The Light Watkins Show

15: Olympia Auset had No Money, and Was Still Able to Create an Oasis in a Los Angeles Food Desert

Sep 2, 2020

01:01:22

Food apartheid is different from a food desert because it is man-made, and the lack of availability of healthy food disproportionately affects communities of color. This week’s guest is somebody who's working toward eliminating what she calls the food apartheid. Olympia Auset has made it her mission to find solutions to America’s food deserts, which are communities that lack access to affordable, high-quality, fresh foods. Olympia was vegan and living in a food desert herself. Because she didn't have a car, she would find herself having to spend hours on the bus just to get to the grocery store on the other side of town that carried the higher quality produce. After taking several of these trips, Olympia realized that she was the change she was waiting for, and that was when she started working with local farmers to create an oasis in the middle of her own food desert, which she called Süprmarkt. Over the last five years, Süprmarkt has distributed more than 70,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables. What's remarkable is Olympia started without even having a table to sell the produce on. To date, she still doesn't have a car or a cellphone. After raising close to $90,000 in a crowdfunding campaign, she's now in escrow to purchase a brick and mortar location for Süprmarkt, which is going to help her create a centralized location for the community to gather and share in her mission of making healthy, fresh foods and meals available to all. Tune in to find out more about Olympia’s story today!

Key Points From This Episode:

Olympia describes her favorite game as a child, based on the TV show, Charmed.
What childhood was like for Olympia being an imaginative only child.
Olympia’s numerous dreams for what she wanted to be when she grew up.
How Olympia’s great teachers encouraged her and taught her about systemic racism.
Olympia’s relationship with plants, food, and urban agriculture started in university
How Olympia chose to attend Howard University and create her own application.
Olympia shares a bit about the Thursday night power study group she attended at Howard.
Going vegan in her freshman year at college and what it taught her about population control.
The biggest challenge of going vegan for Olympia: The options available in the cafeteria.
Olympia’s early concept of success: Sharing information and creating meaningful change.
Starting The GOYS Life as a one-stop shop for awakening.
Olympia’s experience of doing odd jobs while she built The GOYS Life and Süprmarkt.
From volunteering at The Shine to starting Süprmarkt – Olympia shares her inspiration.
A food desert versus a food apartheid – one is naturally occurring, the other is man-made.
Starting Süprmarkt with friends and having their first public event with just $100.
Olympia’s present definition of success including eradicating food apartheid by 2040.