What You Need To Know

• Fresh to Deaf is in the Southern Park Mall food court and operated by Youngstown native Tiffany Hamilton


• Hamilton is 50% deaf in both ears


• She started the business during the pandemic to help provide nourishment during the difficult times

Unique ingredients like tamarind share space alongside cantaloupe and other fresh fare at Tiffany Hamilton’s business Fresh to Deaf. 

“Everything is put together and cut per order, so I try to have everything accessible and easy so the customer isn’t waiting long,” she said. 

As for the second half of her business’s name, she’s 50% deaf in both ears. 

“On paper, I’m marked disabled, but obviously I’m not disabled,” Hamilton said. 

She said the name helps encourage others with disabilities. 

“Fully deaf people, people that sign, they are so welcoming and they’re so appreciative and they have so much gratitude because I’m representing them,” she said. 

She became an entrepreneur when a doctor encouraged her to listen to her body. 

“You put so much work on your body trying to bridge the gap, trying to hear… you’re wearing yourself down,” she said. 

Her job as a manager in retail gave her headaches every day. 

“People thinking I’m stupid when simply I just need you to repeat yourself,” Hamilton said. 

Now people are listening to her about the benefits of a plant-based diet. 

“These foods come from a tree that is living,” she said. “They have leaves on them because they’re living. So, you want to put living foods in your body in order to live.”

She became a certified herbalist, holistic practitioner and psychological food coach during the pandemic. 

“During a time that was unprecedented,” she said. “People literally had to choose whether they wanted pharmaceuticals or they wanted to buy groceries to feed their family or themselves.”

She opened her first business in downtown Youngstown in October 2020. A year later, she moved to the Southern Park Mall food court. 

“Fake foods and stuff are prevalent inside of a mall, so having something that’s healthy and organic is actually surprising,” said Trinity Sharper, a customer. 

Sharper said she stops by for a smoothie packed with sea moss as often as she can. 

“I want to make sure that what I put in my body is healthy,” she said. “I can’t just put anything in my body.”

She said she encourages her friends and family to try it which is what Hamilton is hoping for. 

“I want Fresh to Deaf to be a household name,” Hamilton said. “One, to give the representation to the deaf/[hard of hearing] community and then also for everyone to have affordable living foods.”