“…Lettuce turnip the beet”

*The rap crew called Beats and Rhymes, which incidentally had a viral hit back in 2012, is probably on the verge of flaring another one. Their song ‘Hot Cheetos and Takis’, not only changes their tune, but is promoting the Appetite for Change – which is a non-profit that teaches communities about growing and cooking their own food.

How the Song Builds an Appetite for Change

Many of the Black children who are involved in the Appetite for Change are seen performing in this rap video alongside the most dedicated lyrics. One stanza from the song goes like:

“Screaming Hot Cheetos and Takis / Boy, you better eat your broccoli.”

With such lyrics, the rap crew plans on delivering the important message about creating the availability of nutritious food where they aren’t available – the urban areas for example. The lyrics of the song have been beautifully tailored to speak about urban farming and it has already created a wildfire of views. On Facebook alone it has been able to generate 2.6 million views since it had been introduced on December 6.

Viral for a Reason

Even though the song has gotten quite a lot of traction on social media, it was intended for a specific stratum of the society. It was intended for people who live in food deserts or those who have minimal access to milk, whole grains or even fresh produce. There are over 23.5 million Black Americans who are situated in areas with low-income and are also about a mile away from the closes supermarket or grocery store!

The song incidentally also makes a shout out to Michelle Obama because she had her own vegetable garden in the White House. This is exactly what the song and Appetite for change wants these people in the urban areas to do They want people to start their own urban garden or even start their own grocery stores in the middle of these food deserts.

Changes They Have Inspired Already

Beats and Rhymes along with Appetite for change are already moving closer to their vision. They have inspired the state of California into setting up programs such as ones that impose discounts on fresh produce. All of these discounts are targeted at low income shoppers who frequent the farmers markets in California.

While this objective is one way of easing things for people with no access to food, they also wish that people come up with fresh new ideas of generating their own supplies of food. Only when this becomes common in urban areas will their Appetite for change be sufficed.