Feeding hungry people has always been a part of Nate Walls’ life: Raised by an adoptive mother who owned a cafe in Stuttgart, he started cooking when he was just 6 years old and cooked his way through a stint in the army. Today, he runs Secondhand Smoke, a barbecue catering company that specializes in catering for nonprofit organizations in the Northwest Arkansas area.

When it became apparent the extent to which the covid-19 outbreak would affect the food supply for the most vulnerable members of the Northwest Arkansas community, Walls’ friend and website designer Carl Dunn contacted him and suggested he find a way to help. So Walls did, in the way he does best: by sharing meals.

“The first time, I just went out with my own money and went to Grandview Apartments [in south Fayetteville] and passed out a few plates,” says Walls. The response was immediate — and desperate. “People talk when they eat. Continued…