The Fifty One

That's a wrap on season 1! In this episode we bring back Civil Eats' contributing editor Twilight Greenaway to talk about solutions big and small, the right way to talk about food access issues, and what the future may hold.  Episode sponsors:  Stitch Fix - go to stitchfix.com/the51 to sign up and get 25% off when you keep your whole box. Third Love - go to thirdlove.com/the51 for 15% off your first purchase Sleep Number - visit sleepnumber.com/podcast to find the store nearest you and check out the smartest bed in the world, from $999. 

Food policy and environment reporter Claire Brown's first job in food was helping SNAP recipients use their benefits at New York farmers markets, so we invited her on to talk about everything from SNAP to the Farm Bill and how they do or don't address food access.  Episode sponsor: Stitch Fix - visit stitchfix.com/the51 to sign up, and earn an extra 25% off when you keep all of your box. 

In this episode we head to Detroit with WDET reporter Taylor Wizner to check out the Broadmoor Food Connection, run by Reverend Roslyn Bouier. Its client-choice model gives people struggling with food access in the area choices, stability, and dignity.  Episode sponsors: Stitch Fix - go to stitchfix.com/the51 for 25% off when you purchase all items in your box.   ThirdLove - go to thirdlove.com/the51 for 15% off your first purchase. 

The Community Coalition of South Los Angeles, or Coco South LA, is known for looking at the complex web of factors behind community issues, and their approach to food is no different. In this episode reporter Melissa Chadburn takes us to South LA for a look at what drives food insecurity there and what's being done about it.   Episode sponsor: Sleep Number—visit sleepnumber.com/podcast to find the store nearest you, and get $400 off during their Veteran's Day sale.

Last year California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill providing $6 million over three years to the Food Is Medicine pilot. The pilot will provide medically tailored meals for 1,000 Medi-Cal patients struggling with either TypeII Diabetes or congestive heart failure. We look at what sorts of benefits that might bring, and how organizations elsewhere in the country are taking up the "food as medicine" idea and running with it, too. 

Indigenous people in the U.S. are up to 400% more likely to experience food insecurity, according to the USDA. That's by design. A key aspect to colonization has always been to erode food sovereignty, but many tribes are working to reclaim it. That includes the Navajo Nation, which spans three southwestern states. In this episode, Native America Calling reporter (and Toasted Sister podcast host) Andi Murphy takes us to her home reservation to explore what has driven the high rate of food insecurity for so long and what's being done about food sovereignty.

Chef and farmer Mike Costello, from the 100 Days in Appalachia project, joins us to talk about re-imagining Appalachia's food history and how the stories we tell about the we eat impact access and health.  100 Days in Appalachia: 100daysinappalachia.com Sponsor: Sleep Number - visit sleepnumber.com/podcast to find a store near you and save $100 off the queen 360 c2 smart bed.

West Dayton recently lost the last of its grocery stores. Its food pantries are serving several hundred families every week, many of them grandparents raising grandkids orphaned by the opioid epidemic.  This episode's sponsor is Sleep Number. Visit sleepnumber.com/thefiftyone to find a store near you and get $100 off the the queen Sleep Number® 360 c2 smart bed.

When fifth-generation Birmingham, AL native Randi Pink started looking for her first home to buy, she realized there were no neighborhoods in her hometown that could offer both great food options and diversity. She set out to find out why, and takes us along on that journey in this episode. 

Redlining effectively segregated U.S. cities for decades, and precipitated divestment from low-income neighborhoods. Those same neighborhoods are the ones struggling with food insecurity today. Next week, we'll explore one of those cities (Birmingham, AL), but in this episode we look at the history of redlining and how it intersects with food access issues.  Support the project: damemagazine.com/support-our-work Sign up for ProPublica's User's Guide to Democracy: propublica.org/voterguide.

The traditional definition of the term "food desert" leaves out ethnic markets, which means these small food havens are also often left out of policy discussions and support programs. In this episode Amy Roost joins us to explore these markets as an integral part of the solution to food access in many neighborhoods, and the importance of culturally appropriate food options in immigrant communities. 

In the first episode of our first season, Civil Eats contributing editor Twilight Greenaway joins us to talk about the complexities of food access and how it relates to everything from urban planning to poverty to structural racism and sexism. This season we've partnered with local reporters across the country to explore what food access looks like for women in their communities. Check out complementary stories to this season on damemagazine.com and civileats.com. Support this project here: https://www.damemagazine.com/support-our-work/

In each season of DAME Magazine's The 51, we'll take a national issue and explore what it looks like for women living in communities throughout the country. In season 1, we're tackling food deserts. Back in 2011 when Michelle Obama announced The Healthy Food Financing Initiative, the goal was to eliminate food deserts—parts of the country where residents have no access to fresh produce—in seven years. That would be now. And yet the country is still full of food deserts. Together with local reporters and advocates we'll look at what it's like to live in a food desert, why there are still so many, and what's being done about it.