The Concept [Food-as-a-Right-Thinking]
The key step was taken by city administrators in 1993. They declared that food was a right of citizenship and that "if you are too poor to buy food in the market - you are no less a citizen. [We are] accountable to you." In Belo Horizonte, the society is accountable to provide to all, even those poorer citizens who don't have easy access to food.
The Means
The mayor, Patrus Ananias, created a council formed by representatives of citizens, labor, business and religious representatives from the community. These 20 representatives provided advice on how to design and implement a new food system, that would provide access to all.
The programs implemented were all funded through 'participatory budgeting.' A system under which citizens have an active voice in where their government spends it's resources or essentially you pick what your tax money goes toward.
The whole recreation of the food system happened through active participation of community members in the politics. That is a huge lesson to learn if Columbus is going to solve it's food desert problem, it will take an engaged, active community applying itself to the problem in order to solve it.
The Innovations
1) Connect the interests of the farmer to the interest of the consumers. In Belo Horizonte, prime spots of public space were offered to farmers to set up market stands. This cut out the middle man or retailers, who mark up the price of produce. And all the owners of the market stand sell produce at a fixed price per pound so there is no price comparison between stands. As a result, the farmers profits increased and poor people got access to fresh, healthy and more affordable food. (Usually wholesale marks up almost 100% on produce)
2) The Projects help fund themselves. The farmers could bid on the best spots to sell from in the city. The money from the bidding increased government revenue that could be used for food security projects.
3) Food Delivery to improve access even more. One of the duties that comes with owning one of these market stalls is an obligation to deliver food every week. Each weekend the entrepreneurs will drive a truck laden with produce to poorer areas outside the city center so that all citizens had access to healthy food. This idea of these vans is very similar to our own veggie van in Columbus.
4) Increased Gardening - super local options. The city also increased its initiatives to encourage community and school gardens. This way people in low-income areas can produce their own fresh produce and access is no longer a problem. Gardening programs like these could be implemented in inner-city schools in Columbus to help solve the problem of food deserts.
5) Nutrition at schools. More nutrition classes were provided in schools. That way kids became aware that unhealthful eating was a problem with consequences. They saw the benefits of healthy eating and were more likely to choose to change their habits to buy produce. In addition to this the city reformed it's school lunches so that the food served was from local farms as well. This was aimed at changing the habits of the cities youth, a much less daunting prospect than changing the habits that adults have grown used to.
In general the programs implemented in Belo Horizonte created opportunity for people to find solutions to the food deserts themselves - a catalyst to 'help people help themselves'. The government didn't provide everything free of charge, it just created a system under which all of the citizens, even those with little money could have access to healthful, affordable produce. Overall these projects fueled themselves, only costing the city less than 2% of its budget.
The Results (after a decade)
- Consumption of fruits and veggies increased
- The infant death rate cut in half
- Infant malnutrition rate cut in half
Apply it here
The people of this city have shown us that it is possible to solve this problem. What it requires is a shift of paradigm or a 'new social mentality' - "everyone in our city benefits if all of us have access to good food," it's like public education, something that everyone should have equal opportunity to.
Lappe, Frances Moore. "The City that Ended Hunger." Yes! 13 Feb. 2009: n. pag.
Yes! Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.yesmagazine.org>.
