East Point's Food Revolution
"First Bread then Revolution" - Bertolt Brecht
First written by theater practitioner, poet, and playwright Bertolt Brecht, "First Bread then Revolution" was inspired by the Flour War of 1775 which preceded the French Revolution. As the name suggests, the Flour War was the physical manifestation of civil dissent over the rising prices of flour and bread which was the main food source of the French proletariat.
While there aren't many riots concerning food in modern day America, food insecurity is a very real problem many people face on a daily basis. However, the city of East Point, located just 7.5 southwest of the Heart of Atlanta, is attempting to remedy that by teaching it's citizens something Brecht never considered, food can be a revolution in itself.
According to the census, the city of East Point has a population of roughly 34,000 residents who are serviced by approximately 1,025 businesses in the city. Based on information obtained from city records, only four of those businesses are grocers while thirty-seven of them are convenience stores.
Convenience Stores v. Grocers
Compared to the national average of residents per supermarket, much of East Point isn't technically considered a food desert because many of the residents live within a mile of fresh produce and healthy food. But other residents such as Elana and her mom live significantly farther. Let's follow their journey to the grocery store.
Oh No!
Elana's mom went upstairs for five minutes to change her clothes after a long day of work . In that short time, Elana has gotten into the flour and made a mess. I guess it's time to take a trip to the grocery store, Elana's mom thought, we needed more snacks for Elana's lunch anyways.
Elana after playing in her mom's flour
Elana's house is marked by the blue pin on the map and the nearest grocers is marked by the red dot. They are roughly 2.5 miles apart. Following the fastest route from Elana's hours to the grocers, Piggly Wiggly's, let's count how many convenience stores they pass along the way.
To get to Piggly Wiggly's, Elana's mom makes a right instead of a left. She knows she could go either way, but making a left means she'll have to wait at two long traffic lights instead of one.
At the bottom of the hill directly outside of her neighborhood, she encounters the first convenience store, the Airport Food Mart.
Right across the street from the Airport Food Mart is another Food Mart! Elana's mom has been here a few times to get gas. She knows she could probably buy flour there but their selection of snacks is limited to junk food.
While Elana's mom doesn't mind buying Elana the occasional bag of chips, she would rather buy Elana snacks that are a bit more nutritious. Plus, Elana would really love to take an orange with her to school tomorrow.
Some of the journey to Piggly Wiggly's is lined with nothing but trees and houses. This is Elana's favorite part of the ride. She loves looking at the colors of the leaves and trying to count how many trees she sees. Once, she even counted to twenty-two!
After counting trees, Elana and her mom pass Ms. Debbie's Food Mart. Even though Elana has only been here once, it's her FAVORITE convenience store. They have a gumball machine and the nice lady at the counter gave Elana a sucker last time they went there!
The last convenience store Elana and her mom pass on the way to Piggly Wiggly's is Day's Food Mart. They've never been here before since it's so close to the grocers. Sometimes Elana wants to visit anyways to see the Christmas lights around the door but Elana's mom never takes her.
Finally, Elana and her mom arrive at Piggly Wiggly's. During their 2.5 mile trip, Elana and her mom have passed four different convenience stores! Although a few of them were tempting to stop at, Elana's mom stayed dedicated to buying flour and fresh fruit.
Today she made the best decision for Elana's health, but sometimes after an even longer day of work, Elana's mom doesn't have the energy to take this trip and settles for one of the convenience stores near her house.
The journey we took above with Elana and her mom is not unusual to the trip many East Point residents are consistently forced to make in order to purchase healthy food. Elana and her mom are fortunate enough that they can simply get in their car and drive to the grocers. However, this is not the case for many East Point residents who are considered at risk.
Even though some households don't live in a food desert, many of them are still at risk meaning someone in their household has a disability, they don't have access to a personal vehicle, or they live below the poverty level. About 27 percent of households have someone with a disability living in them, about three percent of households are without a vehicle, and about 21 percent of households live below the poverty level. These at conditions make a trip to the grocers for healthy food hard and expensive. Hence, the families often rely on nearby convenience stores which supply a variety of unhealthy alternatives.
Noting the struggle for many its residents to access healthy food, last fall the City of East Point along with six other cities, answered the call of the Food Well Alliance and cast their bids to be the first city in the metro Atlanta region with a City Agricultural Plan. For each city, getting selected to pilot the program meant changing the way their residents, regardless of income, accessed healthy food.
“Being the chosen City to pilot this program would be catalytic for East Point. As a City that understands the importance of local food systems, this partnership will enhance our ability to build community, improve the health of our citizens and directly impact the length and quality of life of all those who live in and visit our City.” - Deana Holiday Ingraham, East Point Mayor
Fortunately for East Point, in July of 2019:
East Point: City Agriculture Plan Trailer
Over the next 12 months, Food Well Alliance will help the city of East Point engage the community, map its assets, create a City Agricultural Plan, and guide the implementation of the plan while providing a minimum of $75,000 to bring the plan to life.
If you live in the East Point area, make sure you stay up to date on East Point's Food Revolution by visiting the page below. Get involved and see how you can help to ensure your neighbors have access to healthy food.
