Shocking news: the poor want organic, local food, too

The poster outside Rockwood Voices for Food Justice's Offices, in Gresham, OR

New York Times columnist Roger Cohen says that organic food is elitist, and assumes that the only people who demand healthy, pesticide-free food are well-heeled Whole Foods shoppers. Well, I don't know how else to put it: he's wrong. Here in Oregon, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (known as EMO), has been helping churches, synagogues, Muslim community centers and even Hindu temples source healthy, organic food from local farms for over 15 years. EMO's Interfaith Food & Farms Partnership, which I write about in today's Oregonian, helps congregations launch farm stands, food buying clubs, cooking classes, and even community gardens—all of which are open to struggling community members, too. But EMO doesn't stop there: the organization is also committed to policy work and community organizing. (Their regular e-newsletter contains updates on the Farm Bill and actions you can take to further just food policies.) IFFP has begun a "community food assessment" of Rockwood, hiring local folks to canvas their own neighborhood and find out what people need when it comes to grocery shopping.

I tagged along with Marisela Hernandez and her husband Jose Luis Hernandez Avalos a few weeks ago and got to hear Rockwood residents' responses. Many of the families we spoke to rely on SNAP benefits (food stamps) or WIC coupons and say they have to drive or take the bus across town get to discount stores like WinCo and Food4Less. Several said they'd like to see more affordable food in their own neighborhood in the form of farm stands, community gardens, and farmers' markets. IFFP is on it! Once they finish canvassing the neigborhood, IFFP will summarize the all the data in a report that will be shared with the community and elected officials. With any hope, Rockwood will soon have more affordable outlets for healthy food.