Posts Tagged ‘ward 8’

Posted by Jonna McKone | September 3rd, 2010

[Cross-posted from The City Fix DC.]

The Yes! Organic Market, part of a mixed used development project in the Fairlawn neighborhood of SE DC. Photo courtesy of http://www.anacostianow.com

The first organic market to open east of the Anacostia is certainly a milestone – but is it accessible?

According to a press release announcing the new supermarket:

“… Yes! Organic Market is committed to making fresh produce and healthy food affordable to the diverse demographic of families in the surrounding neighborhoods. The store is accepting supplemental nutrition assistance benefits (SNAP) and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program vouchers.”

Mayor Adrian Fenty is certainly excited about the store’s opening two weeks before the mayoral primary election. The store was funded through the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED).  The Department oversees a program called the Great Streets Initiative, a multi-agency effort to “transform nine under-served and under-invested corridors” throughout the district.  DMPED is working with the D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Office of Planning (OP) to design “mixed use development projects, storefront improvements, transportation, streetscapes, and transit improvements along these corridors.”  Yes! was awarded a $900,000 Great Streets grant as part of this program.ACCESS TO FOOD

The grocery store is located in a new building with more than 100 rental units of affordable housing. The development is on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Fairlawn neighborhood of Southeast D.C. The building itself opened in June and “the units are slated for residents who earn 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) or less.”

However, accessibility is a key concern, as it is in much of the District east of the Anacostia River. The closest metro is on the other side of the river – the Potomac Avenue Metro station, which is about 1.2 miles away. And east of the river, there is the Blue Line’s Benning Road Metro stop, 2.3 miles from the store, and on the Green Line, it’s Naylor Road, 1.8 miles from the store.

Posted by Jessica Myhre | August 3rd, 2010

This summer, a youth program called DC is Building Green Bridges has been busily gardening, learning about nutrition, and discussing food security issues east of the Anacostia River. Our students are engaged, intelligent, and working hard!

They have created a pilot ‘community needs’ survey to determine the viability of a farmers market at THEARC on Mississippi Avenue—and they’ve just conducted their first surveys at senior centers in wards 7 and 8. They have written their own blog posts and have created a social networking page for the program. Below is the their first blog post, written in the hopes to gain exposure to the program and their project. Enjoy!

Hello world, allow us to introduce ourselves: we are DC is Building Green Bridges. Building Green Bridges is a program based in Washington D.C. consisting of youth who are interested in making a better community by educating and informing the people about eating healthy, making better health choices, and ultimately, changing the way people view our city as a whole by growing our own food in the city.

Here are the goals we are hoping to achieve:

1. To assess whether or not a new farmers market in Ward 8 would be beneficial to our community around THEARC, located near the Parkland Villages on Mississippi Avenue in Southeast.
2. To educate the community on eating healthy and making better food choices.
3. To get youth involved in positive activities in their community.
4. To reconstruct and maintain community gardens in schools and recreation centers for younger children

Currently we are working on establishing a garden at THEARC. We are planting a flower garden with junipers, flowers, butterfly bushes and hollies. We are also helping to set up a garden at the Ferebee-Hope Elementary School, which will encourage the younger students to take advantage of the garden and plant on their own. In addition, we are visiting different gardens around the city such as The Peoples Garden, Common Goods City Farm, The U.S. Botanic Gardens, Lederer Youth Garden, and the Marion Street Garden.

Before we can implement any course of action for a farmers market, we must complete a needs assessment to help us better understand what the community would best profit from. Will a farmers market be viable? Do people want one? Our assessment won’t be very long; it’s just a few questions designed, revised, and tailored to provide us with the most information about the needs of Ward 8 residents, while at the same time not hampering your schedule with a lengthy interview.

Currently, we are brainstorming ideas for alternatives to the on street survey, one of which may be filling out the survey online. Having an online option may appeal to people who do not have time to fill out a survey in the street. Another alternative we are considering would be for people to mail a completed survey to us. This may appeal to those without an Internet connection.

If a farmers market was opened at THEARC, it would provide fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the community, for the community. Fresh produce that will be sold at THEARC would be better than the produce found in most supermarkets, because the produce in supermarkets is shipped from countries around the world, and are pumped full of chemical pesticides that are harmful to the people that eat them.

Our goal is to help the community. But in order to do that, we need the assistance of the community. Please take the time to check out our program, so that you can help make YOUR community better.

Posted by Maureen Linke | July 26th, 2010

[DC Food For All featured the Ward 8 Farmers Market last week, and this week bring you Maureen Linke's multimedia slideshow. See more at her website. —ed]

The Ward 8 Farmers Market (1310 Southern Avenue SE) is a community and local farmer-based grassroots market formed as a response to inadequate healthy food choices in Southeast D.C. and as a self-empowerment tool. The goal of the market is to help members of the community eat fresher, more natural and nutritious foods, and adopt healthier lifestyles for their long-term benefit as well as their children, families, and society. Organizers John Gloster and Virginia Major discuss how the market got started and its community impact. Click here to view a map of the market’s two locations.