Crestmont

When Anya heard about the Oakland Neighborhood Project she was eager to be a part of it, and when I discovered what she is doing, I knew she had to be. Visit her Flavors of Oakland website and you’ll see why. Just out of high school at Oakland Tech, Anya is in the midst of a creating a cookbook about Oakland food as a way to bring people together to break down the barriers that keep us apart. As she puts it, “we connect with people all over the city, collecting recipes and stories, and compiling them into a narrative cookbook that celebrates what is beautiful about Oakland.” Not only is she documenting and narrating the process, but also she is photographing the people and the food. And her photos are remarkably beautiful…and remember, she just graduated high school! Yeah, that’s what Oakland youth are doing.