Self Sustainability with Nathan Pickard; Feeding Oklahoma during COVID-19 with Lori Long

Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes. Our April issue features some local environmental heroes. We share five stories of Tulsans working to make a positive difference. Among those is Nathan Pickard, and his wife Kristin, who have been hard at work creating The Joinery. It’s a regenerative building located in the Heights, just north of downtown. It’s the first building in the state to seek the Living Building Challenge certification from the International Living Future Institute. There are only two dozen fully-certified living buildings in the world. To achieve that status, the Pickards and team, led architect Molly Jones, have to meet 20 stringent requirements to reach their goal. That includes things like solar power, an independent water source, a garden and much more. 
 It turns out, a pandemic creates a good test of the building’s purpose in providing basic needs in a time of crisis. Some call the Pickards doomsday preppers and others call them hippies. In a conversation we did by phone, Nathan discusses where they fall on the spectrum and how he’s excited about the massive amount of sweet potatoes they have stocked up from their garden. He also reflects on what led he and his friends to start the project and how he hopes it catches on their neighborhood. 

We also discuss his involvement with Up With Trees, which includes creating the Tisdale Food Forest along the LL Tisdale Parkway that provides the community with fruits and nuts, while also serving as a natural sound barrier for the neighborhood.

In a time when we’re re-examining how we operate in our daily lives, this conversation provides insight on how we can work with our natural resources to be better prepared in challenging times like the one we find ourselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following that conversation, I’m sharing my interview with Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma’s new CEO Lori Long. When we talked by phone late last week, she was just 10 days into the job.

It’s an unprecedented time for the food bank. They provide food to folks in 24 counties. It used to be about 463,000 meals a week. As of last week, they were up to about 750,000 meals a week and that number is going up as unemployment rises.

The nonprofit is low on inventory with corporate food drives ending as people are forced to work from home. There’s a growing budget deficit as they purchase food and expand operations, while losing out on the opportunity for traditional fundraising. 

But according to Lori, the staff of nearly 80 continues to have good spirits as they work hard to ensure Oklahomans have food to feed themselves and their families in these challenging days. 

You can visit OKFoodbank.org to learn how to get assistance or provide help as they continue to work hard to meet the growing needs.

This is Tulsa Talks with Nathan Pickard and Lori Long.