Many New Orleans households with limited resources may not be able to afford the healthier foods that contribute to a balanced diet. As a matter of fact, according to a recent report published by csnews.com, New Orleans ranks as the #1 Food Desert" with only 1 grocery store per 16,000 residents. With this massive public health and food security crisis looming large over New Orleans, an innovative AmeriCorps VISTA, Megan Nuismer, spent the latter half of her term of service at the Hollygrove Market and Farm thinking of ways to improve access to healthy foods for under-served residents.

Pulling inspiration from similar gleaning programs around the country, Megan worked with her host-site to develop and implement the "New Orleans Fruit Tree Project". This volunteer-based gleaning project collects fresh fruit that would otherwise go unharvested, and distributes the produce through local food banks and farmers markets. After earning a $10,000 grant to support the project, Megan finished her AmeriCorps term and assumed the role of Director of the project, collecting and distributing nearly 10,000 pounds of fresh citrus, and over 50 "registered" private fruit tree owners. While the majority of the fruit is donated to local food pantries, health clinics and nonprofit organizations like the Latino Farmers Cooperative, a small percentage is sold to local farmers markets to help pay for equipment and operational costs.

According to the Second Harvest Food Bank, one in eight people in New Orleans is struggling with hunger, more than one-third of client households have to choose between paying for food or rent, and nearly half have to choose between food or utilities. When faced with these situations, residents often choose cheaper, more readily available fast food options, forgoing much of the nutritional and health value of healthier foods. The New Orleans Fruit Tree project helps promote access to sustainable healthy food sources so that more and more low-income residents can benefit from the availability of healthy fruits that would otherwise go to waste.

Megan never planned on revolutionizing the way New Orleans families accessed healthy foods. She received her Masters in Public Health from Tulane just prior to joining the Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA program. Without her understanding of the systemic public health crisis in New Orleans, a large part of which is rooted in a lack of access to healthy foods, this project might have never been born. Without Megan's participation in the Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA Program at the Hollygrove Market and Farm, Megan may have never connected the dots between food security and public health. Her dedication to the cause of food justice and her ability to innovate and adopt a model to the unique landscape of New Orleans helped Megan set a new example of mobilizing citizens for the greater good. Megan is living proof that "AmeriCorps works and get things done", and that often times, the low hanging fruit is the best place to start.