Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maya Terro. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Maya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
FoodBlessed is a pioneering hunger-relief and food rescue youth-led organization that follows a community-based and volunteer-driven approach that provides a sustainable solution to the twin problems of food insecurity and food waste in Lebanon by providing food assistance to those in need in the forms of hot meals and monthly food parcels, while spreading awareness on food loss and food waste.
Back in 2012, 30% of the population lived under the poverty line, while around 30 percent of all edible food ended up in the bin. This paradoxical reality inspired me to become a food activist. Today with over 80% of the population living under the poverty line, the fight against food waste is ever so pressing. Did you know that if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, responsible for 10% of the world’s emissions.
I think I’ve always been a food activist way before I knew that “food activism” was actually a thing. In 2010, I was introduced to minimalism. Not long after that, I turned into food activism and soon after went to establish FoodBlessed. I started FoodBlessed because I wanted to reduce the number of people going hungry, the amount of food going to waste, and to empower the members of my community to give back all year long. I have always believed in the power of food in bringing people together and in eliciting positive change!
It all started in 2012. I guess in my case, I just happened to be at the right place at the right time and decided to jump in with both feet! My team’s idea of finding a sustainable and viable solution for the twin problems of hunger and food waste ended up winning first place and that frankly that was the sign my team and I probably needed to move forward with this project. I guess if we haven’t won back then, FoodBlessed might have never been born. I think what I am trying to say is that sometimes great opportunities pass us by without us knowing. That’s why we need to recognize and seize every opportunity that comes your way, with every chance we get.
Long story short, both of my teammates left after our first year of operation which was a big bummer to be honest. However, life has its way of pushing us to do better, to be better at what we do. And so what seemed like the end was only the beginning of something new, something exciting, something that turned out to be better than what I had expected.
I’ve been managing FoodBlessed on my own ever since. In 2014, I decided to quit my job and dedicate myself fully to growing FoodBlessed to its full potential. It wasn’t easy and at times I felt like giving up. But I never did.
In life we sometimes get one chance to follow our dreams, make sure to seize every opportunity that comes your way. Life is too short to wait up on your dreams. So if you’re anything like me, I say keep going. Trying is half the battle – it’s better to try and fall than to never try!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Maya Terro. When asked, I usually describe myself as a lifelong activist. I believe I’ve been an activist all my life, even before the word “activist” was beknown to me! I’ve been an activist of all sorts – political, social and environmental. You name it!
With FoodBlessed, I was able to transform my passion for food, my love for the planet, and my pursuit of empowering others into a humanitarian mission that ‘nourishes’ individuals, communities, and institutions to promote positive change in their country, one meal at a time.
In spite of the many challenges Lebanon faces on a daily basis, I came to the realization early in my life to lead by example and be the change I want to see happen around me. You see, in life it’s not enough to want change or wait for it or even to wish for change! You have to be it! Growing up, I was very outspoken child. In class, I used to question everything and as a result was labelled a ‘disruption’ to learning by some of my teachers. In addition to having the need to explore new things, I always felt the need to give back to my community. I started volunteering from a very young age. Volunteering has tremendously shaped me personally and professionally. Volunteering was an opportunity for me to go outside my comfort zone and try new things, something that has been incredibly helpful to me in my career path. It also strengthened my abilities as an exemplary leader and allowed me to grow my skill set in so many ways, especially my communication and analytical skills. Being of service to my community also instilled in me a sense of empathy, social responsibility and citizenship. They say, you are what you consistently do. I believe by consistently trying to make this world a better place for my community, the planet, and myself, I became a better person in the process.
FoodBlessed has always strived to unite and nourish communities through the power of food, social responsibility, and volunteerism.This means the work we do directly and meaningfully improves the community-at-large! By offering food supplies,preparing meals as well as raising awareness regarding food waste, our work not only brings hope and meaning to those we seek to serve aka our beneficiaries; it also enriches the lives of those helping us achieve this goal aka the volunteers or our ‘Hunger Heroes’ as we call them!
The sharing of food has always been part of the human story. Food is more than survival, food is a blessing, food is love. That’s why when we serve a meal at FoodBlessed, we are actually sharing a token of love, respect, and appreciation to the person we are serving! At FoodBlessed, thus, food bears a meaning besides providing nutrition to the body. It bears a bigger, nobler, social meaning, that of love and social cohesion! If you don’t feed your mind and soul, you just exist. There’s a big difference between living and between staying alive! In addition to providing food assistance to vulnerable and marginalized Lebanese families, FoodBlessed also supports refugees, domestic migrant workers, people with special needs as well as the LGBTQ+ community.
In the long term, through my work at FoodBlessed, I strive to create a cultural shift fueled by mindful consumption. It is only when people see and appreciate the value of food, will they stop wasting it and start sharing it.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Every success story I’ve encountered both in my personal life and in literature involved a change from within. One in which the change maker defies the status quo by refusing to conform to prevailing ideas or practices in his or her behavior or views. So in order to elicit change you to have to challenge the status quo, AND IN THIS CASE, it really doesn’t matter who you are, you can be a cleaner or a CEO, what really matters is what you are capable of DOING. Our troubles don’t define us. How we handle them does. Overcoming them makes us better humans.
Life is full of adversity. And you know what they say, overcoming adversities makes us better humans. In my line of work, in addition to my own, I am faced by the adversities of those I come across on a daily basis. The emotional burden this leaves is heavier than one can imagine but one has to soldier on.
Many times, especially when we are feeling down, we start to doubt our life decisions. Things we knew to be true start to feel shaky. It is on days like these when we feel like quitting on our dreams and doing what is expected of us.Whenever I feel like that, which happens more often than not, instead of worrying or quitting, I sit back and reflect on the everyday, small wins! It is on days like these when I remind myself of the huge impact that something I started many years ago has been able to have on the lives of many.
FoodBlessed is a testament of how one person can make a difference. I am lucky enough to know that my work at FoodBlessed has and still is inspires many. I believe one’s life is as important as the impact it leaves on the lives of others. This concrete belief of mine is the reason I wake up every day and the reason why I chose to overcome all the obstacles, be it emotional, financial, or psychological, that I have faced and still face on a daily basis.
FoodBlessed has changed and enriched my life and the lives of those it touches in so many ways that I honestly don’t have a clear cut answer for this question. Whenever I am feeling hopeless or helpless, I remind myself why FoodBlessed was born. One look at my “Hunger Heroes” in action and all of a sudden my faith in humanity is restored. I cannot express how proud I am that so many people nowadays identify with FoodBlessed as a community and not just a cause.
At the end of the day, one needs to be reminded that long after we are gone, the people in your life will not remember what you said or what you did but the way you made them feel. I’ve always believed and I know this much is true — it is in giving that we actually receive. That’s why at any chance you get to give, give. Give always. Give generously. Just give. That good you put out into the world will return to you in an abundance. You got my word for it (tried and tested)!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I learned from a very young age that the secret to self-fulfillment lies in being the change you want to see. We all have it in us to be a Changemaker. Sadly, most of us live our whole lives without ever realizing we had it in us. And so I’ve made it my lifelong mission is to push people to realize their full potential. To do so meant that I first had to push myself to reach my full potential. That meant I had to be true to who I am which also meant that I had to defy and exceed expectations; I had to be empowered in my goals; be fearless in my decisions; and driven by my inner values and beliefs; every second of every day.
Ever since I was little, I always felt driven to take the path less traveled. Unfortunately, in seeking to reach my true potential, my wholehearted passion and perseverance would sometimes be mistaken for stubbornness or worse disrespect.
Growing up, I was a very outspoken kid. In class, I used to question everything and as a result was labelled a ‘disruption’ to learning by some of my teachers. Moreover, I always felt that I was different. I used to march-to-the beat-of-my-own-drum. “Girls like you shouldn’t be climbing trees, shouldn’t be so expressive and loud, shouldn’t be so rude, shouldn’t be this, shouldn’t be that”, they would tell me. “Stop acting like such a boy, act like a girl!” Act like a girl? What the hell did that even mean? I never really identified myself as a girl. I always thought I was just being me. I used to tell myself, if he could do it, so can I; and even better. As I grew older, being different felt more like a burden than a blessing. Sometimes, I just wanted to blend in and belong and being the odd one out made it all the more difficult for me to do so. Sometimes, being myself meant that I was left out.
When you’re different there will be times when you feel undoubtly alone. The more I followed the less travelled path, the fewer people crossed my path. In every decision I made in my life; I always felt opposition, sometimes hate and a lot of loneliness. ‘Are you in your right mind? You’ll never make it!’, they would say. Sometimes I just wanted to quit. It took me some time and not to mention a lot of reading and self-reflection, to finally realize that it’s better to be true to who you are and to what you believe in and be rejected for it than to be accepted at the expense of losing yourself.
So when I was told to ‘act like a girl’ or ‘like my age’, I did the complete opposite. I wasn’t trying to be a boy or butt-headed, I was just being myself and in most cases that meant that I had to act in a way that might not come across as being ‘girly’ or ‘age- or ‘-culturally appropriate’. And when I was told to ‘stay quiet’, I would make sure my voice was heard.
I can’t really think of a time when I DIDN’T have to be defiant, empowered, or fearless. I’m 37 and till this day whenever someone asks me about who inspired or inspires me to be unapologetically myself; it might sound silly, but I always refer to my favorite movie of all time ‘Mulan’. Mulan’s story has been an inspiration for how mine turned out to be. Not only did Mulan defy cultural and gender stereotypes and make a contribution to her country, her bravery also empowered whole generations of girls to follow her lead, including yours truly :)
Contact Info:
- Donate: https://www.foodblessed.org/donate
- Website: https://www.foodblessed.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayaterro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maya.terro
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaterro/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/maya_terro
- Youtube: https://www.facebook.com/foodblessed
Image Credits
all credits go to “FoodBlessed”