It’s no secret that Tulsa has a fresh-food problem. While Brookside residents have four full-service grocery stores to choose from, Tulsans in other areas can more easily get their hands on a gun than they can a fresh apple. This doesn’t sit well with Katie Plohocky and she’s made it her life’s work to get at the root of the issue.
Since 2012, Plohocky has led the Tulsa Food Security Council, an advocacy group that seeks to improve the health, wellness, food security and quality of life for all residents of Green Country. The group tackles food security through policy, advocacy, connectivity and economics, bringing together leaders from across a wide range of disciplines.
“We’re not competing with each other, we’re all working for the same thing,” she says, “so why don’t we work together?”
Plohocky’s advocacy work extends far beyond the boardroom, however. As a consultant to the Tulsa Health Department she advises on all matters food related. Through this work she even caters meetings and events so participants can enjoy fresh, healthy food consistent with the goals of the Tulsa Health Department.
Additionally, Plohocky is the founder of the Healthy Community Store Initiative, a nonprofit under which she and her partner, Scott Smith, run R&G Grocers (see Best Nonprofit). For this tiny mobile grocery store, Plohocky offers up her healthy prepared foods and personally makes runs to local farms to harvest the freshest produce for the store. From City Hall to the fields, Katie Plohocky is not afraid to get her hands dirty on her quest to ensure access to fresh, healthy food for all.
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