Changing the Food Access Paradigm

by Greg Plotkin · 2010-03-12 14:56:00 UTC
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Hunger is a structural problem, and to fix it, we need to develop comprehensive solutions that go beyond simply donating a can of green beans to a local food pantry or dropping a few nickels in the Salvation Army bucket around the holidays.

More than anything else, we need to address the many barriers that keep healthy food from being more widely available in communities that need it the most.

A recent "Food Policy Blueprint" released by LiveWell Colorado seeks to do just that, and offers some creative solutions to increasing access to healthy food in low-income communities.

Included in the blueprint is a recommendation to develop a state policy to support a fresh food financing program similar to the one currently being operated in Philadelphia, and being proposed on a national scale as a part of President Obama's 2011 budget proposal. This program would provide economic incentives to grocery stores, farmers markets and other healthy food outlets that operate in low-income neighborhoods.

In addition, the blueprint encourages stronger coordination among food assistance programs and local food producers in an effort to link excess local production with the healthy food needs of under-served communities.

Now, it's one thing to make recommendations, but it's quite another to actually stimulate action.

This is why I'm happy to see that the Colorado blueprint includes several implementation strategies, including the creation of a state Food Systems Advisory Council to translate the proposed ideas into on-the-ground programs to improve food access.

Certainly, this is a step in the right direction in terms of food access planning, but we need to do this on a national level too in order to truly make a dent in the country's hunger problem.

Photo credit: moriza

Greg Plotkin currently works for Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan, NY. He is dedicated to eliminating inequalities in who has access to healthy food and alleviating hunger.
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