Our food's still expensive, but how are you feeling today?

Chances are you don't need to be told that food is more expensive today than it was a year ago. And you've probably heard that eating more fruits and vegetables can improve your health.

But with food prices increasing at a rapid rate, a basic healthy diet is sometimes out of reach for those who need it most. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal recycles this evidence, but focuses on how the "nutrition gap is growing," with some families unable to afford the types of fresh and healthy food that their doctors are prescribing. 

Here in East Palo Alto, local residents recently launched a community farmers' market to bring affordable and healthy foods into the neighborhood. Where surrounding affluent comunites have access to supermarkets and farmers' markets that sell produce within the monthly food budgets of the local customers, residents of East Palo Alto for many years have been without widespread access to the same healthy food options--which, all too often, are more expensive than the less-healthy fast food options. 

The result: communities like East Palo Alto without access to fresh and healthy food options are facing a deadly obesity epidemic. 

The East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market brings local produce into the community each Sunday from 3-6pm at the St. Francis Church (1425 Bay Road). While the prices are good (last Sunday, the best peaches and nectarines around were just $1.50 per pound), ensuring that healthy food options are affordable to those who need them most remains a big challenge. 

Want to get involved?

Know how we can get tomatoes into our community sold at prices cheaper than, say, $4.00 per pound?

Send us a note. The residents of East Palo Alto are listening.