Neighborhood Food Fest Feeds the Community
As if signaling its approval, nature was smiling on the Neighborhood Fest in Warren Park in the Rogers Park/ Westridge neighborhood on April 16, with crystal clear skies and unseasonably warm temperatures. At the second annual Neighborhood Fest, regional organic farmers, local Indian restaurants, groups promoting food justice and opposing genetic engineering and a wide range of other vendors and organizations oriented towards improving our lives and communities in connection with the food we grow and eat assembled to share their wares, make connections and enjoy the day.
The close to 50 participant groups included EcoVIDA, an organization founded by Salvadoran ecologist Neris Gonzalez, which gives students in mostly Latino urban neighborhoods a chance to grow organic vegetables, tilapia fish and worm compost; the group Genewise, fighting biotech incursion into farming and food; the New Leaf grocery store, a popular gathering spot in Rogers Park; the Illinois Stewardship Alliance and the Rogers Park Community Action Network.
The proceeds of the Neighborhood Fest will go to several groups: Wisconsin-based Growing Power, which works to provide long term access to fresh healthy affordable food, jobs and sustainable development to all members of the community, especially those that cannot access fresh healthy/organic/chemical free food because of its higher prices at the present time; the Rooftop Gardening and Wellness Center, including a rooftop garden started by the Light of Christ Lutheran Church on Western Avenue; the Pembroke Farmer Cooperative Partnership, which builds links between rural and urban farmers and supports a collective of African-American farmers near Kankakee; and the Rogers Park Neighborhood Healthy Food Council, which began meeting after last year’s Food Fest. One of the main focuses of the council and the larger movement represented at the Neighborhood Fest is to involve high school students and other youth in finding opportunities for connecting with the land and playing a role in growing the food they and their community eat. This is part of the growing national movement for community food security, meaning ensuring that low income and marginalized communities are not dependent on exploitive vendors for a small selection of unhealthy, high-priced food offered in their communities, but rather that they can learn about and grow their own healthy food.
For more information, visit foodsecurity.org.