As a person bites into a fresh green pepper or maybe sugar snap peas, that person does not think about where that fresh vegetable was grown. The fruit and vegetables that people are consuming every day in the local communities could have been grown in another state or even another country, by a farmer the consumer does not even know. Community members could be sure about who has touched their produce if the communities develop community gardens. Through a community garden it will benefit the community members by not only having fresh produce available, but by making them more intrigued to eat items that promote a healthy lifestyle. A community garden would encourage bonding, lower cost, and healthy living. By having a community garden, those …show more content…
Various tasks could be taught to the children of the community members from weeding the garden to how to harvest the fruit and vegetables produced. In fact, teaching the children tasks such as this will not only help them learn to garden, but give them a sense of responsibility. While learning how to be responsible the children will also develop their own unity, as they learn to get along with and bond with other neighborhood children they might not otherwise interact with. Learning how to responsible at a young age through something as simple as a community garden can benefit the children for the rest of their lives. The children will be taught that a person has to work for what they want and that a person does not get everything handed to them. Cathleen D. Zick co-author of “Harvesting More Than Vegetables: The Potential Weight Control Benefits of Community Gardening,” states, “The decision to garden likely influences both caloric intake and physical activity.” Through this community garden the children will learn how the fruits and vegetables that they eat are brought into their homes and on to the tables, while doing physical activity. Situations such as this go to prove how many benefits a community can acquire from installing a community …show more content…
Elizabeth A. Mack co-author of “Gardening in the dessert: a spatial optimization approach to locating gardens in rapidly expanding urban environments,” stated, “Food access is a precursor to healthy food consumption and healthy food consumption is associated with better health.” Today it is easy for someone to stop at the local McDonald’s or any fast food restaurant to order the children a happy meal. If these stops become a frequent occurrence due to that fact that they are convenient, it will result in an inconvenience for the children’s diet and
In the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman there are many different characters, and even some of them cross paths. A community garden was started just by one person therefore everyone follows. They all learn how to get along with other people, how to not stereotype so much, and how to depend on each other in their community. All of them struggle with something, whether it's with family, friends, or feeling stereotyped. They learn the importance of a community, and realize how much they really depend on each other. Having a community is important for all people to incorporate diversity, culture,and unique stories into their lives. You don't realize how much people depend on their community until its gone. The importance
A major issue that is occurring in America is a phenomena known as “food deserts”, most are located in urban areas and it's difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. Whereas in the past, food deserts were thought to be solved with just placing a grocery store in the area, but with times it has become an issue that people are not picking the best nutritional option. This issue is not only making grocery store in food deserts are practically useless and not really eliminating the issue of food deserts because even when they are given a better nutritional option, and people are not taking it. In my perspective, it takes more than a grocery store to eliminate ‘food deserts’. It's more about demonstrating the good of picking the nutritional option and how it can help them and their families. For example, “Those who live in these areas are often subject to poor diets as a result and are at a greater risk of becoming obese or developing chronic diseases.”(Corapi, 2014).
Because the people who live in food deserts do not get proper supplements of fruits and vegetable, much of their diets are consisted of mainly junk food, fast food, and meats. As a result of this, today, more than one third of adults in America are obese. In addition to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease can also be results of a lack of healthy food choices, which result from people buying their food from convenience stores that only sell processed foods and from fast food restaurants. This paper attempts to provide readers with a better understanding of the fact that not only do food deserts exists, they are threatening the lives of Amer...
Food deserts are places where healthy foods are not produced nor sold. Unfortunately, Chicago is filled with food deserts. Approximately 600,000 people reside in areas that consist of food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Nearly 200,000 of those people are children. These children do not have the opportunity for healthier options, which shows an increase in obesity rates (News One Staff, 2011). There are 77 Chicago communities and out of that 77, 23 are food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Chicagoans-particularly the black communities- are forced to live off the accessible food that is near them. The food deserts are in Austin, North Lawndale, Armour Square, Near South Side, Fuller Park, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Woodlawn, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, Englewood, Ashburn, Auburn Gresham, Beverly, Washington Heights, Morgan Park, Roseland, Pullman, South Deering, Riverdale, South Chicago, and West Pullman (Grossinger, 2007). The communities are usually served by junk food- filled corner stores, which do not offer an abundance of healthy foods. The communities are in desperate need of change.
... as changing zoning and offerring incentives to attract farmers markets and supermarkets to food deserts. Cities can increase access by guaranteeing public transportation routes. And farmers’ markets can accept EBT (electronic benefit transfer), which would make it easier for those on assistant programs to have access to fresh local fruits and vegetables. Seattle area farmers’ markets are already doing this. Community gardens can be an effective way of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among residents. Cities can encourage this through zoning polices and grants.
Obesity in the United States, which the media has labeled a national crisis, has also been connected to poverty rates. Big fast food industry’s target poor communities, and spend millions of dollars each year to create advertising that appeals to these specific areas. These industry’s also target naïve children when advertising because they know that eating habits developed in childhood are usually carried into adulthood. Children who are exposed to television advertisements for unhealthy food and who are not educated well enough on good nutrition will grow up and feed their families the same unhealthy foods they ate as kids. A big way fast food giants are able to make certain young people have access to unhealthy food is by strategically placing franchises in close proximity to schools. They will often place three times as many outlets within walking distance of schools than in areas where there are no schools nearby. The way fast food advertising is targeted towards children is very alarming considering how important good nutrition is for young people and how a child’s eating habits can affect their growth and
"We all grew up in communities with grandmothers who cooked two, three vegetables that you had to eat. There was no ifs, ands or buts about it. But that's because many of our grandparents, they had community gardens; there was the vegetable man that came around. There were many other resources that allowed them to have access. So it's not that people don't know or don't want to do the right thing; they just have to have access to the foods that they know will make their families healthier ("Michelle Obama in Chicago," 2011). People who have options of vegetables and fish products in grocery stores eat better and will have better outcome on health (Edberg, 2007).
“Food Deserts” as defined by the CDC, are “areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). In simpler terms, a food desert is a community with little to no grocery stores. Many reports show that neighborhoods with less access to neighborhood grocery stores have a higher risk for obesity and unhealthy diets unlike neighborhoods where residents have better access to neighborhood grocery stores. The “USDA estimates that 23.5 million people, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income areas that are than one mile from a supermarket. Of the 23.5 million, 11.5 million are low-income individuals in households with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. Of the 2.3 million people living in low-income rural areas that ...
Former editor of Us News and World Report and recipient of Guggenheim Award,Stephen Budiansky in his article, “Math Lessons For Locavores”,published in August 19,2012 addresses the topic of locally grown food and argues it as a more sustainable choice in terms of freshness and seasons.I agree with Budiansky for growing food locally,however; with three other reasons: we can reduce food waste,(which will benefit the environment), and obesity(which will help an individual mentally and physically), and improve our economy. The purpose is to illustrate why locally grown foods would be a finer option for an American lifestyle. Budiansky adopts an informative,persuasive,and insightful tone for his audience,readers
This is problematic because those in most need of nutritious meals to sustain health are those unable to access them. A simple change in zip code is the difference between a food desert and a food utopia. This finding furthers the text’s argument that “Place matters. Issues such as housing and income determine quality of life, especially among the low-income residents of urban areas.” Inequity of food selection at the Yale location can, in extreme circumstances, promote the failing health of a certain group- an action that is largely discriminatory in nature. To solve the food crisis, I suggest the implementation of more urban gardens. Similar to what the documentary on food deserts suggests, urban gardens no only create a sense of unity in a common goal, they provide the much-needed fresh and healthy food to those unable to access them. Since transportation to adequate grocery stores is also a barrier to must in food deserts, a free public bus whose purpose is to shuttle people to food availability would be beneficial. As discussed in class, grocery stores are serving to perceivably different populations based on zip code. However, all people shop with the same goal in mind and require the same access to affordable, healthy
For economists and politicians, there are a few things that still are not considered, and the missing answers are only piling up; someone always has to win or lose out. Food policies are one of them. Bringing urban agriculture to cities is an incomparable move. When community food growing flourishes, the consumers seem to be healthier and smarter about what they eat, less p...
Food is a major part of everyone’s everyday life. It’s hard to imagine life without the chocolate cake on your fingers or a carne asada taco in your mouth. Enjoying delicious desserts and fast food seem extremely magnificent to eat and spend money buying them. Although, there have been many controversies in the United States on how it’s the largest country with the most obesity regarding children, which affects their health, many people are still going throughout their day snacking. Many people in America are having full course meals with thousands of calories in one sitting not knowing the short term or long term side effects that are going to take a huge toll on their lives. Food is delicious, but it comes with a secret behind the savoriness/sweetness.
Healthy and affordable food choices on the go or even just in the store is a huge and worldwide ongoing problem that of course cannot be fixed overnight. To help start and put one foot forward to improvements in the availability of healthy food options and choices in lower income neighborhoods, we as a community and as a whole should do the following. Many different methods could be tried to help solve the problem. This is simply because one method may not work as well as the other. As Denis Waitley says “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker”.
Have you ever considered what is in the food you are feeding your children? Most foods that are bought at the neighborhood grocery stores are considered global foods which are packed with additives and chemicals making them far less nutritious than local produce from the community farmer‘s market. After much research, I have concluded that it is better to buy produce which is grown locally rather than produce which is sourced globally (from other countries). I think this is important because most people, like myself, buy global foods and do not realize how much better local foods are for the local economy, the global environment, and our personal nutrition. Nutrition is vital to the healthy of everyone especially children, so with the purchase of local fresh produce, it can ease the worry in parents of what children as well as ourselves are ingesting.
Scherr, R. E., Cox, R. J., Feenstra, G., & Zidenberg-Cherr, S. (2013). Integrating local agriculture into nutrition programs can benefit children's health. California Agriculture, 67(1), 30-37. doi:10.3733/ca.v067n01p30