Clintonville Spotlight

Moskowitz Brown leads Local Matters



For many low-income Columbus residents, healthy food can be hard to find.

Local Matters, a Columbus-area non-profit organization, seeks to address this problem by helping people access nutritious food and learn ways to prepare it.

“Local Matters’ mission is to create healthier communities through food education, access and advocacy,” said Clintonville resident Michelle Moskowitz Brown, executive director of Local Matters.

Michelle Moskowitz Brown is flanked by Local Matters Executive Chef Korir Russell (left) and Monique McCoy, the agency’s Community Food Access Coordinator, as they packed food at a Linden-area food pantry earlier this year. (Submitted photo)

Local Matters, 633 Parsons Ave., was founded in 2008 by Michael Jones and Noreen Warnock. Three years later, Moskowitz Brown became the organization’s executive director

“We partner with schools, hospitals, pharmacies, recovery centers, churches and more to provide relatable, culturally appropriate food education, and help people access the food they need,” said Moskowitz Brown.

The agency is focused on lower-income populations, which Moskowitz Brown said helps “to level the playing field for food education and access.”

The organization also works to create inclusive spaces for everyone to shop, eat and garden together.

“We want people to have a positive relationship with food,” Moskowitz Brown said.

“We know how hard it can be to eat well, since everyone has a scarcity of something, whether it’s time, money or skill.”

A signature Local Matters program involves teaching cooking classes to children and adults. They provide “high-quality curriculum for all ages, in some cases, with our own proprietary work, and also in partnership with national organizations, like Cooking Matters,” Moskowitz Brown said.

In summer 2019, Local Matters launched the Veggie Van. It’s a mobile market that travels to schools, places of worship, businesses and other community organizations.

The Veggie Van sells affordable, often local, fruits, vegetables and staple goods including rice, beans, spices and oils.

This unique program helps to provide residents with a consistent, diverse range of fresh food throughout the city.

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, most of Local Matters’ programs took place in person.

“Since COVID-19, we have redoubled our efforts with the Veggie Van, creating an online ordering system and matching SNAP customers’ purchases dollar-for-dollar,” Moskowitz Brown said.

“We have been shuttling food from pantries to housing complexes, and from large produce distributions to pantries, including Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center, and we have continued our garden work, distributing food through our Veggie Van,” Moskowitz Brown said.

The organization also has created online classes for children and their parents cooking at home.

Originally from New York City, Moskowitz Brown lived in a Brooklyn housing project until she was 9 years old.

She eventually left Brooklyn for Antioch College in Yellow Springs, where she majored in anthropology and dance.

She also studied urban planning at New York University, but decided to focus on her family rather than obtain a graduate degree. She has served as a non-profit manager and leader for 24 years, beginning right out of college.

Moskowitz Brown said she owes a lot of her success in life to her mother. “I like to say that I found my way through education and my mom’s perseverance,” she said.

Outside of work, Moskowitz Brown said she enjoys the many green spaces in Clintonville.

“Having grown up without green space in my neighborhood, perhaps my favorite place in Clintonville is the Overbrook Ravine, which I walk in every day since the pandemic hit,” she said.

She also loves the Park of Roses, the Whetstone library and Tabletop Game Café, which she and her husband Aaron Brown own. They are parents to children Maxwell, 15, and Norah, 12.

Moskowitz Brown said she has a fire in her belly to nurture positive change here.

“As a leader, that means understanding the skills and talents of everyone around me, and working with them to accomplish our work together,” she said.

For more information about Local Matters, visit the web site local-matters.org/.

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