Cassandria Campbell, MCP ’11, traces her interest in food to her first summer job working with the Food Project on farms in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and Roxbury, the Boston neighborhood where she grew up. “I really enjoyed that experience of seeing things grow,” she recalls, “and I appreciated how much change it was creating in Roxbury by bringing people together and turning vacant lots into productive urban farms.” It wasn’t until she moved back to Roxbury after graduate school that she decided to dive into the food industry full time by founding Fresh Food Generation—a company striving to make healthy food options more accessible.
It was while earning her master’s degree in urban planning development at MIT that Campbell was introduced to the growing movement of healthy, fast-casual food options. Her moment of clarity came one night as she was leaving the Roxbury YMCA and realized that the only dinner places nearby were “unhealthy” fast food restaurants, unlike those near MIT. “It just hit me. Fast food shouldn’t be your only option,” she says. “People are having lower-quality life experiences because of food options.”
To tackle the problem, she had the idea for a company that serves healthy, fast-casual, Caribbean-inspired meals made from locally sourced ingredients. Fresh Food Generation started as a food truck in Roxbury and nearby areas, hiring experienced chefs to develop menus. While the truck still operates, the company has since expanded its focus to catering, teaming up with organizations that wanted to serve healthier and more culturally relevant meals at their events.
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