $1,500 to $2,000 a piece and then we like to see you know we usually go after a grant that gives at least three to5 thousand to kick off all of the food y um and then you know servicing it it has to be swapped out you know things need to be taken out of there yes well and let's be clear this is why this is a real true Community Partnership and the reason Tony at the highest Public Library we piloted this is because we knew we were gonna have to grow through right go through and grow through some you know learning curves and the the library is a major actual Community partner they went and got four different people Serve Safe food food Serve Safe manager I mean not the manager level but just food sa surf yeah food server food server BL we get it wo maybe I should drink more coffee I don't think that that's the solution I don't know I feel like I should have an ID but I mean I would love to have something like that in the Center that we're building at the Boys and Girls Club it might be awesome to have just nice prepared meals absolutely just because they I know for a fact they don't need well 100% well and also let's be clear there's also stigma related right and you know we talked a lot about like not being able to get out of our own way sometimes is like you know just within ourselves and we have resources that a lot of people do not have and so this is where you know putting things where they're easily accessed meaning people they're at allows people like teens or children that realistically usually have no say and no control over their environment it gives them access and I want to be clear there are a lot of programs that do amazing work uh Tammy Leone runs Cape kids meals sends home backpacks with the kids it's an amazing organization there are there are organizations that work to look at all and and marry volunteers with them too yeah of course she does because she's all places what would Mary do all of it and she's involved with all these organizations that are near and dear to my heart it's amazing I'm like if I had time I would also be but she she just makes time she's like get on my calendar that's why I retired so I make time to do everything else but it is wonderful and I'm so just even sitting here it's jogging everyone that's watching his brain Lisa is like we should do a food pickup with a play date o placeis Lauren is like got to come here I want to do a Super Bowl we like all of these things is i that's why I love Cape Cod so much because we are such a collaborative community and yeah we are island people we're here to help each other and we really will dig down and do it if we know what's available a lot of people and a lot of times we get busy and we don't know what's available and if it's not in front of us well and you don't know invol know like you don't know what you don't know and this goes again for all aspects of life and this is where you know like it really is is real and I I mean if you don't ask but the problem is if you don't know you don't even know what to ask so it's not like somebody's necessarily purposely not asking they don't know what they don't know so we have to do better with making sure we're actually serving the needs we can't just make people come to us we can't just you know we can't get up on a soap box and be like you really should do better cuz then you're an we're not having that so ation and listening as you said and that's and you know what it's the conversations that blow you away it's the conversations that happen in our kitchen it's the conversations that happen in our basement with our basement bombers that like rule our like we couldn't do what we do without all of them um it they're amazing they're the by the way they're the self-named team that runs My Walkin the basement Farmers they also sometimes call them themselves I feel like they're my brethren that's true yes this is the the upper anics the Upp but it is the bridge to Africa that that I'm seeing all of these conversations in because you're going there to see how they use food for fuel correct and how they're they're doing it because they're not wasting it they're using every piece of it to live because that's all they have so they're making that as fuel and we we definitely don't do that in our society you're going to have the conversations with them about family and how we're going to honor you know there's there's not always one way to do things and I think a lot of times we've grown up in this like oh this is the best way and I mean we live in one of the most educated states in the United States and you know it's so often it's like oh oh oh yeah yeah more more more and sometimes last us more like we we've it's amazing when you start learning all of this stuff when you see how wasteful we are um you know it's painful it's painful and you know Alisa magnat is a good friend of mine she's the director of housing assistance Corporation and you know she she went into like doing a year of like kind of no spending like of not actual like of reducing buying things right you know and instead you guys would have failed for this trip yeah no no she did an amazing journey as well an actual Journey so but that's different than just I think we've been in a you know we've grown up in this world where you just go spend you use you don't you don't reuse you don't save you don't reduce waste you don't you know a lot of people it's like it's like thrift stores and stuff like that you know my you with kids it's like how many toys do you need the newest the best the greatest is not necessarily the way anymore newest the best the correct and we live in a country designed for that it's so funny I replaced my phone because I needed to and you know I but I had had my phone for three years and the guy was like well you know the plan the plan is three years and I was like Apple's not gonna let me keep this for three years they're going to come out with something tomorrow me buy it oh Megan Megan's good she's like donate here add this she knows how to ask for the things I appreciate that very much good morning Gail hey T hey Jenny um Danielle thank you for joining us Chandra hello from Florida and Gail Gail hello hi so Jenny and Mary are going to Africa tomorrow I'm not I couldn't even make it up we've been prepping for this journey for quite some time we drew Stephanie in and now it's happening it's happening it's happening and really the it's happening for me because of people like Megan and people like Gabby and people like Mary and people like you who have galvanized me in my crazy welcome to my crazy well because it all it it it it's bettering us as people all of us well our community I feel like the the the cool thing is if you're gonna show up for yourself and you get to show up for others I mean there's just nothing better than that for me win-win it's a win-win and so for me this whole thing around the grandmas um and yes I might be seen panhandling for grandmas we accept it Mary's 100% prepared to videotape me being like are you a grandma are you a grandma do you cook can I cook with you can I come home with you can Mar's the personal reporter also just in case you're wondering exactly Li from a corner and answer she G one on the beat and what's your first name your last name and will you that for the camera you spell that will you sign this release can you sign this release please thank you covering all bases yes Mary whips out the notebook and here's a release form and there's a pen and oh this is your better side can you turn this way 100% uh yeah see everyone needs a marry um but truly it's that whole concept of grandmothers but it's also just my love of culture and getting back you know I've been to 33 countries and I have a significant love of culture and for me this is also kind of my first real step back to me and it's it's really it feels very impactful and I don't I don't I feel like this could be life-changing and I don't mean that in a very generic I don't know how and I don't know in what way and Mary and I have had this conversation and actually when I was at an event at Lisa um Su Maran I'm gonna give her credit she's a local state senator she's amazing um but she um was at the event and she said to me you know she was asking me about the trip and she was like I'm so excited for you and I said yeah I really feel like I'm just gonna show up you know and I don't know quite what it's going to be or where it's going to go or whatever but I'm just I'm ready I'm there for it I'm going to show up and she said to me you are going to come back more you than you are right now and I went oh my God that's totally what I feel like is gonna happen and I had never thought of it in those terms it's such a weird way to like but I'm like that is exactly what I feel like and I don't know what ways but it's like and that's okay not knowing yeah totally we're opening ourselves up and I just just thought this I'm thinking of this now as a listening tour because that's what we're doing we're listening we're asking questions it's not Jenny doing demonstrations for everyone is them showing us their ways their cultures their process their stories their history their food their ingredients their processes all of that so we're just going to be drinking all that and we're listening it's a listening tour it really is and one of the specific moments that you can look for that I just I can't wrap my head around what it means to me that we've been given permission to do this but our first night in Tanzania we're staying with the Messi tribe and the elders are making dinner and we've been given permission to film that and I can't imagine the impact I feel like that's going to have on on us um and really again it's that listening to it's honoring what we're seeing and what we're learning and and really allowing ourselves to be immersed in in that culture in that way of doing things and learning from that and again you know that's just so special I mean I feel like that's a very very special that's going to be a special night and then we wake up to mount kilamanjaro the ceiling of Africa and that's just like please don't get eaten by wild that's all I ask but do our best you can't even wrap your head Mar's over there got her head in the camera Jenny look there's something behind you you can't even wrap your head around what the you know it's funny cuz somebody said to me like has this always been on your mind and I was supposed to go to Africa um I was supposed to be part of a team teaching entrepreneurship um uh 12 years ago for a Babson as part of she wearing her Babson I am wearing a little bit of my Babson like like like kind of green so nice I love it Go Babson um but I was supposed to go and I broke my ankle a couple weeks before I was supposed to go and it was to teach um entrepreneurship to high school students and help them come up with way and you know solutions that that help their their neighborhoods and their areas and I was so bombed out and everyone said like hey is this always been in your mind I was like maybe in the back of my mind but the reality is Africa is the base of civilization so for me it also feels like it's the right place to show up when you're trying to figure out who J Jenny is let's go with that and start at the base of civilization and let's go through these building BLS together I just have Toto in the back of my head and I can't get it's really bother all I've been thinking about to myself not the dog there's no place I call I I I I might I might I might get my Kim marshand on though and put some red heels together at bringing some red heels with you Erica says Jenny's giggles and Steph's laugh perfect com coming back as you sounds amazing Megan says listen learn and lift each other other up Rachel from adquate Acres can do a donation box for a fridge this season I love it love that this is our community and it is the base and the basis of civilization and you're going there and you're going to bring back all of this to us and we're going to be able to watch this journey unfold on YouTube make sure you're looking for the links I'm going to be posting them pretty much everywhere that you could possibly see them and uh we're going to be following your journey and hopefully we get more followers as we go we'll beting PES and reminding where you are and what you're doing and I know everyone at The Family Table collaborative is going to be watching un baited breath to see what happens whether it's you guys in like petting gorillas I obviously know you're not going to be petting gorillas like I don't I don't think they encourage that mentally the thought of you two in this like rickety Jeep for eight hours to get there is like oh my God just we're either going to come back best friends which we already kind of are now or or mortal enemies I don't even look I think the former is supposed to the ladder so people seriously so just to be clear and I'm gonna relate this to African traum Bond yeah so everyone I I love doing baby goat yoga and um but I literally spend an hour doing baby goat yoga trying to come up with ways that I can smuggle out of baby goat so I'm not 100% sure that like the yoga part is in the foremost of my mind what I'm doing it but it's very relaxing because I love love animals and so we are going in Kenya we're going to an elephant orphanage yep the sheldrick wildlife trust yes well you're gonna probably need it after the Messiah tribe feeds you because I don't know how that's gonna look just we go to the elephant orphanage first however I literally was like I I said to Mary I was like if I tell you to leave me there I'm just saying you could do yoga on literally I cannot imagine how much I'm going to want to stay with the baby elephants I know and there's nothing more family than elephants I just really love that you're starting your space there look at this circle of life here yeah exactly and we're told it's baby season so hopefully in the wild we're supposed to see the little not just I'm so excited to watch it watching you know the Prides of lions and we don't we we're open to whatever we see and I told myself and I said this to J yesterday I'm going to make a point even though I'm doing video and photo I got to move the camera away I got to experience it real time for me AB not just through the lens because it's so easy just to do that I don't need to take a million pictures and please have a line moment hold up one of the baby elephants for me L Simba it's so funny but this is like this is such like you know it's it this is more of like an American thing I hear all these people going on safaris and stuff and I actually saw saw a show the other day and it was totally poking fun and they got in they got in the vehicle and the gentleman said we'd like to see the giraffes today and and the guy goes sure I'll call them right up we have an appointment for the with the giraffes at 11 o'clock so when I say we really don't know what's kind like it's not like we get to we don't we don't get to script this so you might get to see the good the Bad and the Ugly you might get to see I'm really looking forward to that just no like malaria or anything like that we have our malaria we have all the things all the precautions things we're prepared yep yep we we got all the things and and Mary Mary too it's like back I'm actually G to print those shirts everyone needs an adult Manny awesome okay he follow this journey you're definitely going to want to because we talked for an hour and 15 minutes straight and it really didn't even blank or talk about the news of the day today so uh we rest in peace Toby Keith that was an awful story this morning that we got into I said that Dartmouth College is making SATs come back to life why why um why just why and all the other news that we completely ignored because we'd rather talk about baby elephants and feeding the world so uh have a great day everybody make sure you follow everybody individually we're going to be sharing this journey with you on YouTube and I promise you you will not be able to look away from this please come along with us come on our journey of joy I love it from The Family Table collaborative Jenny Mary we wish you all a really great Tuesday thank you have a great it's Tuesday bye seriously I can't everybody else Hank is coming up next on the lunchtime show here on Lemon Ado like subscribe and follow us on YouTube