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Harvest Helps Hungry
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Even in good economic times, studies show urban families have limited access to fresh produce. In a downturn, purchasing fruits and vegetables can be harder, especially for those already struggling to make ends meet. One group not only helps bring in the harvest, they teach families to make it last longer. Heidi Robinson reports. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Richmond, Virginia)(Oven flame burns)
The economy may have turned up the heat on family food budgets…
(Sound of lids dropped into empty pan)
…but these folks are learning…
Class leader: “You’re going to be getting ready some yellow squash.”
….how to trim the grocery bill…
(Sound of chopping)
…and make the harvest last for months.
Shimeka Moore, Class Participant: “Sometimes you don’t know how to take care of your produce. Then you may let it spoil if you don’t learn how to can it or freeze it like we’re learning how to do.”
United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond partners with the local food bank and agricultural extension agents, teaching families to preserve vegetables.
Class leader: “We have to do something with them, if we want to have them in the winter.”
Class member: “Squash time!”
Class member: “It smells good.”
Some of the cooking students live in or near public housing, where access to fresh food is limited and the average income can be less than $9,000 a year.
Dave Cooper, Urban Ministries of Richmond: “Typically in a food desert, we find in America high levels of obesity, high levels of diabetes and other food-related disorders.”
Anjernette Bowens, Community Leader: “I am going to take back what I learn to my community… the Girl Scouts, the kids.
It will help them in the long run.”
Studies show that family canning saves up to 60% over store-bought items.
Class member: “Summer squash pickles. Yum, yum”
Plus learning these skills not only revitalizes a lost art; it can revitalize a community.
Class member: “I’m proud of that one…that’s some prize beans that’s gonna take first place in the county fair.”
TAG:
Organizers hope to hold upcoming produce preservation classes in two housing projects in Richmond’s inner-city.
Shalom Farms, which provided some of the vegetables, plans to donate several thousand pounds of fresh produce to the Central Virginia food banks this year.
For more information on the partnership, contact United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond at 804-266-9350.
Posted: August 19, 2009