Episode Summary — April 10, 2026 Lansing Project 2026 Podcast: Food with Staci and Jose Episode Title: Food is More Than Food Guests: Staci Garcia-Nagel, Executive Director, Southside Community Kitchen | Jose [last name not stated], Innovation Counselor, MSU Product Center Hosts: Jerry Norris, Tanya Pieslowski Summary This episode focuses on food as one of Project 2026's ten basic needs domains, exploring both the personal and systemic dimensions of food justice in Lansing. Jerry opened with a brief update on the Deep Green data center situation — noting that community pushback successfully blocked the immediate proposal but that the fight is not over. The company may seek another site that doesn't require city council approval, and structural questions remain about how the Chamber of Commerce was able to move city leadership so quickly. Community members were urged to stay vigilant. Jose's Story Jose immigrated from Lima, Peru in 1985 and spent his career as an aircraft and avionics technician. In 2019 he launched Tontai, Mid-Michigan's first Peruvian restaurant, starting with pop-ups and home dinners — going directly into people's homes to cook, educate, and build trust around food and culture before ever opening a brick-and-mortar location. He now works as an Innovation Counselor at the MSU Product Center, helping food entrepreneurs — especially Spanish-speaking Latinx entrepreneurs — start, scale, and navigate regulatory barriers. He is actively translating the food entrepreneurship playbook into Spanish to lower barriers for native Spanish speakers who are intimidated by paperwork, regulations, and the risk of making a costly mistake. Staci's Story Staci was born and raised in Lansing (north side, near St. Grace). Her relationship with food was shaped by both grandmothers — second-generation immigrants, one from Lebanon and one from Mexico — who modeled hospitality and community care with very little. She studied elementary education at MSU, taught ESL, then moved into nonprofit work focused on domestic violence and social justice. She has been Executive Director of Southside Community Kitchen for nine months. The Kitchen operates in partnership with the Refugee Development Center, making it a natural intersection of food, community, and the populations she has always advocated for. She framed food as one of the most intimate forms of community-building — sitting together at a table, breaking bread, being seen. Key Themes Food as culture and sovereignty. Jose and Staci both emphasized that food carries cultural memory, smell, and identity. A striking statistic surfaced: of approximately 1,600 registered food producers in Michigan, fewer than 55 are non-white — roughly 17 Black and around 25 Hispanic. Shara of Agape Farm in Dansville was cited as the only Black woman farmer in Michigan. The point: if food production remains concentrated in the hands of people who don't share the cultural heritage of the communities they're feeding, food sovereignty is a fiction. Food entrepreneurship barriers. Jose described the difficulty of navigating licensing, regulations, and business systems — especially for people for whom English is a second language. The fear of making a paperwork mistake and losing the dream permanently is real and keeps people out. The MSU Product Center provides free support from startup through shelf placement. His Spanish-language playbook is a direct response to this barrier. Food as community infrastructure, not charity. Staci reframed Southside Community Kitchen as a place where people come to be seen, not just fed. The Kitchen is a community anchor, not a soup line. This aligned directly with Project 2026's framing that basic needs are human rights — not services to be grateful for. Food co-op and land ownership. Jerry floated a concrete proposal: cooperatively purchasing land — potentially the very parcel that Deep Green wanted — to build a community food hub. He was explicit that this would be an investment, not a donation: you put money in, you own a piece of it. The call went out live for people to raise their hand if they're interested in a cooperative land purchase and food co-op development. The Fledge was named as the organizing point. Food sovereignty vs. corporate food control. Jerry named RJR Nabisco directly — a tobacco company that also controls food brands — as an example of who currently decides what communities eat. The argument: we don't have food sovereignty when the ingredients, labeling, and production are controlled by corporations with no stake in community health. Calls to Action Staci: Visit Southside Community Kitchen and join a meal. Jerry: Get involved in a community garden or urban farm — they're opening now and need volunteers. Urbandale Farm is one option; if it's not the right fit, there are others nearby. Jerry: Go eat with someone you don't know and learn about them. Jose / Jerry: If you're interested in cooperatively purchasing land for a food co-op, put your name in the chat and show up at The Fledge to start organizing. Resources Mentioned MSU Product Center — supports food entrepreneurs from startup through scaling and shelf placement; search "MSU Product Center" Southside Community Kitchen — community meal site, partner of the Refugee Development Center Urbandale Farm — The Fledge's food cooperative, currently opening for the season Cross-references: Food, Food Sovereignty, Cooperative Enterprise, Starve the Failing Systems, Radical Inclusion, The Fledge, Urbandale Farm, Southside Community Kitchen, MSU Product Center
YOUTUBE cdcfS5QH7Mo Project 2026: April 10, 2026 Staci and Jose