Food Deserts and From-Scratch

Picture yourself: a 5th grader in your elementary school cafeteria.  You inch up to the serving line, hold out your tray and, “plop.”  What does the food look like on your tray?  Is it crisp, fresh and colorful or gooey, dull, and pre-packed?  From my experience, food from the cafeteria was more along the line of boxed mashed potatoes, frozen pizza, fried chicken nuggets and “smiley” fries.  My mother often did me the favor of packing my lunch, but many children in my school were not as fortunate.  In fact, with the food assistance program, students from low-income families were guaranteed cafeteria food on a daily basis.  Finally, after years of low-quality lunches, some schools are starting to take a stand through the “from-scratch movement.”

Since obesity is a national crisis, it is interesting to note that obesity is a concentrated problem in urban areas.  Limited access to fresh healthy foods is a major factor in increased urban obesity, as many communities are without access to a produce market or grocery store.  Instead, corner stores and convenience stores are readily accessible with processed, boxed, and canned foods.  These urban “food deserts” result in a lack of access to fresh, health and/or affordable foods.  Despite the increased urban need, a New York Times article notes, “Schools with money and involved parents concerned about obesity and nutrition charged ahead, while poor and struggling districts, overwhelmed by hard times, mostly did not.”  Yet again, budgets and income are determinants of access.

Fortunately, there is a school that is breaking the mold. Greeley school district in northern Colorado, “where 60 percent of the 19,500 students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals… will make a great leap forward in cooking meals from scratch” (Johnson, 2011).  It seems that despite other healthy food initiatives in Philadelphia, the school district is distracted by budget cuts.  Just like Chef Ramsey says on his hit show, Kitchen Nightmares, there is a common myth that fresh foods cost more, and in fact, schools would be doing themselves a  favor, budget wise, by moving to a “from-scratch” menu.  However, when distracted, do we often see reason? 

Americorps is beginning to move in fighting against “food deserts” through their recent creation of FoodCorps- “a new national service organization that aims to fight obesity and diet-related disease through promoting school gardens and farm-to-school programs” (Walsh, 2011).  With the from scratch movement and Food Corps, hopefully strides can be made, but as the federal government talks of cutting all funding for Americorps, it seems government budgets could be the end of these efforts.

Resources:

Johnson, Kirk. "Schools Restore Fresh Cooking to the Cafeteria."Education. NY Times, 16 Aug. 2011. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/education/17lunch.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23>.

Kelly, John. "House Approps Would Eliminate AmeriCorps, Increase Head Start Funding."Youth Today. American Youth Work Center, 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youthtoday.org/view_article.cfm?article_id=5047>.

Walsh, Bryan. "Can FoodCorps Get America to Eat Healthfully? - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Times Health, 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2089995,00.html>.

Urban Gentrification of the Mind by Teyne Crum

Teyne Crum is an alumnus of the MA in Urban Studies program. Currently, she is the CEO and Lead Consultant for Beyond the Exterior. You can learn more about her organization at www.beyondtheexterior.org. She also writes regular articles for http://www.maxexpomag.com, including this post:

Our youth today are so bombarded with entertainment; the media seems to plague their minds with false images and unrealistic views of reality. Today’s youth are more likely to pick up a remote control,exercise their brains with video games, and watch music videos or television for hours at a time. In short, they are more likely to engage in activities that do not warrant reading or studying. Why is it that our youth know more about Hip-Hop artists, fashion trends, how to write and speak in “Ebonics”, understand sexual terminologies, and engage in these activities but, they do not know how to read or write a constructive paragraph. The truth of the matter is many youth have what may be termed “gentrification of the mind”.

The pivotal questions that puzzle me often are: Why is it not a shock when a 14 year-old becomes pregnant or impregnates someone? Why is it the norm for teens to walk into a local convenient store to purchase cigars, blunts, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages? Why is it the norm to see more and more teens walking around wearing the latest fashion: $100.00 or $200.00 pair of sneakers or boots, leather jackets that cost more than one’s monthly mortgage or rent? Yet, they can barely read or spell the name of these items they are flaunting. Is this not a sign of urban gentrification of the mind plaguing our youth and overtaking our communities?

According to the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, gentrification is defined as “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary) This definition may be used to describe the mindset of today’s youth. The minds of our youth have been so overtaken by the materialistic ideals of the affluent that their spirit, hearts, and minds end up displaced. In effect, today’s youth exchange the image and trappings of wealth and the material world for their mental and spiritual development.

Nevertheless, why point out the ignorance of our youth without acknowledging the parents who are promoting these habits. Unfortunately, there are too many parents who are recipients of welfare and use these benefits to create an illusion of wealth. They would rather spend someone else’s tax money on color flat screen high definition TVs, surround sound, (fake) Gucci or Versace handbags, boots, and jewelry. It seems to be normal to spend money from the government on marijuana and alcohol instead of putting food on the table, keeping one’s lights on, or even investing the funds into their child’s education. This behavior is taught and modeled in many homes and no one seems to care. The curse of poverty, lack of education, and enslaved mentality has become a curse passed down from one generation to the next.

The mentality of our youth in this generation has been distorted time and time again. The Bible says, “My people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6a). The devil has placed blinders over the eyes of our young people. Although this generation did not experience slavery in the physical sense in the way of that our ancestors experienced it, they still have an enslaved mentality. They are stuck in a culture that is destroying their very being, self-image, self-esteem, future, and hope for their future. Recall for a moment the Israelites who were freed from Egypt out the hands of Pharaoh, entered into the wilderness to get instructions from God, and eventually cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness was supposed to last for 3 days and 3 nights, not 40 years. However, the journey lasted for 40 years because of their disobedience and because the Israelites still had an enslaved mentality. Do the Israelites sound like this generation? How long will this generation stay stuck in this Urban Gentrified Mindset? Pharaoh was slave master to the Israelites, and sadly the Urban Gentrified Culture is the slave master of this generation.

In order for our youth to be freed from this bondage and their eyes opened, they need to understand there is more to life then following a trend. The Bible says, “What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself?” (Mark 8:36 Cont. English Ver.). Only if our young people believe in themselves and that they “can do all things through Christ which strengthen” us (Phil. 4:13), then perhaps they would strive to get more out of life.

The norm in this generation should be that a 14 year-old child graduates from high school with honors and then graduates from college by his or her 18thbirthday. The norm should be a child who is seeking to create a video game that educates and stimulates the minds of his or her peers instead of wasting their brain cells on violence and sexual explicit games. How about our young people striving to be the youngest politician, lawyer, doctor, or next engineer?

People, please hear my cry, and educate our young people. Young people, please stop being lazy and read, do research, know where the things you are wearing come from, its meanings, and know your history.

The "What now?" of Relocation

John Perkins is a name that many involved in the Christian community development movement.  His of his great contributions includes the Three R’s of Community Development:  relocation, reconciliation and redistribution.  There has long been a divide in practice for urban ministry and service in regards to the question of relocation.   Some believe that ministry and service can be provided in a "commuter context" or when the service provider is from a community other than the one they serve.   On the other hand, those who adhere to Perkins and the Christian Community Development Association’s principles believe that relocation is vital to providing effective ministry and service.  

During a short-term mission trip, my ministry team provided a children’s bible camp in Brooklyn.  For years I interpreted my experience there in a negative way, but now, through the lens of relocation, I understand.   When my team, a group of white teens and young adults, tramped through a Brooklyn neighborhood towards the park where we would provide the camp, people in the street started to yell at us, “Go back home.”  Originally, I felt angry that this community did not want our help, but now I realize that this was a community wounded by many experiences of short term service projects, there to help for a little while and then to leave.  They were tired of being abandoned. 

I see what I will call “commuter services” in the same light as my experience; people coming to a community they don’t know, providing their services without fully committing to the community.  There are many flaws in this practice, starting with the idea that an outsider can determine the needs of a community without ever entering the community.   

Relocation is a scary word for anyone like me who is terrified of adapting to a new place.   I’ve lived in a variety of places throughout the last six years in rural, suburban and urban areas.  With every move, I have experienced the anxiety of “now what?”  “How do I truly become a part of the community?”  It was at these times that I was most grateful for my understanding of the field of Urban Studies and its use of Anthropology. 

Judith Lingenfelter wrote a helpful article entitle, Getting to Know your New City, which highlights many insights that have helped me with relocation and to really become “a part” of the community.  It is also helpful in properly introducing your new ministry or service to a community.   Starting with the time you enter the community, here are some things to keep in mind: maintain a Learner-centered focus, recognizing the community member as your teacher, and participant observation (Lingenfelter).  All of these tips are aspects of Anthropology’s ethnographic method.

When entering a community, assumptions are dangerous: assumptions about the people, community dynamics, and community problems.  When we engage communities within the context of our own assumptions, we are acting from a framework of ethnocentricity or seeing the world from just our own cultural context.  If you are serious about effectively serving your community, you need to remove this mindset.  According to the ethnographic method, you are an observer and learner in the community the only ideas you should develop are that established through observation and interactions.  Your neighbors are the experts of the community.

When my husband and I first moved into our current community, we took the role of silent observer.  We watched the neighbors interact, saw where the kids hung out in the community, saw who were people of authority in the community, and learned where community members would meet together.  This is participant observation: watching to identify the community routines and structure.  Lingenfelter considers identifying important meeting places in the community a vital first step.   After you identify meeting places, you can start to place yourself in situations to meet community members.  In my community, we soon found that the most important meeting place in the community was the street. 

 After living in the community for 3 months, the first snow storm came, and this is when my husband and I broke the silence.  We got to meet many of our neighbors in the street shoveling out our cars.  We moved into a new phase that I feel we are still meandering around, almost a year and half later: Interviewing or what I consider engaging the stories of the community. 

Our community is made of a strong native presence, as many neighbors are older and have been in the community their entire lives.  It did not take us long to figure out that these were key community members, so we engaged them about the community’s history, patterns, and changes.  Identifying a community’s key players is important to establish your legitimacy and identifying community needs.  Your position in the community will not be recognized without legitimacy, and your ministry or service will not been as necessary or authentic if certain important players are not supportive.  The support of these members give you legitimacy.  In turn, you will be introduced to other community members, which will ultimately help you create an accurate picture of community dynamics and needs.  Once you have accomplished these steps, you will be on your way to positive presence in the community.

What do you think about relocation? Are “commuter services” ever effective?  What are some additional tips you would give someone getting to know a new community?

Incarceration: Are we committed to rehabilitation?

I did not ever meet someone who had served time in prison until my early 20s.  I was lucky to not have any family members or close friends incarcerated, while going through my formidable years.   While interning at a West Philadelphia non-profit, I first came into contact with and developed a friendship with someone who had been incarcerated.  When I got to learn more about this individual, the choices he made leading to incarceration and the impact of his incarceration upon his family, I began to question the purpose of prison.

Prison serves many purposes for our society: retribution for violation of law, removing the “bad seeds” from society to insure safety, deterring the general population from criminal behavior, and rehabilitation.  What do I consider the purpose of prison?  What do you consider to be the purpose of prison?    It is interesting how our society places great value upon the first three purposes over the last. 

Often, I find that I will fall into society’s trap, listening to the messages through crime dramas, highly sensationalize media crime coverage, directing me to value a sense of safety over rehabilitation.  These messages put little faith in individual transformation.   When I fall in the trap, I find myself believing that prison is confine society’s "bad seeds" so that “good” people like me are safe.   When I think of the high numbers of people incarcerated in the United States, which far succeeds other nations, it seems reasonable to believe that we are not fully committed to rehabilitation.   This leads me to question, am I committed to rehabilitation?

The man I met is one proof that rehabilitation is possible, as he served his time in prison and did not return.  For many in the United State’s prison system, approximately 40% (who will return to prison within three years of leaving), this is not the case (Pew Foundation's report: State of Recidivism).  Recidivism is a large issue for our country, one that is starting to be more properly addressed within recent years.  Recidivism occurs for two reasons:  having committed a new crime or violation of supervision/parole.   In reading the Pew Foundation’s study State of Recidivism, I noticed that the majority of recidivism cases occurred due to violation of parole.   How does parole serve these individuals?  I question whether prisoners are prepared in prison to meet the expectations of parole out of prison and if there should be more grace extended before parole violators are shipped back to prison.

When you look at Philadelphia’s prison population, the majority of prisoners there last year, had been charged with a minor drug offense, violated parole, or waiting trial.  I can’t help but question if all of these people are so dangerous that they must be “locked up.” Are we using prison to hold people that really don’t need to be there?  

Since starting to work with children whose parents have been imprisoned, I have been able to get a better look into the lives of prisoners, to see the challenges they and their family faces.   Children who have a parent that was and is incarcerated are found to be more likely to be imprisoned when they are adults.  Also, children of the incarcerated are far more likely to engage in risky behaviors and have lower grades in school.   Have any of these children experienced these pains of separation in vain?

From my recent research, it looks as if many states and even the city of Philadelphia have made improvements in the corrections system such as using more parole sentencing for less dangerous offenders.  Also, programs such as re-entry initiatives utilizing mentoring coupled with transitional services have helped to reduce recidivism rates.   Most of the effective re-entry services are starting shortly after someone is incarcerated to provide services that reconcile relationships between the incarcerated and their family as well as preparing them for their return to the community.  These services are what I consider the best methods of rehabilitation. 

By providing an alternative lifestyle with healthy relationships as an option, I think this creates an incentive to change.  Shouldn’t this be the goal, rather than holding someone in a cell for the rest of their lives?  Plus, this is a more cost effective solution.  Why do we still seem to value prison over rehabilitation services?  How has incarceration affected you or your family?  What is the purpose of prison? What does rehabilitation mean to you?  What solutions seem best to you?