Imagine you live surrounded by fast food joints, gas stations, liquor stores and concrete. Many inner-city neighborhoods live in this "food desert." They do not have access to fresh food and produce and are left with no choice, but to purchase food from these unhealthy options.
This past weekend I attended a conference hosted by San Diego Food Not Lawns called, "Cultivating Food Justice." Along with gardening, canning, composting, recycling and a slue of other workshops, there was one in particular that I found fascinating; "Nutritional Racism." We learned through an informative video called "Unnatural Causes" that inner-city, low income, minority neighborhoods harbor the unhealthiest citizens due to poor water and food quality, proximity to highways and dumps, chronic stress from daily violence and lack of efficient transportation, to name a few. "Unnatural Causes" follows the residents of one Northern California neighborhood that fits the mold of a food desert, but there are quite a few in San Diego too.
If one visits the City Heights neighborhood in San Diego on Saturday morning one could find fresh produce lining the streets at the weekly farmers' market. Neighbors wave to each other while comparing vegetable prices. However, it was not always this convenient and easy to find fresh food. City Heights prides itself on being the most diverse neighborhood in the city, but it is also one of the most dangerous. Years ago the residents were hard on finding fresh, local produce, green patches of land to enjoy or public space to garden. Now this has changed due to generous grants and redevelopment plans to beautify the neighborhood and construct new private and public buildings, like the wonderful library and low income housing options.
One of the projects that I have been following in the neighborhood is the New Roots Community Farm in City Heights, for City Heights residents. Through the long and hard work of the International Rescue Committee in San Diego, they have secured this piece of land with 89 garden plots. I believe this plot of land could be a community gathering spot for neighbors to converse and share and for families and individuals to grow fresh, organic produce for much less than buying it at the supermarket. Families could grow trees and plants from their native countries. They can be self-sustainable!
Community gardens not only provide us with healthy food to nourish our bodies, but also with lasting experiences to share with neighbors and family. I love to see positive change. Busy street with cars to bustling produce market with buyers. Seed to fruit. Vacant lot to community garden. Despair to hope.
Peas
We watched unnatural causes recently for a public health class I'm taking at UC Merced. It's an incredible film! But the issues of access to healthy food plagues regions beyond the urban. For example here in the Central Valley, the richest agricultural region in the world, we suffer from a lack of access to good healthy fresh food. We here suffer from obesity and hunger. It's incredible.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the makeup of the group attending the conference? I ask because the local food movement and the green movement is incredible white, despite underrepresented groups being more affected by the issues of lack of access to good, healthy food.
Thanks for the great post!