Food Deserts

I noticed that fellow participant, France Gelinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, is quoted in the Sudbury Star. She stated that in her riding there are 36 communities, many without a grocery store but most have a food bank. France, thanks for bringing up another issue that we face here in Northern Ontario. Physical access to healthy food. A community without access to groceries is literally a food desert. We wonder why there are so many people who eat processed foods and fast foods. There are many people who don't have the physical ability to run out to the grocery store. A convenience store may be all they have in their community. That and a food bank.

Maybe we need to reassess planning in our city - access to public transit, position of grocery stores in outlying areas, or possibly shuttle buses that go to grocery stores at certain times of the day or week. I have also heard of one interesting idea: a food bus. Perhaps we could have a travelling market bus that takes food out to Levack and other communities that don't have grocery stores.

There is also the Good Food Box. I hear they are looking for host sites so that the boxes of vegetables and fruits can be picked up by community members in farther reaches of the city - not just downtown and New Sudbury. Businesses, individuals, organizations can all be hosts. Contact alicehaasdyk.sfc@gmail.com for more information on becoming involved.