A plant-based bodega is on its way to North Minneapolis
Mykela Jackson. Photo provided by Mykela Jackson
By Ayanna Melander, North High School
Come April, the community will be able to access a community bodega for free at Sanctuary Church. The young chef behind the bodega hopes her plant-based soul food is food for the soul.
“Food is what fuels us and so we have to be very conscious about what we are putting into our bodies,” said founder Mykela Jackson, who goes by the nickname Keiko.
Mykela Jackson grew up with food at the center of her cultural identity. Home-cooked meals and watching Food Network with her mom taught her to rely on Southern soul food staples like fried chicken, baked mac and cheese, and stews. When she graduated high school, she began down a long road of self-discovery after a revelation to change her eating habits. She became a vegan and developed an alkaline-based diet in 2017.
At first, the decision to do away with the foods she was used to posed many challenges for Jackson. Not knowing how to access healthier foods or what options existed was a challenge that left her with an identity crisis. But after realizing she wasn’t alone, it turned that into a pathway to food justice. She didn’t want to do away completely with the foods she knew best, so she added a vegan twist.
In 2019, she began soul food pop-ups across North Minneapolis and later became a head chef to curate vegan menus.
“I realized that the only way that I would be able to convince people to try plant based foods was to create good vegan food and also educate people on the conditions that we are in,” she said.
Food sustainability and education essentially became a part of Jackson's mission to fight food insecurity and create healthy, affordable and accessible food alternatives within majority Black communities.
She was inspired to create the Food Trap Project Initiative (FTP) and is returning her newest project to North Minneapolis, a classified food desert. The bodega will be accessible inside Sanctuary Church alongside its existing food pantry. When operations begin in April, it will offer a station with a fridge and freezer full of free plant-based meals, vegan cookbooks, dry goods, educational resources, and home essentials.
“We want to support young people who have dreams and ideas, we want to be a place where they can try something new to address old issues,” said Andrea Lee, Sanctuary Church Director of Operations. “Mykela’s Food Trap/Bodega would help provide needed resources on a 24-7 basis.”
Hunger Solutions Minnesota says 7.2 million Minnesotans visited food shelves in 2023, 1.8 million more than the previous year. Food pantries across North Minneapolis have reported a swell of new people seeking food for their families. Needs have doubled, staff capacity has been stretched to its limit, and organizations are scrambling for food to meet the needs.
Jackson hopes that the bodega will be one of many for the residents of the future Twin Cities to continue fighting against food disparities in Black communities. By 2030, she hopes five F.T.P Community Bodegas will permanently reside in North Minneapolis, another in Camden, Cedar-Riverside, George Floyd Square, and the Frogtown-Rondo area of Saint Paul.
Jackson is currently raising awareness about the FTP Bodega to attract sponsors and donors. The bodega will open in mid-April at Sanctuary Church and will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.