One of Charlottesville’s leading local-food advocates brings the harvest to the area’s low-income and aging populations.
Every Saturday from April to October, hundreds come to a downtown Charlottesville parking lot for the City Market, which celebrates the region’s diverse agricultural bounty. Most of the shoppers strolling among the dozens of stalls filled with local produce, cheeses, and meats are unaware that many items remaining at the end of the day are donated by vendors to foodinsecure families, some of which live only blocks away from the thriving market.
Not Just for the Wealthy
The Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA), has teamed up with other area agencies to ensure that leftover food from the market is put to good use. This method of food recovery, also known as gleaning, distributes fresh food to those in need and follows a basic humanitarian ethic: Food not eaten should not go to waste.
This is just one of many JABA initiatives launched over the past 18 months to bring healthful, locally sourced foods to underserved populations, including the elderly, in Charlottesville and surrounding counties. JABA has recognized that because it buys produce in such large volume, it can be a catalyst in developing a sustainable, resilient regional food system that will ultimately strengthen the local economy and improve health among the aging population.
In fact, representatives from JABA can be found presenting compelling arguments for such a food system at events in the five-county area it serves—such as a conference on farm-to-school programs and a roundtable discussion with Congressman Tom Perriello.
A Change for the Better
Jefferson Area Board of Aging: To find locations throughout Central Virginia, please call (434) 817-5222 or visit online www.jabacares.org
In response to requests for healthier food from seniors at one of its rural centers, JABA began to redesign its lunch menus to be healthier and turned to local sources to procure fresh food. This brought enhanced flavor to the plate and, at the same time, reduced the amount of additive-laden processed food being offered, which was a positive change, especially for JABA clients suffering from, or at risk of developing, conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Last year, JABA expanded on this idea and set out to revamp its own in-house food system with a goal of producing 20 to 25 percent of all meals from local sources. This is no small feat. JABA currently serves over 3,500 meals a week to patrons of its seven senior centers and beneficiaries of its home-delivered meal service. The organization teamed up with the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and the Darden School of Business in 2008 to analyze JABA’s local food-procurement patterns. This study, known as the Harvest Now Project, informed positive alterations in JABA’s purchasing by listing which non-local ingredients could be replaced with local ones at an equal or only slightly higher cost, such as replacing bananas with Virginia-grown peaches during July and August.
JABA learned a great deal in the first year of its efforts to use fewer processed foods. Not surprisingly, eating fresher and healthiercomes at a cost: Local food was on average 20 to 30 percent higher in price than conventional items, and storage space is needed to increase longevity of fresh produce. According to Community Nutrition Manager Judy Berger, JABA has increased and revamped refrigerator and freezer storage areas to store boxes of farm produce. It has also used grants to purchase preparation equipment like food processors, steamers, and pans, since food no longer comes already prepared.
However, Berger says the added costs of getting and cooking local ingredients are completely worth it. “First, food handled by fewer workers in the harvest process means less chance of contamination, so it’s safer. Second, better-tasting food perks up the appetites of our clients, so they’re eating better. Third, a diet of fresh, local foodpicked at the height of its nutritional value offers many health benefits that—in the long term—will help lower health care costs.”
JABA’s staff are the driving force behind this series of initiatives and are proud of their wide-ranging community impacts. There is an organization-wide understanding that nutritional choices made by younger generations today will affect their quality of life as elders, which will affect JABA’s ability to successfully meet their needs in the future. These initiatives have served as a platform for developing a local food distribution process for those living in public housing. And in addition to gleaning surplus farmers market produce, JABA is championing both the acceptance of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards (food stamps) at area farmers markets and the creation of a local currency that low-income households can use at these markets.
“Localicious” Fare
Earlier this year, JABA found another way to bring more local food to Central Virginians. Its catering service, Top Broccoli, began offering its services to the public after great success in-house. Top Broccoli serves what the staff calls “localicious” fare to private and public groups and organizations in and around Charlottesville. Using as many local ingredients as possible, the catering business supports local farmers even as it raises funds for JABA’s seniors: All revenues generated benefit the senior meal program. This creative business model supports the community financially, preserves farmland, improves health, and raises money for area seniors—even as its customers enjoy a delicious meal that introduces them to regional farms and food artisans.
Top Broccoli’s head chef, Sarah Lanzman, chooses ingredients based on their taste, nutritional value, and ability to promote overall health. A cancer survivor, Lanzman has over 30 years’ experience as a professional chef and is a certified natural health professional (CNHP) who believes in the healing qualities of nutritious meals. This philosophy plays out in her creations for Top Broccoli, where she uses local, natural, and organic foods for every recipe. Four months into its inception, Top Broccoli sources from over 25 local producers and farmers—an impressive achievement for a nascent business.
Making It Happen
JABA is an organization that understands the importance of relationships. The relationships it has built—and continues to forge—with clients, staff, volunteers, and farmers are helping to redefine the organization’s work and mission. What is emerging is a working model of a sustainable food system that meets the needs of all individuals in a community, not just the young and financially secure.
Julie Ulrich is a writer, community-based designer, and urban planner with a lifelong love of food and cooking. A transplant from Portland, Oregon, she has spent years working on a variety of local food–related projects.
Jefferson Area Board of Aging
Locations throughout Central Virginia
(434) 817-5222
www.jabacares.org
Top Broccoli Catering
jberger@jabacares.org
(434) 817-5234
