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Max: Hi everyone, my name is Maxwell Grollman, I’m a 4th year Human Biology and Society Major at UCLA. I’m also a member of the student-led consulting group tasked with providing information, insight, and advice on understanding and solving food aparteid as well as endocrine-disrupting exposures related to processed food packaging

 

Max: This short podcast is meant for prospective clients with an overview of the solutions already at work within communities to provide affordable, healthy food to those who are traditionally and purposely excluded from it. In this episode, I will reference the work of think tanks, news agencies, companies, and individuals to try to shine a spotlight on the myriad of public health interventions to this complex problem. The goal is not to necessarily find a miracle “silver bullet” among these examples, but rather to hear the voices and stories of those in this fight against food injustice and to draw inspiration from the successful work that has already been done in this space.

 

Max: With that all being said, I’d first like to start by reviewing a piece from the Brookings Institute that provides a little bit of background on how we can understand the issue of disparities in food access in America as well as some potential solutions to it as well. The comprehensive report by Caroline George and Adie Tomer begins by discussing why the term “food deserts” can often be an inaccurate and inadequate way of conceptualizing the problem (2021). Among other issues, the author's note that individuals don’t necessarily shop for food only at the closest retailers, with many preferring to buy food near their place of employment or at a location that just simply isn’t the closest option. Secondly, the concept of “food deserts” doesn’t account for what is often a much more important factor for buying healthy food in the first place, cost. The “desert” concept, they argue, can be misleading as it suggests that simply placing a grocery store with fresh and healthy food in communities that lack them is the solution (George & Tomer, 2021). Although this likely can be of some help, if the cost of the healthier food is unaffordable to those in the community, there’s no promise that such a store would actually help reduce the inequities in access at hand.

 

Max: In agreement with the Brookings Institute’s report, an article from the nonprofit, The Natural Resources Defense Council provides further reasoning to why this term is misleading and potentially inappropriate (Sevilla, 2021). The article argues “food desert” doesn’t adequately denote the intentionality of how regions with inequitable food access were created through long histories of systemic racism and institutional neglect. It’s no accident, the authors say, that people of color bear the brunt of this health burden (Sevilla, 2021). Secondly, the piece concurs with the Brookings Institute that the term doesn’t adequately depict the cost burden at play in its overemphasis of geography as well as underplaying of how communities impacted still have rich food cultures and mechanisms of combatting this legacy of discrimination as well (Sevilla, 2021). All of this is to say that although terminology might initially appear to be a minor point of concern, how we frame food inequity is closely related to how we conceptualize and implement solutions to the problem . The NRDC arrives at the terms “food aparteid” and “food justice”, both terms preferred by this consulting team as well, as they better integrate issues of social justice in access to food and are free of the problematic implications of previously devised terminology.

 

Max: Hope that was a helpful introduction to some of the problems our firm is tackling and be sure to check out our other articles, podcasts, and memos that provide greater insight to ideas mentioned up until this point. Now that we’re clear on the terminology, we can now begin to explore some of the solutions developed and implemented to approach food injustice and food aparteid.

 

Max: The first examples I’d like to talk about are mentioned in the earlier referenced report from the Brookings Institute. The authors center their criticism on mainstream interpretations of the problem that don’t center cost as a central issue and hence their highlighted solutions put this barrier at the forefront (George & Tomer, 2021). Some mentioned solutions include Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program connects elderly community members of lower financial means to fresh produce by working with senior housing and senior centers nationwide (George & Tomer, 2021; USDA Food and Nutrition Service, n.d.). The Double Up Food Bucks Michigan Program is another worth our attention that doubles the purchasing power of individuals on food stamps when they buy fresh fruits and vegetables and has been “used to buy over 18 million pounds of healthy food” according to this article  (George & Tomer, 2021; 2021 Fair Food Network, n.d.). Similarly, the End Hunger Connecticut Program also doubles the cost limit of SNAP recipients when the benefits are used at participating farmer’s markets in the state (George & Tomer, 2021; 2022 End Hunger Connecticut!, n.d.). Although we unfortunately don’t have time to talk about all three programs in their proper great depth, I think a couple key factors worth noting across all of them are that they directly address the cost barrier at the heart of so many issues related to food apartheid and work with social programs that are already well-recognized, utilized, and successful. In particular, the increasing purchasing power for low income individuals demonstrated by the SNAP-related programs greatly demonstrates how food justice interventions can benefit from using existing social programs to reduce the labor involved in activism efforts. If you’d like to read more about these programs and the Brookings Report, I’ll make sure to link the resources in the show notes.

 

Max: Moving on, I’d like to quickly highlight two ideas discussed in Aria Dailee’s Medium article tackling the topic of food justice. In a piece that brings up 5 thoughtful solutions, two that I think are worth particular emphasis are bus stop farmer’s markets and community gardens. Dailee describes how bus stop farmer’s markets have proven effective when implemented because they bring access to fresh produce to a convenient location for many community members and don’t rely on people needing to “go out of there way” (2020). Similarly, community gardens situate healthy food back in areas where people currently live and work and also complement other programs tasked with improving public health. All 5 of Dailee’s proposed solutions are worth reading, even if we don’t have time to discuss them all today, and I will link to her article in the show notes as well.

 

Max: I’d like to end this podcast with two examples where we can have the chance to hear from the voices of those on the ground in the food fight against food injustice directly. The first comes from a segment by NBCLX, a division of the broadcast giant dedicated to highlighting conversations relating to local and community issues (YouTube, 2020). The segment focuses on the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network, a nonprofit based in South LA that is tackling food injustice by trying to increase the prevalence of healthy foods at convenience stores. We’ll play a short clip of the segment where you’ll hear more about it from the owner of a corner store named Hank’s in South LA, Kelli Jackson: 

 

Clip from 4:59-7:43 How Two Los Angeles Entrepreneurs Are Fighting America's Food Desert Crisis | NBCLX

• ** NOTE **Use of clip is consistent with University of California Guidance on “fair use” of copyrighted works for educational purposes; See https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/fair-use.html

• Only short segment of clip is used, use will not interfere with profitization from clip, podcast is only produced in an educational context, podcast will not create monetary value, group makes no claim of ownership over copyrighted material and acknowledges proper ownership multiple times

 

Max: I hope you found that segment as insightful and powerful as I did and you can view the rest of it, as well as read more about the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network through the resources provided in the show notes.

 

Max: Lastly, I wanted to highlight an enterprise that I was first exposed to a few years ago while watching the ABC hit-show Shark Tank, a television program that gives up-and-coming entrepreneurs the chance to receive an investment and mentorship from experienced executives aptly named “sharks.” The pitch that drew my attention was from EveryTable, a company with the social mission to provide fresh, healthy, and affordable food to all and address issues of food justice in the way they operate their business (YouTube, 2016). As described in a PBS NewsHour segment I will play an excerpt from shortly, the company runs a central kitchen where healthy meals are prepared and distributes them to stores across LA. What’s unique about the operation is that these stories vary in price point based on the income level where the store is operated, essentially using revenue generated from stores placed in wealthier neighborhoods to enable the company to charge less in disadvantaged ones (YouTube, 2016). Let’s listen in!

 

Clip runs: 2:51-5:20

The Wall Street millionaire bringing healthy food to those in need

• ** NOTE **Use of clip is consistent with University of California Guidance on “fair use” of copyrighted works for educational purposes; See https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/use/fair-use.html

• Only short segment of clip is used, use will not interfere with profitization from clip, podcast is only produced in an educational context, podcast will not create monetary value, group makes no claim of ownership over copyrighted material and acknowledges proper ownership multiple times

 

Max: Again, I hope you found that short clip informational and inspiring and I will make sure to link the information for EveryTable and the full segment below. From the student-led consulting firm and Society and Genetics 108, I’m Maxwell Grollman and I want to thank you so much for taking the time to learn about the efforts to fight food apartheid with me. Make sure to explore the full collection of resources discussed in this podcast in our show notes as well as the media presentations across our website to learn more! 

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