In a 2007 study on food access in two neighborhoods, DeKalb County quantified the food desert effect. In the neighborhood with less money, and consequently with less mobility, fresh fruits and vegetables could be found at only 14 percent of the neighborhood’s stores that sold food (1).

Where you live has a very real impact on your quality of life and lifespan. In April of this year, a study in California found that people living in low-income neighborhoods where food sources were predominately fast food and convenience stores had obesity and diabetes rates that were 40 percent higher than neighborhoods with better access to healthy foods (2).

This news is most disturbing when it affects children. Adult eating habits are formed early in life. What are our children learning to eat, and what health problems will they have later as a result? It’s been projected that as many as one in three children will develop type 2 diabetes early in their lives, an illness that’s preventable through better nutrition and exercise.

In 2005, a group of interested citizens concerned about the impact of food access and motivated by the positive potential of local and sustainable food production began a dialogue to create a more sustainable food system for metro Atlanta. The group, the Atlanta Local Food Initiative (ALFI), recently released theirPlan for Atlanta’s Sustainable Food Future.

The ALFI plan outlines eight goals that address supply, consumption and access issues surrounding locally grown, sustainable foods. One of the eight goals is to launch farm to school programs. Says ALFI co-chair Peggy Barlett, “Kid culture today sees fast foods and processed foods as cool. Experience in other parts of the county shows that kids can be equally excited about growing their own food and eating local foods—that’s the culture change that we want to see.”

Objectives for ALFI’s farm to school goal include:
• Developing goals and policies with school districts to encourage school gardens and local food procurement.
• Providing educational workshops on farm to school programming and the critical assistance for developing school gardens.
• Establishing a Farm to School Network for Atlanta.

Studies confirm that when children are introduced to tasty, fresh fruits and vegetables through creative menus, trips to farms, school gardens and nutrition education, their knowledge and consumption of these foods increases. Ample data shows that with better nutrition comes improved educational performance and behavior and the potential for decreasing obesity (3).

At DeKalb County’s Browns Mill Elementary School, principal Dr. Yvonne Sanders-Butler instituted a sugar-free environment. The policy put the school’s cafeteria on a diet, skewing consumption toward fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Browns Mill has quantified the result of this shift to healthy foods: discipline referrals dropped 23 percent, nurse referrals by 30 percent, and test scores increased 15 percent. Surprisingly, the policy has also affected the foods that are for sale in stores that surround the school (4).

Widespread change in the cafeteria is slow coming. During the school year, the Atlanta Public School System serves millions of meals. Their food service provider, Sodexo, is starting to notice and respond to the disturbing trends in childhood nutrition. Joanne DeShields, Sodexo school services resident district manager, describes their long-range vision: “For kids to want to eat healthy items, to be knowledgeable about it [healthy choices], and for them to enjoy eating it [healthy foods]!” Sodexo is evaluating the value of school gardening programs as a platform for nutrition education—moving from the garden to the classroom—and says DeShields, “coming full circle and landing on their plates” in the cafeteria.

Sodexo participated in discussions and initiated salad bars in both Cascade and E. Rivers Elementary Schools, partners in the Farm to School Pilot Project completed during the 2007-08 school year by Georgia Organics and the Mendez Foundation.

Though promising, these efforts leave local mother Pattie Baker craving more. “It’s time for parents to ask not what will the system support, or what is the convenient thing to do, but what is the right thing to do for the health of our children and our communities?”

Developing a strong, local food system—in farm to school programs and in all other areas—has the potential to deliver a multitude of benefits, including promoting healthy eating, reducing petroleum consumption, preserving green space, and creating new jobs that build local economies. Local food systems strengthen the social fabric of communities while celebrating our food heritage.

Over 30 local, regional and national organizations have endorsed ALFI’s Sustainable Food Plan, including the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Georgia Conservancy, Spelman University and Trees Atlanta. Peggy Barlett is encouraged by the plan’s reception. “The response to the Sustainable Food Plan demonstrates the widespread support for bringing food into our sustainability discussions. I’m impressed with the many different kinds of organizations that have enthusiastically endorsed this document.”

Stay in touch through the Georgia Organics Farm to School eNewsletter by sending an email with your name, contact information, and interests to Erin Croom, farm to school coordinator, at erin@georgiaorganics.org. A full copy of ALFI’s Plan for Atlanta’s Sustainable Food Future can be downloaded at www.georgiaorganics.org/Files/ALFI.pdf.

Sources: (1) Is Healthy Eating Possible in DeKalb County? An Assessment of Food Availability, Access and Cost in Two Neighborhoods, DeKalb County Board of Health, Fall 2007 (2) Designed for Disease: the Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes, April 2008, www.policylink.org/documents/DesignedforDisease.pdf (3) References 23 – 27 at www.georgiaorganics.org/Files/ALFI.pdf
(4) http://healthcorner.walgreens.com/display/1840.htm

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