In an article from the April/May 2011 edition of Mother Nature News, Mary Lou Shaw writes about her experiences in connecting with a non-profit organization called Local Matters and their collaborative work on building community food security.
Local Matters is a non-profit food advocacy group that is based in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 2002, when "a collaboration among several local organizations created community gardens and a nutrition education program with a food security grant from the USDA". The group began by starting some of the gardens at Head Start schools ("Head Start is a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families").
When asked about their success, Local Matters believes that success lies in listening to the communities about their wants and needs. For example, when one school asked for help in created green areas in the recess area of their school grounds, Local Matters helped them recruit "volunteers to plant green areas, add pathways through them and incorporate running water, small statues, and a small vegetable garden". The school was then able to grow food in the gardens, serve some of the food in the cafeteria, teach the students about whole foods, and to start up classes for children and parents about sustainable living and eating healthy meals.
The executive director of Local Matters, Michael Jones, believes that educating people on food and nutrition begins with the education of children. By teaching them at young ages, we can "develop an audience that will be willing to eat healthier foods in the school cafeterias and make healthier food choices in general", he says. The Head Start program begins teaching children from the ages of 3-5, or in the second grade. "Volunteers and teachers spend one lively hour each week familiarizing children with the nutritional value of healthy foods that the students then help prepare and eat." Local Matters also offers classes on food ecology; on topics such as composting, water harvesting, and growing an organic school garden. They hope to empower these kids to find and grow their own local foods outside of school.
In order to help make local food more available, Local Matters has helped to create a new kind of grocery store: The Greener Grocer. These are local hubs for "farm-to-fork program[s], in which local farmers sell their produce at a price that supports their labors and farms". While these foods can often come at a higher price, "people who shop at The Greener Grocer know their money helps support nutrition programs in local schools". Additionally, the store also offers a "Weekly Fresh Market Bag", which mimics a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program by providing inexpensive produce when it is most in season and most abundant. The group has also worked with community partners to help encourage store owners to include fresh, local produce in their stores.
Local Matters has claimed that their success long-term is twofold: because they listen to the community needs and they synergistically weave residents into their efforts. Local Matters says, "It is our job to build honest, long-term relationships, work with others, and have complete respect for them and their knowledge of their community. We work with communities who invite us to work with them to build healthy food systems." While you may have big ideas on changes you would like to make to your own community, it is important to remember that it is difficult to do alone - you will need the help and support of your local community. However, Shaw reminds us that "If you listen to what the community wants, you'll find that nutrition and wellness can become the driving force behind many positive changes."
Before concluding this blog about Shaw's article, here are some tips she gives us on how to best do something in your community:
- Ask teachers and school leaders how they think food education, cooking, gardening or farm-to-fork lunch programs could best be incorporated into local schools.
- Ask parents what school programs they'd most like to see their children participate in, and ask how the parents themselves would like to be involved.
- Check whether children in the community could visit a local farm to learn about food production firsthand.
- Locate local organizations that work with children to see whether food-system goals could be incorporated into their existing programs.
- Ask market and convenience store managers to consider adding locally grown produce to their selections. Try to foster connections between stores and farmers in the community, and set up a CSA program if one doesn't already exist.
- Encourage chefs and restaurants to use more produce, meat and dairy products from local farmers, and support the businesses that support the local food system.
Exercise: I started out this morning with another early morning run… lasting about 20 minutes and going about 1.5 miles, plus stretching. Then this afternoon I did my usual swim workout. Here's the workout:
300 warm up freestyle (100 swim, 100 kick, 100 swim)
6x25 drill (2xfingertip drag, 2xcatch-up arms, 2xevery three breathing)
1x100
2x50
1x200
2x100
1x400
2x200
14x25 (alternate easy-fast)
200 cool down (easy)
TOTAL: 2400 meters (1.5 miles)
Eat: When buying bagels at the bakery, there are a lot of healthy choices but the bagels generally do not come with nutrition information. If this is the case, here are two things to look for: First, check the ingredients list. The first ingredient should be whole grains. Other ingredients that are good in bagels are seeds, flax, and wheat germ. They may make the bagel higher in calories, but they will also increase the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats. If your bakery does not have ingredients lists, just ask the baker! Also, watch out for portion size… bakery bagels can sometimes be supersized! While you are shopping for your bagels, some flavored bagels (cinnamon, raisin, blueberry, poppy seed, etc) can be nutritious too. Just be sure to watch the sugar content when buying these bagels. (One more thing on bagels tomorrow!)
Relax: When I got home from my morning run, I was able to sit down and read a chapter of Food Inc. while eating my breakfast. Since it was so gloomy outside, I just felt incredibly sleepy. SO… I ended up taking a bit of a nap. I need some sunny weather to get here already!!
