The Magnolia State
Kamara Gardner
1st Year MPH Student- HBHE
The Magnificent Mississippi! I am so grateful for my experience in the Mississippi Delta. I’ve developed relationships with other people who love public health, learned how to work on a community-wide project with students from various backgrounds, and gained an understanding of what it takes to connect with people in a community you’ve never been in,
The beauty of Missississippi is not only in the blues, southern cuisine, eye-catching fields, and peaceful sunsets, but, within the people who live there. The people in Mississippi are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. They went above and beyond to ensure our group (the University of Michigan and the University of Mississippi) felt welcomed and comfortable. They’d ask us what brought us here, recommend places we should visit, and offer their support for the expansion and implementation of the Food Rx Prescription Program. The kind-heartedness and love within the Mississippi Delta community left me in deep admiration. There was never a day I couldn’t list a kind remark or action I encountered.
My assistance in the Food Rx Prescription Program revealed a larger underlying problem to me. The need for health education, outreach, and motivation. From our focus groups and recruitment efforts, I noticed that word-of-mouth proved to be the most common method of learning about the program, but I wondered what other methods of outreach would be just as effective, reaching the community on a larger and quicker scale. Within my focus group, one participant of the program spoke about her motivation to eat healthy foods and how it aided her in changing her eating habits. On the contrary, another participant spoke of having difficulty consistently eating the healthy foods she received. It exposed me to the significance of not only providing community resources but informing recipients about the benefit of using those resources. What will motivate them to eat healthy foods? Will they know creative ways to cook them? Are participants aware of the long-term benefits of healthy eating outside of the physical changes? The differing experiences I observed in my focus group participants demonstrated the importance of health education on healthy eating and the participants' reason behind eating healthy.
Throughout the trip there were unexpected twists and turns, but, through it all, we shared and accomplished a goal - to increase the well-being of Mississippi residents experiencing food insecurity. I believe we did a great job working together as a group. With this experience, I grew relationships with my classmates that can only be developed outside of the classroom. We spent 7 days living with each other, getting frustrated with one another, and supporting one another through community work and there’s nothing I’d change about my experience. I look forward to each of my classmates and advisors' future endeavors and will actively cheer them on from the sidelines. I loved my trip to Mississippi.