I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the narratives on the why hunger website, but the piece on the Youth Farm Market Project (YFMP) in particular got me thinking:

“Princess continues, asking what the women do to find healthy, affordable food at grocery stores. Someone mentions dried mangos. Another mother wonders where you can get those. Someone says Wal-Mart sells them cheap. Another woman says you can dry them yourself for cheaper. One mother says she grew up in Brazil and they ate all their meat and veggies fresh. Her daughter is big, she says. Really big and she has asthma. She’s worried she might get diabetes. But they have a garden in the backyard and they work together in it. She makes it fun for them.”

YFMP is a non-profit that works with children and parents in some of Minneapolis’ poorest districts to teach them about farming, eating, and overall health. This excerpt struck me because of the interplay and exchange of ideas and opinions between mothers that took place over the course of less than 15min. These women were all gathered together in a room to talk about issues plaguing their families and communities using food as the starting point. They were able to talk about what challenges they’re facing and get others’ feedback. This Youth Farm and Market Project (YFMP) provides mothers and daughters (often times the most neglected and underserved demographics) a place for problem sharing and solving. What stood out to me is that YFMP is a collaboration rather than an accusation. It promotes unity and camaraderie over than blaming and anger and focuses on the solutions.

In this space that YFMP has created, women and children come together to be agents of their own change. Unlike governmental policies which can be too rigid and not responsive enough, this form of problem solving and community action is incredibly dynamic and reacts to the unique challenge of individuals. In the exchange quoted above a question was raised and then answered in various ways by various community members so that now the questioner has all of this new information given to her by the people in similar situations to her so that now she can take all this knowledge and go out and try it for herself. Instead of having to start from the bottom, she now has a jumping off point as well as support along the way.

There is also something really powerful in having multi-generational female space available to talk about these deeply personal issues. Based off of the information in the grassroots why hunger article, YFMP has done an incredible job of creating a space where people want to be and where they feel comfortable sharing very intimate details of their lives. They are making real change starting from a place of openness and honesty. This is the way forward. Community engagement has a huge role in moving towards a more sustainable food future.

link to article: http://grassroots.whyhunger.org/clp-profiles/item/37-youth-farm-and-market-project#.VaWBL3hHNUQ