Last night, after spending more than
$160 at the grocery store, I quickly cleaned out the vegetable
crisper, throwing away mushy asparagus, a hot house cucumber that
looked like a science experiment, and three leeks that I intended to
use in a recipe...that just never happened.
And then, this morning at 4 a.m. during
my bout of insomnia, I watched A Place at the Table.
I'm ashamed.
A Place at the Table documents
hunger in America. Hunger. Not the effort to eliminate GMOs or the
fight against Monsanto, which tends to be at the forefront of food
news.
Hunger.
The lack of real food for our kids' classmates. The
inability of a working parent to feed his or her family. Mothers who
tuck their children into bed, comforting them because their tummies
are empty.
Have you experienced hunger? I haven't.
My kids haven't. Right now, our refrigerator and pantry are
overflowing with food. Real food. Fresh eggs from our chickens. A
bowl of apples, pears, and bananas on the counter. And yes—some bad
snacks in the pantry. All from my 30-minute shopping trip at Publix,
which is less than five minutes away from our house.
But what if we lived in a food desert,
where the nearest grocery store was 45 minutes away? What if I had to
take two difference buses to get to that store after working all day?
What if, after arriving at the store, my food budget was $3
dollars...a day?
It makes the McDonald's Dollar Menu
seem awfully appealing, doesn't it?
The truth is, I knew hunger still
existed. But don't we tend to think of images of malnourished
children from third-world countries when we think of hunger? I don't
think of hunger relating to my neighbors, community, or kids'
friends.
I'm naïve. Or at least, I was. A
Place at the Table opened my eyes.
Thirty percent of Americans have no
idea when to expect their next meal.
30%.
One in three point three people.
And of those 48.8 million food insecure
Americans, 16.2 million of them are children.
Kids, trying to focus in school while
their tummies growl.
Kids, whose brains should be growing
and thriving—but are not receiving the nutrition necessary for
healthy development.
Kids, who are developing Type 2
diabetes at an alarming rate. According to U.S. Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, one in three children born
in 2000 will develop diabetes due to poor nutrition.
The reality is that many of these
families live in food deserts, where access to healthy food isn't an
option. Grocery chains look to profits when evaluating their sites,
and in our own community in Spartanburg, South Carolina, many chains
abandoned the community. Without access to transportation, families
rely on the closet source of food available—often convenience
stores, where the inventory of chips and candy bars is high, and the
nutritional value is nil.
Our community, though, is working on
our food deserts. Our thriving Hub City Farmers' Market is located in
an underserved area and accepts SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, formerly Food Stamps) vouchers. Plans are
underway for a Healthy Food Hub in a current food desert, housing the
market, a café that will sell produce, and an urban farm, which will
also employ community members. It's a start. There's a dedicated team
in place, many grants written, and many community members involved
who are determined to make it happen.
But what about the communities that
aren't willing or able to step up? Will we allow Big Ag to continue
to receive more than a quarter of a trillion dollars for food
subsidies on corn and soybeans, which allows junk food to be
affordable, while less than one percent of subsidies are delegated to
farmers raising fruit, vegetables, and processed grains? Since 1980,
when the American obesity epidemic began, the cost of fruit and
vegetables increased by 40%, while the cost of processed food
decreased by 40%, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Isn't something wrong with this
picture?
Something is also wrong when we try to
help our youngest citizens with free school meals. The federal
government reimburses schools $2.68 per meal. Now, out of the $2.68
budget, subtract costs for labor...administration...gas for
deliveries...
What's left? Ninety cents. 90 cents to
feed a child.
It's depressing. How can we claim to be
a world leader, when America is ranked last among the IMF Advanced
Economy countries for its inability to feed its people?
There's no easy solution. Families
trying to earn a living lose federal assistance if their income
exceeds $24,000—for a family of three.
Three people, trying to live on
$24,000.
We know we can't snap our fingers and
solve hunger. A blog post isn't going to make everyone have access to
healthy food tomorrow.
But what can we do?
Then, make your voice heard here.
Finally, use your gardening power. What
if, instead of buying that delicious-smelling witch hazel bush, we
purchase a container, seeds, and soil, and taught a child how to grow
a salad garden? What if we leverage the power of our community garden
clubs and spend a meeting planting an edible garden at a local school
stuck in a food desert, teaching the kids the power of growing food?
What if we adopt an urban community center, helping them learn how to
grow a community garden filled with healthy food?
Think what we could accomplish!
OK, I know I'm a little Pollyanna-ish.
Still, there's a quote that's been
making the rounds on gardening sites and Facebook pages recently.
“Growing your own food is like printing your own money.”
It's true.
When a pack of lettuce seeds cost $2
for several hundred seeds, and a single head of lettuce costs
$2...it's a no-brainer.
Many food-insecure people may not have
a yard for a garden. Still, a container placed on a stoop or balcony can
provide an ongoing source of nutrition. Plus, many of the food
deserts are found in rural areas, where there might be room for a
backyard garden. That's where we gardeners can help. By providing
our time, experience, and perhaps the tools to get started, we can
make a difference in providing healthy food.
One of the challenges for the Food Bloggers Against Hunger was to provide a nutritious recipe based
on the food stamp allowance of $3-4 per day. While not exactly a
recipe, a cut-and-come again salad bowl can provide an ongoing source
of food. Some of the plants are perennials...
Swiss Chard
Kale
...while others are quick to grow from seed.
Peas
Lettuce
The ingredients I used were all grown from seed and include:
Red Russian Kale (3)
Rainbow Swiss Chard (3)
Speckled Lettuce (6)
Tom Thumb Peas (7)
Deeper containers can hold carrots,
while 5 gallon buckets can support tomatoes and peppers. All require
minimal space, and all provide good nutrition.
So what do you think? Are you up for
the challenge? Can you commit to provide an edible container to a
family in need, or to help a school supply nutrition to its children? If you have other ideas, please share them in the comments.
We gardeners are powerful. Let's teach
people how to grow food—and let's help find a solution to hunger.
Thanks, friends.
XOXO ~
Julie
