Duke-Durham Hunger Alliance

In their Campus Progress blog, Center for American Progress pointed out yesterday that the number of  Farmer’s Markets increased 16% in the past year.  What does that mean for food security right here in North Carolina?

“Farmers markets have become popular economic development and public health improvement strategies in many communities,” she [Sharon Yiego, president of the Farmer’s Market Coalition says. “In some areas, they are the only avenue for small business incubation, and the only source of fresh, locally produced food.”

SEEDS is one organization in Durham using farmers markets, urban gardening, and community outreach into Northeast Central Durham to help close Durham’s food deserts and make healthy produce available and affordable for everyone.

Come support SEEDS at the OASIS Banquet, 7pm, April 21st, in Von Canons C at Duke University’s Bryan Center.

Why I’m Walking

This is my 6th year being involved in CROP Walks (first in Charlotte, and now in Durham)!

It is one of my most deeply held beliefs that when there are so many in the world without enough nutritious food to eat, without clean water, without the ability to receive an education or have access to the most basic healthcare, that those with more than enough must help.  We are all global citizens, and we all have obligations to one another.  There is no excuse for apathy towards the suffering of our global brothers and sisters.

CROP Walks are awesome because they raise money to support poverty alleviation both in the local community and around the world!  The philosophy of the CROP Walks reminds me of how interconnected we all are.  When I came to Duke, I didn’t really feel like a part of the Durham community until I started going to the Durham CROP Walk organizing team meetings.  In Durham the walk is an inspiring reminder of Duke’s committment to the community.

I’ve been involved in almost every part of the proccess, from walking to making flyers, to helping pick out t-shirt designs, to speaking at recruiter meetings, to organizing the 150 volunteers at the Charlotte CROP Walk, to dancing around in a mascot costume, to convincing business owners to become sponsors and painting kids faces with the CROP Walk stop sign.

You can show your support for the Duke Durham Hunger Alliance Walk team by following this link!

“Regulating a public space to ensure public safety is not a new concept,” the president of Duke-Durham Hunger Alliance explained Friday.  This month’s Alliance meeting, “The Nanny State: Should the Government Tell You What to Eat?” was held to discuss government influence on nutritional choices.  The talk began with the recent effort in New York State to prohibit the purchase of soda with food stamps, which The New York Times described in October of last year as “part of an aggressive anti-obesity push.”

Elena Botella, a member of the class of 2013 at Duke University, heads the Alliance and co-taught a course at the University entitled Global Politics and the Economics of Hunger.  According to Botella, the DDHA’s goal is to “mobilize the Duke Community to fight local and global hunger and poverty through education, advocacy, direct service, and fundraising.”

While Botella admits that soda is non-nutritional, in response to the soda ban she said, “If you say that food is only about nutrition, I think you’re missing out on a lot.”

Part of the Alliance’s “Edchewcate” series, The Nanny State discussion primarily focused on analyzing the consequences of governmental nutrition intervention.  An informal question-guided discussion, the DDHA meeting took place in the Duke Divinity School’s Refectory Café.  Those participants in favor of regulation cited societal impacts of citizens’ health choices as justification for a ban.  John Nelson, Duke class of 2012 and member of the campus group Students for Sustainable Living, said, “The misuse of those substances [non-nutritional food items] leads to public health consequences.”

Also entering the debate was DDHA’s executive vice president and member of the class of 2012, Janet Xiao.  Representing the position opposed to new food stamp management policies, the public policy major expressed her doubts about the necessity for regulations such as those proposed by New York.  “It’s contingent on your actions not having a negative impact on another person,” Xiao said.  With bans “you’re punishing the people that can make good choices.”  Botella quickly added, “it [the soda ban] violates their [citizens using food stamps] rights.”

The January meeting ended with the members comparing government regulations to the University’s food policies and speculating on the quality of life possible under strict rules.  The group came to the conclusion that when faced with the possibility of nutrition policy changes in their own lives, they would prefer more choices.

“We are as dependent on Duke’s food policies as a food stamp recipient is on the government’s food policies,” Botella said.  “The biggest reason why I’m against it [the soda ban] is because I’d be a lot less practical of a human being if I didn’t drink Diet Coke.”

Next month’s Edchewcate segment is entitled “Faith and Food: What are the Implications of Having a Religiously Based Hunger Fighting Apparatus in the U.S.?” and will be led by Xiao.  It will be held on February 25.  Location is TBD.  For more information about the series and other DDHA events contact Elena Botella at edb10@duke.edu or Janet Xiao at janet.xiao@duke.edu.