Ice Cream, Food and Farms

Last Monday we hosted an ice cream social in the Pocket, one of our Healthy Blocks neighborhoods. We had a great turnout with the usual neighbors plus some new families, too! We even got this special ice cream just for dogs (frosty paws), which, I’ll definitely be buying some for Kelly soon!

We held it in this vacant lot in the middle of the neighborhood that is owned by the city and the neighborhood is slowly transforming it into a community garden. They’ve done a lot of work on it recently, including planting raised beds with vegetables for the community to share. (They need to be raised beds for edible gardens because of potential lead in the soil from older houses).

I’ve read recently that this is becoming more and more common in urban settings, utilizing the limited open land and grass for gardening, especially for vegetables to consume.
A couple people within the Pocket have taken the lead in planning and designing this garden. This is exactly what part of the Healthy Blocks Program strives to do - help leaders emerge within the neighborhood so that they can become stable and striving communities once we "leave" their area (usually after 5 years). Once other people see that their neighbors are involved and putting efforts towards making their neighborhood look better, we hope it'll have a ripple effect on others to invest in their homes, too.


Last Tuesday was another day at the Westside Farmers' Market doing crafts with the kids.

We decided to do some patriotic crafts for the holiday that would be displayed in the art gallery later in the week. I walked up to pretty much every person at the market, handing out an advertisement for the gallery. Many people were confused, surprised and excited about the event, which I guess is expected since the neighborhood where the vacant storefront is located is not exactly an "artsy" neighborhood. After my brief explanation (sometimes longer than others), many were receptive to the idea and told me they would plan on attending the gallery! It was really great to see that community members were (almost) as excited as I was for the grand event.

That evening, the Urban Fellows ate dinner at the campus dining hall with a group of high school students who were visiting and having a college experiential day. We were able to talk with them about the whole college experience, both preparing for and while at college. After hearing the not-so-impressive statistics for the city school district's graduation and college rates, I was happy to hear stories from these teens who are determined to continue onto college. We got to know these students better after dinner through a little friendly game of basketball. I started off teaching some girls how to play knock out and enjoyed being silly with them. Eventually, I worked my way up to playing a half court game with the skilled boys. It was entertaining to play with them, even if I was not nearly as good as them. I think they probably enjoyed getting to spend time with college students, having the opportunity to see that college students CAN be pretty cool and have fun - we're not all about hitting the books.

Last Wednesday's topic was Towards a Greener, Healthier City, focusing on food systems and farming techniques. Prior to the session, we all read The Omnivore's Dilemma, a book essentially about the idea that as omnivores, who can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety. If you think about going to the grocery store (Wegmans, of course), there are ENDLESS options of food products to purchase. Even within the same product, there are so many varieties to choose from - take a product such as pasta. There are easily over twenty different shapes of pasta to pick from. Organic or not? "Super pasta" (supposedly extra nutrients) or not? Canned pasta (Chef Boyardee) or not? Frozen or from the shelf? There are a bunch of other variables you have to decide on, too. Trying to buy this simple product can really cause distress if you are indecisive or don't know exactly what you are looking for. Looking at produce or even meat, the United States has a very limited understanding of seasons for food in the grocery store. Sometimes foods will cost more when they have to be shipped from farther away due to being off-season, but customers expect almost all food to be available at any time of the year.

There is another whole argument about where you buy your food: local farm food stands, farmers' markets, corner stores or supermarkets, whether it be a chain or a local store. This whole analysis can even include how you get to where you buy your food and how often you go - whether you make a trip once a day or stop once a week on your way home from work to stock up for the rest of the week. Or if you even ride your bike or walk to the grocery store for small amounts of food. This goes back to the whole concept of suburbia versus city living and transportation. Most cities do not have large grocery stores, so people have to either depend on corner stores (where you can't buy fresh produce or other fresh foods) or drive farther out of the center of the city to a grocery store. I have a relative who lives in NYC and has her groceries delivered directly to her family's apartment because she and her husband both work full time and have three kids. It has been a great convenience created for people living in cities who do not use their cars as often as people in suburbs, who often have to drive in order to travel somewhere. Everything tends to be a bit more spread out in suburbs, including houses, stores and public transportation stops. Rarely will you see someone walking or riding their bike to a grocery store in a suburb. While suburbs have some farmers' markets and stands, cities tend to have them conveniently located within walking distance of city housing neighborhoods. These often offer fresh foods that have been locally grown, helping support local farmers. Ironically, many rural food insecure households are the very same people who produce food for the consumption of others. These farmers grow food in their backyards, yet have to turn them over for money and depend on food pantries for their own sources of food. Food security is determined based on the availability of food and one's access to it. Very often what it boils down to is a lack of enough income and other resources to purchase food. In 2009, 50.2 million Americans lived food insecure, 33 million being adults and 17.2 million children. Households with children reported food insecurity twice as often, which makes sense with more individuals living under one roof, but it is hard to think about kids not receiving the nutrients that they need so badly to help them grow. Low income families may have to choose between paying bills and buying food. Even when they do buy food, they have to decide whether to purchase the low-cost, low-quality food or attempt to buy nutrient-rich foods that tend to be more expensive.

After great discussions in the morning, we headed to the Washington Square Market downtown Rochester for lunch. There was a live band, a bunch of delicious vendors and a beautiful park to enjoy with everyone.
After some brief relaxation, we headed off to a suburb, Penfield, where FoodLink (a food bank) has an 11 acre farm for growing fresh greens and a recent addition of chickens for eggs. What they grow on the farm can be sold to customers, such as locals who prefer to support the organization or restaurants that choose quality, local, but a bit pricier food. We were given a tour of the farm from staff members, got to feed chickens, taste test different lettuces and learn more about food systems.

They made us aware that every time we spend money on food, we support a certain food system but also do not support a different food system. When you buy the McDonald's salad, you make a statement about what you value. In comparison, when you buy leafy greens from a local farmer, you make an entirely different statement. It's easy to simply say to yourself, "Alright, I will be more careful about what I buy" and not actually take action. By simply making a statement about your values through your food purchases from local farmers and local businesses such as a local grocery story, we can hope they will continue to succeed and not be put out of business by larger corporations. I personally am going to try to think more about the sources of my food and hopefully the small efforts will add up, just as in any situation!

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa