Food deserts and social justice: Joy-Southfield’s farmers market in Detroit, MI
by Jill Shah on November 3, 2011
Author: Katie Schmidt
Katie Schmidt graduated in 2010 from the University of Michigan with a degree in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science and a minor in Medical Anthropology. A former GlobeMed at the University of Michigan Co-President and GlobeMed National Office summer intern, Katie is now finishing her Master of Public Health program in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. In the summer of 2011, Katie interned with the Joy-Southfield Community Development Corporation, GlobeMed at the University of Michigan's Detroit-based partner, to support their health education programs and social justice initiatives.
In the past few years, food deserts—areas with few “mainstream” food outlets (such as grocery stores), and an abundance of “fringe food” outlets (like convenience stores and fast-food restaurants)—have received increased attention from U.S. policymakers, public figures, and corporations. Food deserts are a serious challenge to adequate nutrition in the U.S., both in large cities and in rural areas. With a lack of access to healthy food, many food desert residents are forced to rely on salty, fatty, oversized meals from convenience stores and drive-thrus; as a result, food deserts are plagued by high rates of chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, and have been cited as a major contributor to our country’s childhood obesity epidemic.
Detroit has been hit especially hard by the food desert problem, without a single major grocery chain inside city limits since the closing of Detroit’s last Farmer Jack stores in 2007. Among the many findings in a 2007 report on Detroit’s food deserts, some of the most striking are that 92% of the city’s food retailers are “fringe food” outlets, and that neighborhoods with high food imbalance lose significantly more years to premature death than do areas with a more balanced food supply. Importantly, the spatial distribution of grocery stores in and around Detroit is not random; a 2005 study notes that neighborhoods with a high (60% or higher) or medium (20%-60%) proportion of African Americans and high or medium poverty rates have significantly larger distances to mainstream food outlets than do predominantly White neighborhoods, even when those White neighborhoods also have medium and high poverty rates.
Detroit has been hit especially hard by the food desert problem, without a single major grocery chain inside city limits since the closing of Detroit’s last Farmer Jack stores in 2007. Among the many findings in a 2007 report on Detroit’s food deserts, some of the most striking are that 92% of the city’s food retailers are “fringe food” outlets, and that neighborhoods with high food imbalance lose significantly more years to premature death than do areas with a more balanced food supply. Importantly, the spatial distribution of grocery stores in and around Detroit is not random; a 2005 study notes that neighborhoods with a high (60% or higher) or medium (20%-60%) proportion of African Americans and high or medium poverty rates have significantly larger distances to mainstream food outlets than do predominantly White neighborhoods, even when those White neighborhoods also have medium and high poverty rates.
In Detroit’s Cody-Rouge neighborhood—where the Joy-Southfield Community Development Corporation, the domestic partner of GlobeMed at the University of Michigan is located—a single small-sized grocery store serves the community’s 14,000 households, while there is an overwhelming abundance of fast food chains and convenience stores. I saw the effects of this food imbalance first-hand this past summer as an intern for Joy-Southfield. In a youth obesity prevention program that I helped to administer, parents discussed the challenges they faced in feeding their families: most of them completely avoided the neighborhood’s single grocery store because of its poor food selection and high prices, and would instead drive for up to a half-hour to the nearest Meijer supermarket in my suburban hometown of Livonia. As one single mother noted,
Dave Law, Joy-Southfield’s Executive Director and GlobeMed at UMich’s longtime mentor, highlights the market’s role in reducing health disparities and curbing Detroit’s obesity epidemic:
“If I come off a double-shift and my kids are hungry, I can’t go all the way to the suburbs for food and come back and cook. The gas station sells hot wings and that’s all we have time for.”When I asked parents how the youth obesity prevention program could be improved, another mom responded:
“I already know what’s healthy and what isn’t. You don’t need to teach me that. But I can’t buy healthy food. Fix that.”Joy-Southfield founded the Sowing Seeds Growing Futures farmers market in 2010 to ameliorate Cody-Rouge’s food access problems. The market increases access to healthy food and improves the local economy, since patrons can use cash or federal food assistance to buy fresh produce from local farmers. The market also employs youth from the nearby Dixon School and Advanced Technology Academy, who sell the produce grown at Joy-Southfield’s community gardens. Additionally, the market hosts free healthy cooking demonstrations, giving patrons healthy recipe ideas that they can incorporate into their everyday routines.
Dave Law, Joy-Southfield’s Executive Director and GlobeMed at UMich’s longtime mentor, highlights the market’s role in reducing health disparities and curbing Detroit’s obesity epidemic:
“Every year, tens of thousands of people die prematurely in this country due to health disparities. Eliminating health disparities will require more than increasing access to health care. Among other ‘social determinants of health,’ people need access to affordable healthy food. The Joy-Southfield Sowing Seeds, Growing Futures farmers market is one important strategy to improve access to affordable food in Detroit while also educating patrons about how to prepare healthy meals. Over time, we expect this to lower obesity rates and thereby reduce the risk for developing common chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. This isn't about charity. It's about social justice.”
During my summer internship, it became clear that the Sowing Seeds Growing Futures market needed some help—the market wasn’t well-known throughout the community, and attendance at weekly market sessions was low. This low attendance made it difficult for vendors and farmers to profit, and as a result, Joy-Southfield struggled to attract additional vendors to sell a wider variety of produce.
This June, using input from the Cody-Rouge community, I designed a two-year program to attract more vendors and consumers to the market and submitted it in a grant proposal to the USDA’s Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP). In mid-October, the FMPP awarded Joy-Southfield $53,114 for improvements to the market, which include a community-wide publicity campaign, an industrial-grade food refrigerator, an LED sign and its base (which will be built and decorated by Dixon School students), and sound equipment for weekly performances by local musical acts and dance troupes; all of these activities will hopefully bring people to the market and make it a fun weekly event for the community. Some of the program’s ambitious objectives are to see a two-fold increase in its number of vendors and farmers, a ten-fold increase in patron attendance, and a ten-fold increase in every vendor’s profits by October 2013. GlobeMed at UMich will play a key role in the program’s implementation, providing volunteers to assist with the design and distribution of publicity materials throughout the neighborhood and with the youth-led construction and decoration of the LED sign’s base.
This June, using input from the Cody-Rouge community, I designed a two-year program to attract more vendors and consumers to the market and submitted it in a grant proposal to the USDA’s Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP). In mid-October, the FMPP awarded Joy-Southfield $53,114 for improvements to the market, which include a community-wide publicity campaign, an industrial-grade food refrigerator, an LED sign and its base (which will be built and decorated by Dixon School students), and sound equipment for weekly performances by local musical acts and dance troupes; all of these activities will hopefully bring people to the market and make it a fun weekly event for the community. Some of the program’s ambitious objectives are to see a two-fold increase in its number of vendors and farmers, a ten-fold increase in patron attendance, and a ten-fold increase in every vendor’s profits by October 2013. GlobeMed at UMich will play a key role in the program’s implementation, providing volunteers to assist with the design and distribution of publicity materials throughout the neighborhood and with the youth-led construction and decoration of the LED sign’s base.
Working with Joy-Southfield was one of the best experiences I've ever had. History has not dealt the best hand to city of the Detroit or to the Cody-Rouge neighborhood, but it was great to see people coming together to combat the injustice that permeates their existence. The scarcity of healthy food in Cody-Rouge is a glaring example of this institutional racism and structural violence; the farmers market fights this injustice by allowing those who would otherwise have to drive 30 minutes for fresh produce to buy healthy food in their own neighborhood. I feel privileged to have worked in the Cody-Rouge community and written a grant to improve the farmers market, and am excited to see the market’s growth and effects throughout the neighborhood in coming years. The farmers market alone will not solve Detroit’s food desert problem, but in this city where a complete disregard for the needs of those without market power has historically been the norm, Joy-Southfield and its Sowing Seeds Growing Futures initiative are an important step toward food equity and social justice.
Dave Law says on November 05, 2011 at 7:53am:
Hey Katie & GlobeMed partners, Awesome job on the commentary and overview. This very succinctly points to the power and impact of our long-term partnership, and also illustrates the visionary leadership of Katie Schmidt. Keep up the good work.Carolyn Jennings says on November 06, 2011 at 7:38pm:
Great article Katie! Just one snippet of all the wonderful things happening thanks the Joy-Southfield Community Development Corp. and its many partners. I look forward to our continued partnership and efforts to make an impact on the health and well-being of all residents of Detroit.Norm Dickson says on November 07, 2011 at 7:07am:
Katie, Thanks for your dedication to this project, which will provide convenient access to healthy nourishment. This community service represents the best of what it means to be "political",i.e. making it possible for others to "fare well".