Healthy Savannah, Forsyth Farmers' Market and City Leaders Speak at NAHP Conference

SAVANNAH, Ga. - July 16, 2023 - PRLog -- (WASHINGTON, D.C./SAVANNAH, Ga.) – Officials with Healthy Savannah, Forsyth Farmers' Market and the City of Savannah took part in a well-received panel discussion at the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in Washington, addressing the role systemic racism has played in food insecurity.

The panel discussion was entitled, "Kujichagulia: Uprooting the Bondage of Slavery, Redlining, and Systemic Racism." Nichele Hoskins, a Healthy Savannah communication manager and a member of the Forsyth Farmers' Market board of directors, served as moderator. Other panelists were Deidre Grim, PhD., executive director of the Forsyth Farmers' Market, Savannah First District Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier, and Tasha Wei, director of education for Forsyth Farmers' Market.

Presenting to an enthusiastic audience of about 500, the group told the story of Savannah's year-round market, which brings farmers and other food producers from within a 200-mile radius to the city's iconic Forsyth Park. Through this and other measures, including a food truck that travels to "food apartheid" areas, the presenters explained how the market has addressed food insecurity in Savannah and Chatham County through demographic and economic shifts over the years.

"Our panel shared both lived experiences and historic and cultural perspectives on how Forsyth Farmers' Market and its partners continue to address hunger and food insecurity in Savannah," Hoskins said. "It is our hope that by sharing our successes, history, and areas of opportunity while addressing food and nutrition security, that other communities won't have to reinvent the wheel."

REACH funds help support Forsyth Farmers' Market's Farm Truck 912, which sells fresh produce sourced directly from the Saturday market vendors in neighborhoods throughout Savannah. Both the Saturday market and Farm Truck 912 accept credit, debit, and cash. They also accept and double SNAP/EBT benefits.

"As an organization, we believe access to healthy, fresh, affordable food is a right, hence the title, Kujichagulia, which means self-determination," said Grim, who formerly served as REACH nutrition manager. "Unfortunately, the cycle of policies and systems such as redlining and racism, has fueled food apartheid in low-wealth and minority communities. It is my goal to restore power to disinvested communities to define, develop and defend their right to fresh, affordable healthy foods."

Hoskins' work over the past two years has primarily utilized supplementary funding from the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase access to, as well as awareness and acceptance of COVID and flu immunization opportunities. That focus has now broadened to integrate the importance of affordable and accessible nutrition in developing and supporting a healthy lifestyle. REACH is jointly administered by the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah.