Community food? What’s that?

No, community food doesn't have to do with considering food community property. But it does see food in terms of a larger community system. Community food is a term that has been around for a while now, just not one we usually hear in Dallas, or much in Texas for that matter. If you were to join the COMFOOD listserv, you would see the hundreds of projects and workshops and jobs and trainings that are happening around the country to bring food back to our communities.

Community food is an approach to dealing with the issues of hunger and food insecurity that looks at more than just feeding people for that day. It believes that all of the programs that feed people – school lunches & breakfasts, SNAP, WIC, summer lunch, food pantries etc – are all important to ending hunger. But the community food approach also considers community gardens, farmers markets, creative urban agriculture programs, education in nutrition and food preparation, and local production agriculture as all part of providing equitable access to healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables for those who don’t always have good access. Yes, community food is aimed in a basic way to fix the problems of healthy food access, to begin to address issues of chronic diseases that come with less than ideal nutrition, and similar issues.

But one of the underlying values of community food that I have come to understand is that we are all part of the larger community. And the community is healthier as a whole when more of its members are participating. Community food works for greater self-reliance and self-sufficiency for its members. But this is not a self-reliance that is individualistic. It’s not a Texas-style, I-don’t-need-anyone’s-help, up-by-the-bootstraps kind of self-reliance or -sufficiency. Community food strives to help community members better able to participate as productive members of the community. There is the understanding that everyone deserves the opportunity for healthy food, has the ability to learn to prepare, and will benefit from eating it. In the long term, the community is healthier, stronger, and more vibrant because more people are able to participate. More people are healthier and happier.

Hopefully, with all of the things happening in Dallas around food, you will hear more about community food projects in the coming months!