At Dillard, two students, Lauren Skinner and Jason Adams, are taking the issue of food insecurity on Dillard’s campus into their own hands with their business, Everybody Eats.
Skinner, a senior political science major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Adams, a senior accounting major from St. Louis, Missouri, began selling their treats and plates just this semester. They initially began their business selling mini bite-sized brownies but transitioned to making all sorts of treats, like chocolate mousse, chocolate-covered strawberries, their signature ‘sinful’ brownies that include a variation of cookies, and also, cheese dip.
“This is deeper than food. This is deeper than money. This is instilling Dillard’s culture back on the Oaks,” said Adams. He remembers his freshman year when it was more common for students to use their talents in the kitchen to sell plates of food to other students. Now that they are upperclassmen, they hope to bring back this aspect of Dillard’s culture to not only feed students but also to further establish the feeling of Dillard being a ‘communiversity,’ like the previous president, Dr. Rochelle Ford envisioned.
Their customers can feel the dedication and love they pour into their business, especially because they’re adamant about listening to their customers, according to the business partners. An example is when they received feedback that their brownies were ‘too spongy,’ so they went back to the drawing board and changed the recipe.
Skinner and Adams worked with Chef Shakai Johnson from the Ray Charles Program and she taught them different ways to make treats creatively, Skinner said. This allowed them to learn how to bake treats in their own unique ways and also how to make changes to their recipe. At first, they used cookies as the base of the recipe, but they changed it to have the cookies added later into the baking process.
“It’s made with love. I say it’s made with love because not only do we both know how to cook, but we know how to take constructive criticism,” said Skinner. They want their customers to know that they’re good at taking constructive criticism because they don’t take feedback as a personal attack. Rather, they just listen to what’s being told, something Dillard should do as well, they say.
Their dedication goes beyond what their customers see. They wake up at seven in the morning making treats and preparing for the day, while still having to be students. Adams and Skinner have had to learn how to manage their time to be successful in their business and education.
“Understanding your responsibilities is something that you have to do if you want to be an entrepreneur, as well as a scholar. So, we have to understand that sometimes we can’t go to the late-night functions or go hang out with our friends because we understand we have to get up in order to facilitate the next day,” said Adams.
Their business means a lot to them, which is why they partake in such sacrifices; they have a mission to accomplish.
“Our business is solely based on the fact that Dillard is in a food desert,” said Adams. Everybody Eats is more than just a business for two. They’re hoping to combat the food insecurity that many students on Dillard’s campus are in the midst of facing. Not only is New Orleans in a food desert but because of the hours of Kearny dining hall and the other dining options on campus, which close before or at 7 p.m., many students have no option, but to go hungry.
Another issue with campus dining is that a lot of the options that are available aren’t nutritious or fresh. It can also be repetitive for students who have to eat on campus every day. They want to emphasize that their products are made the day of if not minute before being sold.
“I understand that you want to eat, and y’all are everybody because Dillard must eat, so we gon’ feed the people!,” said Adams. They make a promise to Dillard students that they understand the struggle of college dining on this campus and that they hope to supplement options for students to give them something fresh to bite into. They want to use their food to bring students together at reasonable prices.
These young entrepreneurs ask for one thing from Dillard students and staff, and that is to just keep supporting and spreading the word. They aspire to eventually turn this small business into a physical store location post-grad after they pursue their separate entrepreneurial ventures.
“Dillard is small in numbers, but we’re big in love, and we’re big on community, and we’re big on impact,” said Skinner.
