Originally I planned to write about growing food yourself, in reference to the old adage "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat forever."
budhydharma made me rethink that strategy, though. So here's your fair warning. This diary becomes a rant after the fold.
That being said, do us all a favor and, before you wade in, take a moment to give a healthy donation to Feeding America. Better yet, go to this handy link. Any donations you give there will be doubled by Proctor & Gamble. In addition, I pledge to give a dime for every diary recommendation and a nickel for tip jar tip I get on this diary. The hell with that. I'm donating $50, and I double-dog dare you to match me.
So why in the name of (insert your deity or hero's name here) are there people starving in America? According to Feeding America's latest figures, 49 Million people are in a state of food insercurity:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA) reported (Nov. 19th) that 49 million Americans, including nearly 17 million children, are food insecure. The 2009 report on Household Food Insecurity in the United States paints an alarming picture of the pervasiveness of hunger in our nation.
This is an increase of 36 percent over the numbers released one year by the USDA, which found that 36.2 million American were at risk of hunger.“It is tragic that so many people in this nation of plenty don’t have access to adequate amounts of nutritious food,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. “Although these new numbers are staggering, it should be noted that these numbers reflect the state of the nation one year ago, in 2008. Since then, the economy has significantly weakened, and there are likely many more people struggling with hunger than this report states.
Many more people struggling with hunger than this report states. Much of the reson behind this is the widening areas of Food Deserts in our metropolitan areas. In too many places, the only food available is either Fast Food, or dusty crap sold at convenience stores at prices three times that of the average supermarket chain.
Why on earth are there Food deserts in our cities? Look at this map of Chicago. Nearly the entire South Side of Chicago is a food desert. Clearly, this is why it's the baddest part of town. According to Chicago Magazine, "... 609,034 Chicagoans ... live in what’s known as a food desert, a concentrated area short on access to fresh meat and produce, but flush with the packaged and fried yield of convenience stores and fast-food outlets."
But that's only half the story. According to a blog called Food Mapping:
A “food desert” is an area where residents have limited access to supermarkets and supercenters where a variety of groceries and produce can be found. Some researchers draw a distinction between “food deserts”, where all of the population has low access to supermarkets, and “low-access” areas, where more than half the population has limited access to supermarkets.
The term “limited access” in this case is generally defined as being over 10 miles from the nearest supermarket. Obviously, this limitation will vary in severity depending on the area in question. However, it is clear that distance from grocery stores will most strongly affect low income individuals, those with disabilities and the elderly, who are far more likely to be reliant on public transportation. Low-access areas and food deserts in the United States are shockingly widespread, and are found in both urban and rural areas.
A study by Troy Blanchard, Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University and Lois Wright Morton, Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, quantifies this problem.
According to their figures, 803 of United States counties, or 26%, have low access to food, while 401, or 13%, are food deserts. They found that residents of low-access and food desert counties are more likely to lack a high school diploma or GED, have a lower family income, have higher individual and family poverty rates, and have a population which is older than average. In four food desert counties in Iowa that they focused on more closely, the researchers found that 64% did not consume adequate amounts of vegetables daily, while 45% did not consume adequate fruit, 34% lacked adequate dairy and 30% lacked adequate protein.
But how does this happen?
The answer? Greed.
In 2000, there were only small areas of the city of Cleveland which classified as food deserts. A large chain, originally called Pick 'n Pay, then Finast had been bought in the late 1990s by the Tops Friendly Market chain based in Western New York that is controlled by Ahold, major international supermarket operator based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Problem is they weren't so Friendly.
On July 6, 2006, Ahold announced its decision to exit the Northeast Ohio market, which consists of 46 locations. The 46 stores are located in Greater Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Norwalk and currently employ approximately 3,800 full and part-time employees. Tops announced on October 10, 2006 that 18 of its Ohio stores were sold to rival Giant Eagle. An additional store in Sheffield, Ohio was reportedly sold on November 29, 2006 [1]. On November 9 in a company press release, it was stated that all Tops stores in Northeast Ohio will close whether they have been sold or not. A store in Cleveland's Lee-Harvard Neighborhood and a store in Garfield Heights were converted to Dave's Markets, a small independently owned chain of grocery stores in Cleveland. In June the Tops store in Cleveland Heights became a Daves. [2] All Northeast Ohio stores closed by 3pm on December 8, 2006. source bold added
So out of 46 stores, only 21 remained open. What the story above doesn't tell you is that Giant Eagle gave Dave's the money needed to take over the three locations that are more inner-city oriented. The remaining 25 stores are, for the most part, located in economically depressed neighborhoods and are being rented by outfits like Family Dollar. One store in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland -- one of the most economically depressed areas in the State of Ohio -- has remained empty since closure, but (according to officials from the city of Cleveland's Office of Economic Development) is now being sought by Forman Mills a Big Box retailer based in New Jersey specializing in outerwear aimed at an urban clientele.
Nevermind that the only food available to folks in Glenville is found at a minority-owned Barbecue joint on East 123rd and Superior and at a Save-A-Lot at E. 124th and St. Clair -- and note that this particular Save-A-Lot doesn't carry fresh produce. Nevermind that the nearest freshly grown produce from this location is more than 2 miles away. Tops walked away from the Northeast Ohio area, Giant Eagle and Dave's bought up the chi-chi suburban stores, and left the poor folk in the inner city to struggle and suffer. It's almost as if the Tops people said "Let Them Eat Crap," because that's about all that's left for people in neighborhoods like Glenville.
Fortunately, not all is lost in Cleveland. City Fresh is a CSA that brings fresh locally grown produce to Cleveland's inner city neighborhoods weekly from April through October. Beginning sometime late next year, my project, the Cleveland Greenhouse Project, plans to extend City Fresh's outreach into the winter months so folks receiving WIC and SNAP can continue to get fresh produce at reasonable prices.
But that only helps at most a few thousand people in one relatively small area. Until we change our patterns and ways of thinking, until we stop giving agribiz giants like Archer Midland Daniels and ConAgra our food dollars, until we start voting with our wallets and insisting on freshly grown, locally produced vegetables and resisting the ease and allure of McDonald's then we will never solve the problems we're facing.
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(UPDATE:) And another thing.
mieprowan and Sand Hill Crane are talking about their experiences in taking the bus and biking to their nearest store, and how it was a good experience for them.
While that's admirable and healthy, it also shows one of the biggest problems that low-income families without reliable transportation face: Buying Bulk Items.
The best deals that a grocery store can offer is when you can buy in bulk. For example, our grocery store had a sale today for 20 cans of green beans for $10. We bought 20. If I were taking the bus to the store (the way I used to six years ago before I inherited a car) I would have never been able to take advantage of a deal like that. Worse off, when I asked the lady at the register today how much one can was, she said 89¢. This means taking the bus to the store today would have cost me an additional 39¢ for every can of green beans I bought if I didn't buy 20.
That's what low-income families who live in food deserts face every day. And there's something very wrong with that.
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Saturday, Nov 21 (all times EST):
11:00a -- blue jersey mom
2:00p -- Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
5:00p -- buhdydharma
8:00p -- JayinPortland
11:00p -- rb137
Sunday, Nov 22 (all times EST)
11:00a -- noweasels
2:00p -- TheFatLadySings
5:00p -- Timroff -- You are here!
8:00p -- teacherken
11:00p -- boatsie