Excellent analysis about the long-term effects of disasters on poverty increase.
Poverty rates also increased by one percentage point in areas hit by super-severe disasters. That suggests that people who aren’t poor are migrating out or that people who are poor are migrating in. It might also mean that the existing population transitioned into poverty.
Source: Natural Disasters by Location: Rich Leave and Poor Get Poorer – Scientific American
Increasingly,suburbia must be considered when food system organizers consider locations for projects: Not only are we seeing an increase in the diversity of those living there but unfortunately also an increase in levels of poverty in suburbia:
From 2000 to 2012 Kneebone says, “The number of poor residents living in suburban communities in major metros grew by 65 percent. That was more than twice the pace of growth in the major cities that anchor those regions, and with that rapid change we actually passed a tipping point for the first time. There are now more poor residents in suburbs than in cities.”
The possibilities for markets to bring healthy food to more people increase if we pay attention to this shift and utilize not only our cities and rural communities for markets but suburbs too.
Face Of Poverty In New Orleans Increasingly Suburban | WWNO.
here are my questions:
1. Did the market sit with their vendors and explain the plan to add benefit program shoppers and is there a rule in this market (as there is in some markets) that all vendors must take the tokens (that have products that are able to be purchased with food stamps by law)?
2. . What if a vegetable farmer refused to take SNAP simply because of their own beliefs? How would a market handle that?
I’d love to hear some thoughts from markets and market vendors.
Vendor in Braintree, MA Refuses To Sell Pies To People On Food Stamps.
Interesting from the point of view of how farmers market have been working on full access to all citizens. If folks are discouraged from getting needed assistance, then the emergency food services will be overwhelmed and a potential road to better health intervention and access to community engagement is cut off for the most at risk population.
Sad. Scary.
I wonder what the community food system could do to change this policy in Georgia?
Helping Public Markets Grow 