The producers of high quality food are widely diverse as well. Many of the producers who were selling produce at the farmer’s markets yesterday in Louisville were native Kentuckians who seemed fairly well-off, while there are also many farmers and farm laborers in the region who are immigrants. My supervisor was introducing my roommate Vanessa and me to different vendors at the market and told us that several of them used to sell their produce at a farmers market in a low-income area of Louisville because they wanted to help increase access to fresh produce in those areas. However, the farmers were not earning enough at that market and had to start selling at the Douglass Loop market which is in a higher income area of the city. The farmers wanted to make their high-quality local foods available to a diverse population, but the prices were still too restrictive which limited the benefits for both producers and consumers.
The non-profit New Roots seeks to bridge this gap between farmers and low-income communities by delivering affordable market shares of local produce to areas where it is hard to find fresh food. People who qualify for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) benefits pay twelve dollars for a box of produce worth twenty-five dollar. New Roots then delivers the food to three different low-income neighborhoods to reduce the commute for poor populations. Additionally, the payment occurs a week in advance, which helps the farmers because they receive the payment ahead of time to help transport the local food. I am looking forward to learning more about the success and challenges of New Roots when I start volunteering with them at the Shawnee Fresh Stop this coming week. Their model is an innovative way to reconcile the differences between the producer of fresh, local foods and the people with the most limited access (but arguably most need) for those foods by making the delivery of local foods more economically viable for both producers and consumers.
Additionally, I met some of the members of La Minga this past week, which is an immigrant cooperative farm. Like Jen mentioned in her post, the people who are producing our food are often the most food insecure. La Minga strives to allow immigrant farmers to have access to land and resources where they can produce food, and share that food with others in the cooperative. This allows immigrants to produce and consume the food they are cultivating, while also cultivating relationships and knowledge at the same time. New Roots and La Minga are just two examples of ways to address the disparities of food access in Louisville. I am looking forward to learning about other models that strive give everyone the privilege to enjoy fresh, local food.