UAB Student, Iraq Vet Hopes to Help Feed Black Belt with Aquaponics
Ramon Jeter was raised by a single mother on the west side of Birmingham. Right out of Ramsay High School he joined the Navy. He eventually served as a field medic in Iraq. Now the married new father is studying public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and he’s been accepted to Clinton Global Initiative University for his ambitious “Home Town Grown” proposal to fight food insecurity and poverty in Alabama’s Black Belt. He plans to do it through aquaponics. WBHM’s Dan Carsen speaks with Jeter, who says his professor Henna Budhwani inspires him and credits his motivation to his mom.
Listen above. Key excerpts are below.
He Gets Some Of It From His Mother
“Her pet peeve — she would always say, ‘I don’t like to see anyone hungry,’ so when I was a kid, when she’d pack my lunch, she would always pack an extra sandwich, chips, and soda just in case someone there didn’t have food. So I guess it’s something that’s always been in me.”
Overwhelming Even For A Former War Medic
“It’s still surreal … I … I, uhm … I still can’t take it all in.” (Listen from 1:25.)
The Point Of It All
“The main goal is to help reduce poverty, some of the food insecurities, and then from there … bring in some dietitians or nurses from the area or the schools and show the community how to prepare healthy foods with these crops and the fish.”
Two Potential Benefits
“You’ll be able to grow tomatoes in the middle of December or January … [and have] produce warehouses built, bring in different types restaurants [and] grocery stores, build their economy. And from there, who knows?”
Thinking Long Term
“As far as I can see, yes, this seems like it’s going to be my life’s work.”
Photos: See No Kings protests around the country
People gathered for pro-democracy protests across the country today.
Israel says it killed 9 Iranian nuclear scientists, and braces for attacks from Iran
Israel's military says the nine nuclear scientists killed played spent decades working on Iran's nuclear program.
Can’t-miss interviews: Gavin Newsom, Dave Portnoy and Jason Reynolds
A lot happened this week, and NPR has you covered. Catch up on the big news and culture moments you might have missed.
Minnesota state lawmaker killed, another wounded in targeted shootings
A former Minnesota House speaker and her husband were killed and a state senator and his wife were wounded in targeted shootings early Saturday at their homes near Minneapolis, officials said.
10 years after the deadly church shooting, a new history of ‘Mother Emanuel’
Reporter Kevin Sack's new book is a history of Charleston's Emanuel AME Church, the oldest Black congregation in the South, where a white supremacist killed nine worshippers a decade ago.
We’re all going to die. What now? ‘The Life of Chuck’ sits with this question
Tom Hiddleston stars in the new adaptation of Stephen King's novella — which is somehow a very sweet film about the inevitable approach of death.
