Food Connects Us Q&A Series: Rachel Ezzel, Family and Consumer Science Agent, Duplin County Extension Center

For National Nutrition Month, our Community Nutrition Team asked four community partners to share stories about how food connects them to their community. Food Bank Partner Rachel Ezzel promotes healthy eating habits inspired by the Mediterranean Diet.

Everyone in the world needs food. And this gives us a shared purpose. Our Community Nutrition Team is committed to building relationships with our partners because we value food and the people who eat it.

For National Nutrition Month, the Community Nutrition Team asked four community partners to share stories about how food connects them to their personal and professional communities. These connections can happen in our Community Kitchen, at a Kids Summer Meals site, or simply at the dinner table with a new friend.

Food Bank Partner Rachel Ezzel specializes in nutrition and cooking classes like Med Instead of Meds. This class promotes healthy eating habits inspired by the Mediterranean Diet to prevent taking medications for chronic diseases. Rachel shares her passion for nutrition education and food preservation through her work with the N.C. Cooperative Extension. This is a part of a national network of educational opportunities and programming that includes nutrition, finance, and farming.

Rachel spoke with the Food Bank about the meaning of food, and how this deepens her relationship with the community.

“Rachel brings so much knowledge and expertise to her classes but also a little love and fun. I know this, because I have been lucky enough to receive a jar of jam from one of her canning classes made with local NC apples. We are so very grateful for Rachel and her partnership!”

-Nutrition Program Coordinator Kathleen Hoolihan

What does “Food” mean to you?

Food is family to me. It’s our community and livelihood and culture. It’s the breakfast biscuits the farmers eat together at the corner store and the chicken noodle soup your mom makes when you don’t feel well. It’s picking grapes in the summer off of a grandparents’ vine and sharing with neighbors. It’s bringing a favorite dish to a potluck and exchanging new recipes with friends. It’s a friend’s mom making arabic coffee to share with us about her culture and home and a binder full of handwritten recipes. It’s both the hard work of growing it and the comfort of sharing it with the people you love.

Professionally, how does food connect you to your community or your community to each other?

As a Family and Consumer Sciences Agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension, so much of what I do at work revolves around food, nutrition, and accessibility. One part of my job I love is when we’re in the kitchen. Oftentimes participants didn’t know each other before the program but are working as a team to create a variety of recipes. It’s such a neat way to meet people and just connect with others through food. I’ve learned a lot about culture and family traditions through conversations in the kitchen.

Personally, how does food connect you to your community?

Personally, I’m the eighth generation on my family’s farm. I have loved the opportunity to grow up and continue to live in rural NC in an area very driven by agriculture. Food is our livelihood. Food is hard work, long hours, and late nights. It’s not unusual to come home to a flat of blueberries or a bag of squash or whatever produce may be in season that a neighbor had extra of and shared with their community. Harvest season, regardless of the crop, is typically a busy time for farmers, and yet it’s a time I feel so connected to my community and proud of their work. My community and family are rooted in agriculture, so I typically see food through the lens of appreciating the people that made getting that food to my table possible.

“Food is family to me. It’s our community and livelihood and culture. It’s the breakfast biscuits the farmers eat together at the corner store and the chicken noodle soup your mom makes when you don’t feel well…[Food is] both the hard work of growing it and the comfort of sharing it with the people you love.”

-Rachel Ezzel, Family and Consumer Science Agent, Duplin County Extension Center

This March, we celebrate National Nutrition Month with our Food Connects Us blog series. The Community Nutrition Team asked four community partners to share stories about how food connects them to their community. Follow the blog series and go to our Youtube page to learn healthy recipes and cooking tips.