Fresh Beets

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Fresh Beets’ Story - Past and (be)Present

Nothing builds community quite as strongly as the synergy of food, music, and education. These three are common commodities people value, and many can not imagine being happy or well without.

What if healthy, ethical food and live music performed from the soul were part of the daily human experience, made accessible to all, rather than reserved for adults in night clubs or occasional community festivals? What if kids/pre-teens had more appropriate and motivating performance venues? And what if a busy office worker could slip out and enjoy a meal and a live musical medley during their lunch break in 30 minutes or less? Wouldn’t they feel... alive?

Fresh Beets was first dreamed up as part of a graduate school project for a course in Community Music called Arts Administration and Marketing. The assignment was to imagine and design an arts non-profit organization that would do necessary, relevant, and innovative work in some community. Identifying the need for more live music venues that attract all kinds of people as audience and performer, regardless of age or financial situation, as well as a need for more healthy food choices and more FUN in the daily diet of most hard working folks, Fresh Beets began gaining traction. The idea for a food truck/music venue based out of Lowell, MA that would feature community youth artists as well as touring and local acts won initial praise by the DifferenceMaker organization at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. With continued refining and focus, Fresh Beets was presented at the DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge in May of 2014 and was awarded “First To Market” and a $4,000 prize. Later that year, Fresh Beets won another $1,000 through the same organization in a different idea competition. Suddenly, what was simply an idea became a concept that was financially backed, but more importantly, believed in!

The next four years after being awarded the prize money have been spent trying to figure out how best to spend it. Savannah Marshall, owner, has spent two winter/spring seasons working and living in Austin, Texas to prepare for running a food truck. Austin is the live music capital (and food truck capital!) of the world! Being a full time musician/music educator and having never worked on a food truck, or even in a restaurant, it was necessary to spend a few winters down south to determine if the food truck life was right for her. Savannah spends considerable time performing in street bands throughout the country, and definitely has a passion for street culture. Now, after working in some of Austin’s finest (plant based!) food trucks and restaurants, as well as a few back up north, she is now feeling culinarily confident to roll out a menu all her own.

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