Fresh food initiatives feed, teach communities of color

P OiNIX >> Bruce Babcock only has to walk across the street from his house in a residential neighborhood to get to the 10- acre patch of farmland where he labors to help feed his community.

As a community garden coordinator, Babcock works with volunteer growers and food enthusiasts to provide enough freshly grown produce every week for hundreds of low-income Phoenix residents without access to much nutritional food.

T he Spaces of Oppor tunity neighborhood food system is among several initiatives launched in Phoenix in recent years, following other U.S. communities like Oakland, California; Detroit and Chicago where urban gardens aim to improve food options in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

The efforts have grown increasingly important with hunger across America on the rise amid the coronavirus pandemic. For example, more than 5 million people in Arizona filed unemployment claims this year and many worry where their next meal will come from.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security said as of October more than 900,000 people had applied for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Spaces of Opportunity works with the Roosevelt School District, the Orchard Community Learning Center, Unlimited Potential, the Tiger Foundation and the Desert Botanical Garden to produce and improve access to healthy food through farmers markets and distribution programs.

It is located in south Phoenix, a predominantly Latino and Black community that public health officials call “food deserts” because of limited access to fresh produce and other healthy options.

A map by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows such food deserts are widespread through

out Arizona and other parts of the Southwest. A lack of fresh

food can cause people to depend on fast food and other items that

can make them vulnerable to diet-linked health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Babcock began volunteering with the garden in 2015, after he experimented with an aquaponics project in his backyard. He began paying for a quarteracre plot of his own shortly after that.

Babcock said growers start out paying $5 a month for a quarteracre and can later expand to a full acre plot. More than 60 gardeners now work there and as many as 200 have worked under Babcock since 2015.

“We really slowed down over the summer and I was worried it wasn’t going to pick back up because of COVID-19,” Babcock said. But people returned in the fall when the triple- digit temperatures dropped and he opened up more land for gardeners.

Several local vendors set up their booths at Spaces of Opportunity in south Phoenix for its weekly farmers market Tuesday, Oct. 17. Arizona nonprofits have joined other groups around the U.S. working to bring fresh produce and healthy food options to residents in low-income and racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Spaces of Opportunity, a collective of Phoenix-based organizations, was founded on the idea the community could come together to grow local fruits and vegetables, assist local farmers with land and income, and educate its residents about food security.

PHOTOS BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Spaces of Opportunity garden manager and farmer Bruce Babcock collects watermelons Tuesday, Oct. 17, from one of a handful of family farms to be sold at the weekly farmers market. Babcock spends most of his time managing and assisting other farmers at the 10-acre community farm.

Spaces of Opportunity garden coordinator and farmer Bruce Babcock stands in front of an array of cactuses on Tuesday, Oct. 17, from one of a handful of family farms to be sold at the weekly farmers market. Babcock works with volunteer growers and food enthusiasts to provide enough freshly grown produce every week for hundreds of low-income Phoenix residents without access to much nutritional food.