Crosswalks, school cafeterias, and wellness retreats

Good morning {{name!|reader}},

Back for round two. This week’s stories include road redesigns saving pedestrian lives, how California cafeterias are serving farm fresh meals, and the free retreats for people with chronic conditions.

With gratitude,

Brenner, Jordan, and Zac

Over the last 20 years, Orlando has consistently been one of the most dangerous metros for pedestrians. Per Smart Growth America, it’s ranked deadliest four times since 2009, including as recently as 2021. However, in the last 5 years, it’s dropped all the way to #25, marking real improvement as 75% of metros became more dangerous.

Pedestrians are forced to struggle across poorly lit, sprawling roads with no sidewalks or crossings. Their safety, or lack thereof, is taken for granted: pedestrian deaths are up 80% since 2009 while other traffic-related fatalities are only up 13%.

What did Orlando do? They studied the data and found that fatalities occurred at the highest rate on the fastest, largest streets. Traffic engineers have long treated congestion as a problem to solve, inadvertently compromising safety in the process. That’s why we saw overall traffic fatalities spike during COVID: empty streets encouraged speeding, creating a deadly threat. So, Orlando adopted Vision Zero and implemented concentrated fixes including more crossings, better marked signals and lighting, and lane narrowing.

While angry drivers may slam their horn at the increased congestion, the results tell a different story: 40% fewer deadly and serious crashes in the last five years (about a city bus full of people). Orlando’s not the only one running this playbook – Hoboken has gone nine straight years without a single traffic death.

Unfortunately, most of America still views pedestrian deaths as a disappointing byproduct of driving. To add to this grim picture, the federal government is now pulling back on the grants and design tools that made these improvements possible for Orlando. While improvements remain an uphill battle, Orlando has taken a lead, and now, the rest of the country needs to follow down the road.

In California school lunchrooms, students are lucky enough to feast on farm fresh fruits and vegetables like rambutans (red, hairy fruit) and painted serpent cucumbers (exactly what it sounds like). That’s all thanks to food hubs facilitating the ordering, processing, and delivery between local farms and cafeterias. Because the issue was never about kids hating vegetables, all they needed were high-quality ingredients. And high-quality they are: one middle-schooler claimed he’s never heard anyone complain about the food.

Those hubs exist because California’s Farm to School Incubator Grant Program pays for them. Since 2021, $86 million has funded 375 projects, reaching 49% of public-school students. According to school nutrition directors, some of the most useful expenses are the middlemen themselves. Spork is one food hub that entered the program serving four districts on $80,000 in annual sales. It now works with more than 100 farms and serves 40 school districts, delivering up to 120 tons (or 720 truckloads) of produce every week, and doing $6.5 million a year.

While supply chain logistics isn’t the sexiest of jobs, it’s necessary given these cafeterias don’t have the staffing to do it themselves. And neither do the small farms. For them, it’s also an economic boon – with these crops, they know how much they’ll sell before the seed even goes into the ground. The newfound predictable demand helps keep employees year-round. The California Department of Food and Agriculture estimates that every Farm to School dollar spent generates $2.10 in local economic activity.

Why it matters: Farm to School is $24.6 million against a $4.6 billion annual California school food economy. Still, California wrote the program into law this July, making it a permanent fixture after five years of cycle-by-cycle funding. 40+ states had federal versions of this program stripped away in March 2025. California’s program demonstrates that it’s replicable at the state level – it starts with getting the middleman right.

Wellness retreats have been skyrocketing in popularity as we become more health-conscious and open to trying anything. They cater to a host of preferences from hot springs and luxury spas to ayahuasca retreats. However, there’s another segment that’s gone under the radar despite helping those who need it most: retreats for those with chronic illnesses.

First Descents is an example of one such program, giving young adults impacted by cancer or multiple sclerosis the chance to get away on a free, week-long trip featuring whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, surfing, or various other outdoor adventures. For someone dealing with the newfound challenges of a life-changing condition like cancer, these retreats offer a community where no one has to explain themselves, their scar, the fatigue, or otherwise. The setup is built for it: groupwide nicknames, campfire chats, shared meals, and the opportunity to go at your own pace. And it’s been found to work. A University of Michigan study saw significant reductions in distress among participants.

Zooming out: First Descents is 25 years old and has served more than 13,000 participants. It’s expanded its scope from cancer and MS to serve caregivers and frontline healthcare workers as well. On top of that, it’s free to newcomers: alumni fundraise to pay for the next person’s trip, and travel scholarships exist for those who may need it. Importantly, First Descents is not the only organization out there. In fact, it’s one of many such as Casting for Recovery (breast cancer retreats), Girls With Guts (retreats for women with IBD), Reel Recovery (fly-fishing for men with cancer), and the list goes on.

While these types of programs may traditionally cost thousands, this ecosystem is designed around accessibility. No experience needed – just an application on a website. The only bottleneck is knowing they exist. First Descents even has a program called Prescribe Adventure where doctors are encouraged to refer patients. A diagnosis may take away a lot of things from a person, but these retreats aren’t one. There’s a spot on a kayak waiting for them.