Day 1: The Food Project in Boston

Today, while I was looking on GreaterGood.org, I found a donation link to the Food Project in Boston. It is really difficult for low-income families in large urban areas, like Boston, to find fresh produce, like apples or broccoli. Many low-income neighborhoods in Boston don't have supermarkets,which usually limits the residents to fast food restaurants and convenience stores, and I've never seen a fresh produce section in a Burger King or Wawa. These neighborhoods are called "Food Deserts". In a study of communities suffering from the greatest health disparities in Boston, 60% of residents said that they did not eat vegetables on a daily basis, and 14% reported no home consumption of vegetables at all. These facts prove that the produce shortage in Boston is nothing less than a crisis.

Fortunately, the Food Project is working to put an end to this shortage.The Food Project is transforming abandoned urban lots into verdant, productive farms that make nutritious fresh produce available in former food deserts. Diverse groups of teenagers from urban and suburban communities in the Greater Boston area are employed to help grow 250,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables on these farms each year—using organic methods. This is clearly good for the planet, as well as the community. Not only does TFP help the residents of Boston, but it also unifies a large community in their outreach towards their fellow citizens.

For 2 or 3 years now, I have been (occasionally) working at the Morrisville Presbyterian Church Food Bank I learned about this place when my advisor, Melissa, took my advisory to the food bank on a Wednesday. This bank is only open on Wednesdays, and depending on the amount of people and amount of income per family, residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey are allowed to recieve free food. These people can only go once a month, so it might not be a huge help, but these people are grateful for the help they receive. There is fresh produce there as well, and the people always seem much more happy to be the recipient of fresh vegetables, compared to processed foods. I never really understood this, because they can keep the processed foods for much longer than they can keep a few tomatoes and a couple of carrots. Now, I understand that these people are deprived of a source of fresh produce. This makes me realize that in the area of Bucks County that I live in, people (possibly just me) are naïve about just how lucky we are just to receive an fresh apple for lunch. Next time I go to throw away a barely-eaten apple, I'll think twice.

To donate to the Food Project, please click on this link. Each dollar of your donation will support one square foot of The Food Project's farmland, where young leaders are cultivated, thousands of pounds of fresh produce are grown and distributed to those in need, and urban neighborhoods and backyards produce healthy food for local residents.