A UConn senior is battling meals insecurity on either side of the Atlantic with a program he began to supply meals for low-income households in New Haven and in Ghana.
Anthony Mensah ‘25 (CAHNR) began AJANO Cooperative in 2021 along with his associates Akosua Asante, John Mensah, and Nee Ashitey Boateng, with a mission to supply individuals with high-quality meals.
“We wish to prioritize discovering a approach to assist these individuals get entry to wholesome proteins,” says Mensah, an Economics of Sustainable Growth and Administration (ESDM) main. “A food regimen stuffed with simply carbs and unhealthy meals limits your life’s potential, and that’s one thing we wish to assist.”
Mensah grew up in Ghana, and his household moved to New Haven in 2017. He stated the concept to begin AJANO was sparked by a good friend who got here from a lower-income background. She confirmed Mensah the necessity for higher entry to high-quality proteins, after which they began this system collectively.
AJANO held its first meals drive in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Mensah and his colleagues reached out to the principal of a highschool in a low-income space of the town. The principal was in a position to conduct an nameless survey of scholars going through meals insecurity. “We made certain it was nameless in order that there could be no disgrace in ensuring that these individuals had entry to the meals that they wanted,” says Mensah.
The second meals drive was in New Haven in the summertime of 2024. “It was a little bit bit greater in scale,” says Mensah.
That could be an understatement: the group partnered with three meals banks in New Haven and was in a position to supply and provides out a whopping 6,000 kilos of rooster and 1,000 kilos of beef.
“It was top-of-the-line experiences on this planet, simply having the ability to see the numbers. There’s one thing that folks actually care about,” says Mensah.
AJANO has plans to host a meals drive each two years, with expectations of development every time. Placing collectively a meals drive particularly to supply high-quality protein, although, isn’t straightforward.
“Most meals banks don’t have entry to meat, and in the event that they do, it’s very processed, which simply defeats the entire goal,” Mensah says.
Including to the problem was discovering meals low in sodium, and discovering individuals prepared to work with the younger group. Fortunately, Mensah and his colleagues had been in a position to join with Ashitey Owusu, a meals economist who advisable particular combos to maximise the dietary worth of the meals packages AJANO distributed.
And AJANO isn’t limiting the assistance it offers younger Ghanaians to meals drives. The group’s Suppose Deeper Writing Competitors “was created to advertise essential literacy and encourage Ghanaian highschool college students to have interaction with philosophical texts and suppose critically about our position on this planet,” in response to the AJANO web site. Winners obtain money prizes.
So far as his personal research, Mensah says UConn has helped develop AJANO. Programs like Meals Coverage (ARE 2260) helped him perceive the processes and complexities of meals as an trade, and formed his targets for the group. Affiliate Professor Tatiana Andreyeva, who taught the category and can also be director of financial initiatives on the UConn Rudd Heart for Meals Coverage and Well being, supplied context for the sorts of establishments that run meals banks, Mensah says, and helped him join with assets and organizations to assist AJANO supply 6,000 kilos of rooster.
Mensah says his advisor, Affiliate Professor Nathan Fiala, has additionally helped him keep motivated with AJANO whereas taking high-level programs at UConn. He thought-about taking a break from the meals drives whereas at school. “He gave me the motivation to maintain doing it,” says Mensah.
“It’s sort of unhappy to see the individuals developing after which seeing them be a little bit bit shy,” Mensah says, reflecting on the primary two profitable meals drives. “However then once they get the high-quality meat that they want, seeing the aid on their face as a result of you recognize that is going to feed somebody’s household, that’s simply that feeling – simply realizing that you just’re serving to somebody on the market. It’s simply priceless.”
