Sunday, February 12, 2023

Food deserts

I had a conversation with a younger person which gives me hope for the future.

The conversation had many tangents but one of them involved food deserts in urban areas.

The younger person noted that many of the people who live in those areas are Black, Hispanic, Whites that are two-generations removed from the rural-South and more recently, immigrants from the middle-East (and soon to include the Ukraine I suppose).

It was this person's perception that we are at a pivotal point. The ancestral knowledge of "good food" is fading and it will not be too long before it will be impossible to get people in food deserts to eat something that does not look like it came from a Little Debbie's factory.

Sadly, all of my attempts to root Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crunch Bars have failed so my opinion is that relying on manufactured foods for food-security is a risky strategy.

But...what kinds of fruits and vegetables resonate with Blacks and Hispanics and rural-southern Whites?

At the risk of being cliche: Nopales, Tomantillas, Chilies, Melons, Peaches, Citrus, Persimmons, Pawpaws, Kiefer pears, Figs, greens of all kinds, Mayhaws, Muscadines...help me out, please....

I want to help the kid out. Please feel free to throw out the stuff you know we cannot grow up here. It may prove to be a stepping stone to a reasonable substitute or maybe the more tender plant can be grown in containers and stored indoors over the winter.

16 comments:

  1. In my ignorance I would have thought that with a greenhouse and a hydroponic setup, the range of fruits and veggies could expand.

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  2. Great point. And in the case of this particular urban area there is a fossil-fuel power plant that generates waste-heat.

    In theory, kumquats and mandarins are possibilities.

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    1. With the pressure the greenies are putting on fossil fuel use one wonders if the investment necessary to build green houses in northern areas northern areas would pay off especially when lighting would be necessary in northern areas for the winter months. We had corn on the cob from Costco in Anchorage Alaska last week so food shipped in from wherever something like that would have to compete with greenhouse stuff. Obviously corn would be included but food deserts generally would not be a good market for unusual foods especially in places where stores face serious shoplifting and even mail carriers are being mugged and robbed for the packages and high end mail on the streets!

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  3. Food deserts don't have grocery stores because the neighborhood pavement apes shoplift, riot and loot too often to make it economical to serve them.

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    1. Yeah, I was trying to find a way to point out that the presence or appearance of "food deserts" (use their terms, reinforce their propaganda) isn't due to ummm, climate conditions.
      I really have zero sympathy for city dwellers.

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  4. Okra, Corn, Apples, various berries, Sweet Potatoes, Cucumber, various squashes and Onions come to mind.

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  5. What about back yard chicken coops and rabbit hutches? Man shall not live by vegetation alone.

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  6. Collards, turnip greens, cowpeas-not just blackeyes, watermelon, tomatoes.

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    1. This guy knows... greens, turnips, beans.

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  7. Doing research into the natural foods grown in each of our locales would be good knowledge to have. Recognizing it, when it was suitable for consumption and how to process it into edible condition.

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  8. Strawberries should be possible.
    Food deserts aside, the knowledge of how to cook/prepare what can be grown is being lost.

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  9. Hispanics in a food desert? People travel across town and city to shop at the Mexican grocery stores, eat at their restaurants.

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  10. I read, this was years ago, of a guy in... I want to say Nebraska, but I could be wrong. He grew nectarines in a greenhouse which was built partially below grade. I think it was also attached to his house. (It's been a while) All the experts said nectarines coulld not be grown in that area. He proved them wrong.
    Stay safe

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    1. Edit: Found it! https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/visit-a-nebraska-greenhouse-that-grows-lemons-and-oranges/

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