Saturday, July 18, 2009

Black churches hope farmers markets change eating habits in Chicago 'food desert'

Tribune:
This month, several churches on the city's South and West Sides have recruited local farmers and urban growers to peddle their produce at farmers markets, filling what organizers called a void in fresh fruit and vegetables in their communities.

Last week, Trinity United Church of Christ on the Far South Side unveiled a weekly farmers market in their church parking lot. On Saturday, Greater Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in North Lawndale will launch a similar open-air market on the West Side.

Trinity and others have planted seeds for a community garden as well.

Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, pastor of Avalon Park Community Church, said he wants the Far South Side neighborhood to "be on the front end of this new green economy." Members of his United Church of Christ congregation recently planted tomatoes, spinach, broccoli and peppers.

"This is an exercise that can help us toward healthy eating. It's an exercise toward self-sustained communities," Ford said.

According to a recent report by the Minnesota-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the churches' efforts are in line with a growing nationwide movement within the faith community to promote wholesome diets and encourage Christians to care for and cultivate the Earth.

The healthy-diet initiative also represents an emerging social justice movement in African-American churches in neighborhoods without major grocery store chains -- areas also known as "food deserts."

Some churches plan to donate their homegrown produce to food pantries and soup kitchens. Others intend to offer the harvest to their congregations with recipes to preserve their African cultural cuisine and health.
...
Many of the churches involved are in food deserts. Researchers have found residents there tend to buy food at gas stations and convenience stores.

The most recent research by Mari Gallagher, a Chicago-based consultant, showed that more than 600,000 Chicagoans live in food deserts, most of them are African-American, and many are classified as working poor without a car.

Gallagher said supermarkets or healthy alternatives such as farmers markets add years to the lives of residents suffering from cardiovascular and kidney diseases and diabetes.
Via Concerned Citizens of Chatham Facebook page, join up there!

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