was working with raw-food manufacturers, and I would see where the produce came from. It was like, “Oh, it doesn’t have to be this expensive.” It was a culmination of things. MP: I started a vegetarian burger company years ago. The whole line’s vegan now. I worked through all of the grocery stores and saw the margin that Whole Foods charges against the margin that H-E-B charges against the margin that delivery-to-door charges. It fascinated me to watch the economics of it play out. OK, so Süprmarkt? It’s a farmers market? OA: It’s a pop-up grocery service. Every Sunday, we do a location where there’s limited access to food. We sell produce, nuts, dates, and we keep everything affordable. We also have a subscription service. It’s designed around the average EBT [Electronic Benefits Transfer] for a single person. The idea is, you can potentially spend half of your EBT and have produce in your fridge every week. I get frustrated at the store. If you want organic pineapple, it’s like eight bucks. The model has been built out to expand the popularity of organic foods, and they’re gonna try to get as much money as they can. But also sometimes we feel entitled to these foods from across the planet. MP: Right, and they travel. I’ve always thought there was a better way, and one of the things that I really love that we have access to here is Double Dollar [a financialmatching program allowing benefit holders increased produce purchasing power] for fresh fruits and vegetables. OA: OK. Oh, for California, it’s Market Match. MP: It’s a good way to grow access. And the economics of it are in such nice alignment, because the money goes directly to the farmer. OA: Yeah, 200 bucks a month for food in L.A.
is not enough, really, especially if you’re gonna be eating fresh. With that amount, you’re eating just processed food, because that’s what you can afford. So being able to double your dollars— MP: It’s a big deal. Policy has to change if we’re gonna change food, because the seed company’s
“Austin has seven
ZIP codes that don't have grocery stores. One in five kids is on free and reduced lunch in our schools. It's a great city in so many ways, but we have some real places we could do a whole lot better.” now owned by the pill company. How did you start Süprmarkt? OA: The first Süprmarkt was a large dinner in my friend’s mom’s house. She gave us $300 for the dinner, and we used $100 on food. The next month, we went out to a community park in our area. We didn’t even have a table. We just got some produce, and—it was like so rinky-dink. If you look at our first Instagram pictures, we
were just out there. Do you still have the burger company? MP: It’s not mine anymore, but it’s out in the world and growing. I heard they got into Walmart. OA: Oh. MP: Which is crazy. Then I ran a fermentedvegetable company, which was really cool, because I learned all about the healing powers of food. I didn’t really pay attention to [food] until I turned 30, and then I started cooking, and it made me curious about “Where does this come from, and why does it matter, and how does it make my body feel, and how is the person treated that raised it?” It pulled the whole world of justice and creativity and care altogether for me. Now I work on projects with companies, politicians and individuals to try and drive the change forward from that place where private, public and nonprofit meet so we can scale. Because solutions like yours need to scale. OA: What is it like for you here? MP: Austin has seven ZIP codes that don’t have grocery stores. One in five kids is on free and reduced lunch in our schools. It’s a great city in so many ways, but we have some real places we could do a whole lot better. That’s where I think business has a place to participate. I think that there are some really conscious companies that really sincerely wanna be good citizens in the world, and they can do more. And then to meet people like you doing really radical stuff—the entire community is served by the work that you do. This story is part of our series “Listening In,” where we pair SXSW speakers and artists and then happily eavesdrop on the exchange. Find the complete series at tribeza.com/listening-in.
tribeza.com
| DECEMBER 2019
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