In this new dystopian world of negative and divisive political discourse, we find it refreshing to seek out and report on the positive, uniting energy of the mission-centric nonprofit “other-world” we inhabit with our colleagues across the country.
As the leader of the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, Holly Freishtat has spent the last few years collaborating with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future to find ways to make systemic changes in the growth of urban “food deserts” in Baltimore.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food deserts as “parts of the country usually found in impoverished urban areas, vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.”
Freishtat is working to change the perception of undernourishment in impoverished urban areas beginning with the designation “food deserts”. Although it may seem trivial in the face of the bigger problem, Freishtat insists that the title is misleading enough to discourage activist concern. We have been hearing from advocates and residents that the term ‘food desert’ implies that urban undernourishment is a naturally occurring event when nothing could be further from the truth. It’s an evolving, negative social condition that needs correction.
Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health has been working on these pockets of urban undernourishment for quite some time. “Our work is driven by the concept that public health, diet, food production and the environment are deeply interrelated and that understanding these relationships is crucial in pursuing a livable future.”
Johns Hopkins has segmented urban undernourishment research into four distinct areas of interest:
Because our country has always been blessed with abundant natural resources most fortunate people rarely think about “urban food deserts” or even that nutritional food could be in short supply. However, dedicated professionals like Holly Freishtat in collaboration with Johns Hopkins are shining a light on a lurking social problem that has implications across the entire food supply system. Noticing the “good news” of their collaboration refreshes our spirit and inspires us to carry on.