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And so, Daily Voice sat down with Chef Michel Nischan, Fairfield resident and founder of Wholesome Wave to talk fresh veggies, nutrition incentive programs and some of his favorite Bridgeport eats.
Daily Voice: Can you describe, in a few sentences, the mission statement behind Wholesome Wave? Michel Nischan: At Wholesome Wave, we believe that everyone should be able to put the same, healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables on their table for their families.
Our company inspires underserved consumers to make healthier food choices by increasing affordable access to fresh, local and regional food. We believe that affordability is crucial to the equation of food access, and we therefore work to build the local food supply chain while building nutrition incentive networks that make local, fresh food affordable.
Daily Voice: Why was being in Bridgeport an important place for you to have your headquarters? Michel Nischan: Bridgeport suffers from many of the challenges and opportunities brought about by our current food system, in which wealth determines affordable access to fresh food. We wanted to be able to manage programs on the ground, in the place we call home, in a manner that would inform the design of our expansion model.
Daily Voice: What are you most proud of in terms of some of your initiatives? Michel Nischan: On April 1, the USDA awarded Wholesome Wave a $3.77 million grant that will be used to further expand and strengthen the organization's nutrition incentive (Double Value Coupon Program) network across the country.
The funding is part of a larger grant know as the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program. Wholesome Wave led and worked alongside dozens of other community-based organizations and farming groups for years to ensure that this program ended up in the Farm Bill, and to see it successfully legislated. As a result, sustainable support to nutrition incentive programs is much closer to reality.
Daily Voice: What's new on the horizon? Michel Nischan: We believe our Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program (FVRx) is poised to generate the same type of policy change that we were able to envision through the Double Value Coupon Program network.
There is a huge opportunity to prove food can be an effective tool in measurably preventing and reducing the impacts of diet-related diseases like Type-2 diabetes and heart disease.
Daily Voice: Where do you like to eat in the area? Michel Nischan: I and many fellow “Wavers” love to support the Downtown Farmers Market at Markle Court. by buying food at the market and bring our lunch to work.
When we don’t, there are a variety of restaurants in our neighborhood with lots of healthy eating options like Star Istanbul, Hacienda Villa, The Chelsea in Fairfield, Health in a Hurry, Shangri La, and Garelick & Herbs.
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