I talked to a pastor friend of mine yesterday who had been moved from a suburban church setting to a very rural one. She said, “I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately!”
“Really?” I replied.
“Yes, I understand gleaning on a totally different level now! I’ve been digging potatoes with one of my old guys [her words not mine]. We’re in the third poorest county in Texas, and we’ve got food rotting in the ground!”
We talked briefly about the issues she was facing. I was so surprised by what she was saying that I didn’t even think to ask what kind of potatoes or any other details. I know the area she’s in, and it is very rural Northeast Texas. It used to be a strong agricultural area, but all of that has changed.
In just a few minutes she and I had touched on some really big issues that face rural areas. With the industrialization of our food system, communities that have traditionally relied on agriculture as their main industry have fallen into poverty. They face one of the hidden battles and ironies of rural poverty: food deserts where residents don’t have access to a real grocery store. Even though the area previously grew crops of some sort (corn, wheat, cotton, potatoes), they haven’t transitioned to growing fruits and vegetables. And there is no system in place to provide locally grown produce for that area.
There is also no system in place for redeveloping this land for food production, for deconstructing rural food deserts. This particular county has food insecurity rate of 20% (page 406 if you go look at the linked report), and these residents need an extra $466 a year to have "just enough food."
Not long after I had this conversation, I was in that same area at a workshop about Farm-to-School programs, what they are and how they work. Farm-to-school consists of classroom education (taste tests, cooking demos & practice), school gardens, nutrition education, and purchasing food from local growers. I basically knew the information, but I was there to meet the food service managers from the various districts. This group quickly understood how a relationship with a school district and a farmer would work. These are small school districts in an agricultural area. They get it. Some of them have family members that could potentially provide some of the food for school lunches. But there is currently no system in place to make this happen.
The actual conversations with the food service managers are content for another post. It seems to me that an agricultural area of Texas that has food insecurity should be an oxymoron. But it's not. For me, this is a sure sign that there is something broken in our system.
While there is currently no solution in place for these issues, there are solutions. They will take time, education, and some money. But the parts are there. We just need the opportunity to explore how they will come together. I look forward to the solutions!
