Now that I’m another year older, I’m a lot wiser. Seriously, I feel smarter already.
For example, instead of spending yesterday hung over, shaking in bed, and trying to sleep it off, I got up before 8 a.m. and wrote a blog post. Then I proceeded to be really productive, doing massive amounts of laundry, taking down the puzzle, boxing it up, and scrubbing the table it rested on. It’s like I don’t even know myself anymore. Alright that’s not true, I would have been surprised by anything less.
However, part of my wiser, more sophisticated self, would like to share something a little bit more serious with you today. It’s about food deserts and one man’s way around them.
This clip is on the long side, but absolutely worth it. Please watch it; if only so you can say you’re a little smarter now. Not that you needed any more smarts; that’s just me.
This guy is my new hero.
Do you live near a food desert? What’s your thought on them, and any ideas for overcoming them?
I love TED talks, totally just took 10 minutes out of my work day to get a little smarter. I need to do that more often. And, while I luckily live in a city neighbored by easily accessible farms/farmers markets, this just makes me happier about my own little garden patch out back. Fresh, free and fun–and totally doable! Love love his plan, gardening can be done anywhere, and why not put empty space to good use?! I’ve been doing a lot of reading about square foot gardening lately, and that meshes just right with Finley’s message.
I love that you are familiar with this. I just discovered TED talks this weekend, and now I’m hooked. I’m fortunate to live in neighborhood with CSA’s and several grocery stores, and it seems like most food bloggers must be, because I haven’t seen any blogs before where people are thriving on fast food, your local stop and shop, and liquor stores. It seems we are the lucky ones, and if food deserts don’t change, well then we’re never going to solve the obesity crisis. Sorry, I just went all serious, although I do feel smarter now.
lol look at you, all wise & productive!
I know; it’s crazy talk. At least the wise part anyway.
Once, when we lived in the DC area, we drove from downtown DC all the way out to the Maryland suburbs on a major thoroughfare (Georgia Ave). I had the kids each looking out the window for grocery stores. I think we went a good 20 blocks of inner city DC with only liquor/lotto/convenience stores on the corner (and plenty of residential housing). I expected something like that, but still. It made an impression on the kids as well.
And here today I walked less than a mile for my tour of Dorothy Lane Market.
Thanks, Meghan!
I know. We’ve got a couple spots here in Cleveland and on the rare occasion I drive through them, I get pretty worked up. It makes me crazy real food isn’t readily available to all. But don’t worry, we’ll sell you some processed chemicals laden with salt, sugar, and fat, which will ultimately make you sick and unhealthy for $1.99, and only $.99 on Tuesdays. Grumble, grumble.
Thanks for this a.m.
I love watching TED talks. We watched a lot last semester in my critical thinking class, and at the end of the semester we had to create and present our own. My favorites were Jon Ronson’s psychopath test, and Brene Brown’s Wholeheartedness study. I have a feeling that I’m missing my favorites, but there are so many good (yet controversial) ones out there. Oh, and Neil Pasricha’s The 3 A’s of Awesome 🙂
Thanks Madison. I’m going to have to check some of these out. I really appreciate the feedback.
There are tons of Food Deserts in Philly but luckily we just got a grocery store in my neighborhood before Thanksgiving. If you want more info on them, check out the Food Trust organization. They are doing lots across the country to help with this issue.
I will check this organization out. I appreciate the info because food deserts make me particularly crazy. Real fresh food should be readily available to all, and I don’t mean fast food chains.
Thanks for stopping by.
Productive day! This clip was great- so worth the time! 🙂
I’m glad you liked it Sunnie. I suspect it was right up your alley.
Thanks for posting this, Meghan. It was really interesting. Listening to him makes me realize how lucky I am – I literally live three blocks away from a neighborhood market with fresh and organic produce year-round, not to mention my CSA!
I know, even in Lakewood I’m lucky. We have ample amounts of grocery stories, CSA pick up spots, farmers markets, but there are some patches in Cleveland where the same cannot be said. It makes me angry and a little bit sad.
I seriously just laughed out loud when they flashed the “plant some shit” on the screen at the end of it! This guy is flippin awesome…and speaks SO much truth. I love how he just laid it out how it is…kids WON’T appreciate food until they KNOW where it comes from! And the shipping container restaurants? Well, that’s just frickin’ brilliant!
PS, I wanna be a gansta…with a shovel! Hoe hoe hoe, bitches! 😉
We can be shovel gansta’s together. I got dibs on the pink bandana though. Ya heard!