By Adrian Florido
What makes it hard for low-income immigrant and refugee communities of City Heights to access nutritious food? What can be done about it? And more importantly, what is being done about it?
On Saturday, Nov. 12, join us for a discussion on the barriers and solutions to healthy food access in San Diego’s most diverse community.
The event is the first of three that we’re hosting with local media partners in the next year as part of our Speak City Heights initiative, a collaboration between voiceofsandiego.org, KPBS, Media Arts Center San Diego and The AjA Project, to explore the challenge of improving quality of life and community health in City Heights, and the innovations that are emerging to address that challenge.
A Somali cooking demonstration starts at 4 p.m. with free samples of what’s cooked. A panel discussion will start at 5 p.m. examining how City Heights is emerging as an incubator for innovative ideas about increasing access to fresh food in low income areas.
Once a middle class suburb, City Heights has evolved into a dense urban hub of immigrant and refugee life. But as the population changed, grocery stores left and made accessing fresh food more difficult. In recent years, residents and nonprofit advocates have focused on finding solutions by promoting land use law changes, community gardens, farmers markets and other grassroots initiatives. We’ll discuss those efforts and what still needs to be done.
I’ll be moderating the panel along with KPBS reporter Ruxandra Guidi. It’ll feature community members and nonprofit advocates who are working with residents, advocates, and policy makers to change local attitudes and laws that have made accessing fresh food a challenge.
Date:
Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011
Time:
4 to 5 p.m.: Mingle, explore multi-media exhibits, watch a cooking demonstration of refugee recipes, and sample the food.
5 to 6:30 p.m.: Panel discussion
Where:
Scripps Rady City Heights Wellness Center
4440 Wightman Street, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92105
RSVPs are encouraged. Click here.
And if you have time before the event, swing by the City Heights Farmers Market just across the street. It runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Hope to see you there.