OPINION

December 3, 201212 THE PROFILE

Cookie dough pitza

Pesto chicken pitza

Southwest salad

photos courtesy of Pitza 42

Fabretto Children’s Foundation and FMSC in Nicaragua

Convoy of Hope, one of FMSC’s feeding partners

thepro!leonline.blogspot.com13

Thought processes concerning pizza are usually centered around gooey cheese, golden crust and mounds of toppings – all piping hot and ready to be scarfed down. This tasty treat is one of the most appealing choices to satisfy rumbling tummies, and it’s easily

accessible. But what if pizza was taken away? What if when the hunger pangs hit, there was no food within reach? This is reality for millions of people throughout the world, who battle with hunger every day and never receive the opportunity to eat even one slice of pizza. Ashton and Austin, the owners of Pitza 42 here in Conway, came to terms with the horrors of hunger and decided to do something about it. At Pitza 42, you can curb your own pizza craving (in a much healthier fashion) while also working to stop worldwide hunger. With one meal for you and one meal for a hungry child, all at a reasonable ticket price, going out to eat has never been so satisfying. Austin and Ashton didn’t always plan on opening a restaurant: in fact, it wasn’t in their plans at all. They both graduated from Ouachita Baptist Univer-sity in 2008, got married soon after and PRYHG�WR�/RV�$QJHOHV���$VKWRQ�ZDV�D�¿UVW�grade teacher, and Austin worked in com-mercial real estate. “We loved our jobs,” Ashton said. “We were those people in college who knew exactly what we wanted to be.” That certainty went out the window when Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision U.S., came to L.A. to speak about global poverty and hunger. “He told us two things that totally FKDQJHG�RXU�OLYHV�IRUHYHU�´�$VKWRQ�VDLG���7KH�¿UVW�WKLQJ�ZDV�WKDW��������children die every day from hunger, and the second thing was that hunger is the single most solvable problem in the world today. This stirred up quite a bit of curiosity in the young couple, and Ashton began wondering why thousands of children died every day from totally preventable deaths. :K\�ZDVQ¶W�WKLV�SUREOHP�JHWWLQJ�¿[HG"��³:H�GLGQ¶W�NQRZ�DQ\�RI�WKHVH�DQ-swers because we’d never researched it,” Ashton said. This was the trigger for the two of them, and their hunger for answers set in. But after two years in L.A., Austin got a job offer at another real estate ¿UP�LQ�&RQZD\��VR�WKH\�UHWXUQHG�WR�$UNDQVDV���$VKWRQ�JRW�D�MRE�WHDFKLQJ�DW�Little Rock Christian, and everything seemed to be going according to their long-established plans. One Sunday, however, they decided to go to a dif-ferent church than usual to hear a guest speaker. The topic, coincidentally, ZDV�KXQJHU��DQG�WKDW�ZDV�WKH�¿QDO�VWUDZ��� “This stirring started happening in our hearts, and after we heard the speaker, we went to Taco Bueno – I still remember this like it was yes-WHUGD\�´�$VKWRQ�VDLG���³,W�ZDV�-DQXDU\������������6R��ZH�VDW�GRZQ�DW�7DFR�Bueno and had our burritos, and Austin said, ‘Ashton, what if there was a restaurant that had the same business model as TOMS? So it’s one for one, but with food.” This is where fate stepped in, because 6 days later, Austin lost his job. He started looking in Little Rock for a new job, and he was getting great offers, but found himself unable to accept them. He told Ashton that he wanted to start a restaurant.

There were just a couple of speed bumps: neither of them had any experience in food service, they had few funds and they had to give up their house. Austin promised to keep looking for a job, but made Ashton promise in return that she would research the possibilities for their idea. 6R�$VKWRQ�VWDUWHG�ORRNLQJ�IRU�QRQSUR¿W�RUJDQL]DWLRQV�WKDW�IHHG�SHRSOH�LQ�need, and the information she uncovered was life-changing. “We found out that it costs an average of 22 to 30 cents to feed a child for a whole day,” Ashton said. “That was foundational for us. When we heard that, it was done.” The couple decided that they would die before they gave up on this project, so Austin stopped searching for jobs and Ashton quit hers. “So at this point,” Ashton said, “we still don’t have a restaurant location, both of us are unemployed and we’re living in his parent’s basement researching an idea that has yet to come to fruition.” But this didn’t stop them. They ZHUH�RQ�WKH�SKRQH�GD\�DQG�QLJKW�JDWKHULQJ�LQIRUPDWLRQ��DQG�¿QDOO\�WKH\�

FKRVH�WKH�QRQSUR¿W�RUJDQL]DWLRQ��)HHG�My Starving Children, to work with.���)HHG�0\�6WDUYLQJ�&KLOGUHQ��)06&��supplies food and sends it to any of their 70 partners, who distribute food on the ground in 67 different countries around WKH�ZRUOG���$ORQJ�ZLWK�WKH�IRRG��)06&�requires that these distributing organiza-tions have some kind of sustainable pro-gram as well, like a school. The children they help are stuck in a cycle of poverty: they need clothing, medical care and

education, along with food in order to escape that cycle, so they attempt to provide all of these services. Ashton and Austin loved this aspect of the RUJDQL]DWLRQ��VR�WKH\�ÀHZ�WR�0LQQHDSROLV�WR�PHHW�ZLWK�WKH�&(2����³)RU�WKH�¿UVW�WLPH�´�$VKWRQ�VDLG��³VRPHRQH�VDLG�WR�XV��µWKDW�LV�DQ�DEVR-OXWHO\�ZRQGHUIXO�LGHD�¶��(YHU\RQH�HOVH�WROG�XV�WKDW�LW�ZDV�LQVDQH��DQG�WKDW�LW�was never going to work.”���'HVSLWH�WKH�QD\VD\HUV��3LW]D����RSHQHG�RQ�6HSWHPEHU������������7KH�number 42 indicates that the meal is “for two” people, and it’s spelled “pitza” because the pizza is made on pita bread – a much healthier option than traditional pizza. So not only do you eat good food, but you do good as well.³)RU�HYHU\�PHDO�WKDW�\RX�EX\��ZH�GRQDWH����FHQWV�WR�)06&�DQG�WKDW�IHHGV�one child for one full day,” Ashton said.���)RU�WKH����PRQWKV�WKDW�WKH\¶YH�EHHQ�RSHQ��3LW]D����KDV�GRQDWHG�DOPRVW���������PHDOV���$V�WKH\�ZRUN�WR�PDNH�WKHLU�&RQZD\�ORFDWLRQ�WKH�EHVW�LW�can be, Ashton and Austin also plan for the future: they hope to sell as many franchises as they can. “Since the restaurant started, our [goal] hasn’t been for Austin and me to own a million restaurants and for us to be successful,” Ashton said. “Our >JRDO@�LV�WR�¿QG�RWKHU�SHRSOH�WKDW�DUH�PLVVLRQ�PLQGHG�DQG�ZDQW�WR�PDNH�an impact on global hunger, and then sell them franchises.” One pita pizza at a time, Austin and Ashton are working to end world-wide hunger. You can do the same: just consider who you’re feeding next time you go out for a slice. That’s food for thought.

by Mary Katherine BarkerPitza42EATINGLOCAL

“Eat Good, Do Good”

“”

At Pitza 42, you can curb your own pizza craving while

also working to stop worldwide hunger

2235 Dave Ward Dr Suite 101Conway, AR 72034

501.205.1380