life’s not a paragraph

so like i said in my last post (see below) i went to a conference this past weekend about real food and getting healthy fresh foods into our community.

it was pretty awesome! there were hundreds of kids there from high schools and colleges all around the northeast. it was really great for me, personally, to see so many people my age who are passionate about healthy food. sometimes i feel like i am the only one who really cares about the food industry so it was really great to be a part of a group i could immediately connect with. i met some really interesting people there. there was a girl from new york university who started her own csa (community supported agriculture– which is typically a group of people that invest in a local farm and receive the crops that the farm grows so supporting a farm/local business and keeping money within the local economy). i also met a group of college and high school kids from philadelphia who work to make their communities more healthy. and i am sure there were tons of other great amazing people there who i didn’t get to talk with.

saturday was comprised of a series of workshops. the three of us who were representing suffolk attended three workshops about corner stores, equal exchange, and oxfam america.

i had never really thought of corner stores as a place to make change but two high schools girls from the bowdion st health center gave a presentation about how important corner stores are to urban communities and how important it is to get them to offer fresh fruits and vegetables. they collected research from around their communities and have already helped change a few stores in their area. they work with students in east boston and mattapan as well to brainstorm and create a healthier boston.

equal exchange is a company that you may have seen on grocery store shelves. they produce coffee, tea, chocolate and bananas which are all fair trade and most times, organic. they’re a co-op or a cooperative (check out what co-ops are here) based out of west bridgewater ma! they’ve been around since the 80s and the two women who talked to us about their company had some pretty incredible things to tell us (did you know that there is only one species of banana strong enough to be exported? and its only grown in four countries in the world!). it was really interesting to hear about how their company works and how they work with farmers and communities around the world. i was really impressed by the discussion we had as a group. i am definitely going to start buying more of their products because not only are they a great company, they’re also local!

the last workshop i went to was for oxfam america, which is a non-profit organization which works to help hungry, impoverished and exploited people around the world. the workshop mainly consisted of a discussion about the causes and possible solutions of world hunger. it was a cool exercise because world hunger is such a massive issue that it is hard to wrap your mind around it sometimes. i would’ve liked to know more about what oxfam does because i don’t know much about their programs but all it all it was a really interesting session.

so as you can tell, the conference was packed with fascinating information and lots of interesting discussions. i am really happy that i got to take part in it. hopefully i will be able to next year as well!