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NATURALLY HEALTHY www.gourmetnews.com n SEPTEMBER 2016 n GOURMET NEWS N H 8 0 Nonprofit Center Takes Fresh Local Food into Washington DC's Food Deserts By Lorrie Baumann In Washington D.C.'s urban center, a restaurant-inspired nonprofit organization is planting seeds for a new generation of healthy eaters. Arcadia Center for Sustain- able Food & Agriculture is bringing fresh, local produce to low-income neighbor- hoods at regular weekly mobile farmers markets so that the residents of these food deserts can shop for local fresh vegetables, eggs, organic milk and grass-fed and pas- tured beef and pork. At the same time, the organization is paying the farmers from whom it sources the food a fair market price, and providing government food re- lief agencies with data they need to develop new tools to encourage their low-income clients to eat a healthier diet. "Just because somebody has a low income doesn't mean that they don't want to participate in the joyful process of buying food at a farmers market. They get to participate in this beau- tiful aspect of food, which is to pick what they want and talk with the people about it," said Arcadia Center Executive Director Pamela Hess. "If we could get more people spending more SNAP at farmers markets, we would remove a significant portion of hunger, because the hunger problem in this country is not about getting enough calo- ries; it's about getting enough nutrition. We could have a really powerful influence on public health." SNAP is an acronym for the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It's the largest of the federal government's food assistance programs. Commonly known as food stamps, SNAP currently provides $75 billion per year in food assistance, ac- cording to Rich Lucas, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service's Deputy Adminis- trator for Policy Support. "With that in- creased purchasing power, the intention is to allow people to be able to purchase al- most anything that's able to be consumed at home," he said. "But we all know that all consumers need to improve their diet. SNAP is paying about $400 million a year to teach people how to eat better." Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture was started in 2010 by Wash- ington D.C. restaurateur Michael Babin, a co-owner of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, an award-winning collection of in- dependent businesses devoted to the culi- nary arts in Washington D.C. and Virginia. Babin started the organization, a 501(c)3 charity, after he found himself unable to supply his restaurants with high-quality local produce in sufficient quantity and at an affordable price and reasoned that if he couldn't find that affordable produce, it stood to reason that low-income residents of the city around him couldn't do it ei- ther, Hess said. The mobile farmers mar- ket program, one of four major programs for the Arcadia Center, was launched in 2012 and now makes regular weekly stops in neighborhoods where the closest food access is often at small convenience stores that don't stock much in the way of per- ishable produce. Johns Hopkins University public health nutritionist Joel Gittelsohn has been studying how corner stores in nearby Bal- timore, Maryland, serve their SNAP cus- tomers. He says that, "When you talk to the customers, they say that, 'I would love to buy healthy foods, but they are too ex- pensive, not available or are of poor qual- ity in the stores I shop in. Retailers said, 'I would love to stock them, but no one buys them, and the last time I stocked it, it just sat on the shelves.'" The USDA is trying to change that situ- ation by proposing new eligibility stan- dards for retailers participating in the SNAP program. Under the new rule, those retailers would be required to stock a wider array of food choices. "USDA is committed to expanding access for SNAP participants to the types of foods that are important to a healthy diet," said Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Con- sumer Services Kevin Concannon when he announced the proposed rule in February. "This proposed rule ensures that retailers who accept SNAP benefits offer a variety of products to support healthy choices for those participating in the program." The new standards are being fought by NACS, the national trade association of convenience store operators, which says the new rule seems designed to push small convenience stores out of the SNAP pro- gram. "Small businesses will be harmed and SNAP beneficiaries, who rely on these small stores in both urban and rural environments, will lose options they need to feed their families," NACS wrote in its letter to the House Appropriations Sub- committee on Agriculture, Rural Develop- ment, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. The Arcadia Center's program aims to at- tack the same problem of access to healthy food at its roots. Its Mobile Market rolling farm stands make regular weekly stops in low-income neighborhoods around Washing- ton that typically have high SNAP usage, low car ownership and are a mile or more from a conventional grocery store. The program prices the food at fair market value but also matches the face value of benefits from fed- eral food programs. "If you pay $10 for food, what you get is $20 worth," Hess said. About 70 percent of transactions involve some sort of food assistance, which can be applied to proteins as well as fruits and vegetables. "Customers love the idea of grass-fed meats and organic foods because they know it's bet- ter for their children – they just can't afford it [at the grocery store]," Hess said. The Mo- bile Market took in $22,000 in SNAP busi- ness in 2015, compared to a total of about $75,000 in SNAP sales at farmers markets throughout the city. The program matched the face amount of those SNAP benefits, so that those customers went home with $44,000 worth of food. "People are using SNAP with us to buy local, high-quality food – they're eschewing the chance to buy cheap at a con- venience store," Hess said. "They are voting with the resources they have." Arcadia Center also has a farm on which much of the produce it sells is grown. The center is partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to transform the 126-acre Woodlawn-Pope- Leighey estate, once a part of George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation, into a true Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture. Other food offered at the Mobile Mar- kets is sourced from local farmers who grow responsibly but don't bring their produce into these neighborhoods them- selves because they can't sell enough there to make it worth their while. "They can't take that much time from their fields to sell a couple hundred dollars of food," Hess said. "The numbers are small, but we put an additional $130,000 in the pockets of local farmers that they wouldn't have had because they don't have access to our markets. It helps them diversify their rev- enue. One of the things that's very impor- tant is that we do not feed poor people on the backs of farmers. Our philosophy is that we have to pay our farmers a fair price. Farmers don't make much money, and they cannot be expected to shoulder the weight of paying our poor people." "Handling hunger might not be just about putting more money into SNAP," she continued. "I think it's about helping people make good choices about using their SNAP, making choices that will nourish them – possibly eating less calo- ries, but eating more nutrient-dense food." Plant-Based Protein Products Projected to Continue Market Growth By Greg Gonzales Ask vegans where they get their protein these days, and eyes are sure to roll. Con- sumers, especially millennials, are adding more plant-based proteins to their diet than ever before. Their reasons vary, but tend to include health, sustainability and ethical concerns. "At the current trends of food consumption and environmental changes, food security and food sustainability are on a collision course," says a 2014 American Society for Nutrition study. "Policies in favor of the global adoption of plant-based diets will simultaneously optimize the food supply, health, environmental and social justice outcomes for the world's popula- tion." Whatever their reasons for incorpo- rating more plant-based protein into their diets, plant-based alternatives are one of the biggest trends this year. According to Mintel's 2016 Global Food and Drink Trends report, the increase in novel protein sources appeals to a wider variety of consumers, and indicates that the "alternative" marketplace might take over the mainstream animal-based market. As early as 2013, Mintel reported that more than one-third of U.S. consumers had pur- chased a meat alternative such as Tofurky or Beyond Meat. Seventy percent of Mil- lennials consume meat alternatives a few times a week, with one-third of them con- suming a meat alternative daily. Some of them are switching to plant-based diets, or not eating as much meat, as a health choice. Recent research from the World Health Organization and other institutions have linked processed meat and red meat consumption to colon cancer, and other forms of cancer. Meat is also rich in saturated fats and sodium, which is bad for heart health when it dominates the diet. According to a Harvard study, replacing these fat-rich meats with foods rich in polyunsaturated fats, like nuts or seeds, reduced heart disease risk by 19 percent. Another study, from Im- perial College London, showed that reduced meat consumption also helps prevent obesity in the long term. In addition, a look at the nu- trition facts on meat versus peas or beans shows that the latter can provide more fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals without the extra fat the former adds. Reducing meat in- take and substituting vegetables provides all the daily dietary requirements. Consumers have also reduced their meat intake in the name of animal welfare and environment. For example, more than eight billion chickens were slaughtered for meat in 2014, most of them living in cages too small to move around in. Some argue that this kind of pain and suffering of the ani- mals is enough for them to make the switch, though consumers might also point to environmental factors as well. Chef and Restauranteur Dan Barber writes in his book, "The Third Plate," that "Fixtures of agribusiness such as five-thousand-acre grain monocultures and bloated animal feedlots are no more the future of farming than eighteenth-century factories billowing black smoke are the future of manufactur- ing." Barber argues in interviews, books and Ted Talks that agriculture, cooking and nature go hand-in-hand, that foods pro- duced along with the local ecosystem are sustainable and even taste better. Reasons for eating more plants and less meat aside, available alternatives to ani- mal proteins run the gamut of protein sources. Quorn's patties and strips get their protein from a fungus to mimic the taste and texture of chicken, while Gardein's formulation for chicken, fish and burgers do the same using vital wheat gluten. Beyond Meat's products use a va- riety of sources, including pea protein, to mimic meats like chicken and beef. Veg- ans can still enjoy their morning eggs with Follow Your Heart's VeganEgg, a com- pletely vegan egg product made from algae that cooks up in a pan just like the real thing. Bean burgers, mushrooms, jackfruit, tempeh, tofu, seitan and textur- ized vegetable protein are just some of the other ways consumers are pushing meat proteins further off their plates. From Paleo to vegan and gluten-free, there's something for every individual. "People need the information so they can make their choice, even in the space of non-meat proteins," said Minh Tsai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hodo Soy. "Even now, there's a lot of choices. With information, both in terms of what it tastes like and what the ingredients are, customers will have that info and make the right choice when it comes to taste, and when it comes to health."

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