SNAP gap of 53 percent<\/a> (meaning that around 700 individuals who are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are not enrolled), Somerville\u2019s local government and community organizations have tried to do their part in educating the community about food access, fill gaps within the food system, and make a more green and equitable future for Somerville.<\/p>\nThree such community members shared how they have played a role in increasing food access and equity through their organizations and businesses; Danielle Tubinis, Executive Director of Hearty Meals For All, Emily Reckard-Mota, Food and Farms Manager and Educator for Groundwork Somerville, and Matt Gray, owner of Neighborhood Produce.<\/p>\n
While the three panelists all had a somewhat different model for increasing access to fresh, affordable, and often culturally important food, all of them spoke to the importance of providing this service to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lived in the Winter Hill neighborhood for about 12 years now,\u201d said Gray. \u201cThe star market there has been closed for 14 years, and there\u2019s just a lack of fresh food. But you also have a lot of small stores throughout the neighborhood; bodegas and convenience stores which serve a purpose, but they don\u2019t really have fresh food. And the fresh food that they have is usually not too great and very expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having worked for hunger-relief organizations such as the Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston Area Gleaners, and Food Link, Gray recognized the need for an affordable resource of fresh food and looked to fulfill it by founding his own business with his wife Heather in 2017, Neighborhood Produce.<\/p>\n
The goal of the store is to provide food access to underserved neighborhoods, but it also serves as an experimental model for small produce stores being able to compete with chains that have much greater buying power. By creating their own business model and buying directly from the produce market, the store is able to simultaneously source on demand what people want and keep costs down. \u201cWe\u2019re not relying on a distributor or relying on anybody else,\u201d explains Gray. \u201cWe see every piece of produce that\u2019s coming into the store before we actually bring it in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearty Meals for All has a somewhat different model in that they provide healthy, locally-sourced meals on the second Friday of every month in order to create a communal atmosphere where the social aspect of eating is just as important as the food itself.<\/p>\n
This model would change somewhat in the wake of the pandemic as food insecurity would be heavily exacerbated, but the communal aspect of the meal would remain integral to the organization\u2019s operation. \u201cMost people were coming because they wanted a meal, but we didn\u2019t think of ourselves as a hunger relief organization,\u201d explains Tubinis. \u201cAnd now in the pandemic, we saw a lot more families and college students coming to us and asking for more and more groceries. And so, we\u2019ve been able to put together grocery packs, and we started doing deliveries and getting to know people\u2019s dietary restrictions, medication interactions, preferences, things like that. Since we operate on a pretty small scale, we are able to have really special connections with people, which I think is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Groundwork Somerville is a non-profit focused on educating the future generation on equitable food access and urban farming, as well as providing an open green space and source of fresh food for all Somerville residents.<\/p>\n
Similar to Neighborhood Produce and Hearty Meals for All, Groundwork Somerville seeks to grow not only food, but a sense of community. \u201cWe\u2019re really just trying to create a community space at the farm where people can be in a free public space that is outdoors and connects people to their food system and to one another,\u201d explained Reckard-Mota.<\/p>\n
Over the summer, Groundwork invites high-school students to work on the farm growing food, as well as attending workshops on food justice, systems of oppression, and farm education. They also manage eight different school gardens with education programs for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re ensuring that people have a voice in shaping their food system,\u201d said Reckard-Mota. \u201cI think that a large part of our role is thinking about how we can create a hyperlocal food system where it\u2019s more connected to people when our current food system is often so dehumanized and disconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there\u2019s no question that these organizations benefit the community in multiple ways, almost any organization or business model that is focused on providing affordable, fresh meals will face some level of economic challenges. \u201cIn urban environments, access to growing space is so hard to find and hold on to,\u201d explained Reckard-Mota. \u201cFor us, with all the development in Somerville, we can\u2019t afford to own the farm that we\u2019re on. And so, we have had a lot of meetings and advocated to be able to stay where we are, but there\u2019s definitely a chance in the next five or ten years that we could be booted off of the space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rapid development of the city is just one of the litany of problems these organizations face. \u201cLike many other nonprofits, we\u2019re always struggling to be funded and find grants. And that\u2019s something that could be addressed at the state, local, or federal level,\u201d said Tubinis.<\/p>\n
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