From the Front Line of the New England Food Fight

At Craving Boston, we know the food world isn’t all about buttermilk cake and cocktails (though they are very important parts of it), so this week we are shining a spotlight on a special series produced through a partnership between WGBH News and The American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  In the WGBH News series Food Fights: From Farms to Labels, reporter Rupa Shenoy explores issues affecting all of us who eat in and around Boston, including possibilities for food production in New England, nutrition inequality, and even the promise of pick-your-own lunch from a bookshelf garden in your living room.

Part one, New England Can't Compete With Other Food Growing Regions. Or Can It?, focuses on farming in New England. Sure, we’ve got a short growing season and a dense population for the amount of agricultural land available, but does that mean most of our food has to come from so far away?  With climate change and water shortages affecting the cost of growing food in places like California, we may need to take a second look at how we use land in the Northeast.

Shenoy interviews Brian Donahue, an assistant professor of environmental studies at Brandeis University and farmer John Lee, who manages Allendale Farm in Chestnut Hill, one of the oldest privately-owned farms in the country. Each weighs in on the possibility of New England taking back part of its food production.

In part two,Children's Hospital Leads The Push To Serve Patients Locally Grown Food, Shenoy looks at how big food distributors control what ends up on the plates of institutional cafeterias, and how that is starting to change for the better at Boston Children’s. Efforts have included big changes—pressuring food distributors like Sodexo to purchase more local food, for example—and smaller ones, like charging higher prices or cutting back portions. While the Children’s meal program is still a work in progress, they are now helping other hospitals improve the quality of their food service.

In part three, Genetically Modified Food: Worries Outstrip The Science, Shenoy interviews Mike and Linda Gioscia whose son Ethan was diagnosed with a form of autism. After receiving advice from other parents to modify his diet, the couple started researching organics and genetic modification of crops and decided to adopt a mostly-organic diet, free of GMOs.  Though there have been no established scientific links between GMOs and health complications, the Gioscias believe the changes have helped their son. Shenoy also brings in Walter Willett, a Harvard University professor of epidemiology and nutrition, and Philip Robertson, a professor of ecosystem science at Michigan State University, to weigh in on where the science stands and how the battleground over the food labels affects our eating choices.

Does local food leave out the poor?  In part four, Nutrition Inequality: The Gap Between The Poor And Everyone Else, Shenoy looks at the recent evolution of local food, from the rise and decline in CSA shares to subsidized produce for low-income families.

Getting people access to fresh food is important, but so is educating the public on what to do with that locally-grown bunch of greens. The problems and solutions that surround healthy food access in lower-income communities are complicated, and many experts disagree on the solution. Shenoy interviews a nutritionist, a culinary instructor, the director of an urban farming institute and a reformed unhealthy eater to explore the many ways Boston is working to improve the health of its population by influencing what ends up on their plates. 

New England may lag behind other parts of the country in arable land, but when it comes to innovation, we’ve got the best of the best. In part five, On The Roof & In The Living Room, Startups Tackle Urban Farming, Shenoy talks to agricultural entrepreneurs from Higher Ground Farm, which grows produce on a rooftop in the Seaport, and Grove Labs, which can turn your living room into a vegetable garden, for a price. There is no question that hard work and passion are behind these projects, but can they make a profit? 

Read or listen to the whole series at projects.wgbhnews.org/food-fights/.