Interviewee: April Jones
Interviewer: Ella Concannon
Location: Remote interview (Columbia, SC and Columbia, SC)
Date: September 28, 2020
Accession #: ELEC 003
Length of Recording: 38:10
Summary
April Jones was born in San Diego, California and raised in Akron, Ohio where she attended Akron University before moving to Columbia, South Carolina. In the interview, April reflects on her childhood and upbringing in Akron, including her favorite family traditions and the people that had an impact on her. Both sets of her grandparents were a part of the Great Migration in search of less racism and more opportunities – her paternal grandparents started in Louisiana and moved to Texas and California while her maternal grandparents started in Georgia and moved to Ohio.
Throughout the interview, April discusses the issue of food insecurity in America as well as the actions that community members can take in order to increase food access. Her desire to better her surrounding communities led her to start and lead the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market in her neighborhood. April further encourages people to get involved in their community, especially by being politically active, highlighting the importance of maintaining an open mind when it comes to differing opinions.
Keywords
Activism | Community | Politics | Columbia, South Carolina | Pinehurst Neighborhood | Food Apartheid | Food Insecurity | Heirloom Foods
Recording
Transcript
Ella Concannon: Alright so this is an oral history interview for the 2020 Election: Sharing Stories of Civic Engagement oral history project, part of the coursework for the Honors College class SCHC 326, documenting the perspectives and experiences of those who are engaged in some way in the 2020 election. This is Ella Concannon, the date is September 28, 2020 and today I’m interviewing April Jones remotely. I am located in Columbia, South Carolina and April is also located in Columbia, South Carolina. So, would you start by giving me your full name, including your maiden name, and spelling it?
April Jones: Sure. Ok so I’m April. My maiden name is Parms, P as in Paw -A-R-M-S, hyphen Elloye, E-L-L-O-Y-E. And my [ ] married name is Jones.
EC: Awesome, thank you. So, April, where were you born?
AJ: So, I was born in San Diego, California.
EC: Ok, is that where you grew up?
AJ: So, I grew up in Akron, Ohio. So, I moved from San Diego when I was two.
EC: Ok, so did you move from San Diego to Akron when you were two and stay there pretty much the rest of your life?
AJ: Yeah! So, I moved from San Diego to Akron, Ohio for… and then I was there forever. And so, I went elementary school, middle school, high school, college. I went to the University of Akron, (laughter) so I’m an Akronite through and through. And then I taught in Akron public schools. My major was in education. And then I moved to South Carolina.
EC: Awesome, so what was Akron like when you were growing up? For example, was it kind of rural, urban, was it a very religious community or not, and what were kind of like the social activities that you guys engaged in?
AJ: Sure, so Akron, Ohio is in the Midwest. We’re about 45 minutes from North, no South of Cleveland in Akron. If you’re in Akron it’s North 45 minutes North to Cleveland. So, we’re called the Rest Belt because we had a lot of industry. It’s the home of Goodyear Tires. On the wings of Goodyear for Akron, Ohio. We also had like Firestone was a big tire, you know, company that was there. We’re really into the polymer sciences, which is like, you know, dealing with rubbers, so that’s kind of our specialty, especially at the University of Akron. And so I don’t know, I think Akron was very Midwest values.
(an aside)
EC: So yeah so thank you for sharing a little bit about Akron and growing up there. So next could you tell me a little bit about your parents and grandparents? And you can start by, giving me their names.
AJ: Sure, so my mom is Rebecca Parms and my dad is Louis Elloye. And my grandparents are Louis Elloye and my, I can’t remember my grandmas (laughter) she was Lowes, Lowes Elloye. And then my grandmother was Ophelia Parms on my mom’s side and then my mom’s father was JP Parms.
EC: Awesome. So how did your parents meet each other?
AJ: Yeah so, my parents met in San Diego. My mom had just graduated from law school and my father was a professor at a school in San Diego. And so that’s how they met. And then they had me. My parents were not married and so my mom decided to go back to Ohio because it’s just an easier quality, it’s like higher quality of life because it’s less expensive, her family was there, she had family support, and she had already passed the bar in Ohio. So, it was just easy breezy. And so, yeah and my grandparents on my mom’s side are from Milledgeville, my grandmother is from Milledgeville and my grandfather is from Oglethorpe, Georgia. And so, they were born there, they were raised a little bit there, and they moved to Akron and they met and got married. And then my grandparents [on my father’s side] are both from New Orleans and so Louisiana. And so, they met, and they got married. And all my dad’s side is pretty much still in Louisiana, a little bit Texas, a little bit of California. So, like they basically took the great migration that route and then my mom’s family they took the great migration from Georgia to Akron, Ohio. And so yeah.
EC: So, it sounds like you have family all over the place now!
AJ: Yeah… everybody is everywhere now. I mean everybody travels and my mom’s side we have family all over and my dad’s side it’s mostly New Orleans, Louisiana area and then Texas, California, but there’s some people other places too, but yeah.
EC: So, you said that when you were two you moved to Akron with your mom. When you were growing up did you still, you know, stay in contact with your dad or ever see him?
AJ: Yeah, no, we really weren’t that close. I became closer with my dad’s family when I was in college and so then I went down to New Orleans and I got a chance to meet everybody and hangout and we are still really close to this day. So, yeah.
EC: That’s awesome. Do you have any siblings?
AJ: I do. I do have siblings. I have two brothers and, four, OK, so I have four brothers total. One’s in Texas and three are in California.
EC: Are you the oldest, youngest, middle child?
AJ: I am the baby girl of the family. Yeah.
EC: How did you like being the youngest growing up?
AJ: I loved it! Well I kind of grew up an only child though. So, it was like sort of a mix. Like I have siblings, but I didn’t grow up with them. So, I grew up as an only child and I loved that, that was great. But being the youngest girl was nice because my brothers were older, they can give me advice, and, you know, it’s a good rapport. So, I like it.
EC: Yeah. So, growing up did you have any family traditions that were really big with your family?
AJ: Yeah, I mean I think we had a lot of family traditions. We would go apple picking, we would go pumpkin picking, we would plant sunflowers in the summertime sometimes tomato plants, harvest the tomatoes. Hayrides in the fall. Apple cider in the fall. Wintertime we would ski, and we would go sledding. So yeah, we had a lot of like seasonal traditions.
EC: Uh-huh. So now being in South Carolina, do you still, you know, celebrate or, you know, carry forward any of those traditions? I know a lot of those seem like things that you do a lot more where it’s cold like skiing but have you been able to carry on any of those?
AJ: I mean we do gardening more because it’s so warm and sunny here and so we garden year-round. So that has been really good for our family. And, but apple picking is hard because there is not that much apple picking here. It’s mostly in the north of the state so it’s about an hour and a half to two-hour drive so we have not done that. Obviously, we don’t ski. But we do like a lot of potatoes, a lot of root vegetables, a lot of like Bauer kind of tasting dishes. So, definitely my Ohio background. But it’s like not the same because here the culture is more like summery things, you know, like going to the beach and I don’t know, like summery hot things. So, we don’t do as many of the cold Ohio things, but we eat Ohio-an.
EC: Do you, would you say that you either like kind of the culture in Ohio versus South Carolina better or would you say you like both?
AJ: Well that’s the great thing that I love about America, right? So, it’s kind of like we are one country but we’re kind of like maybe 20 different countries, you know? Like, each little area has its own distinctive like culture, the way they do things, the way they see things, the way they interact with people. You know, it’s so different. Right, like you know, if you go to New York, it’s like very loud, very aggressive, very tell it like it is, and I love that. I love that. And they’re super go-getters. And I love that too, they’re like so like gritty and like hustling, and then South Carolina is just more like laid back, more easy going, more congenial. So, I think there’s you know pros and cons to each, but I think that’s the great thing about America is you can travel, right? So, if you get tired of being congenial and you want to be more gritty, you can just hop a flight, not now because Covid, but you know, regular times you can hop a flight or drive up and be in New York, so.
EC: What you said was really funny. It reminded me of my roommates and both of my roommates are actually from South Carolina and about a year ago we went to New York together and both my roommates have kind of a southern drawl and are a lot more, you know, slower paced compared to people in New York. So when we were in New York ordering food at a restaurant my roommates were using words like “oh yes ma’am, please, and thank you” and then the, the waiter said something along the lines of like “where are you guys from because it’s definitely not New York” (laughter).
AJ: Definitely not New York. (Laughter). Yeah.
EC: Changing it up a little bit, who is someone that had kind of a good influence on you or someone that you kind of looked up to?
AJ: So, my uncle Ed was like a big figure in Akron, Ohio. He was a civil rights attorney and then a regular attorney and he did a lot for the black community, so he fought for you know more African American officers on the police force, on the fire department, things of that nature. So those were huge historic victories because you know those were like quality of life issues you know everyone needs to make money everybody needs to have access to opportunity and so he was a big proponent of that, believer in that, and so he’s always someone that I admire because he really was a fighter for the people and he was very tenacious.
EC: Do you think his kind of like actions to kind of better the community for the people around him kind of encouraged you to get involved with stuff like that?
AJ: Oh absolutely! I mean I think that it’s so important to be involved. On my mom’s side and my dad’s side most of the people in our family are entrepreneurs and they have their own businesses. So, my grandfather had gas stations and dry cleaners (laughter). So, he passed it down to my uncle who took over the business. And so yeah we, and my grandfather he was a bar owner and he had a ballroom and like multiple other businesses so people in my family definitely are you know determined and gritty on both sides and so it’s definitely an inspiration, you know, they have really high bar. Like I didn’t go to law school, I have no plans of going to law school, but you know everybody can do their part. So, I have the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market, which is, an organic and local small market in my neighborhood in Pinehurst which is in downtown Columbia. And so, I started the market in my family legacy of starting something and helping the community because we had two grocery stores that had closed and so we were in a food apartheid area. And so, we came together as a community and were able to fight that inequity by starting a market. And it’s been a big success! It’s been very, very fruitful.
EC: Yeah that’s awesome! I know in your email you said that you ran the, or currently do run, the Pinehurst Food Market but I had no idea that you actually started it so that’s really awesome.
AJ: If I was a man, I would have said that at the beginning! You know. (Laughter). Like, hi Ron, I manage… and then you’re like you’re doing real stuff. And you’re like maybe. (Laughter). I’ve been trying to work on that, it’s so hard. It’s so hard.
EC: So, so how long ago did you start that?
AJ: So, it’s almost two years now. In January we’ll come up to our, it’ll be our second anniversary. Yeah.
EC: That’s exciting. So where exactly is the Pinehurst area or Pinehurst Food Market? I’m not like super comfortable or like familiar with the Columbia area but I live in the, you know, Five Points area kind of close to campus.
AJ: You’re down the street! We’re neighbors!
EC: Really?!
AJ: Right!
EC: That’s crazy!
AJ: Yeah, so we are so there’s lots of ways to get to us. So, if you take Two Notch, we’re off of Two Notch. But, three blocks up is Millwood. So, you’re just going toward Shandon area from Two Notch. That’s how you would get to us. So, you could either go up Devine Street, make a left on Millwood, and then just go up all the way up until Millwood becomes Two Notch, which is like maybe eight blocks. And then three more blocks and you’ll be at Schoolhouse Road, make a right, and there we are! We’re on Schoolhouse Road in the Pinehurst neighborhood. So, if you know where Benedict stadium is on Two Notch, that’s the start of the Pinehurst neighborhood.
EC: Awesome! Yeah, that’s pretty close. My house is right by the, the MLK Park in Five Points so.
AJ: Oh yeah! You’re like ten minutes away. Yeah so you could probably cut up not even have to go all the way up to Devine. You could just cut up one of those side streets and then make a left onto Millwood and then you’ll be in Pinehurst.
EC: So how does the food market exactly work? Like do you guys have something every Saturday? Or, you know, once a month or something like that?
AJ: We have it every Wednesday from 1:30 to 3 o’clock. And so, we have regenerative, organically grown vegetables. We have three, four farmers. We have Amanda Jones of Delco Farm, she raises heritage meats. Then we have Andrea Wood of Firebound Farm and she has amazing like southern things like boiled peanuts. She grows collards, she grows okra, she has hot peppers. So, she’s like really traditionally southern, her stuff is amazing. It’s like so full of flavor. And Amanda’s stuff is amazing too but it’s meats, so you know it’s different. And then we have Jason Rolland of Organically Rolland and he’s in Lexington and he grows heritage SC vegetables, so he grows very rare varieties of vegetables that are mostly found in like South Carolina or the Southeast that do really well here. And then Greg Brown of Greenleaf Farm. And he does heritage varieties as well. And they just do really amazing things. Like you can get red okra, purple sweet potatoes, purple potatoes, potatoes that have the red skin but inside they’re yellow beautiful blue collard greens instead of green they’re like a blue color. So, I mean there’s just so many varieties and deliciousness that we have. And the thing that makes us different is we’re actually doing it seed to plate, which means our farmers are picking out the seeds, varieties of heirloom heritage seeds, planting it in the ground, weeding it, maintaining it, and then harvesting it fresh that day for your plate. So, it’s really great.
EC: So, so did the farmers every Wednesday do each, do all four of them usually come to the Farmer’s Market with all of their goods or do you go and like pick them up throughout the week and bring them on Wednesday?
AJ: No, they come. They come to the market. So, Amanda had, she only has so many animals. So, unlike the commercial sorry that was a mosquito. Unlike the commercial producers that have like thousands of chickens Amanda may have maybe 100. Right? And so, they’re not all going to be ready to harvest at the same time. So, she only has so many animals. She only has like five or six pigs compared to like thousands of pigs. Turkeys she maybe only has 50 compared to like 500. So, she just has limited quantities. So, she sold out. That’s what I’m trying to say. She sold out! And so (laughter), we don’t have her right now. But she just dropped of her animals to the processor so we should have some more, but Andrea and Jason and Greg are here every week.
EC: Do you find that there’s usually the same kind of customers that are coming every, every week to buy things there? Or do you have a lot of different people coming every week?
AJ: I think it depends. You know, people get really busy and so we’re kind of in a different time frame, you know? So, you know, not everyone can of course come. But people, we do have regular customers. People have been coming from the beginning to now (sneeze).
EC: Bless you.
AJ: (sneeze) Excuse me. So yeah, we do have a lot of regulars.
EC: Awesome! So is this a full-time kind of position you. Like is this what you usually do, kind of, throughout the whole week or is, do you have any other jobs that you do?
AJ: Yeah! So, this is what I do. And then we also started the Pinehurst Community Action which is a nonprofit. And so basically that allows us to work more in the food justice, food sovereignty space. So, with the Farmers Market it’s so great because we’re able to access our customers and help them and give them great produce. But we have a huge need of people who are food insecure in Columbia, especially in the Pinehurst neighborhood and surrounding areas. And so, it allows us with the nonprofit to really work in that space. So, we do fundraising, we’re fundraising now so if people want to donate, give to us that would be great. We’re writing grants so we would love any consideration for any grants that we have out. And so that’s what we’re really working on. And collaboration and partnerships.
EC: Uh-huh. So, I know you mentioned the the term food apartheid a little bit earlier. Could you give a little bit more information on what exactly that means?
AJ: Absolutely. So, this is based off of the work of Leah Penniman. She owns and operates Soul Fire Farm in Upstate New York. So, she’s one of the premiere resources in the farming movement regarding food justice and food sovereignty. So, the term that has been used in the past is a food desert, and when you think of a desert you think, not like a dessert, but a desert (laughter) with lots of sand. You think of, like, just, this is just naturally occurring, right? This just naturally happens in some areas. Some areas just don’t have as much water or it could be due to global warming. But, you know, that’s not the case with the Pinehurst or what we’re experiencing. It’s not just a natural phenomenon that just naturally occurs. It’s implemented, planned, and strategy, right? So, these corporations they have stores in our communities and for whatever reason, I’m not sure the reason, they’re not talking to me about it, they decide to pull their resources out of certain communities. And they add additional resources to other communities. So, what you’re seeing right now is throughout America, not just here, is that some communities have no grocery stores. And then other communities have five or six grocery stores in their small area. So that’s not equitable, that’s not fair. I mean, everyone should have the right in America to have access to food. And what they’re replacing our grocery stores in my community and in other communities across the country is like a Dollar General or a Dollar Tree or, you know, a dollar something, right? And so there have been multiple studies, it’s not just me thinking this in my head, there have been multiple academic studies that say when you go to those stores, you’re paying a higher price for a lower quality. So, you’re not getting access, you have no access, to like fresh fruits and vegetables. Those stores have high sugar, high sodium, high fat, and that’s all going to degrade your health, right? It’s going to take your health down. When you have a grocery store, you have access to fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, milks, eggs, you know, flours, and then there’s just a whole range of healthy options. That really helps you to increase your health. And we’re seeing especially with Covid, the health outcomes really do impact you. So, if you have a crappy diet, you don’t have access, then that increases your chance of diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. etc. And if you have those conditions, and then you get Covid, then you’re going to have a more impacted life, right? You could lose your life. And all that relates back to food and food access. So, it’s so important.
EC: So, I know you said that you know, some neighborhoods have, kind of, an abundance of grocery stores and others do not. And I’ve read a couple of articles about that and something that seemed like a pretty common theme was that generally the neighborhoods that do not have as many you know, grocery stores or things like that tend to be usually minority neighborhoods. Do you find that this is true usually?
AJ: I think yeah! I mean, I think that we’re definitely coming to a reckoning regarding our country. You know, people of color obviously have been suffering for a long time. And then they’ve been suffering in ways that not everybody is aware of. So, if you didn’t live in Pinehurst, then you wouldn’t know that we lost our grocery stores, right? Because you know, I mean unless you had a friend in Pinehurst. But you know what I’m saying. Like a lot of neighborhoods are very isolated. You have friends in certain neighborhoods, you may not have friends in other neighborhoods. That goes back to red lining, right, that’s back to the federal government. So, not everybody is aware of the situation. I mean I think that because we’re having demographic changes in America, this is a huge issue, right? Because we’re not the minority. I have a two-year-old and he’s not the minority, he’s the majority. And so, children of color are going to be the majority in our country. And so, the majority of our residents don’t have access to food. I mean how are we going to be able to be a thriving country? You know? It’s just a numbers game. And so, we all have to do our part, because we’re all involved and we’re all interconnected and if the majority of our county isn’t doing well, then none of us are doing well! So, we have to work together, and so that’s what we’re doing with the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market. We’re not solving all the problems, (laughter) there’s so many, but we’re just working on this one issue to make better in our community.
EC: So, kind of going off of that, do you think that there’s anything that, you know, individuals can do to help, you know, maybe the Pinehurst area or just Columbia in general or more specifically maybe students at USC. Like is there anything that we individually, could do to help you guys out at all?
AJ: Absolutely! So, we would love to partner with any students we would love to work, you know, they know research or can research issues for us. We are applying for grants so they could be advocates for us in that way. We would love for them to be customers. We would love for, if they have other connections to other corporations, companies, businesses for donations, that would be amazing. To help further the food justice work. I mean, not everybody can do everything, but everyone can do something.
EC: That’s awesome. I’m in a couple, like, organizations on campus in the business school so I would definitely love to kind of talk to them about the Pinehurst Food Market and that kind of thing because I think it’s cool when organizations are able to partner with, you know, local organizations and kind of see, see an impact, kind of, first hand. So, I think that would be really cool.
AJ: Exactly. That would be amazing.
EC: So, as you may know the main focus of this class is the 2020 election. But kind of changing the topic a little bit could you describe maybe some of your involvement with the election maybe this year or in prior years or any kind of involvement that you may have with politics.
AJ: Yeah, I love politics (laughter). I think it’s amazing! So, I’m very politically active. And that’s a component of the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market. So, we do talk about political issues and how we see them. So, I’m personally very liberal. But the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market is like a nonpartisan kind of place where we have everyone. We have Republicans, we have Democrats, we have liberals, you know, conservatives, the whole spectrum. And we all just kind of come together and talk about issues and how we see it. And we’re all in solidarity. I think that’s the key thing. If you’re a Republican, we’re not probably going to agree on a lot of things, but we maybe can agree on food access, right? Or food sovereignty, or that everybody deserves access to food. Like that’s a general I think we can all agree on that. So, that’s the kind of platform that we’re working from. And so, we are very supportive of political candidates that are part of food access. This is not a nonprofit that’s doing this, this is just the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market. And so, we’re very supportive of candidates. And so, that’s a big push for us, is to get people more involved. And not saying who they should vote for but saying you should vote, and we should all be civically involved. And so, that’s what we’ve been doing. And so, when the candidates came for the presidential election, for the primary, we saw everyone and got a chance to talk to everyone and talk to them about the issues that we’re experiencing in Pinehurst regarding food access and what we’re doing at the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market. And so yeah, I’m excited about this political process. I think it’s exciting, it’s exciting time to be alive (laughter). Things are changing every day. And there’s really since I’m a progressive there’s a lot of good candidates like AOC, my friend, my really good friend, Morgan Harper in Ohio. She ran for a US representative seat. She lost, but she’s an amazing progressive on the front lines doing the good work. And then there’s Jamal Bowman and I mean there’s just Cori Bush, you can go on and on and on and on. There’s the Justice Democrats, a Brand New Day, groups, so there’s so many new groups that are really pushing the agenda. And Mark McEwan, I think it’s Mark, in Boston, which was huge. It was huge, so I’m excited.
EC: Yeah, it’s also really interesting for me to hear about, you know, like South Carolina or more local politics because I’m actually from Texas so I’m not super familiar with all of that. So, it’s always interesting to kind of hear what’s going on in all the different states across the country.
AJ: Yeah! And I’m a huge Jaime Harrison supporter. He had us on his podcast, so we’re huge supporters of him. I’m personally a huge supporter of his. And he’s helped us with Harrison Helps, which is like his giving back to the community. And so, we were able to do food boxes with that money. So that was a huge gift for our community. So yeah, I support him.
EC: Did you just say that you were on a podcast with him?
AJ: I was!
EC: That’s so cool! So, you met him pretty much?
AJ: Oh yeah! He’s my neighbor. Like not neighbor, neighbor but we’re in the same city council district and we have mutual friends.
EC: Wow!
AJ: I know! (laughter). All my dreams are coming true. I was like Lord, I do not like my senator. I said Lord, I want to know him! Now I know him! Now I know my senator hopefully! I’m so excited!
EC: Hopefully! So, one thing that I thought was interesting was I know that you said that you know, different people in the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market or the Pinehurst neighborhood kind of have different views. You said you’re pretty liberal. But other people can be more Republican and conservative and that kind of thing. And one thing that I think we all know about politics is that people can get pretty heated or upset with people that, you know, disagree. And some people find it difficult to, you know, have conversations about these kinds of things. So how would you say that you guys facilitate those kinds of conversations and discussions without people getting really upset or offended?
AJ: Oh yeah, absolutely! I mean I think we’re in such a polarized situation right now. You know, it’s really sad and unfortunate but I think that the key is I think people do need to say like, this is not America, but I do think this is America, right? This is who we’ve always been. And maybe, like, we just didn’t accept it about ourselves and we wanted better and that’s totally awesome and good, and I totally support that. But these are things that we as a country should’ve worked on a long time ago. Worked out the issues, instead of sweeping it under the rug sand o that’s what we’re really working on in the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market is just saying “this is how I see an issue, and you can tell me how you see an issue. And maybe we can agree, maybe we can’t, we’re not going to be able to come to an agreement.” But, it’s good to have the conversation. And I think we really, for us, it’s about solidarity and so we’re trying to come together on issues that we do agree on, right?
AJ: So, in my neighborhood, we had, I live in the county, and we got really bad sidewalks, like really bad sidewalks. So, we talked to our county counsel person and people at the city, people at the state level, and like no one was willing to help us regarding these bad sidewalks. And so, one of the members, Tony Spain, he’s running for Richland County District 3, he listened to us and was like “that’s awful, those sidewalks are bad. This is not good!” (laughter). And now he’s running for county council. And he’s really really Republican and I’m really really Liberal, but we’re in the same community. We live in the same area, and he cares about my bad sidewalks, right? He cares about me, and he cares about the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market, and he cares about the bad sidewalks. And so that’s to me the key issue, is that we’re all in the same boat, you know, we’re all living in the same community and we’re not going to agree on everything, but we can agree on some fundamentals. And I think that if we all do that in our communities, in our small little communities, and say “what fundamental things can we all agree on?” I think that would help change the country, right? Because it would grow. And so, that’s really what we focus on. We all live in the city of Columbia, we’re all in the state of South Carolina, we’re all paying taxes, hopefully. We’re not going to talk about that, we’re not going to talk about that (laughter).
EC: There’s ways around that I’ve heard!
AJ: Exactly, really? Do tell! You know we’re all in this together, and so that’s what we’re focused on. And I think that our country we can come together. We have it, we’ve done it before, we can do it. But we will have to work hard.
EC: So, in addition to kind of food security and that kind of issue, what are some other political issues that you are super passionate about?
AJ: I’m really, I’m just passionate about people getting out to vote. I’m passionate about people getting involved with their civic lives, right? I’m passionate about getting new people to run for elected officials and to run for boards. I’m just excited about everybody getting involved. I think it’s a new time, it’s a new era, and we all have to be involved. I think we’ve seen that maybe all of us have been too complacent, right? We’ve all been kind of just coasting and it was going so well, it was going so well! So, we were all just coasting along. And so now we see that we have to all do our civic duty and educate ourselves. I think that, you know, we all should have been, maybe, better educated about our civics and what our responsibility is as citizens. But if we didn’t get that education, the ownership is on us to educate ourselves and to move our country forward, right? Move our communities forward and to fill in, right? Fill in the gaps and if you see your government not doing something, request something of your government. If your government isn’t fulfilling your needs, then run for office and make sure that it changes.
EC: Awesome! Yeah, so I know there’s always some kind of protest at the state house downtown. So, have you ever participated in any of those or any gatherings like that?
AJ: I have not.
EC: You haven’t?
AJ: Because of Covid.
EC: Oh yeah, that’s the smart decision.
AJ: Yeah… and I think, I support them, right? I do support the people who are talking and being civically engaged but I have not joined the protests. I mean, I feel like we’re doing a lot of good work in Pinehurst and that keeps me pretty busy too.
EC: Yeah, for sure. So, I know you said earlier that you used to be a teacher when you lived in Ohio. Do you every miss teaching?
AJ: I do! I love it. It’s such a good calling and it’s such a passion of mine. I feel like I’m able to still use my teaching skills with the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market. But yeah, I love it. I love it – I love it – there’s nothing like teaching a child to read or to add or to get social skills, which are so important. So yeah.
EC: Do you ever think that you might maybe start teaching again in Columbia?
AJ: Oh yeah, absolutely! I’m always open to it. I love it, yeah, I’m always open to it.
EC: Awesome! Well, that’s about it for the questions that I have for you. Do you have anything else you would like to add or any comments you’d like to make about, you know, the Pinehurst Food, Farmer’s, Market, teaching, anything about politics or anything like that?
AJ: Yeah! Everyone comes to the Pinehurst Farmer’s Market! It’s Wednesday from 1:30 – 3 in the Pinehurst neighborhood on Schoolhouse Road. And so, you’ll just have access to amazing seed to plate vegetables and produce and it’s just a great time! And it’s – you socially distance and we follow all the protocols from, you know, the government and the Department of Agriculture and so it’s a great, safe, outdoor place to come and get your vegetables where everyone is very congenial and responsible.
EC: So, I’m guessing, yes, people need to wear masks?
AJ: Absolutely, yes. Wear your mask, we try to keep six feet away, we have a, it’s a fenced in property. It’s actually at my house so it’s a fenced in property. So, we actually have the fence up so that kind of helps create a barrier between the farmer and the patron. And then the farmer, you know, touches the produce and puts it in a bag, and they wear a mask and disinfect and it’s a whole protocol, but it really has been very effective. And they have found that outdoor is obviously safter than indoors. And then our market isn’t very large, we have like under 50 people every week. And so, people normally stagger their time that they come so a lot of times people are just there by themselves or they’re two people or five people probably max, so, it’s so easily to socially distance.
EC: Awesome! Well, thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed getting to know more about you and about the Pinehurst Food Market. I definitely want to come and bring some of my friends to check it out. So hopefully we might meet in person some day!
AJ: Yeah! Anytime. Yes! That would be amazing.
EC: Well, thank you again.
AJ: Alright. Have a good day!
EC: Bye, thank you!
AJ: Bye!