Midmorning With Aundrea - October 6, 2020 (Part 4)

(Part 4 of 4) One man in Compton is bringing healthy vegan foods to a community that needs it.

The cbs series " more perfect union" aims t show that what unites us as americans is far greater than what divides us.

This morning, we take you to compton, california.

It's a city where healthy food can be hard to find, and life expectancy is five years ábelowá the los angeles county average.

But as jamie yuccas shows us, one resident is on a quest to make his neighbors áhealthier.á "good mornin man!"

Water spraying as the sun rises over this unexpected garden ... "today is th perfect time to introduce the kale.."

Clipping leaves .... it's easy to forget where you are ..

"it looks lik we're in the middle of the midwest...we're in compton..."

"we are!

... and that this is actually the middle of a desert..

"food deserts ar basically communities where there is a lack of fresh and healthy foods" "so this is you farm-to-table section?"

About six years ago, lemel durrah discovered vegan food during a cleansing fast.

The fast ended, but the new menu stuck around.

"when you wer first starting though, were people skeptical?"

"i guess, so, yea ..

... people had this thing in their mind to where, once you say it's vegan, they don't want any parts of it ... ... that's to be expected as we continue to change the narrative on healthy eating."

Hoping to nudge that change along, in 2017, he started compton vegan, a home-based food- delivery service, catering to his neighbors who grew up in the same desert he did.

"all of the food that i used to eat, i recreated them with plant-based ingredients" "all right, here w go ...."

The business quickly grew into a commercial kitchen space to keep up with the demand .... "can you believ this is not a real shrimp?"

This is where he turns out shrimp made with konjac root ... frying, bubbling noise ... fried chicken made from garbanzo bean flour ... spatula taps metal grill ..and his version of barbeque ribs, with jackfruit instead of meat.

"there are plant based ingredients where you can create the texture ... just trying to find ingredients that try to mic the consistency of ... all the other foods that we've been accustomed to eating all our lives."

"here you go .... "thank you!

Have good one!"

"y too!"

After a four- month shut-down due to the covid pandemic, he's now delivering again to other parts of los angeles.

But he was most missed back home in compton.

"i've tried jus about everything on the menu and nothing disappoints" "we don't reall have a lot of healthy options ... and so what lemel is doing for the city is very very important."

"ooooh!

Mac ' cheese!"

For those of us non-vegans who aren't from compton....?

"mmmm!

"this is reall good!"

"thank you!

..

The true test is in the tasting.

"it's shocking t me, though, that there's no dairy in this, there's no cheese ... i think i like this better than other mac 'n cheese ..."

"you know what?

Really like that!

I really like that!"

"in a way, are yo making vegan cool?"

"i'm trying t i'm trying to, i'm trying to make it the coolest thing on earth" "it's all in a day' work ....!"

It's a sometimes 15- hour workday for this unlikely gardener on a mission ..

Birds chirping ..

To make his we'll be right