The common event, Community Voices #4, featured two grassroots community organizations, Just Food, and GreenMarket.

Abby Youngblood, the speaker for Just Food, initiated the lecture with a PowerPoint that highlighted the increase in obesity of people living in the United States.  The general trend shows that obesity has been on the rise, particularly in southern states. Furthermore, there is a positive correlation between increasing amounts of fruits and vegetables consumed and one’s waistline. This statement aided in setting the stage for the rest of her presentation, and helped showcase the necessity of fresh fruits and vegetables in one’s diet.

Operating since 1995, Just Food has helped provide city residents with fresh produce from local farms.  Just Food works with many programs, including The City Farm, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Fresh Food for All, Community Food Education and Food Justice. These programs range from teaching knowledge of food growth, to increasing access to local produce. Just Food promotes Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives, and strives to eliminate food deserts in the city. Considering the decline of family farms, Just Food has helped local farmers by linking food producers to markets in New York City: “Just Food works to increase access to fresh, healthy food in NYC and to support the local farms and urban gardens that grow it.” The Just Food website states that families receive a weekly delivery of fresh food from a local farm, for a fee of $475 per season. It also mentions that CSAs are the least expensive way for consumers to purchase organic food. If one is involved in a CSA, they are required to pay fees up front. In return, they are provided with a box of organic fresh fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis.  One essentially gets the crops that are “in season” from the farmer. This activity directly supports local farmers, and also helps in the elimination of waste. Farmers know how much food they need to grow, and extra food is not left to spoil. There are currently over 80 CSA programs in New York City, with new farmers added to the list every year.

Food justice was an important topic addressed by Ms. Youngblood.  Food justice goals include mobilizing citizens to actively participate in food policy issues (food justice advocates), raising the profile of food and climate change issues, and even legalizing beekeeping in New York City. The role of bees as pollinators was brought to my attention.  These friendly insects protect biodiversity and pollination; they may help create crops that are more desirable and help in the production of flowers that are commonly seen in farmer’s markets.

It was interesting to hear of our diet’s contribution to global warming. Global industrial agriculture contributes to 13.5% (32% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions) of global warming. Transportation, methane emissions, fertilizer production, and food packaging all add up. For this reason, it makes more sense to invest in CSAs. Food is from local farmers, and therefore does not have to be transported large distances.

The second presentation made was by Liz Carlo. Founded in 1976, The GreenMarket Program, part of of GrowNYC, has a two-fold mission: to promote the use of organic foods from local farms, and to provide New Yorkers with nutritious locally grown food. GreenMarket started in a parking lot on 59^th st and 2^nd Avenue in Manhattan, and consisted of produce being sold by twelve farmers.  Today there are over 200 family farms participating in the program. GreenMarket features 49 markets, 19 of which are open year-round.

Everything that is sold by GreenMarket is grown, raised, and caught by the people living on family farms in New York. GreenMarket staff includes 25 year round personnel and 20 to 25 seasonal market managers.  The diverse crops grown by farmers are a main attraction at vending sites. The institution of all of these markets greatly helps combat food deserts, which are defined as neighborhoods with little or no access to the fresh fruits and vegetables needed in a healthy diet. Furthermore, these “deserts” have plenty of fast food locations, which helps increase chances of obesity and weight-related diseases.

The desire to combat food deserts is made clear by the fact that GreenMarket stands accept alternate forms of payments, such as EBT, WIC, and Health bucks. This ensures that people receiving financial aid from the government have the opportunity to access organic fruits and vegetables.

I found it interesting that the two speakers did not discuss the cost of the fresh produce more in depth. In particular, although I find the CSAs to be beneficial to local farmers, it is important to note that consumers must pay for their fresh fruits and vegetables ahead of time.  If someone is of low socioeconomic standing, it is hard to imagine that they will participate in programs if it means paying close to five hundred dollars, yet not being unsure of what produce they will ultimately receive.

The discussion of the health factors associated with eating fruits and vegetables was superfluous at times. I do not doubt that anyone is unaware of the health benefits of fresh produce. I believe that any decision to not participate in these programs is primarily economically based, and not based on ignorance of simple nutrition.  I can understand that there are food deserts in certain parts of New York City.  The lack of fresh produce in those areas is most likely correlated with the issue of resources. There are more fast food shops in areas of low socioeconomic standing. Because fast food/ junk food tends to be cheaper than organic fruits and vegetables, it makes sense that they will be purchased instead. Apart from this, I found both speakers to be very informative and passionate about their respective programs.