We hope that everyone will join us for our next delicious
Pathfinder Produce market, this Thursday, January 21, at the Village Commons
from 2 to 5 p.m. The market cheerfully accepts personal checks and
Visa/MC/Discover card payments and offers a rewards card for committed
customers.
This
past Monday we observed Dr. M.L. King Jr. Day, to honor the life’s work of the
slain civil rights leader. For some, it offered a day off from school,
for others it meant that banks and government offices were closed. For
me, it reminded me of the time I spent as a journalism intern working at the Legislative Gazette in Albany. The Gazette
is a student-run newspaper, a joint venture between SUNY New Paltz and the
University at Albany, which offers in-depth news on state government and
issues, and provides learning experiences for cub reporters.
As
I recall, civil rights activists then – January 1983 – were still working
towards the passage of the federal holiday, and community groups and the Black
and Hispanic Caucus had installed an exhibit of large B&W images of Dr.
King’s life in the Legislative Office Building. As a staff photographer,
I had to take a photo that captured the activists’ work and zeal for equal
rights and opportunity. I did all right with the photo (it ran on the
front page), and the activists were successful in the legislative process:
President Reagan signed the law that November, after Congress had been
presented with a petition with six million signatures, later cited by The Nation to be “the largest
petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history."
So
what does this have to do with food?
Today,
we realize that we are far from Dr. King’s dream of equality and access,
especially given the tragedies of 2014. But another, less noticeable
symptom of stress in our national fabric is revealed through eating
trends. A recent study published by The
Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, points out
that a food divide is growing between the haves and have-nots, and is adding to
serious health problems. According to a Washington Post blogger Roberto
A. Ferdman, “Diet-driven diseases like obesity and diabetes now cost the
country hundreds of billions of dollars
every year.”
Conducted
by a research team led by Harvard School of Public Health, the food gap study ran from
1999 through 2010, and included a pool of over 29,000
adults, aged 20 to 85. The study found out that while American diets have
gotten slightly better (lower intake of transfats, less soda), by and large,
this improvement was concentrated among wealthier consumers. People of
limited means (including the 17% considered to be food
insecure by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), are making worse food
choices. In summary, the researchers found that:
- Price is a major determinant of food choice
- Healthful foods cost more than unhealthful foods in the U.S.
- The poor are less well-informed about nutrition overall.
So what can we do about this?
Here in Edmeston, through the 5210 Program and
the cooperative efforts of local organizations, we’ve started the process of
better food education. Food Service Manager Brian Belknap, Superintendent Brian
Hunt, and other staff/volunteers at Edmeston Central School instruct students
on better food choices, and children are served a variety of fresh vegetables
during lunches. The school program also encourages students to grow
vegetables at the ECS Hoop House; this program has expanded to the vocational
agricultural program at Pathfinder Village.
Next, through the efforts of many, we’ve
developed a new marketing model, Pathfinder Produce (which has limited but
regular hours and relies on volunteers). The market works by adding
additional produce to the Village’s weekly shipments from food vendors.
This extra produce is then sold at competitive prices to the public, answering
the needs of families in an area that is a food desert.
The market takes effort and planning, but it has staying power. It will
begin its third year in March, and is probably one of the greatest success
stories of our 5210 experiences.
What we’ve done here in Edmeston is smart,
shareable, and can be replicated in other rural areas, but also in inner cities
provided there is a cohort of people who wish to make things better. This
type of work is a continuation of the organizing work of Dr. King, Gandhi, and
other civil rights leaders.
Until next time, be well!
Lori
