All DC Food For All posts from December, 2010.
After the first round of votes last week, the DC Council is expected deliver the final to vote this Tuesday to approve the FEED DC Act, putting in place a program to support healthy food access across the district. Based on the public-private partnership programs designed to draw full-service grocery stores to underserved areas in [...]
The fight to get paid -By Mya Zeronis Four women and a few flyers…..that’s how we showed our collective power. In the snow, we walked three blocks from the office of Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington, DC. The bold letters on the printed sheets read: “Demand DC Bread and Brew to come clean and stop [...]
Posted in AccessAllison Burkett, in a recent post, mentioned a trip to Whole Foods with Dorothy, a client of Bread for the City, learning how to shop for healthy foods on a limited budget. It got me thinking about my own recent trip to Whole Foods, one that had a very different outcome.
I get into work early this morning. Javonee*, my boss, would scold me. “Our office hours start at nine am, Jacob”, shoots Miss Javonee, with her nails lightly clicking on the keyboard and her lips pursed. “That’s why you should’ve been here a half-hour earlier on Tuesday – then you wouldn’t be trying to come in so early today.” Her voice cadences on “today” with a sharpness echoed by the squeak of the chair as she turns around to look at me. She makes eye contact. She doesn’t blink.
I sometimes feel like I don’t understand Javonee, like we are coming from two different worlds. Of course, we are – she grew up a black girl in relative poverty, I grew up a white boy in relative wealth, and our life experiences have shaped how we look at things as simple as time.
Or food. Our non-profit organization, which works with youth, is throwing a holiday party for our clients. Whole Foods has offered a donation of groceries, which we’re going to pick out today.
We park. “It’s right there,” I point through the window.
“I know where it is,” says Javonee softly. We walk into Whole Foods. It’s the first time Javonee has been inside a Whole Foods. I am scared of her reaction, but also curious.
“What do you think?” I ask with trepdiation.
“It’s a grocery store,” she replies.
The manager meets us at the front of the store and invites us to begin shopping. “What will the kids want?” I ask Javonee.
“See, I think that’s it,” Javonee chats. “This is Whole Foods. They have organic. They don’t have, like, any Fruit Loops or soda.” I know she’s right that our clients, youth who grew up in some of the poorer wards in the city, have specific food they like. I’ve seen Courtney* prefer fried chicken to vegetables. Or Ashley* not want salad and instead hot sauce. The way Javonee puts it, “These kids like one thing: chicken wings in mumbo sauce.”
I consider myself a part of the food movement. I just spoke as part of a panel at the Hazon Food Conference about my experiences with food justice in St. Louis. And in that work I learned about organic: that it was intended to be healthier for the earth, that it was a step better than regular produce. I never learned that organic meant gross, different-tasting, bizarre. But others did.
“Nothing organic,” Javonee says as we push the cart. “You know, some of these kids might eat some of the food in spite of it being organic, but they might just say ‘eww.’” Organic, for some of my clients, is weird and yucky. “It might be normal food in there, but if they see the ‘Organic’ label it don’t matter.” Her words remind me how ‘normal’ can mean such different things to different people.
When I’m living my life to bring about a just world, it’s uncomfortable moments like this that remind me to be a little less certain. Like the famous rabbi, I’ve started carrying two pieces of paper in my pockets, one reading “The world was created for me” and the other “I am but dust.” Sometimes I get frustrated with Javonee, and sometimes I realize how much I have to learn from her, how much I assume about the world. Sure, ever since I’ve learned about the grain quinoa I’ve loved it as a miracle protein source. But I also need to be careful that my celebration of this grain doesn’t turn into yet another form of cultural imperialism of white preference over traditional African-American foods. Can I start where people are, culturally?
And can I start where they are economically, too, so we don’t end up with the message of “Yes, organic tomatoes are better, and yes, you can’t afford them”?
Success at last – or so I think. I spot a familiar store brand, Tostitos tortilla chips, and pull the bag off the shelf to show to Javonee. She glances at the bags, then looks back into my eyes. “Yes, but do they have the normal white kind?” I glance again at the package I’m holding – multigrain. None of our kids will eat that. I put the bag back on the shelf.
We leave the store with silverware (compostable), apple cider, and a determination to stop immediately at the nearest grocery store that actually carries coke products.
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*Name changed to protect confidentiality.
Posted in Access[Cross-posted from Beyond Bread]
Dorothy Kemp, DC resident and member of the Bread for the City Client Advisory Board, recently took Allison, a Bread for the City intern, grocery shopping. Let’s join them as Dorothy shares her experiences with being happy and healthy with an affordable, plant-based diet.
Dorothy chose the P Street Whole Foods for our grocery shopping tour, because of the bulk food options. But as we enter the store, Dorothy makes a beeline for the vegetables. Tonight she will be cooking a quinoa and winter vegetables dish, but is quickly distracted by the leafy greens — rapini and dandelion greens are her choices today. “Don’t worry, these aren’t from your yard.” These are added to her usual purchase of mixed salad greens, sold for under $5 a pound.
Dorothy, who has for years been eating a primarily vegan diet on a limited budget, laughs about the grief she gets from friends and family for her love of salad. “People are always asking: ‘Why are you eating that?’ Cause it works!”
“For me, not having meat is no big deal – I’m still healthy and hopefully the planet is a little cleaner. We have so much abundance and so many selections to make, and hopefully we can help each other make some of the healthier choices. And it’s not just affordable, but you can save money! Beans over meat, whole grains in bulk, vegetables…. The meat — I don’t miss it!”
Dorothy’s number one tip is to get to know the bulk foods section of stores like Whole Foods, with a wide variety of healthy whole grains, dried fruits, and nuts available more cheaply than in boxes or in pre-packaged meals. Whereas in the other aisles, a box of rice can cost $3.00 a pound, in the bulk aisles, it’s only $1.69 a pound. In this video, learn two of Dorothy’s tricks – knowing how much pasta is enough and knowing where to look for grains:
“Once a week or so I would try something different, try a new grain I didn’t know, see if I like it,” Dorothy explains how she came to love quinoa – a seed that cooks like a grain but contains all essential amino acids and is a staple in her cooking throughout the year. (It sells for $3.39 per pound in bulk versus the equivalent of $6.00 per pound in other aisles). We agree all the options might be intimidating for someone who’s never seen this section. “I would start with something that they’re familiar with – raw nuts, plain rice. And then if there’s something that they’d maybe heard of, or something they see on the list of grains, look it up and try to figure out how to use it.”
An incremental approach to eating healthier is something that Dorothy has applied in her own life and does not hesitate to share with friends. “I always encourage people to share what they’ve cooked. If you make enough to share, they’ll usually say, ‘This is not bad!’” She’s found that some of the main obstacles to healthier eating are attitudes about meat and sugar. With no shortage of creative alternatives, Dorothy finds that she can convince friends and family that other options exist. For folks who don’t like beans, she recommends starting with hummus. Not interested in cutting out sugar? Try using less sugar and adding fruit and cinnamon to oatmeal.
“I like being 64 and being able to tell people I can still run for the bus, I can still bend over to tie my shoes, I’m looking forward to being able to live a few more years,” she explains. “Eat what you know is good for your body and makes you happy, and doesn’t clog your arteries. And don’t apologize for it!”
At the same time, the challenges of making healthy choices are not lost on Dorothy. For her, the idea of food justice means “everyone should be able to have the best quality food that you can have, should be able to have a decent meal on the table. In a country of such abundance to still have people who don’t have access to good food – it’s like how people don’t have access to good healthcare. It is a right to eat well, to be able to nurture your body.”
Sharing good eating habits with neighbors sounds like a good place to start. Here are some other tips from Dorothy:
The landmark DC Healthy Schools Act was unanimously passed into law earlier this year, and fully funded with a 6% sales tax on soda. But Mayor Fenty proposed in his Budget Gap-Closing Plan to eliminate $5.2 million in the FY 2011 budget for the DC Healthy Schools Act, and to delay implementation of the Act indefinitely.
Your help is needed! Please take a moment to join D.C. Hunger Solutions in telling the DC Council to reject the Mayor’s proposal, and ensure that the Healthy Schools Act is fully funded in the current Fiscal Year budget.
Just take these three, easy steps:
1) Sign-on as an individual or organization to our letter urging Councilmembers to fully fund the DC Healthy Schools Act.
2) Call your Councilmember today during our Phone-In between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.
Share how you have been affected by the DC Healthy Schools Act, and why you think it’s important. For example, you can say: “I am a resident of Ward X, and I ask that the Councilmember ensure the full funding of the DC Healthy Schools Act in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget.” Follow this link to find your ward.
Tell them: “I also believe that DC Council should take a balanced approach to closing the budget gap – it should choose to raise revenue rather than cut the Healthy Schools Act and human services. Other vital programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Adult Job Training, Grandparent Caregiver, Childcare Subsidies, Interim Disability Assistance, and the Local Rent Supplement Program are on the chopping block. I encourage the Council to vote for a one percent income tax increase on income above $200,000 to help fund these programs.”
3) Email your Councilmember directly to tell him or her you fully support the Healthy Schools Act and a balanced approach to closing the budget gap.
And share this Action Alert with your networks. We must act now! The Council will vote on the Budget Gap-Closing Plan on Tuesday, December 7.
Thank you for your continued efforts and support.
(For more information, please call me at (202) 986-2200 x3041.)
House party/barn dance/potluck to celebrate the first year of Beet Street Gardens and donate to raise a (small) barn for the garden at Bruce House, a program of Sasha Bruce Youthworks! The actual (quite small) barn raising (definition here) will be raised by volunteers in the spring, just before the planting season.
The party is Saturday, December 11th at 1412 Parkwood Pl NW. Potluck dinner at 7:00. Contra, two-step, square dancing, fire pit, and good company ’till late.
$10 suggested donation. No one turned away. All proceeds go to Beet Street.
There will be a fire pit on the porch, a keg of beer, and a pot of mulled wine. We will have Gabe Popkin calling dances and old timey tunes from local musicians.
All are welcome. RSVP here.
