Project Description Narrative:
While the global, industrial food system serving American cities today provides an abundance of healthy food options to those who can afford it. However, those who cannot are left to access low-nutrient, high-calorie foods, or they go hungry.
In Milwaukee, this translates to staggering realities. Citizens in the U.S. Congressional District serving Milwaukee face twice the level of food insecurity as those in the rest of the state, with 84% of students in Milwaukee schools eligible for the Free and Reduced Lunch program. In a seven ZIP-code target area, the median family income from 2007-2011 was below $27,000 — half that of the rest of Milwaukee. Furthermore, the food system is complex with inefficiencies, inequalities, and problems at many points on the "field to fork" continuum, from soil health in the field, to healthy food processing, to cost-effective food distribution, to consumer education so that consumers have access and the desire to buy and prepare healthy foods.
Inspired to change these conditions, project partners aim to impact the health of urban Milwaukee families in a comprehensive field-to-food hub-to-fork approach that increases the production and processing of — and desire for — healthier, culturally appropriate foods.
Community partners: City of Milwaukee Office of Sustainability, CORE/El Centro, Elyve Organics, Growing Power Inc., Institute for Urban Agriculture & Nutrition (IUAN), MPS ALBA Elementary School, MPS Vincent High School, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers, University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension – Milwaukee County, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Office of Sustainability, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation