WALMART FOUNDATION FUNDING FUELS NEW FOOD PRESCRIPTION PROGRAM

UM professors develop initiative to address food insecurity, food desert issues for Mississippians

BY SHEA STEWART

Three University of Mississippi professors are recipients of a nearly half-million-dollar grant from the Walmart Foundation that will create a food prescription program to improve access to fresh food for Mississippians.

The $442,154 grant from the Walmart Foundation will fund a program that is expected to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables and increase food security and food access for citizens of Charleston in Tallahatchie County.

Titled “Hunger in Rural communities (HUNGeR): Integrating health and food systems for a sustainable food prescription approach,” the program is intended to improve the health outcomes of the entire household, as well as identify processes for spreading these kinds of programs to other communities and keeping them going once they are started.

The three professors are Anne Cafer, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Meagen Rosenthal, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration, both from the Oxford campus, and Seena Haines, Chair and Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the UM Medical Center.

“By supporting research, learning and outreach on food insecurity, the Walmart Foundation’s generous grant aligns with the University of Mississippi’s dedication to fostering health and well-being in our region, nation and world,” Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. “We’re grateful to the Walmart Foundation for enabling the development of replicable, scalable interventions and programs.

The program will take a holistic approach in providing households who lack regular access to healthy foods with fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrition counseling, as well as education on how to store, prepare and cook these items.

“This program is the culmination of some incredibly innovative and interdisciplinary work taking place at the University of Mississippi,” Cafer said. “The faculty, staff and community partners involved have spent two years working across a number of disciplinary and institutional boundaries to pilot and ultimately build a fundable program to address health at the nexus of food access and nutrition.”

The program is one of the first hosted by the Community First Research Center for Wellbeing and Creative Achievement, a new UM center with the mission of empowering Mississippi communities – from counties and cities to groups of citizens – to take charge of their community development, policy change and resilience building by using data and the arts.

The program is partnering with the James C. Kennedy Wellness Center in Charleston. Part of the Tallahatchie General Hospital Organization, the center, which opened in 2016, empowers the local community to lead healthy and happy lives through health and wellness programs, indoor and outdoor exercise options, and nutrition and self-care services.

“I am thrilled about the Food Rx Project and believe it will bring much-needed access to fresh produce and increased awareness of good nutrition practices to families in the Charleston area and, in turn, will improve health outcomes, food security and well-being,” said Catherine Moring, the center’s executive director.

Food insecurity is the lack of reliable access to affordable, nutritious food. A high rate of food insecurity makes unhealthy choices easy, accessible and affordable.

The food insecurity rate is 19.2 percent in Tallahatchie

County, with nearly 2,800 food-insecure people, according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap project. In Mississippi, an estimated 573,600 people are food insecure, about one in five Mississippians.

“I am excited that our program has worked with the community to build upon the solid foundation of work that is ongoing in Charleston and Tallahatchie County,” Rosenthal said. “I am also very hopeful that the evaluation of this program will provide insights into how it could be sustained over the long term.

“The research tells us that food insecurity is a persistent problem that isn’t solved by single interventions, but one that requires a systematic solution. This program will be a step in that direction.”

Portions of Tallahatchie County also are food deserts (areas where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food) where a significant number of residents are more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest supermarket, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

Through the program, enrolled patients will be eligible to pick up a box of fruits and vegetables every two weeks for up to 24 months. The boxes will include recipes. Enrollees also will receive medical nutrition therapy and, every six months, receive complimentary health risk assessments.

The program will provide about 45,000 meals for 200 people for two years with the goals of improving objective health measures, restyling consumption patterns of fruits and vegetables, changing the knowledge of healthy food choices, and increasing the knowledge of families to prepare healthy food in a way that is appealing, easy and affordable.

“This program will provide holistic care promoting the consumption of nutrient-dense foods by addressing barriers to food access, empowering patients to make healthier choices – and feeling confident about what these food choices are – and recommending medical nutrition therapy for those with health conditions directly related to food choices,” Haines said.

The program also will address three critical research areas: addressing the patient referral system to a food prescription program, engaging the scarcity of long-term clinical outcomes data involving health metrics, and looking at the failure to develop mechanisms for sustaining these programs without a consistent infusion of grant funding.

“Access to healthy food builds the foundation for good health in communities,” said Eileen Hyde, director of sustainable food systems and food access for Walmart.org. “Our goal is to improve people’s ability to more consistently consume nutritious food.

“That involves connecting people to the food they need as well as building confidence in their choices. We’re excited to support and learn from the University of Mississippi’s innovative program that will help Mississippians improve their health.”

The three professors are team leaders of the university’s Community Wellbeing Flagship Constellation. The Flagship Constellations initiative was unveiled in November 2017 as a collaborative effort among faculty, staff and students from the university’s Oxford and Medical Center campuses to explore and solve complex issues through the diversity of ideas.

The initiative includes multidisciplinary teams working to find solutions to grand challenges in the areas of brain wellness, community well-being and disaster resilience.

About Philanthropy at Walmart

Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By leaning in where the business has unique strengths, Walmart. org works to tackle key social issues and collaborate with others to spark longlasting systemic change. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs that work to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, address hunger and make healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality, and build strong communities where Walmart operates. To learn more, visit walmart. org or find us on Twitter @walmartorg. edm Seena Haines

Anne Cafer

French Hermit Oyster Co.

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ

Mike and Tommy.

The most memorable products are those with a great backstory. A fascinating story is the inspiration for the name of French Hermit Oyster Company in Biloxi. During the 1920s, a Frenchman named Jean Guilhot settled on Deer Island, about four and a half miles off Biloxi’s coast in the Gulf of Mexico. A barber by trade, he had traveled all around the United States before deciding Deer Island would be his stopping place. He became known as the “Hermit of Deer Island,” and he harvested oysters which he sold to residents of Biloxi. Tourist boats that came to the island brought groceries and the newspaper for Guilhot, who would row out to serenade tourists with French folk songs.

Anita Arguellas co-owns French Hermit Oyster Company with her husband, Mike. “When we were trying to come up with a name for the company Mike remembered the legend of the hermit of Deer Island,” says Anita. “We loved the name and the story behind it.”

According to Anita, Mike is an “oyster evangelist.” The couple met in 1991 when she was living in Memphis. “He would come up to Memphis from the Coast with a sack of oysters, which is about 300 wild oysters,” Anita explains. “He’d open up the tailgate of his truck and share oysters with anybody who wanted them. He said oysters were a friendmaking tool, and he would engage people with information about oysters, their history, along with science and stories.” Some of it was true, but some was made up for entertainment purposes. Either way, Mike introduced a lot of people to raw oysters from the Mississippi Gulf.

Mike harvested his oysters by ponging, which is scraping the bottom of the Gulf with an oyster rake to dislodge them. “That’s a hard way to do it,” Anita says. “It involves a lot of chest work.” The couple eventually moved from Memphis to the Coast. “Mike is originally from Biloxi, and he wanted to be back near the water. He had an opportunity to build piers Floating cages on Deer Island.

and boathouses for the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), a division of the Mississippi Development Authority.”

The DMR asked Mike about building the infrastructure for an oyster farm off the Coast. They were giving classes about aquaculture, and Mike said he’d like to take the class, but only if it wouldn’t preclude someone else from taking it. “He came home and told me about it and I said I’d like to take the class, too!” So, Anita and Mike both took a class to learn about off-bottom oyster aquaculture. There were 25 individuals and couples who took the training. “We made all kinds of new friends who have a common love of the water and harvesting oysters,” Anita says. “It’s a real community.”

The proposed site for the oyster farm on the Gulf coast was Henderson Point, between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian. “The residents there didn’t want it,” recalls Anita. “They didn’t want to look out into the Gulf and see floating oyster cages, so they lawyered up. Luckily, there was ten years’ worth of data about the area just south of Deer Island.” While it’s a fourand-a-half-mile boat ride for the Arguellas, and they can’t see their cages without physically going into the Gulf, they are making it work. “We can’t go onto Deer Island at all because it is protected,” says Anita. “We have to do all the work from the water.”

Realizing power in numbers, Mike and Anita approached other oyster farmers about forming a coop of sorts. “We invited the farmers to sell their oysters under the French Hermit brand. That way, if there’s a problem with someone’s boat, the oysters will still be available from another farmer. That keeps a steady supply of oysters going to our customers.”

One of those customers is Hunter Evans, chef at Elvie’s Restaurant in Jackson. “We took Hunter and his business partner, Cody McCain, out on the boat to see the oyster farm,” Anita says. Hunter has created some very innovative dishes with the French Hermit oysters. Chef Austin Sumerall

at White Pillars in Biloxi was also an early adopter. “He helped me to create a flavor profile for the oysters, and he likes the concept of aquaculture in order to maintain consistency.”

The endeavor hasn’t been without its challenges. “The first year, which was last year, I traveled to Jackson and Oxford to meet with chefs about the oysters. I was taking orders and all was going well, and right before our first harvest, the Corps of Engineers opened the Bonne Carrie Spillway to prevent flooding in New Orleans. That released massive amounts of fresh water into the Gulf, which killed the oysters. “We were able to pull some of the oysters and put them in cages in Bayou la Batre,” Anita says.

It takes nine to ten months, from “seed to sale,” the time needed to grow an edible oyster in the waters off the Mississippi Gulf coast. In other parts of the country, it takes longer. In the northeast, it takes two to three years and in Nova Scotia it takes three years. Just as production at French Hermit was ramping up again, along with sales, restaurants closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are starting to see more sales again, so we’re not giving up hope,” she says.

The oyster farming life is a good one for the Arguellas. “Most of the people who do this have other jobs as well.” Anita works at the University of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research

Laboratory Marine Education Center. “Oyster farming is something we do in the afternoons and on weekends.”

The Arguellas feel that what they are doing is important. “We love off-bottom aquaculture and being out on the water. We are still relatively young, and being around all the younger oyster Anita with an oyster. farmers helps keep us young. We enjoy it so much. And what we are doing is important – we are preserving the oyster culture on the Gulf coast.” edm

Left- Chef Austin Sumrall of White Pillars, Biloxi/Center - Cody of Elvies/Right - Chef Hunter Evans of Elvies, Jackson

Primos Caramel Icing and Cheese Straws

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ

What does caramel icing and furniture shopping have in common? Everything, when it comes to the deep caramel color of Primos’ caramel icing. A woman once took a tub of the icing into a local furniture store, wanting a leather recliner for her husband in that same rich color.

Primos Café has long been an institution in the Jackson area. Originally opened by Angelo “Pop” Primos, a Greek immigrant baker, in the 1920s. Today, Pop’s grandson, Don Primos, owns the restaurants, now located in Madison, Ridgeland and Flowood, maintaining the standard of excellence created his grandfather.

One of the favorites at Primos Café throughout the years has been their delicious caramel cake. “My mother, Mary Ann, would visit her college roommate’s family, the Gammons, in Como, Mississippi,” says Don. “Mrs. Gammon always served her fabulous caramel cake. My mother mastered the art of Mrs. Gammon’s cake and made it for us often. My father wanted to start serving slices of layered cakes at Primos Northgate in Jackson. Around 1983, my mother and my wife, Virginia, would make six or seven different layer cakes at home, one at a time, and bring them to Northgate to sell.” Eventually, the restaurant hired another baker at Northgate and “the girls” were off the hook.

“The caramel cake has always been a favorite,” says Don. “The baker, Joann Grayson, started making one cake at a time, then three at a time and eventually began producing the distinctive caramel icing in bulk. Our recipe now is the result of much tweaking. It is the perfect ‘brownness,’ a deep caramel color that’s just before being overcooked. It’s always creamy and never too sugary or grainy. Our icing is made in-house, with pure butter, cream and love – no substitutes!”

Primos began selling the icing online though the Primos’ online Bake Shop in November 2016. “People use it to ice cupcakes, for caramel apples, as a fruit dip, with ice cream or even as a snack on its own.”

Another popular product Primos sells online is cheese straws. “We even have cheese bursts, which are equally delicious and beautiful on cheese platters,” says Don. The cheese straws became popular in 1970, when Don’s father, Kenneth Primos, was looking for a cheese straw he could use for parties and receptions held at Northgate’s banquet facilities. “He researched and developed our recipe,” says Don. “Customers began asking

for them, so he began selling them in the Primos Deli.”

The cheese straws were originally made using Wearever aluminum cookie guns. “We used those for years, and every time one broke, my dad would fix it, creating parts when needed,” says Don. “He did that until he could no longer fix the cookie guns, and he was unable to replace them.” When Primos opened the Flowood location on Lakeland Drive, the demand for cheese straws grew and Don sourced an extruder to create the cheese straws using the same recipe. The popular starburst-shaped cheese bursts were added at that time, providing a perfect bite-sized version of the spicy original cheese straws.

A perfect addition to any party table, the cheese straws look pretty while providing a satisfying crunch and touch of spice. Primos recommends heating them in a 350 degree oven for five to ten minutes before serving for maximum enjoyment. Don says approximately 1,800 pounds of the cheese straws and cheese bursts are sold each December. “They have become a staple at holiday parties and they have become a very welcomed gift.”

The caramel icing as well as the cheese straws and cheese bursts are made by Primos employees at the restaurant’s central bakery, located behind the Primos Café on Lakeland Drive. The products are shipped nationwide through primosbakeshop. com. edm

Destin Harbor

Emerald Coast Trip: Fun, Sun and Interesting Food Finds

BY KARA KIMBROUGH

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is one of my favorite travel destinations. But, every now and then I venture further east to enjoy other Gulf of Mexico beaches. A few days with friends at the Hilton Sandestin at Miramar Beach near Destin, FL, an area of northwest Florida famed for its sugarwhite sands and emerald-hued waters, was the perfect summer starter. Unbelievably fresh, creative and delicious food finds took the trip to a new hemisphere.

Reality was left behind as we explored the Emerald Coast, named for its light green water color interspersed with stripes of brilliant blue. Intermingled with fun were fresh seafood meals and sandwiches, innovative appetizers and creative desserts.

Visiting a place called “Stinky’s” in such a beautiful place almost seemed sacrilegious. However, it came highly recommended by a Hattiesburg friend so we decided to give it a try.

Located in Santa Rosa Beach on Florida’s famous Highway 30A, Stinky’s is a lively casual-style restaurant. The response to Stinky’s wedge salad topped with crispy bacon, sliced tomatoes, onions and the restaurant’s delicious Green Goddess dressing, followed by fried shrimp, catfish and other seafood accompaniments confirmed we made the right dining decision.

Further exploration of 30A brought glimpses of Florida’s beaches, rare dune lakes, plenty of shopping and opportunities for water view dining.

Intrigued after learning Seaside’s “Bud & Alley’s” was named for a dog and a cat, we selected it from among a group of area restaurants and food trucks. Seated at a wooden table overlooking brilliant water, I sampled one of the best shrimp po’boys of my life. Lightly seasoned and breaded shrimp were nestled on a bed of the tastiest coleslaw I’d ever tasted. The chef kindly shared his secret of adding sugar and onion and garlic powder to what I’m assuming is a homemade mayo base with perhaps a dash of Greek yogurt. It’s definitely a recipe I’ll attempt to recreate.

Other food highlights were gelato at roadside stands, lobster rolls at Seaside’s Shrimp Shack and chicken and waffles at Pickles, also in the Seaside area.

Our culinary highlight was a visit to The Vue on 30A along Santa Rosa Beach. I wasn’t surprised to learn the picturesque restaurant was named “Best Waterfront Dining” by “Travel and Leisure Magazine”. Postcard-worthy views of the water and if you dine in the evening, amazing sunsets, from either its glassfronted dining areas or beachfront patios, are mesmerizing. However, arrival of our dinner almost made me forget the views. Chef Isley Whyte has added sophisticated Southern twists with a Jamaican flair to regular seafood and other dishes.

Accustomed to the normal cream cheese-centric appetizer, we didn’t expect a light, tasty version of spinach and artichoke dish. Unbelievably, the vegetable flavor was actually present. I’d previously sampled lobster tails, but Chef Whyte’s crab-stuffed version was amazingly different.

Two Maine lobster tails are topped with crab meat, smoked Gouda cheese, cream and panko breadcrumbs. It was an unforgettable meal topped off with a peach and mango cobbler with a crust so light and delicate it literally melted with each bite.

The Vue has a seafood-centric menu, but there’s no scarcity of steaks. Others in our group enjoyed filet mignon topped with a red wine chorizo demi glaze and rosemary fingerling potatoes.

On the final morning of our trip, we braved 80-degree heat to wait in line outside at Destin’s famous The Donut Hole. Pancakes, waffles, omelets and biscuits are just a few of the breakfast offerings at this old-school diner and bake shop. But it’s the 30-plus flavors of homemade doughnuts that have residents and tourists lining up all day.

And yes, a box of 12 different flavors accompanied me home to Mississippi. edm

Mississippi & Beyond Feature: Chef Alex Eaton

BY SUSAN MARQUEZ

For many, it’s necessary to leave home in order to truly appreciate it. That’s true for Alex Eaton, chef and coowner of The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen in Jackson. Alex grew up in Jackson, and when it was time to go to college, all his friends were heading to Ole Miss. “I wanted to do something different,” he says, “so I went to Mississippi State where I majored in construction management.” After his junior year, he went to Boulder, Colorado, to try to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. That began a several-year journey that eventually led him back to Jackson.

“I was young and didn’t have any real obligations,” recalls Alex. “I spent my weekends going to concerts, but during the week, I helped a guy open a pizzeria in Boulder. I did everything, including cleaning ovens, to help get the place going.” It was during that time that Alex decided he’d like to someday open his own small business.

When he returned to college, he changed his major to marketing. After graduation, he decided to attend culinary school at Johnson and Wales University in North Carolina. “There are other campuses I could have chosen, from Miami to Rhode Island to Denver. I ruled out Miami and Denver, but decided I wanted to stay in the south, so I chose the Charlotte campus.”

After getting settled in at the school, Alex and his dad went to eat at a fine dining restaurant in Charlotte called Rooster’s Wood Fired Kitchen. “My dad ordered the duck confit and between bites he told me I really needed to learn how to make that dish.” Alex ended up working at the restaurant. “I went to culinary school from 5 am to 2 pm, and worked at Rooster’s from 3 pm to 11 pm. It was grueling, but I learned so much during that time.”

Alex recalls a professor at school who told him that if someone has a good attitude, he could teach them to cook. And Alex had a good attitude. “I am fortunate that I had a good upbringing with parents who were always encouraging me.” Alex worked with local farmers and learned to cook the right

way. “I learned to serve food at its seasonal peak. Tomatoes are ripe in the summer, so that’s when you serve them in a variety of dishes.”

With the 2008 financial collapse, Alex witnessed the successful restaurant begin to suffer and dry up. “They had to tighten the reigns to make it through.” Little did he know that experience would play out for him again in his future.

Alex and his wife, who is from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, decided it was time to move closer to home. He knew there was a huge culinary scene in New Orleans, so he did some research on some of the most popular chefs. “I looked at John Besh and Donald Link, and decided to try out for Domenica Restaurant, owned by Besh and Israeli-born chef Alon Shia. Shia is the one who offered me the job,” says Alex. “I was a kid who flew in from North Carolina, so he knew I was serious. I have to admit, I was star-struck around John Besh. In hindsight, I believe I sold myself short, because I imagined at the time that everyone there had to be better than me. The truth is, I was already very skilled in the kitchen.”

At Dominica, Alex learned to make pizzas. “It was a tough job. That, combined with kids from all over the country who were trying to build a resume made it very competitive. Shia struggled with labor and food costs, which was also a lesson for Alex, who began to look around to see what other opportunities may be available in New Orleans. “I got in with the Brennan group and worked at Mr. B’s Bistro, which was my first taste of New Orleans life. It was there that I figured out how to keep employees.”

When Jackson restauranteur Bill Latham was opening Table 100 in Flowood, he talked with Alex about coming to work. Amerigo’s, another of Bill Latham’s restaurants, was one of Alex’s favorites while growing up in Jackson. At Table 100, Alex attended every manager’s meeting and took notes. “There was a German chef there, Chef Mike, who was awesome at catering. He knew how to cut costs and make money. He ran his kitchen like a business. Bill was also great to train with.” Alex negotiated a good salary as chef de cuisine. “By that time, I had learned not to sell myself short.”

Alex’s next chapter began when he was introduced to

Steven O’Neal. “We had a lot of mutual friends. Steven wanted to open a restaurant, and he wanted me to join him in the venture. I gave Bill a six-month notice. I raised half the capital needed to open The Manship, and made many of the construction decisions. We started out of the gate strong. We were the new kid on the block in Jackson’s restaurant scene and we had a lot to prove.” Christian Rodriguez, who had opened the P.F. Chang’s in Ridgeland, joined the team. “Christian got different kinds of workers. I really trusted him. He made a lot of changes, which made things more efficient in the kitchen and cooler. That’s when our catering began to pick up.”

Alex’s work at The Manship drew much notice, and many awards followed, included being crowned King of American Seafood in 2016 and nominated for a James Beard award in 2019. He was getting calls from developers about putting in restaurants in the District in Jackson and the Township in Ridgeland. But when Highland Village called, Alex felt that was the right time to roll out his Mediterranean counter serve concept. “My mom is full-blooded Lebanese, which was my inspiration.” He got his business plan together and opened Aplos.

In the spring, tragedy struck The Manship when a fire broke out in the kitchen. While the cleanup and restoration of the restaurant was in process, Aplos became the focus. “We were taking care of our employees and our business.” Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Alex had to get creative. “We did a fun pop-up concept at Manship called Smoke Show that played off the fire we had. We did carryout and even set up in neighborhoods in the area for people to pick up food to eat at home.” Alex also did a series of cooking demonstrations on YouTube. Their Manship Provisions shop online began selling items from local vendors. “We have always made it a point to utilize fresh, locally produced ingredients, and now we are offering those same ingredients to our customers, which in turn helps the vendors. All of the offerings are available to order through our website. It’s a win-win.”

What Alex has learned in his years in the restaurant business is that if you treat people well from the start, it will always pay off. “We have always lived within our means, so scaling back during the pandemic has not been that hard. My dad was an oil man, so we learned early on when oil prices were up, we ate a different cut of meat than we did when oil prices were down. But we never went hungry.” edm