Harvesting Hope

Dr. Alice Ammerman, the Mildred Kaufman Distinguished Professor in the Department of Nutrition, and the director of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Gillings School of Global Public Health, has always been passionate about addressing the interrelated issues of chronic disease prevention, food insecurity, rural economic development, and food waste. Inspired by what she has learned from her research, Ammerman developed the idea for Equiti Foods: a social enterprise intended to combat these problems. By providing locally sourced, healthy frozen meals called Good Bowls to underserved communities, the enterprise would also aim to support small-scale farmers and reduce food waste. 

Ammerman approached the UNC School of Law’s Community Development Law (CDL) Clinic to bring her vision to life. CDL Director Tom Kelley recognized the potential for a powerful collaboration, so Kelley and his team of exceptional law students embarked on a journey to help structure the enterprise for success, navigating the complex legal landscape of social entrepreneurship. 

Equiti Foods’ innovative approach to producing Good Bowls involves sourcing “Grade B or cosmetically challenged” food from local farmers, which is often hard to sell due to its appearance. Because the “ugly” produce is chopped and cooked prior to packaging, the company reduces food waste and supports small-scale agriculture. “By producing these locally sourced healthy frozen meals, we support local farmers offer convenience, and practice “stealth health,” providing healthy food that is culturally familiar to consumers,” Ammerman explained. “Our favorite compliment is when people say it doesn’t even taste healthy.”   

Initially, Equiti Foods began as a for-profit LLC to access Small Business Innovation Grants. However, as funding opportunities for food systems work increasingly required nonprofit status, Ammerman’s team sought the clinic’s expertise to guide them through decision-making. “We worked on laying out the different options for starting a nonprofit, different ways that they could structure the relationship between a new nonprofit and the existing for-profit,” Kelley explained. The clinic’s in-depth analysis led to the creation of the Food Equity Collaborative, a nonprofit entity working in parallel to Equiti Foods LLC. 

The clinic’s efforts were driven by two dedicated teams of students, each bringing unique skills to the project. The first team, composed of Aurora Jaques ’24 and Beth Nelson ‘23 laid the groundwork for the initiative. Building on their efforts, the second team, led by Alex Slauson ’24 and Justin Hayes ’24, played a crucial role in bringing the dual-entity structure to life. 

The second team was instrumental in helping Good Bowls apply for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. For Slauson, the experience was both rewarding and insightful. “For the first time, I was the ‘expert’ in the room, and it was gratifying to provide work that—though maybe not ‘expert’—at least approached ‘lawyerly,’” he shared. “This clinic was a great introduction to client interviewing and counseling.” Slauson also gained valuable insights into the realities of legal practice, noting that “lawyering is at least as much about wrangling facts as it is about applying law.”  

With the Food Equity Collaborative in place as its nonprofit arm (pending IRS approval), Equiti Foods can more effectively pursue its social impact goals. “We recognize the critical importance of appropriately managing the finances of a for profit and non-profit organization with a shared social mission, said Slauson and this is where the CDL will continue to be immensely helpful. Together Equiti Foods and the Food Equity Collaborative will support the local food system by building a network of local producers, while their nutrition outreach team works to increase access to healthy food for underserved communities. This includes providing cost-subsidized meals and participating in programs like the Healthy Opportunities Pilot, a Medicaid initiative addressing social determinants of health such as food insecurity. 

“Those of us in the world of prevention have been arguing all along that if you take care of people’s health earlier, they won’t cost the health care systems as much later,” Ammerman said. “Insurance companies are starting to get on that bandwagon.” 

By leveraging their respective expertise in public health and law, Ammerman and the clinic have established a solid foundation for this innovative social enterprise to make a meaningful impact on food insecurity, rural economic development, and food waste reduction in North Carolina and beyond.  

This story was originally featured in the September 2024 issue of Carolina Law Magazine