
Food
Tackling inequities in Louisiana’s food system.
Our Impact
Since 2011, Propeller has incubated and accelerated 263 ventures through the Impact Accelerator and Social Venture Fund. Collectively, they have generated over $262 million in external financing and revenue and created 485+ full- and part-time jobs. Our businesses and nonprofits overall have an 84 percent survival rate, compared to the national average of 56 percent.
Food Focus Area
In a city famous for its food, Propeller envisions a local food system that is economically sustainable and vibrant, where local food products are manufactured here and shared with the world, building a stable local economy that ensures all its residents have enough to eat. Through our Impact Accelerator, Propeller works with entrepreneurs who are starting or growing consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, with a focus on sustainable, healthy, and affordable products made with locally-sourced ingredients. Together with our ventures and partners, we are working to grow New Orleans’ food manufacturing system, prioritizing products that preserve our city’s unique food culture, advance equity, and positively impact the environment. Propeller leads research initiatives related to increasing access to nutritious food for K-12 students, and advocates for specific policies and regulations that can increase equitable access to fresh, healthy, local food for all New Orleanians.
Healthy School Food Collaborative Research
From 2011-2022, Propeller has coordinated multi-year research and intervention initiatives to improve healthy food access and consumption for New Orleans public school children. Through collaborations with the Healthy School Food Collaborative LLC, countless school leaders, staff, students and families, the Louisiana Public Health Institute, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, K. Allen Consulting, and many others, we have influenced the New Orleans school feeding ecosystem, resulting in increased healthy food access and nutritional quality of meals. We have also uncovered a number of factors within school policies and operations that have significant impacts on students’ healthy school food consumption.
Below are observations and recommendations that we propose based on the analysis of our research findings at different phases of this project:
Observations
- Many low-cost or no-cost interventions exist to support students to consume more of their healthy food offerings.
Recommendations
- We encourage school administrators to schedule recess or physical activity options prior to the lunch meal to increase students’ healthy food consumption.
- We recommend that school administrators do not implement punitive lunch room practices, such as silent lunch, which has a direct negative impact on meal consumption levels. Behavior management tactics that do not foster social emotional learning and positive cafeteria environments are, furthermore, not aligned with trauma-informed education and trauma-informed nutrition principles. These practices can directly harm a child’s physical and mental state as well as long term nutrition outcomes. Read more about trauma-informed nutrition here.
- We encourage school administrators to consistently monitor food quality and to include criteria for improved food quality standards in the RFP rubric for school food services. Sample RFP rubric language can be found here. If a Food Service Management Company (FSMC) is consistently failing to meet standards of quality, consider switching vendors and including a provision in the contract to allow for cancellation of contracts when food quality standards are not met.
- We recommend that schools integrate nutrition education for staff, students and families to positively impact consumption and an increased awareness of the importance of eating a healthy lunch.
Full reports for each phase of research can be accessed in the links below:
Upload these four reports:
Healthy School Food Collaborative Research Executive Summary
Healthy School Food Research Report
Healthy School Food Research Report
Healthy School Food Research Report
Propeller Ventures working in this Sector

Yoro
Robert Haynes & Michael Olaiya
Areas of focus: Food

Soule Cafe
Kina Bullock
Areas of focus: Food

KD’s NOLA Treats
Kimberly Dejan, Lee Ateman, Isaiah Alcorn, & Cindy Barnes
Areas of focus: Food

Element Beverage Company
Keishia Deverney
Areas of focus: Food

Ceres
Rich Simmerman & Branson Morgan
Areas of focus: Food

Soba Hibiscus
Firdaws Ashiru, Vondero Weir
Areas of focus: Food

Daydream Koffucha
Dalton Honore
Areas of focus: Food

Paw Bakery
Myishen Haines
Areas of focus: Food

Hotties Tamales
Dior Ellis
Areas of focus: Food

Mandela Burger
Ogban Okpo, April Okpo
Areas of focus: Food

Grey Bird Baking Co.
Taylor Moore
Areas of focus: Food

FOWLMOUTH
Ozzie Mendoza
Areas of focus: Food

Diva Dawg
Ericka Lassair
Areas of focus: Food

Vaucresson’s Sausage Company
Vance Vaucresson
Areas of focus: Food

Schmelly’s Dirt Farm
Susan Sakash & Nicola Krebill
Areas of focus: Food

Piety and Desire Chocolate
Christopher Nobles
Areas of focus: Food

NO Hunger NOLA
Alyssa Hernandez
Areas of focus: Food

Cajun Fire Brewing
Jon Renthrope
Areas of focus: Food

Provost Farm
June Provost, Angie Provost
Areas of focus: Food

Insanitea Kombucha
Jordi Figueras
Areas of focus: Food

Bailey’s Grocery and Market
Conrad M. Bailey, Wanda G. Bailey
Areas of focus: Food

24 Carrot Garden
Angel Chung Cutno, Lauren Barron
Areas of focus: Food

RePurpose Food Co.
Shani Christopher
Areas of focus: Food

Ma Momma’s House of Cornbread, Chicken, and Waffles
Nicole P. Mackie & René P. Guzman
Areas of focus: Food

Recirculating Farms Coalition
Emily Shinn
Areas of focus: Food

Cupcake Fairies
Michele Burton-Oatis & Melissa Woods
Areas of focus: Food

Bellegarde Bakery
Mollie Sciacca
Areas of focus: Food

Bhoomi
Arpit Bhopalkar & Elora Turner
Areas of focus: Food

Clean Course Meals
Kim Sawyers
Areas of focus: Food

Instar Farms, LLC
Erika Nolan, Maggie Kaiser
Areas of focus: Food

Schmelly’s Dirt Farm
Nicola Krebill
Areas of focus: Food

Greek Girls Rice Pudding
Artemis Antippas
Areas of focus: Food

2nd Chance Donuts
Chris Keefe
Areas of focus: Food

Southern City Farm, LLC
Andrew Prat
Areas of focus: Food

Sugar Roots Farm
Sharessa Garland & Ecoee (Joan) Rooney
Areas of focus: Food

Descant Ranch Food Hub
Seth Descant & Chris Fry
Areas of focus: Food

Garden on Mars
Jeanette Bell
Areas of focus: Food

Descant Ranch
Seth Descant
Areas of focus: Food

The University Medical Center Urban Farm
Catherine Hudson
Areas of focus: Food

Sugar Roots Farm
Sharessa Garland
Areas of focus: Food

Mothers & Caretakers Mending Family Foundations
Charmaine Washington, Chanda Washington, and Joan Surgent
Areas of focus: Food

Sankofa
Rashida Ferdinand & Rosamar Torres
Areas of focus: Food

The Healthy School Food Collaborative
James Graham
Areas of focus: Food

Grow Dat Youth Farm
Johanna Gilligan & Mike Kantor
Areas of focus: Food

Top Box Foods
Sam Heyman & Connor DeLoach
Areas of focus: Food

Friends of Lafitte Greenway: Growing the Greenway
Sophie Harris & Nellie Catzen
Areas of focus: Food

Gator & Crane, Inc.
Emily Gaddis and Darrell Griewe
Areas of focus: Food

Louisiana Farm to School Alliance: Farm2School Database
Katie Mularz
Areas of focus: Food, Economic & Workforce Development

Capstone
David Young
Areas of focus: Food

New Orleans Food and Farm Networks @ Edible Enterprises
Ashley Mann and Sanjay Kharod
Areas of focus: Food

The Cookbook Project
Adam Aronovitz and Alissa Bilfield
Areas of focus: Food, Education

Community Plates
Melissa Spiesman, Lauren Rudzis, Kevin Mullins, and Jeff Schacher
Areas of focus: Food

VertiFarms
Douglas Jacobs & Kevin Morgan-Rothschild
Areas of focus: Food

Nola Tilth
Megan Webbeking
Areas of focus: Food

VEGGI Farmers Cooperative
Khai Nguyen & Daniel Nguyen
Areas of focus: Food

Healthy School Food Collaborative
James Graham
Areas of focus: Food

New Orleans Food Co-Op
Lori Burge
Areas of focus: Food
