Welcome, Nate Parker!

I was predominantly raised in Delaware and lived in New Jersey for four years before moving to Boston in early 2022. When I was looking for a new job in the area, I was looking for one that melded my professional experiences and my own interests. Previously, I had worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA for a year working to help college students volunteer in the local community. I had the opportunity to work with nonprofits that focused on affordable housing, veteran’s initiatives, and urban food gardens. After that, I worked as a personal trainer and training manager for over two years. I wanted to mix my “health and wellness” experience and community initiatives experience. Lovin’ Spoonfuls seemed like a great fit!

My fitness background helped initiate my interest in public health. I’ve been very interested in multiple aspects of that field. While I still enjoy fitness, I feel it can be very individualized. While I could help clients or members in the gym, I felt that more should be done on a macroscale to improve collective health. Then I found out about how much food goes to waste and wanted to learn more about how to recover what’s still good to eat for people.

Being an FRC allows me to bring my passion for service to work every day. We are facing even more challenges as a society and being an FRC is my small way of addressing issues like food insecurity. I also really enjoy traveling and try to whenever I get a chance. You learn a lot about a culture through their food, which is something I enjoy connecting with our nonprofit partners on.

I don’t think my family and friends would say I am a good cook. But I do think that I am a good one (HAHA). I do make an awesome oven-roasted chicken. Some olive oil, salt, pepper, and a lemon is all you need. Put your oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 40 minutes and you are golden.

I am big on having fruits and vegetables in my fridge, especially for snacking. I am not perfect, but I do try to eat as little processed food as possible. Watermelon, blueberries, spinach, bananas, and kale are my go-to items. I also have one, very cramped shelf in my fridge that is full of different sauces.

Growing up in Delaware, having a dinner full of friends and family with a table full of crabs is one of my favorite memories. Delaware is very close to the Chesapeake Bay and we got crabs straight from the bay. Nothing but newspapers, some melted butter, and an empty stomach. A very messy, but very fun, time with friends and family.

I could go on about people who I think are amazing and have done great things, but I’ll only talk about two. My dad is my hero because he served in the United States military for over 22 years, and still continues to work in public service. That is where I get my service passion from. My mum is another hero as she left her home in England at a very young age to come and live in the United States. She continues to work in the healthcare field, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.