Access to healthy foods is key to food security

Have you ever thought about the term “food security”? Most people think about food security in terms of food safety or a nutritionally balanced diet. I believe the term has wider implications, covering those issues and also one of food access.

It is not news to say that many low-income seniors are living in poverty. With the rising costs of medicine, food and fuel, many seniors find themselves faced with some hard choices. Win-win programs, like the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program that allows qualified seniors to buy locally produced food from farmers’ markets, improve senior nutrition and help develop local food systems.

But in other ways access is getting more limited. While “super” stores sell food at discount prices, research has shown that they drive out smaller businesses including grocers that may have been located within walking distance for low-income seniors. Making one drive or take public transportation to purchase food is not environmentally or economically favorable and limits access to quality food.

We are also living in a period where obesity is giving tobacco a run for its money as the number one preventable cause of death in this country. Is there a connection between poverty and obesity? You are probably thinking if they have no money, why are they obese? I would say for many people, the connection is very real. For example, if you have $3 today to spend on food, what are you going to buy? Let’s say your choices today are a fast-food hamburger, a box of cookies or a bunch of organic spinach. I would not place my bet on the organic spinach. Low-income Americans generally put their money on what will make them feel full.

Weight issues and obesity are highly complex issues, but for some it can be a simple case of increased intake and insufficient output. Since the 1970s, food-portion sizes have been growing steadily. Today, most Americans consume on average about 200 calories more than we need. Many of the calories are coming from high fructose corn syrup which sweetens the (now) 20-ounce average sized soft drinks, ice cream treats, candy bars, and thousands of other items at convenience stores, schools and work places across Maine. If we don’t compensate for these extra calories, it won’t take too many years before we can’t see our toes.

I have an interesting solution that may help Mainers make progress in each of these areas. We need to move more, and eat better. How can we do both? Although Maine has a short gardening season, we can produce some very fine produce. Most homeowners in Maine have lawns. How about putting some of that lawn into a garden? A reasonably small garden can produce a substantial amount of produce. The previously mentioned organic spinach and many other vegetables are really easy to grow. Plant them in good soil, weed the garden every once in a while, and watch them grow. While the crops are busy converting solar energy to quality calories, you can burn off some off those accumulated winter calories in the garden.

But I have another reason to encourage you to get back into the garden. I want to see you plant a couple of rows of vegetables for others who might be less fortunate than you. In 2004, participants in the Environmental Sustainability Project, a University of Maine Cooperative Extension outreach program, created the Orono Community Garden where we grew vegetables for 50 low-income seniors. With participation from others in the community, hopefully we can do more this year. Other similar Plant-A-Row programs are happening all over the state. For more information on a Plant-A-Row program in your area, call your local county Cooperative Extension office.

Just think of the benefits. You will feel good getting exercise tending your garden, you will eat better and you’ll feel even better knowing that you are helping others stretch their food dollar and eat better. To me, this is the heart of what food security is all about: increasing access to healthy foods. So, get out and enjoy this always too-short season we call summer, and grow some food for your family and others in need.

John M. Jemison Jr. is an extension professor at the University of Maine.