Combating Food Insecurity in New Brunswick

Creative engagement can empower and highlight the specific vibrancy of a particular community. Through storytelling and or art, residents living in the community can have something to trace back their roots and feel proud to be part of the community. Creative engagement can mean installing sculptures, murals, or anything that will make the town’s history and residents stand out. These actions may lead residents to tackle and uncover their town’s issues. An engaged community is a healthy community that helps one another from troubling situations like food insecurity, housing issues, LGBTQ+ problems, etc. The art of storytelling enhances the vibrancy and history of the town’s past. Learning about the history of the town’s past and the communities that once lived there can help give a voice and give a sense of identity and belonging. Storytelling provides the community with an identity, something to reflect and converse about with one another. It’s another form of remembering those that came before and honoring their heritage while educating those who live in the community now. A creative intervention helps underrepresented communities have a voice and share their experiences with others or raise awareness about issues. It creates a conscience within the community while being vibrant through storytelling or art installations.

My aspirations with this creative engagement project are to raise awareness about food insecurity by making it more accessible through corner stores and bodegas. My goal is to create a mural on the wall of a bodega showcasing fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy products. Corner stores have a slight stigma of carrying highly processed, unhealthy snacks that low-income families can’t live healthy off. By showcasing fresh produce, families will be aware that this bodega takes healthy options at an affordable price and will be inclined to purchase their groceries from there. This would benefit the community by addressing the issue of food insecurity and hopefully will make more bodegas follow in the same steps in making their store more accessible for families, students, and other people facing issues with food insecurity.

When it comes to providing fresh produce to these bodegas, groups such as New Brunswick Tomorrow, New Brunswick Community Food Alliance, Mercado Esperanza Project, and several farmers’ markets located around Middlesex County can provide a helping hand to improve the quality of life of New Brunswick residents. These groups can serve as the change agent in getting fresh produce to corner stores and bodegas. All of these groups are connected and focus on creating a flexible community marketplace and supporting families while empowering and showcasing the culture and arts of its residents.

The Live Well Vivir Bien campaign can serve as another change agent in improving the health of residents. The campaign helps spread awareness and inspire residents to actively participate in the health and wellness resources and services available in New Brunswick, ultimately resulting in improved quality of life and other positive health outcomes. About 24% of households reported living with someone that has diabetes. The campaign can help create or invest in the mural to help stomp out the stigma that corner stores serve unhealthy cheap foods. It would make the lives much easier to know that these corner stores carry fresh produce at an affordable price.

A mural on the wall of Los Lopez II would make a great location to showcase the idea of fresh produce. The bodega is located on 210 French Street. French Street serves as the commercial district where many families shop. Creating a mural on the wall of Los Lopez II will create a landmark for the locals and people who are passing by. The bodega being by the commercial district will attract students and families but also enhance the community by displaying the culture and arts of New Brunswick.

This’s a crucial issues community because corner stores have been helping families in need and providing a second home to some. The main issue is providing affordable healthy food access for low-income communities. Bodegas have had a stigma for selling processed, unhealthy food. Providing the key to better options will result in a healthier community. Corner stores have been a staple in urban communities, providing students a morning, lunch, and after-school snack. It’s a staple in Latin American black culture. For some families, it’s the only way for some families to get their groceries because the closest supermarket is miles away or too expensive. Bodegas provide another way for food accessibility. By combating food accessibility, it’ll eliminate long-term health issues like diabetes.

Sources

1. “Diabetes Community Outreach Program: Community Health Ambassadors / Promotoras.” New Brunswick Tomorrow, https://www.nbtomorrow.org/health/diabetes-outreach-promotoras.
2. “Live Well-Vivir Bien New Brunswick.” New Brunswick Tomorrow, https://www.nbtomorrow.org/health/live-well-vivir-bien-new-brunswick.
3. “Esperanza Neighborhood.” New Brunswick Tomorrow, https://www.nbtomorrow.org/neighborhoods/esperanza-neighborhood.
4. “Community Resources.” New Brunswick Community Food Alliance, 15 Oct. 2018, https://nbfoodalliance.org/community-resources/.
5. “Middlesex County Emergency Food Organizations and Non-Food Services during the Covid Pandemic (2021).” Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement, https://rwv.rutgers.edu/middlesex-county-emergency-food-organizations-and-non-food-services-during-the-covid-pandemic-2021/.
6. “Food Security.” Food Security (Rutgers NJAES), https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fchs/food-security.php.