Can the Local Food Movement Include the Low-income As Well?

Local food movement is a commonly used phrase these days, but what does it really mean?

Local food movement is a collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies – one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place.

The movement is all about–growing, selling, buying and eating fresh local produce. The movement has gained some momentum in Chicago like many more cities with the growth of local farmers’ markets, fresh produce carts, urban agricultural initiatives and other innovative food distribution models like the Top Box Foods.

Some have suggested that the idea reeks of snobbish elitism, is too expensive and beyond the reach of the low-income. Judith Warner of Time magazine comments that the local food movement is “trendy and charming” but “will not solve the nation’s food ills”. Charles Kenny of Foreign Policy magazine calls the local and organic food movements “misguided, parochial Luddism” and is aghast that the nation’s federal funds go to support farmers’ markets.

But is all this cynicism really necessary?

Nobody claims that the local food movement will solve all the food insecurity related problems, but it does provide a different way of thinking about local food and community. There are a number of things happening in Chicago that demonstrates that local food movement cannot only include the low-income but can also be a great vehicle for community building. People who are interested in promoting fresh food are also interested in making it affordable and the process inclusive.

Urban agriculture is an important part of local food movement. It acquires a more significant role in including the vulnerable and low-income populations, if it’s developed into an urban farming social enterprise that serves as a vehicle to provide homeless people with hands-on job experience, with the aim to transform their lives.

In 1992, Les Brown, the founder of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless started such a social enterprise called Growing Home. Today Growing Home has become a recognized leader in workforce development, urban agriculture, and social enterprise. In 2011, it trained 35 individuals with major barriers to employment in our job training program. It also served over 300 people through workshops ranging from cooking and container gardening, and gained substantial media attention because of its programming and staff. In recent years, Growing Home has expanded in order to provide extensive outreach programming to thousands of Chicago residents, with a focus on the Englewood community.

Other organizations have stepped in to make fresh food affordable. Experimental Station is an interesting and independent, not-for-profit incubator of innovative cultural projects and small-scale enterprises. One of its initiatives is LINK Up Illinois–a program that helps achieve affordability and accessibility of fresh and nutritious foods sold at Illinois farmers markets for low-income Illinoisans by providing farmers markets across the state with funding for Double Value Coupon incentive programs for LINK Card shoppers. LINK Up Illinois is privately funded and also provides participating markets with training and technical assistance for implementing these programs successfully. Currently around 25 Farmers’ Markets in the city of Chicago, including Green City Market participate in the LINK Up Illinois program. Last year the total LINK purchases at these markets were $84,826.

Most of the Farmers’ Markets also host demonstration programs where celebrity chefs teach how to cook fresh produce. This brings together a diverse crowd of people who would not have mingled and socialized generally.

Other innovative initiatives have grown roots in Chicago as well. For example, Fresh Moves is an innovative solution designed to address food access disparities on the south and west sides of the City of Chicago. Using re-purposed Chicago Transit Authority buses and the power of education and advocacy, a group of community activists are providing fresh produce and knowledge designed to improved health outcomes in under-served communities. Somewhat similar to this idea is StreetWise Inc. and Neighbor Capital’s Neighbor Carts or produce stands. It follows a business model that creates new vendor opportunities with an entrepreneurial spirit. These produce stands are a practical answer for two of the top issues facing Chicago’s Northside: unemployment and access to healthy foods.

There is a non-profit in Chicago that brings high-quality, low-cost food to needy Chicagoans. Top Box Foods is a non-profit hunger relief organization that buys high quality meats and vegetables and bundles them together in food boxes, which are then sold to church members of participating host sites.

With so much positive energy going into making fresh food accessible and affordable to all in Chicago, it’s hard to imagine the local food movement being totally removed from the mainstream and “elitist” in scope.

Source: Lakeviewpantry (http://goo.gl/Sa7EN)