The peaches were from California. Standing in the produce section of an Atlanta grocery store, David York couldn’t help but notice that while he lived in a state best-known for its peaches, the bins of fuzzy fruits had come from a state 3,000 miles away.
It was a particular concern for York because of his job. As the co-interim director of DOOR Atlanta, he had interest in serving its participants local food. DOOR hosts youth groups who come to the city to do weeks of summer service, and during the summer of 2012 the focus was on food justice.
That focus started small, with a few questions at a spring staff meeting about the produce they planned to serve over the summer. Tim Showalter Ehst, York’s co-director, had an interest in farming and food justice as well as connections at Berea Mennonite Church’s local farm, where DOOR volunteers sometimes work. He broached the idea of using local produce and helping participants bake their own bread.
“Tim was the driver and he educated all of us,” York says. “I was the cheerleader.”
So they started with bread, locally grown produce and organic cheese. From there, they investigated options for local chicken. They provided the groups with local, organic soda and popped local popcorn instead of snacking on potato chips. Brownies were made with fair trade chocolate.
“We made the whole concept of food justice part of the curriculum and talked with the kids about it,” York says. “We really let the food make a social and theological statement about who we are.”
That social and theological statement spilled over into the community. Back at the grocery store, York alerted the manager to his interest in Georgia peaches. Once the store staff heard about what DOOR was trying to do, they made an effort to supply them with local produce.
“We taught the groups that if they ask at their stores, and if enough people do that, the stores will change what they stock,” York says. “Soon the grocery store knew our cycle, and they’d have the boxes ready to go when I showed up.”
It wasn’t just the grocery store that got involved, however. York says that DOOR participants took the message to heart as well.
“A lot of people really got into it and carried the concept back home,” he says. “We’ve heard from participants who plan to plant a garden or have changed the food menu at a youth group event.”
Tonya Greene took over the directorship from Showalter Ehst and York in August 2012 as the last of the groups were participating. She plans to continue emphasizing food justice in all DOOR programming.
“I have access to our local farmers’ market, so I can go there,” she says, “and I’m learning of other farms here in Atlanta, so I’m reaching out to them to see if we can send volunteers.”
Greene says one of DOOR’s yearlong participants is using food justice in his work with homelessness.
“Justin Chambers is in charge of picking up the food for Mercy Church, which has one of the food pantries we work California peaches with,” she says. “One organization, called More For Atlanta, has been giving him freshly grown produce. He always tells them how much he appreciates that.”
Additionally, the board of directors of DOOR Atlanta recently adopted food as one of their main priorities in the coming year. This idea carried over into their most recent fund-raising event, which they called Sow and Grow.
The event brought together past and present participants, artists, board members, and DOOR national staff. Organizers served a menu that included fresh salad, butternut squash soup and an apple dessert, and students from Atlanta’s LeCordon Bleu Culinary College, where Greene taught classes, volunteered to make the meal.
Heidi Aspinwall, DOOR’s associate executive director, is excited by the new priority for DOOR Atlanta and by what happened at the Sow and Grow event.
“Atlanta is known as the most forested major U.S. city and it has the climate for a seriously long growing season,” she says. “But, ironically, Atlanta’s poorer neighborhoods are ‘food deserts.’ Fresh, healthy food is hard to come by.”
Aspinwall hopes DOOR’s emphasis on food justice plays a role in “reforesting” these food deserts in Atlanta.
“Through the education of programs like ours, the volunteer work in urban gardens and the long-term work of advocacy, access and awareness, we can shorten the distance between fresh produce and our city’s people,” she says.
###
For immediate release.
Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
