02.26 Just Food & Food Bank

I attended the seminar about food sustainability and distribution to lower-income city residents on February 26. At the end of the lectures, which were given by two different women, I understood that healthy food is difficult for lower-income residents to come by. This is, of course, comes as no surprise. Especially in a city like New York where everything costs an inordinate amount of money, finding a decent, healthy meal is something that poses worry even to those who don’t live paycheck to paycheck.

My mother and I really like the farmer’s markets that come to my neighborhood on Sundays because they usually sell the most delicious fruits and bread. The main problem, however, is that everything is pretty pricey. Despite the price, my mother continues to buy apples and various vegetables from the markets. She has the option to do that, but lower income families cannot, especially when cheap, heavily processed foods are not only cheaper, but more filling. In the lecture, we were told about how food stamps are being used at these farmer’s markets so that those who need assistance have more of an option to purchase fresh, organic produce.

However, the amount of money that stamps or other kinds of assistance provide are so low as to be mostly insignificant. Lower-income families would certainly need to subsidize their spending habits at farmer’s markets with their own money, which often isn’t possible. It’s an admirable idea to make farmer’s products more available to those who can’t afford it, especially because times are also difficult for the farmers themselves. However, it’s also unrealistic, and I believe that the effort is a bit wasted.

–Ming Fearon

Changing Times Lead to New Programs

At this event, they talked a lot about the programs in New York City that help bring food to people who cannot afford to properly feed their families. There were two speakers, and each one presented a different aspect of the issue. The first presenter talked about the numbers of people that cannot afford food and about how all of the numbers now are going up. It is scary to think how the poverty line has changed and now people who we would have never thought would need assistance are the people who are lining up at soup kitchens. It is a sad thought…
The second speaker talked about the program “Just Food” and the different things that they bring to communities in the city. She talked about the different problems that are present in NYC and how the program that she works with tackled each of these issues with a different program. She talked about the issue of “food deserts” where you can have a community that does not have affordable, healthy food. She also talked about the different programs that are being put into place in order to help these communities, like fruit and vegetable clubs which deliver to your neighborhood and you get a batch of fresh food, as well as farmers markers growing all over the city. I did not know that a lot of the programs that they were talking about even existed, so it was nice to know that these resources are available to help people to keep a budget or run their farm, and at the same time live healthy lives.

-Dalya Abdel-Atti