February 24, 2015

Will Chapman

Will Chapman

Seal the Seasons, a for-profit social enterprise co-founded by William Chapman, master’s student in nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, won the 2015 SECU Emerging Issues Prize for Innovation Feb. 10.

The contest, sponsored by the State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) and SECU Foundation and administered by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues, challenges student teams at North Carolina’s two- and four-year colleges and universities to address social, economic and health issues affecting the state. The first-place award carries a $50,000 prize.

Chapman and Seal the Seasons co-founder Patrick Mateer, an undergraduate political science and economics major at UNC-Chapel Hill, aim to increase the amount of locally produced food in mainstream supply chains in North Carolina. They also want to create markets for USDA Grade B produce and eliminate food deserts by chopping, flash-freezing and distributing produce that mainstream groceries choose not to use.

Grade B produce is of excellent quality nutritionally but may not meet the retail market’s expectations for color, size or texture.

“Flash freezing is an innovative way to introduce healthy food into the food retail market because the quick-freezing method prevents spoilage and allows the nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables to be retained for up to one year,” Mateer said. “The method extends the seasonal availability of produce beyond the harvest season, and freezing equipment allows produce to be frozen on a large scale.”

In January 2014, Seal the Seasons was admitted into CUBE, the social innovation start-up incubator located in UNC-Chapel Hill’s Campus Y. Since then, CUBE has provided the organization with legal assistance, one-on-one mentoring and $5,000 in seed funding, said Mathilde Verdier, CUBE’s director.

Mateer said the $50,000 prize money will allow the organization to transition from initial production to longer-term sustainability by bolstering the production capacity required to meaningfully impact the local food market.

“After almost 18 months of hard work, this influx of capital will allow us to begin official production of our local frozen fruits and vegetables,” Chapman said. “We are very excited. Our first products (chopped, frozen kale and collard greens) will be available for purchase at Weaver Street Market, starting in March. We expect to rapidly expand our product line as the spring crops come in, with a particular emphasis on small fruits, such as blueberries.”

Seal the Seasons will work with three local farms to expand the number of products available to their current customers without their being forced to invest in expensive flash-freezing equipment.

“By serving as a produce aggregator,” the business partners wrote in their application, “we can meet the needs of institutional customers such as schools, which require more product than a single farm can provide. This will help integrate local food into large-scale supply chains, increasing the awareness and accessibility of local food while providing it to those who need it most.”

Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, PhD, professor and chair of nutrition at the Gillings School, said she was extremely impressed with the work being accomplished by Seal the Seasons.

“Improving access to healthy food is a critical to improving health in communities – and that is central to the mission of our School,” Mayer-Davis said.

“Our smart students understand they can put their ideas and skills to work while they’re still in school,” said Julie MacMillan, MPH, managing director of Research and Innovation Solutions at the Gillings School. “We’re proud of Will and his colleagues for filling a critical niche with healthy food.”

Daniella Uslan, program manager at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, is the third co-founder of Seal the Seasons. The center is directed by Alice Ammerman, DrPH, professor of nutrition at the Gillings School.


Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.
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