It doesn’t take long to figure out what Slice 325 is all about — a visit to their website hits you with some staggering facts.
In the last 30 years, obesity rates have doubled in adults, tripled in children, and quadrupled in adolescents. 34% of adults in the US have hypertension, a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease. More than 23 million Americans live in “food deserts,” or areas that are more than a mile away from a supermarket.
Just below this information, written in bold print, Slice 325 states their case: Healthy food is a social justice matter.
Driven by a need to lend a helping hand to low-income individuals and families faced with stagnant wages and increased food prices, Shemecka McNeil founded Slice 325 in 2017 after years of working in the health sector.
Slice 325 Founder and Executive Director Shemecka McNeil
“I worked in medical first, in various labs and research centers, but I felt like I still wasn’t helping people,” said McNeil. “So I went back to school for health promotions with a minor in culinary so I could be able to teach people how to eat healthy and show them how to cook it as well. I always loved to cook, but it hit home more when I started realizing how just about everyone in my family has diabetes, hypertension, and those illnesses that you can reverse with diet and exercise. Instead of just getting pill after pill, I decided to show people how simple life changes can get you off of medication.”
Slice 325 helps low-income participants maximize their resources so they can prepare delicious, healthy meals via a five-week program called Creative Sustainability — offering classes on grocery budgeting, couponing, food safety and handling, canning and preserving food, nutrition assistance, meal prep, and more. Provided they have a grant, the classes are free of charge. Without a grant, the cost usually ranges from $15-20 per person, depending on the class.
“We call the Creative Sustainability Program a pillar program because you can take those different concentrations and break them up into what you need them to be,” said McNeil. “So someone might say, hey, we want to teach our residents about nutrition — that’s part of the pillar program. With couponing we turn it into kind of like a project for kids, too, to teach them math. Meal prepping teaches people that it’s not really that hard to meal prep; we show them what to do and how to do it. We’ll tailor the program to what they want or need. We work with kids, adults, and 65+ — which I call my seasoned group!”
Although presented as a five-week program, participants can pick and choose the classes that they are interested in and join at any time. While some courses are offered online, Slice 325 enjoys going out into the community, meeting at libraries, grocery stores, senior centers, farms, farmers markets — you name it.
During the first year of the pandemic, Slice 325 was focused on providing food assistance to the community. David Regan, senior program coordinator with Duke’s Division of Community Health, first heard about Shemecka’s organization via a community health worker.
“She told me we had to check them out because all of the clients were raving about how wonderful the meals were that were being provided,” said Regan. “Before long I was working on a project with the Duke Health Social Support Program, which was providing assistance to families quarantining due to COVID-19 in late 2020, early 2021. Slice 325 was providing not only meals and food boxes, but personal protective equipment as well. Shemecka and I would meet regularly over Zoom to go over things like client records, delivery logs, and invoices. One day I asked her for some pictures of her and her team in action to use for our outreach. One of the photos she sent me was from a recent shopping excursion to get food for the meals, and piled high on one of the carts was a bunch of flowers! I asked her about it and she told me she just wanted to share some joy with the recipients, and would include flower arrangements with the delivery of food or meals. Her kindness is so natural to her; you have to be sure not to take it for granted!”
Slice 325 also works with SEEDS Durham, helping students with basic life skills.
An on–site greenhouse at SEEDS Durham provides year–round education opportunities for Slice 325.
“We’ll go in there and teach them about nutrition and how to cook,” said McNeil. “They also have a garden area, so we’ll teach them about gardening and how to do a farm-to-table.”
Eva Kang, a senior banking officer at First Carolina Bank, first heard of Slice 325 at a Durham refugee event. Since then, Kang has had the pleasure of attending many events involving Slice 325 — including one at SEEDS Durham.
“I heard the testimonies from the children about how they went from being shy to outspoken because they want to share what they have learned with more people,” said Kang. “I’ve seen the confidence in their eyes when they were teaching other kids how to prepare/cook with healthier methods, yet the food still tastes amazing. I love to see how Slice 325 can help children from the inside out.”
While many organizations are willing to touch on the importance of healthy eating, Slice 325 provides the perfect marriage of McNeil’s medical and culinary backgrounds.
“A lot of places will teach you things, but they don’t go in depth to show you exactly how to do it or talk about the science behind it,” said McNeil. “With me having a medical background, I can help. If you are taking certain medications, even if you’re trying to lose weight, you don’t need to eat grapefruit, because that can interfere with your medicine. If you’re on the blood-thinning drug warfarin, you don’t need to eat too many greens. We help people understand the science behind why. And we do all the reading and research so people don’t have to, because sometimes people don’t understand those 17- to 28-letter words.”
Slice 325 covers many areas, from dining etiquette to classes on managing hypertension, diabetes, and falls. Two of McNeil’s most popular classes focus on bread making and spice making.
“Spice making is my personal favorite,” said McNeil. “The purpose of spice making is to show that you can have seasonings that taste good without a lot of salt, and to use salt as a binding. We put all of these spices together, then we just add salt until we can taste everything, and that’s all the salt that you need (and/or sugar). So if you’re on a diet and you’re trying to lose weight or get off medication, you have your own seasoning that tastes good to you that you can put on just about everything with no MSG and very low salt or sugar. People get to come up with their own stuff, and the guys in particular like to come up with their own rub.”
Whether she’s showing older folks what a whole nutmeg looks like for the first time, or teaching kids how to build spices “like a Build-A-Bear,” McNeil’s love for people is beautifully translated into action through Slice 325.
“I feel like I’m teaching people how to sustain themselves in a creative, fun way,” said McNeil. “That’s why I call it creative sustainability. I believe families are unique, and I’m passionately committed to meeting the challenge one appetite at a time — meaning I want people to be healthy, I want people to be able to sustain themselves, and I want them to understand that there are skills that you can learn to make your life easier and healthier.”
In McNeil’s world, success stories abound — from the gentleman who developed a taste for beans after 82 years, to the older woman who now grows vegetables on one side of her driveway and flowers on the other — but McNeil says that the true measurement of success is when participants don’t need her anymore.
“I know some organizations have the same community come over and over again, but to me it doesn’t feel like they’re learning anything,” said McNeil. “When you tell me you’ve got it, and you just come back for maintenance, that makes me happy. How many didn’t come back, and how many sustained themselves — that’s our success.”
For the future of Slice 325, McNeil envisions a retreat area with a designated space for teaching, growing, and an “overall space where people can come to breathe and learn about food and education.” In the meantime, they are always looking for monetary donations or volunteers to host food and equipment drives, serve meals, provide professional in-kind services, and more.
“I love that Slice 325 provides accessibility to healthy food choices and teaches you how to make delicious food at a fraction of the cost,” said Kang. “Shemecka is one of the most altruistic people I know. I have witnessed how she tries her best to build up other less established nonprofits by donating items, volunteering, or mentoring others. There’s no ‘me’ in her world, always ‘we.’” slice325.org
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