Making healthy food an option in food insecure regions

St. Louis may be known for its amazing restaurants and vibrant farmers markets, but not all community members are able to take advantage of the fresh, healthy foods that others have access to.

St. Louis has multiple neighborhoods that are food insecure – areas that are often referred to as food deserts. To be food insecure is to have little to no access to healthy food. One in five children struggle with hunger and food insecurity, making it harder for them to succeed in educational efforts and putting a strain on public health systems. Strengthening our food system to serve all of our residents is essential to making St. Louis a resilient city.

The St. Louis Food Policy Coalition, convened by Missouri Coalition for the Environment, works to strengthen our food system by working with growers, improving local urban agriculture laws, increasing access to healthy food in underserved communities, and more. The St. Louis Food Policy Coalition is well known for their work producing this interactive foodshed map and for working to introduce legislation to improve urban agriculture in St. Louis. Their educational efforts include reaching out to government officials like St. Louis’s recently inaugurated mayor, Lyda Krewson, to help broaden understanding of our local food system.

Their latest efforts involve investigating the links between public transportation and food access. People without personal vehicles can have a difficult time getting healthy food, depending on what bus route they live and work along. There are several communities in St. Louis without grocery stores, which means taking more than one bus to get to a store that carries fresh fruit, vegetables, and other essentials. Carrying groceries through multiple transfers on public transportation can take an hour or more each way, putting food through dangerous temperature fluctuations and creating an unreasonable burden of time for residents.

The St. Louis Food Policy Coalition’s brand new map of food access resources in North City and County.

The St. Louis Food Policy Coalition is currently seeking to address food access and public transit access in North St. Louis City and North St. Louis City. STLFPC Chair, Melissa Vatterott, with the help of Coro Fellow Sarah Cornett, is holding listening sessions at community meetings across North St. Louis to hear from residents about food. As a listening session, there isn’t a specific goal related to these meetings – they are just gathering information to to inform elected officials, food outlet owners, and possibly the Metro about ways to make fresh, healthy foods affordable and accessible to all.

“So far, the biggest trend from our sessions has been dissatisfaction with the quality of food in stores in North City,” says Vatterott. “Residents recognize that food is higher quality in stores outside of their neighborhoods, such as in Richmond Heights or in South City, and they’ll travel out of their way to reach these foods. However, this should not be the case. All St. Louisans should be able to reach quality, nutritious food near their homes.”

They have attended four meetings so far in the 3rd, 26th, and 27th Wards and have three more scheduled, all in the City of St. Louis. They will be attending the following upcoming meetings:

May 4th – Thursday Breakfast at Bridge of Hope Church, 2611 Bishop P L Scott Ave, St. Louis, MO 63113 at 7 am, (confirmation pending)
May 8th – Revitalization of Baden Association (ROBA) at Our Lady of the Holy Cross, 1018 Baden Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63147 at 6:30 pm
May 17th – Fairgrounds Neighborhood Meeting, 4234 N Grand Blvd., at 5:30 pm

Vatterott and Cornett are still looking for opportunities to reach North St. Louis County residents – if you know of existing meetings in North St. Louis County where it would be useful for the St. Louis Food Policy Coalition to chat with residents about food, please email mvatterott@moenviron.org.

There aren’t many people in the region more passionate about food systems than STLFPC Chair Melissa Vatterott.

Making Healthy Food an Option for Everyone