Reading about Bed-Stay Campaign Against Hunger was inspirational. I don’t know many people who make such a change in direction during life as did Dr. Melony Samuels, whether gradual or overnight. I wonder if she always had a spark to help people, and the platform of helping just changed, but that is just friendly speculation.

The approach they take, in ensuring dignity and autonomy, is crucial as we’ve understood from the past, and the important work of reaching out to families and individuals to identify needs and opportunities should be the model of any service or technical organization. As they experienced initially, most people did not choose fruits and veggies at first because they did not know how to prepare them. Similarly, they avoid glass containers because some homeless shelters do not allow glass in their premises, thus solving a technical difficulty for some of their members.

My main interest in Dr. Samuels program is her focus on neighborhood efforts and personal development (both education and professional experience). I believe the future of urban food systems relies on this type of collaboration between blocks and neighborhoods, where productive land (soil or pavement or roof) is shared for such purposes.

I also appreciate the integration of livestock in urban environments, and I hope to see aquaponics systems as well. However, the problem with livestock at some cities is limited and limiting zoning and regulations. These usually relate to health concerns and esthetics, and are outdated at times. Luckily, there are movements to change these and I hope to see more animal production in cities. I say this with half a heart as I do belief we need to shift more to a vegetarian / vegan diet in the long run, but if urban agriculture is the solution than a transition period, or permanent, an introduction of hyper local animal products would also benefit if done correctly.