Thoughts on Food 2.0 by a New Urban Mom

Guest Blogger: New Urban Mom

We are in the midst of tremendous evolution with respect to the relationship between food and urban communities. During the Food 2.0 discussion at the 2011 Inner City Economic Summit, we heard again and again that urban food is evolving and the whole “local food” movement is growing.  That’s evident in the thousands of farmers markets springing up not just in far flung suburban rings but smack dab in the middle of our urban cities.  

Food is such a core contributor to our emotional and physical well-being that it is no wonder the growth in food clusters in our urban cities is influencing not only our personal food choices but how we feel about our neighborhoods and cities.

More urban communities are re-imagining gardening and urban agriculture not as a solitary pursuit but as a healthy, altruistic and entrepreneurial effort benefiting the community as a whole. Abandoned lots in struggling cities like Detroit and Cleveland are being converted into cultivated plots of land growing produce for commercial output and community education purposes. This is social and economic change at its best.

As a parent and someone who is particularly sensitive to the impact of our community behaviors on the development of our children I have to say this “movement” is long overdue but so very much appreciated.

For too long inner city families have been inundated with limited food choices that threaten their health and vitality.  The move towards healthy, locally grown, cultivated and processed food options not only helps to create jobs but helps to improve lives from the inside out.

To ensure the sustainability of these efforts the ICIC discussion panel examined the unique assets in our cities, especially the institutional urban anchors often ignored but so essential to sustaining the businesses that comprise our urban and regional food clusters.   

We learned that we can and should leverage the buying behaviors of anchor institutions like universities and hospitals to stimulate job growth and demand in our local economies.

While city boosting initiatives like those sponsored by ICIC will continue to inspire and encourage support, to move these ideas from concept to implementation requires local leadership. Food 2.0 panelists rightly identified the need for leadership in key places that can create the local policy and behavioural changes required – places such as the mayor’s office, city agencies, hospitals, universities, foundations and neighborhoods.

Investing our creativity, innovation and political capital into the growth of local food clusters appears to offer a welcome and effective strategy for reinventing our cities as places where people can live, thrive and contribute to the success of the nation’s economy.

BY Steven Pedigo on October 5th, 2011

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