I worked in South Los Angeles for 3 years, and one of the things that really struck me about the community was how far away the nearest grocery store was. The junior high school I taught at had a liquor store around the corner (which has very interestingly been replaced by a Starbucks in recent years), and the nearest grocery store was 5+ miles away. For many of my students, I noticed that they didn’t have convenient access to healthy fruits and vegetables, and brought in what may be the worst snack of all — flaming Hot Cheetos (the fire red stains from their hands gave my assignments a lovely late evening hue).
So, what were the options within that 5 mile radius? Jack in the Box, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken … sure, you could access a plethora of questionable fried food establishments, but what about – an apple?
The lack of healthy food and nutrition education contributed to my students often feeling highly lethargic, sick, and not able to concentrate throughout class. Not eating healthily was not only affecting them physically, but it was also hindering their academic performance.
My friend Ariel Dekovic introduced me to an West Oakland based non-profit, City Slicker Farms, helping to mitigate the problem of no access to healthy food. The mission of City Slicker Farms is to empower West Oakland community members to meet the immediate and basic need for healthy organic food for themselves and their families by creating high-yield urban farms and backyard gardens. When City Slicker Farms first opened, there was nowhere in West Oakland to be able to buy fresh, healthy food.
But then City Slicker Farms quickly converted empty spaces in the neighborhood into farming lots. One West Oakland resident donated a plot of land to be used for City Slicker Farms, and soon there were neighborhood committees being formed to tend to the land, the “compost committee” and the “chicken committee”.
Today City Slicker Farms consists of seven Community Market Farms (spaces open to the public), over 100 Backyard Gardens, a weekly Farm Stand, a greenhouse, and Urban Farming Education programs.
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This is such an awesome initiative!
Linn, I totally agree! What’s been really neat is upon further research, there are more of these urban-gardens sprouting up all over the country. In many cases, the community residents themselves tend the food, harvest it, and are able to fully enjoy the products of their work.
Great post as usual Melanie………love your voracious and eclectic appetite for inspiration……this story reminds me of a fabulous organization, The Food Project http://thefoodproject.org/ based here in Mass. They seamlessly combine youth advocacy, organic farming, social justice training, and feeding the hungry as well as exposing inner city and suburban youth to each other……an amazing organization that I credit for helping get my daughter headed toward a life of meaningful work and service. Check them out and keep your spotlight on the truly worthwhile individuals and ventures.you write about.
Thanks so much, Mark! And thanks also for the recommendation about The Food Project – I will absolutely check them out! As I mentioned to Linn below, I’m also really impressed by how many of these organizations there are across the country. I hope they keep on burgeoning since it is such an important cause; I can’t think of much more urgency than access to quality food. And, it’s a bonus that the Food Project inspired Rachel to pursue her impressive endeavors! Thanks again for the kind words and response!
Melanie, as always a great article. This one is particularly close to my heart. There is no reason for people to be hungry in this country.
My friend Sarah Bossa at Manna Food Pantries is in charge of the school gardens program in Pensacola. Next time you are in town you should see what they are doing. It’s very impressive.The teachers use the gardens to teach things like math,writing skills,etc. I am so impressed and I think you would be too.
Hey Anna!
Thanks so much for your note. I will definitely have to come check that out! And yes — it’s amazing how some of the basic necessities — such as food, is vital to not only fueling our minds, but can also teach our minds as well.