Food is one of the oldest languages the human race has spoken. It started when our ancestors learned how to make fire and tools, quickly gathering people into communities that are now indispensable to us as human beings. We soon began using it to tell our stories across the barrier of time, indicated only by the technology used in the recipes or those pesky short stories prefacing the recipe itself. And now, Nikeisah Newton has turned it into a great act of activism.
Her mission started when Newton noticed fast food wrappers on her then-girlfriend’s car. It stood out to her that her food-conscious girlfriend would eat as much fast food as wrappers indicated. She had been a full-time PSU student, an intern at a probation office, and a dancer at a night club to help pay for her schooling. It left no time for things like cooking or worrying about food, and there certainly were no places open late enough for the dancers and sex workers to even get healthier food. And so, the mission behind Meals4Heels sparked.
When it was Newton’s turn to cook, she would bring her girlfriend some of it to the club so she’d be able to eat something good that didn’t come in a wrapper. The other dancers and sex workers from the club quickly caught on and began asking if they could buy her food as well. Meals4Heels started in 2019, from Newton’s kitchen and hand delivered to the club. Through word of mouth, other clubs and dancers began to learn about it, and soon developed into the business that it is today. I had the privilege to meet Newton through a Zoom meeting, where we talked about her business and its mission.
Newton defined sex work as a transaction in which one party offers a service and the other payment. According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, a project composed by the Oregon Historical Society, there are more strips clubs per capita in Portland than in any other city in the United States outranking even Las Vegas. Meals4Heels in turn caters healthy and carefully crafted dishes to sex workers in Portland, as it’s the “strip club capital, [so] it only makes sense to provide a service like this.”
The dishes were designed by Newton, a professional chef, from her understanding of how food feels to the eater as well as from her travels. While designing the dishes, there were many factors to keep in mind. The dish needed offer as much nutrition to the workers as possible without hindering their close-contact work. The food’s primary purpose is fueling the dancers, but they must be light as well so they can keep dancing without being bogged down by hard-to-digest foods, like for example meats. By now, Meals4Heels uses strictly vegan or vegetarian items with cheese being their only animal-based product. Garlic and onion were immediately discarded as the jobs often include intimate situations. And the food must also be able to withstand sitting out for a bit without ruining the dish. The schedules of these workers are far from regular, so the dishes needed to be able to be eaten hot or cold without ruining the taste and feel of it.
Meals4Heels also sources everything locally. During the winter, Newton hunts down the items as needed, while during the summer she contacts local farmers for providing. Seasonal vegetables, fruits, and even edible flowers join the dishes. While they add their own twist to the dish, the edible flowers are added for presentation. It offers a nice touch to it and makes “eye candy” as Newton called it, making it more appetizing for the eater.
But Meals4Heels is more than just another run-of-the-mill late night food place. It is built on trust. There is still stigmatization regarding sex workers worldwide, which leads to outcomes that range from questioning the validity of the job to incarceration and societal ostracization. Sex workers continuously suffer from the stigmas surrounding their jobs, and while Portland is certainly more positive about it, it still requires trust between business and clientele. Meals4Heels is the only business that strictly caters to sex workers in the world, and with it comes a sense of responsibility for the workers’ safety. While the business isn’t particularly big, usually just Newton and two employees to help with cooking, it relies heavily on the trust that Meals4Heels has been building since it started.
Newton mentioned during our time that even if she hired more people, she would prefer continuing the delivery herself. Part of it comes from that trust aspect of it. Screenings of potential employees can only offer so much and working at a club can put a worker in a vulnerable where their anonymity and autonomy might be at risk. On the times that Newton can’t deliver, she has a trusted person to do it for her, because she knows what will happen when they deliver the food and how they’ll act when they do. However, Newton also likes doing the delivery of the food to the clubs.
“I’m not just here to make money. I’m showing that I care and respect this certain particular group, and I want to, you know, be an ally.”
To Newton, having safe spaces at work is vital. “Strengthening local food supply chains, specifically working with black and POC farmers is a priority on my list.” It not only allows several communities to strengthen each other, but it allows information to flow. It helps to educate others and yourself, and that allows for more safe spaces for people and it opens the door to invention and a more just world. There is no ‘right way’ of taking action against oppression and stigmatization. Every time someone stops and takes that little step, that leap into invention for the sake of the fight, the world becomes a little safer for everyone. Whether that step is attending a protest, a lecture, writing an essay, or a dish, it all adds up.
We would like to thank Newton and Meal4Heels for the opportunity to talk and for sharing these amazing pictures with us.
