On Christmas day, as every good Jew in America does, I went to eat Chinese food with my mother.  Although with our very best efforts, we gladly failed to finish the enormous portions served up to us, and took the rest of our food to go.  With an atrocious EPA statistic of “over 34 million tons of food wasted in America every year,” I was determined not to let this food go to waste.  I grabbed the bag of Chinese containers and placed a to-go fork inside and took to the streets in search of someone who might need it.  I finally found my woman; cold, in fact shivering, and starving on the busy streets of St. Marks with a cup that had a mere 35 cents in it. I put myself in her shoes…..she obviously had calculated that the time and energy spent waiting on line at a food bank or a soup kitchen, made little sense compared to the money she would receive on such a busy street.  I’m sure she must have mis-judged the holiday spirit, with such a meager amount of money in her cup.  Or maybe she did not have enough for transportation to the Bowery Mission, for example, or little sense of how to get there.  Before we found our location in the Village, my mom and I actually went seeking out the ultimate Chinese experience in Chinatown and we encountered a man that asked us for directions to the Bowery Mission; unfortunately we had no idea where it was. When we actually stumbled upon it by accident, we were shocked and saddened at all of the people waiting outside.

Back to the woman on St. Marks….when I found her and said to her “hello, would you like some Chinese food?” It took a couple minutes for her to register, and she looked a bit startled and taken aback, until she said, “oh, yes, sure, of course, yes!!”  I could barely un-hook the bag from my wrist, before she had her arms reached out to eagerly get her hands on it.  You see, every time we throw away food from our refrigerators, or holiday leftovers that we just cannot eat another bite of and ruin our resolutions, or wilted vegetables that we could have used in a stew, there is someone who literally would smile brighter than your Christmas lights and Hanukkah candles, just to get a bite of it!  I’ve actually taken a practice of hitting the streets when I don’t feel like eating something I have in my refrigerator, because I know someone else would be overjoyed to have a cooked meal in their possession.  Hey, it helps my figure, makes me feel good to know I helped someone else, and all that walking the streets gives me exercise!

This is a perfect option for me being the foodie that I am and involved in a great non-profit focused on food security, such as the 30 Project.  Doing good in the world does not have to be a series of grand gestures, or the donating of lots of money.  As a single woman in NYC who loves to cook, there is no way I can consume all of the food I make and I’m all about promoting good health through food and nutrition; for you are what you eat! So, if I have to adopt a woman (or man) on the streets as someone I feed stews made with vegetables from the union square farmers market or holiday leftovers, that will be part of my “doing good” this year, and it’s something that anyone can do, rich or poor!

Happy Holidays!!

Courtney

We want to out-perform our wildest dreams of improving the current food system, and work hand-in-hand with all stakeholders involved to make changes for the better, ie. fight hunger and obesity simultaneously, address agricultural issues, and change dinner!  We want to take this small enterprise, known as the 30 Project, and build it into the strongest organization dedicated to this mission.  Ellen is my mission sister, and it just so happened that she needed a co-pilot to take her think and do tank to the next level! I am thrilled to be able to reach back into my entrepreneurial tool-kit and join hands in the 30 Project as the new Pro-Bono Director; and especially to work with a great social entrepreneur, Ellen Gustafson, the Founder of the 30 Project.

My life story/long bio….(feel free to stop here if so inclined!):

I too am obsessed with food security policy, hunger and obesity, and the inherent cycle of poverty. My professional experience runs the gamut between social entrepreneurship, global health policy and economic development. My thirst for other cultures and food began as an undergraduate foreign exchange student, studying international economics while living with a family in Sevilla, Spain…..and of course my love of tapas! I then went on to complete a sustainable agro-ecosystems program in Costa Rica, and from there it was evident to me that I would serve my country in the U.S. Peace Corps upon graduation, focusing on health, nutrition, and agriculture.  I served in the Peace Corps for over two years in the indigenous highlands of Guatemala, teaching technical skills, international nutrition concepts, organic agriculture and social entrepreneurship small business-development to Mayan women and youth.  I started a small jam-making business with indigenous women, using local and seasonal fruits that raised money for health programs. After the completion of my Peace Corps term, I was hired as the bi-lingual (Spanish) Public Affairs Specialist and Press Officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency covering Region 2 of the Federal Government, including NY, NJ, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  I was an inside EPA reporter interviewing top engineers and scientists on environmental air and water health issues, and became an expert on international environmental health technical matters.

After the EPA, I moved to the great state of North Carolina, where I went to begin my M.A. at Duke!  Doooook (sorry my fellow TERPS, I had to do it)!!!  At Duke, when I began to ponder my master’s thesis topic, someone said to me “choose a topic that you love and the thesis will be a breeze.”  Not only did I choose the best topic that I am so extremely passionate about, I chose an advisor that turned out to be the most amazing professor at the Duke Center for International Development Policy, Fernando Fernholz…you could say I got lucky!  Barry Popkin, the Director of the UNC Inter-Disciplinary Obesity Center, was also on my committee.  My topic was “mainstreaming nutrition into health policy as a strategy to address the nutrition transition and the “dual-burden” of malnutrition and obesity in emerging market economies.” I focused on Brazil and made comparisons to the situation in the U.S.  I analyzed issues due to rapid urbanization and industrialization creating technological changes for work, behavioral changes towards eating habits and how much people exercise, and in many cases, increased crime and violence in urban areas. I discussed the fact that in emerging market economies like Brazil, these changes have led to a transformation in the nutritional profile of vulnerable populations; they have increased consumption of processed foods; decreased leisure time and the ability to engage in physical activity; and also increased the susceptibility of the poor to negative nutritional marketing messages because of mass media growth. The increased consumption of fat, sugar and processed foods, when combined with physical inactivity, has led to overweight, obesity and diabetes co-existing with left-over bouts of malnutrition and infectious diseases. These issues served so interesting to me, they were all I talked about.

After Duke, I worked as a consultant on maternal and child health and nutrition issues for the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).  At the CGI conference in 2008, Lauren Bush was one of our attendees and it was there that I learned about FEED.  When the 2008 CGI conference ended, I worked with one of the members to convene a micronutrient task force dedicated to providing aid to Kenyan and Tanzanian youth suffering from malnutrition in effort to roll out a Sprinkles® program, and was given the opportunity to attend meetings at Jeff Sach’s Millennium Village in Sauri, Kenya, and the First African Flour Fortification Conference with Michelle Lyden, of Global Action for Health.  It was amazing to see the African agricultural system first-hand and the school feeding programs there.

When I finally returned home to New York, I had the chance to watch Ellen’s TED talk on “Global Food Issues and Obesity + Hunger,” and the relationship to global security issues.  I liked that Ellen touched on the fact that one-fifth of all children under the age of two drink soda; it is something I struggled with while serving almost two and a half years in Guatemala.  Not only is soda priced just with-in reach of the poorest populations, contributing to child obesity, it is the main reason for tooth decay in lower and middle income countries.  In fact, it also leads to malnutrition issues because children are in so much pain due to poor oral health, they cannot eat.  I would love any opportunity to hear from those as passionate on these topics as we are, so please don’t hesitate to give a shout out to us at the 30 Project with any information, ideas or dreams.

Courtney

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” – Michael Pollan

“In Defense of Food” – Michael Pollan

“Nourishing the Planet” – Danielle Nierenberg

“Enough” – Roger Thurow

“The End of Food” – Paul Roberts

“Food Matters” – Mark Bittman

“Stuffed and Starved” – Raj Patel

“Unhealthy Truth” – Robyn O’Brien

“China Study” – Colin Campbell, MD

“Appetite for Profit” – Michele Simon

“Food Politics” – Marion Nestle

“Food Rules” – Michael Pollan

“Four Fish” – Paul Greenberg

“Diet for a Hot Planet” – Anne Lappe

“Nourishing Traditions” – Sally Fallon

And a few documentaries have told essential food system stories, too, like:

“Food, Inc”

“The Greenhorns”

“Fresh, the Movie”

“King Corn”

“Forks over Knives”

In Rural Areas, an Opportunity to Innovate

Some key quotes and stats:

“We have some of the worst food deserts in local communities where food is produced,” said Mike Callicrate, a cattle rancher from [Kansas].

“In the livestock industry, more than 50 percent of the smaller slaughterhouses in Kansas have closed in the last 20 years. Callicrate said the consolidation of more than 80 percent of the meat packing industry into four big companies has taken away the market and passion from many smaller cattle ranchers.”

-In 24 Southwest Kansas counties, there are only 8 farmers markets selling fresh food to grown locally.

To see where food deserts are across America, check out this USDA Locator...unfortunately, the agriculture regions do look to be some of the worst affected.

Global Diabetes and BMI charts 1980-2008

Iowa’s northwest corner is home to the agricultural hub of Sioux City, which dominated the meat processing and livestock industries for much of the 20th century. The construction of the railroads and ease of steamboat travel on the Missouri gave Sioux City’s goods and people access to many large Midwestern cities and towns. Opened in 1884 to absorb the livestock traveling across the country for processing in the Sioux City plants, the stockyards constituted a city unto themselves and pulsed with the energy of the animals and the thousands of immigrant workers living in the adjacent South Bottoms neighborhood.

Today, the stockyards remind us of the city’s agricultural legacy, past and present. Though many meat-processing plants have been shuttered, a few still remain and provide us with an interesting cultural context in which to consider the goals of the dinner. As we come together to talk about ways to decrease hunger and obesity in this country, it is important to recognize that all stakeholders should be represented at the table in order to create the most far-reaching prescription for change.

And change, indeed, is necessary. Around 65% of Woodbury County residents are obese or overweight, mirroring the statewide average, and almost 7% diabetic. These numbers, coupled with the highest rates of child and Native American poverty in the state, make efforts by all actors, whether private or public, that much more urgent. Commitments to creating a healthy future for all are widespread, including those by the officials of Woodbury County to providing property tax rebates for farmers transitioning to organic agricultural practices. The Healthy Kids Act is transforming school nutritional and physical education requirements, and the Food Bank of Siouxland is partnering with local companies—many of them in the food and agricultural processing industries—to ensure that all citizens can have access to healthy foods.

Before our Sioux City dinner, we received an email from a local food warrior, Laura Kuennen, who manages Flavors of Northwest Iowa, a regional network for local food producers and consumers housed by Iowa State University Extension.  Check out photos of Sioux City’s farmers markets and the 30 Project dinner! Laura and the Flavors network helped us bring together incredible people and food and is proving that even in the heart of the heartland, change for a better food system is afoot!

With these policies and organizations fighting the battles against obesity and hunger on the ground in Sioux City, The 30 Project is hoping to catalyze the union of active community members over dinner and continue the conversation of change. We’re excited for the Sioux City group to draw from their historical roots and engage that frontier spirit to break new ground on creating a the food future of Siouxland. Read more about the Sioux City Dinner here!

Sioux City 30 Project Dinner kicks off at the St Thomas Community Garden

Here is a beautiful recap from Rev. Torey Lightcap, of St Thomas Church, who graciously invited us to use his garden space.

And check out the awesome mention by food hero Mark Bittman, who joined us at the end of his tour of the Mid-West.

The custom-built, recycled decking table is set in the St Thomas Church Community Garden in downtown Sioux City, IA.

The 30 Project is trying to change the way we look at our current food system so that we can make positive changes to the health of individuals, communities, and landscapes of towns and cities around the world. We’re doing that by asking members of those communities to join us around the dinner table to begin a constructive and proactive conversation regarding the future of food in that place.

It is our hope that these conversations will begin to reveal how inherently connected the food we eat is to the community of which we are a part. The land growing the food we eat only provides us with the beginnings of what we know as our community. We build layer upon layer of social, economic, cultural, and political interactions on top of that landscape to create a community.The land creates food, which creates and sustains our bodies, thus creating and sustaining our communities. So if we’re aiming to change our food and our food system, we must then consider food’s interaction within the community.

However, it’s important that we consider the historical interaction of food within the community before coming together to declare a prescription for change. Our dinner at Archi’s Acres on April 3rd provided us with the opportunity to take a look back at the history of food and community in San Diego County and Southern California.

The city of San Diego as we now know it was christened “San Miguel” in 1542 by the Portuguese explorer, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. For the next three centuries, the Spanish mission dominated the social, political, economic, and agricultural landscape. But with the advent of the Mexican-American War and the construction of the railroads in the late 19^th century, San Diego’s social structure rapidly evolved to embrace a multicultural community. The turn of the century brought greater economic activity, driven by the city’s port and the construction of several prominent United States Navy and United States Marine Corps bases in the wake of the World Wars.

Those historical events have transpired amidst a physical landscape flush with agricultural bounty, despite the lack of secure, local water resources. Advanced irrigation techniques– developed by Mission priests and still used today, though in more innovative forms, by agrobotanists and farmers alike–are to thank for San Diego’s claim to fame as the #1 avocado-producing region in the country. The county’s most popular crop has also caused the stretch of Interstate 15 between Escondido and Temecula to be christened the “Avocado Highway.”  But these far-away sources of water, including the Colorado River, may not be as dependable in the future and threaten to strip San Diego county of its celebrated agricultural identity.

The agricultural success of San Diego county may very well depend on another fact of its geographical historical—its proximity to Mexico. Tijuana is just 19 miles from downtown San Diego, and this situation allows for the relatively high mobility of people and goods across national borders. As institutions like the World Trade Organization and its policy instruments like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have lauded the removal of barriers to trade, regions like San Diego county have been flooded with cheaper goods produced south of the border.

This threat of displacement occurs alongside a worrisome trend in the negative health consequences of a food-insecure population. San Diego’s proximity to Mexico and its heavily farmed landscape has resulted in the growth of a migrant farm worker community. Furthermore, San Diego is a major resettlement site for international refugees granted political asylum by the United States. These migration phenomena have created highly vulnerable groups within the city whose access to healthy food is exceedingly tenuous. Taking place against the backdrop of one of the top five most diverse cities in the United States, this food insecurity poses a huge threat to the social and economic wellbeing of the San Diego community.  A 2009 survey conducted by UCLA found that one out of every three households in San Diego is food insecure, and that about 55% of the population is overweight or obese.

So although the economy of the city of San Diego has been driven by an institution such as the defense industry concerned with national security issues, it seems as though its local community is becoming ever more insecure. With the health of its constituents at risk, actors from various different sectors of society are creating programs and policies to address the current food insecurity.

Archi’s Acres in Valley Center is taking a unique approach to tackling this problem by seeking to reconnect another vulnerable group in society with the local food landscape—veterans. Colin and Karen Archipley have established the Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training program on their small organic farm to provide job training for veterans with the hopes that they will use their leadership and hard work ethic, honed by years of service to our country, to fill a much-needed gap in private sector employment demand. By adding to the ranks of sustainable farmers in the U.S., the veteran graduates of Archi’s Acres training program will provide even more for the security of Americans. By addressing community insecurity through relationships with the land and food, Archi’s Acres is The 30 Project’s ideal site for our next dinner. We look forward to hearing the inspiring visions of San Diego’s food future from our guests!