With Michelle Obama visiting a food desert in Chicago – and a new report indicating some progress on food access in Chicago – a new video from the Westside Writing Project offers authentic youth voices with a ground-level view of the issue.
Gwendolyn Pepin and Richard Marion report the statistics, particularly the disparities in access to affordable health food in low-income African American and Latino communities. And they cover the health impacts, including higher levels of diabetes, obesity, hypertension and heart disease.
They also look at community efforts to address the problem, including the Healthy Stores Campaign, which places fresh fruit stands in convenience stores, along with the West Humboldt Park Farmers Market, the Monarch Community Garden, Patchwork Farm, and a new fresh food cooperative at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
Also new from WWP is a video report looking at the key issues in the NBA lockout, which “reminds us that professional sports is really all about business.”
