Videos tagged as 'food access'

The Youngstown 2010 plan emerged through a community driven process. It's goal is to focus on the renewal and restoration of Youngstown's neighborhoods, communities, and local economy following a long struggle with economic dis-investment and population loss. Part of a "right-sizing" strategy, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) is installing urban gardens across Youngstown on vacant or foreclosed properties. These gardens bring neighborhoods together, increase food access and heath, and contribute to long-term property values. Hear perspectives from YNDC Executive Director Presley Gillespie about the many ways that these gardens can improve food access, increase property values, and contribute to a larger collaborative between other rust-belt cities in the region. 

A short documentary film produced by Theresa Desautels, a Cinema Studies major and recent graduate of Oberlin College, Hungry for Health feature s a day in the life of Willa Sparks; a woman who overcomes the environmental obstacle of living in a food desert, an inner-city neighborhood without easy access to a grocery store. Determined to give her family the healthy food that every person deserves, Willa takes an hour long bus ride at the first of every month to get to the closest grocery store. If healthy food won’t come to her, as her neighborhood is infested with fast food restaurants and corner stores, then she will go to it. This film was produced as a senior project. This film shows a close and personal view of how the challenge of food access affects many Cleveland residents. Includes commentary by Matt Carroll, director of Cleveland Public Health Department, Gigi Traore director of the Power Network, Grace Lee Boggs, author, and Brad Masi, co-founder of City Fresh. 

This video features the construction of the first pilot strawbale greenhouse at Vel's Purple Oasis on the east-side of Cleveland. The greenhouse is a part of StrawVille, an initiative of the New Agrarian Center to utilize strawbale construction techniques to enhance urban agriculture in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Strawbale construction involves the use of strawbales (an abundant waste product of local agriculture) to create highly insulated buildings that retain heat and improve energy efficiency. Applying techniques for the construction of its office in Oberlin, the NAC partnered with Fox Natural Construction and the Urban Lumberjacks of Cleveland to construct this pilot project. In addition to improved efficiency, the benefits of strawbale construction are numerous: use of non-toxic and biodegradable materials, incorporation of art and sculpture, and building community through a construction process that mimics an Amish barn-raising. Other examples of strawbale construction in the region include: the Kious residence in Cleveland Heights, the beer garden at the Great Lakes Brewing Company restaurant, the strawbale toolshed at the Cleveland Eco-Village garden, and a variety of building applications at the George Jones Farm in Oberlin. 

This is a short clip from LESS Productions' feature length documentary PolyCultures: Food Where We Live. The movie is about the efforts to create a sustainable food production system in Northeast Ohio. In this clip, we hear commentary from experts Mark Winne and Punam Ohri-vachaspati, who explain the phenomenon known as a "food desert" and grocery stores have become fewer and farther between in urban communities.

For more info check out http://polycultures.blogspot.com