Tasteoflocal

By Matthew P. Moll

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Antoine Battles says he enjoys two things that many abhor – cleaning and cooking.

No shoes on his floors, only socks.  He mops daily.  And the kitchen is the neatest room in the house.

Battles regards his pristine kitchen as a metaphor for the lifestyle changes he is making for his family.  He and his wife have five children.

“I know how to make all the junk food and everything that is bad for you,” Battles said. “Here I am going to learn the healthy way of cooking so I know what to lay off and live longer.”

The Battles  are among  10 participating families in an inventive new program in The Bronx dedicated to curbing hunger and nutritional problems by teaching consumers how to use fresh produce in their diets.

The program, called Produce Education, is run by the nonprofit agency, City Harvest, and brings local, organic produce to under-served communities.

Alissa Dicker-Schrieber, a chef for City Harvest, is one of the teachers.  “We are taking the best quality ingredients and showing people how to cook in a way that is simple, not time-consuming and inexpensive.”

The food is provided by Just Food, a nonprofit dedicated to sustainable and local food. Just Food uses its  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model to provide produce from local farmers to the Bronx families.    One CSA share goes to the class for cooking demonstrations, and one share goes home with each family.

Rosanna Campitielle, a nutritionist for City Harvest, sees her job as educational. In addition to nutrition, she provides lessons on where food comes from, particularly the distance food travels. The families’ food travels about five hours by truck from Norwich Meadows Farm, a 35-acre organic farm located upstate.  This day’s share included beets, kale, squash, zucchini and carrots.

In Campitielle’s lesson, she used a laminated US map to show where these vegetables usually come  from — thousands of miles away, such as the Midwest or California or even further.  For food shipped across the country, she says, “it is important to understand the cost financially and environmentally.”
The class also emphasizes practical issues such as knife safety, food storage and sanitation.

Classes are held at an organization called Part of the Solution (or, more commonly,  POTS). The community-based agency provides emergency food, social and legal services to low-income Bronx residents.

“This year we unfortunately had to turn some families away, because there were more applicants than we could accommodate.” said Heather Hargraves, a POTS case manager. “There is interest in this community to have access to this type of food and information.”

Qwonjit Nelson takes her five-year-old daughter Zoe to the class in part to learn about healthier eating habits but also to provide an alternative to what is historically available in her community.

“In our neighborhood we are raised on greasy and artificial food,” Nelson said. “It is time to make a change.”

Nelson’s daughter, Zoe, is a precocious and curious young girl, spending some of the class observing other children and mimicking their behavior.   However, she also made contributions to the class by chopping vegetables and packing her family’s CSA share. She also did her best to debunk the rumor that children don’t eat their vegetables by cleaning her plate of kale, zucchini and carrots and asking for seconds.

Zoe is not the only classmate discovering new tastes.

“I never ate this a day in my life,” said Battles, 43, as he shook the dirt off a plump velvet beet. “I didn’t know I could just chop this up and eat it raw and it gives me vitamins I need.”

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