Today, we’re talking to Caleb Declouette, also known as Caleb The Health Guru, a San Francisco-born nutritionist. Illustrator, and curator.

Interview conducted by Stetson Hines

What neighborhood did you grow up in?

Hunters Point

In general, how would you describe your health?

I’m very well.

What does your diet currently consist of? 

I try to eat a lot homemade as possible if I go out and eat, I try to make sure it’s not fried. So it’s more homemade, like brown rice, vegetables, and a slice of meat. Nothing fried, sweet, or juices which I haven’t drink in a long time, as well as nothing process.

Do you think quality food depends on your income? 

No, I learned that the Farmers Market on Alemany is reasonably priced, and the food lasts longer. If you go to the supermarket and buy two lemons for like $1 and buy two onions for, like $1, you go to the Farmers Market, you get more for your money. If you get Raspberries from the supermarket, they expire the next day compared to the Farmers Market. They last for about five days. The food lasts longer depending on where you go.

Why might healthy, affordable food be difficult to obtain in certain areas? 

It seems like in the markets in our neighborhood, the quality of the food here is less. Suppose I go, for example, to Foods Co Inc. and buy some ginger theirs going to be some mold on it, and not appealing. If I go to Safeway out the neighborhood, it’s fresher. I don’t know what about it, but it seems like we get last dibs on the food.

How could living in a food desert relate to food insecurity? 

Being exposed to spoiled and rotten food, people will say, ‘it looks nasty,” it will turn them off. So people are more comfortable going to the corner store and eating process foods like fatty foods, fried foods, and sweets. They will be more secure in that. If they see something they don’t understand, they will be turned off to it like fresh produce.

What types of restaurants are in your neighborhood? 

Soul Food, heavy foods, fried food, and theirs a couple of taqueria’s but to be honest theirs, not that many healthy food options.

Other than grocery stores/liquor stores, where else could you purchase food? 

  The Farmers Market on Saturday and Stonestown on Sunday but there a little more expensive.       

How would not having a grocery store near your home affect you? 

It depends on the age of the person. It's a child they go to what’s closest. If I’m mobile, le I’ll grab some healthy food, and if I’m not, I’ll grab whatever convenient for the kids.

How does our neighborhood influence the choices we make about our health? 

Growing up in the community, I see people suffer from food-related illnesses like obesity, diabetes, etc. So I decided at 19 to change the way I ate because I saw I’ll affect it. And it made me I wanted to combat it while I was young, so at 22-23, I started to incorporate a lot of fruits and vegetables into my diet.