What’s a food desert? It’s a term that’s all too familiar to people who live in low-income communities who don’t have easy access to healthy foods.
Financial struggles, geographic location, and lack of transportation make getting to a large grocery store or farmer's market with healthy foods and fresh produce an impossibility. These residents are in a virtual food desert, where their only choices are fast, convenient foods that are often unhealthy and expensive.
This panel discussion on November 30 at 4:30 p.m. will open your eyes to what many Rhode Islanders are facing. We will also explore what local organizations are doing to make purchasing healthy foods, especially fresh produce, easier and more affordable.
The Rhode Island Foundation and Rhode Island Monthly present the latest edition in the Rhode Island PBS Community Conversations series, Fighting for Healthy Foods: How Rhode Island is Stepping Up to the Plate. Host Mario Hilario will moderate a discussion with a broad range of guests, as they and the studio audience explore options and the creative responses from the greater food community. The conversation will air on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 8 p.m.
Invited panelists are:
Sue AnderBois, Director of Food Strategy for the state of Rhode Island; Jamie Coelho, associate editor at Rhode Island Monthly; Julius Kolawole, president of the African Alliance of Rhode Island; Amy Nunn, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute; Philip Trevvett co-chair of the Urban Green Co-op; Thea Upham, program director for Farm Fresh Rhode Island.
Admission for the taping is free, but seating is limited. Advance registration only. Drinks and light refreshments will be served at a reception with panelists immediately following the taping. Please reserve your place by Tuesday, November 28.
