If you follow me on social media, then you have probably seen these pics of fresh veggies that I scored from my local farmers market this past Saturday. EVERYTHING looked so fresh and vibrant sitting on the tables in stark contrast to the cold, mist February Saturday morning in the backdrop. In fact, the market stands were setup in the parking garage because it was raining off and on.

Anyway, it reminded me of last March when we first faced shelter-in-place orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we’ve had a year to settle into this new normal that will hopefully end soon or at least some time this year, I began to wonder did we make any progress towards ensuring food security to our most vulnerable neighbors. With the news about long lines at food banks with limited funding, I already know the answer to my thought.

I remember people talking about gardening themselves and even some who started and had a great summer harvest. I wonder how many continue for a fall or winter crop to truly begin to transition away from big box grocery stores. My current living arrangements are not conducive to us gardening; however, I make it a point to support my local farmers as much as I can. I wonder how much food insecurity we could stabilize if we did more to support small farms at a local level. I wonder what obesity- and processed foods-related chronic conditions we could solve by supporting local farmers. I wonder how many unemployed people could make a sustainable living with access to community gardening areas where there is some sort of rental ability. I wonder how much good we could do to this earth if we focused on our food.

We are what we eat. Perhaps the world seems to be full of 💩 because many of us are full of 💩.

Stassi