health

Posted by Kerry Trueman, Eating Liberally

Cars and fast food are partners in crime when it comes to undermining America's health. Our favorite mode of transportation deprives us of exercise, while our dependence on quick, cheap convenience foods cheats us of nutrients. We reportedly eat nearly a quarter of our meals in our cars, a practice that baffles folks in countries where taking time out to share a real meal with friends and family is still the norm.

But our landscape is changing, literally, and I found evidence of a nascent rebellion against our car-centric cuisine in a rather ironic place: the grounds that surround Automotive High School in Brooklyn. I first noticed squash vines growing outside the auditorium at this vocational high school in Williamsburg back in June when I attended a screening there of No Impact Man hosted by Rooftop Films.

I was intrigued, but had no idea that Automotive High School's edible landscaping was inspired by the school's participation in Slow Food NYC's Harvest Time program, whose mission is to create "a meaningful relationship between young people and their food and the environment by providing hands-on experiences, community engagement, and the enjoyment of good, healthful food."

posted by Ed Yowell, Slow Food NYC

The last time I saw Lillian Butler was about two years ago when she was trying to start an organic, vegetarian food co-op upstairs from her small, vegan restaurant, Raw Soul, in Harlem.  It was a calling.  She said there was just not very much good, fresh food available in the neighborhood..a poor circumstance for health and taste.  

I visited Lillian, and her partner Eddie Robinson, again this June.  She is still trying to start a food co-op.  “But,” she reports cheerfully, “food in the neighborhood is getting better.”  And Raw Soul, the restaurant and the associated businesses, including catering, meal plans, cooking classes, mail order, and wholesaling, are aiding the change for the better.