This afternoon I attended a talk on the topic on urban food and social justice. Food is a complex subject, that’s for sure, with many ways of looking at the issue. It seems to me that often the idea of health food has more to do with process than product. If someone buys potatoes from a local organic farmer, and then makes french fries, the end product may be similar-to-identical in nutritional value to the same thing purchased at the local McDonalds. In an end-product-only view both sets of french fries are equally unhealthy. But when you look at the whole production change, the impact of the locally grown variety has many benefits over the mass produced variety. Including local stewardship of open space, support of local business, reduced environmental impact and preparation of your own dinner. The value of local agriculture on quality of life in a community is often undervalued — if we truly care about health then we need to raise our appreciation of this importance.
Dwight Hall – Header – Urban Food Justice Panel Discussion
Ian Marvy, Added Value, Brooklyn; Jacquie Berger, Just Food, New York City; and Billy Bromage, Harvest Haven, New Haven.
Learn about food access, nutrition, and affordability, as well as efforts to improve food justice in New Haven and New York. Cosponsored by Dwight Hall.
