Last year I was invited to speak at a Wellness event in the Bronx. I was beyond excited! I knew the area well. In fact, I spent a good chunk of my formative years in the vicinity and had lots of fond memories living in the nearby tenements.
What I didn’t like was the information being presented.
The presentation included lots of references to walk, play and get outside, to buy healthy foods, and/or grow your own. Sage advice. If we would have been in Manhattan, less than 6 miles away, the suggestions offered would have been easy to implement. However, it failed to take into consideration the neighborhood we were in - a predominantly Latino and African American neighborhood that had more fast food restaurants than supermarkets and liquor/junk food ads displayed on almost every corner.
And, therein lays the issue.
A family living in a crime ridden area may not send their child outside to play for safety reasons. A person residing in a food desert does not have access to healthy, affordable foods, depending instead on nearby bodegas/corner stores and fast food restaurants for their meals. And, while a garden sounds like a fantastic idea, residents in this neighborhood do not have a backyard plot to plant in. Ultimately, in order to help any community, consideration of the areas’ resources, and non-resources, must be taken into account.
Where we live matters. These healthy suggestions work for all.
Did I miss something? What would you suggest? Share it in a comment!
Photo: MomsRising Member at Bronx Food Power Event. By KarlRivera.com
Teaching Gardens
Work with your child’s school to create a teaching garden. The garden would reinforce healthy eating, while teaching children about real food. It will also give them an opportunity to get outside, and get active, in a safe environment.
When presenting your case for a teaching garden to your school, do the legwork first. Remember, the three “Ps”: Plan, Prepare and Present. To get you started, head on over to the American Heart Association’s Teaching Garden resource. And, don’t forget to note that the American Heart Association provides materials for planting day, garden beds, organic soil, seedlings and plants, cooking demonstrations, as well as a slew of other fun activities.
Additional resource:
Create Junk Free Zones
Kids are surrounded by ads for unhealthy foods on TV, in schools, through smart phones, and at community and sporting events. Children living in communities of color see twice as many ads for junk per day than other children. [Link to blog post] Help schools and communities adopt policies to ban ads for unhealthy foods aimed at kids. Get TV stations that cater to children to adopt better practices when it comes to the foods they promote.
Click to tell Nickelodeon to support nutritional guidelines in advertisements to kids.
Fellowship & Fun
Church is a wonderful place to get active! Not only can you fellowship, reducing stress, but you can also challenge and inspire one another to get active. How? By adding a fun dose of competition into your after-church meetups! That’s right. Competition. At my church, we’re counting steps. It’s inspired me to get walking, even if it is just inside my apartment. I have to admit at first my son thought I’d gone a little wacko when he saw me jump up and walk in place every time a commercial came on. I’m sure I looked like a bobble head to him but it’s gotten me to 3rd place this week! I am now determined to knock out the first place holder (I’m talking to you Ingrid!).
Car Pool for Food
Growing up my mother did not drive. This made it extremely hard for us to purchase healthier foods outside our neighborhood. Thankfully, she befriended a few Moms in the area who did know how to drive a car. Once a month, they rented a van and headed to the nearest big box store. At the end of the trip, they divvied up the groceries. They also swapped recipes and created designated meal days– it’s how my mom learned how to make meatloaf and yucca fritters/arepitas de yuca. Yum!
Coupon Swaps
I learned about coupon swapping from one of my favorite coupon blogger, Myrah of Coupon Mamacita. She explained how women (and men!) came together to swap coupons. Similar to clothing swaps, each person brings a stack of coupons to exchange at the event. Coupons are then organized according to category – diary, toiletries, etc., before the swap can commence. Attendees also keep each other abreast of sales, share recipes and often arrange car pools to shop together – most often outside their own neighborhood.
Coupon swaps can be held in a home, school, community center and/or church.
RELATED:
Images courtesy of Shutterstock.com
Related Posts
The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of MomsRising.org.
MomsRising.org strongly encourages our readers to post comments in response to blog posts. We value diversity of opinions and perspectives. Our goals for this space are to be educational, thought-provoking, and respectful. So we actively moderate comments and we reserve the right to edit or remove comments that undermine these goals. Thanks!