The Food Revolution Will Not Be Televised!

      Well, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is being televised but that isn't exactly what I'm talking about. I'm talking about what's going on right here in our backyards. For some of us that literally means in our back yards. Slowly, often painfully so, people are realizing that the food they purchase may not be the best possible quality and it's certainly not the best possible price. In spite of being world famous for our cuisine, New Orleans has been designated as a food dessert. In other words, too many people have too little access to fresh, healthy real food. Some neighborhoods don't even have grocery stores and what's offered at most corner stores is not what a family should eat all week. Well, some people are just tired of it and have begun to look outside of the corporate food system for what they need.
       Recently, Thad, our children and I met some people who are really food revolutionaries. Nat Turner and the rest of the farmers/educators from Our School at Blair Grocery have created a beautiful oasis of self sustainability in the Lower Ninth Ward. They saw that food needs weren't being met and decided that the best way to address the issue was to create a system that is fair, healthy, natural and local. What they're doing is really simple but that's what makes it so revolutionary. They, like many local growers, have eliminated unhealthy, unnecessary practices from the food growing process. On top of that, they are training young people to recognize what really goes on with most of the food that is available to us, creating an awareness that encourages them to step out of the corporate food system by learning to grow food locally.
        It was a pleasure for us to see other people with whom we share a similar mission. Check them out and see for yourself what a positive impact the food revolutionaries from Our School at Blair Grocery are having on our community.