Fresh Produce in San Bernardino

The Healthy San Bernardino Coalition (HSBC) and the Latino Health Collaboration recently kicked off the Fresh Start Farmshare Market held at the Waterman Gardens Community Center in San Bernardino. Participants from the surrounding communities came to learn about the programs provided by HSBC. Community resources were available, performance by community members took place and a drawing was held. As part of their vision, in an effort to promote health and local business, Healthy San Bernardino along with its partners teamed up to support the Fresh Start Farmshare Market at Waterman Gardens. Salvador Gutierrez is the Program Manager for Latino Health Collaboration founded in 2004 and was instrumental in putting the Farmshare Market together. He stated, “It’s one of the first programs in California to try to bring local produce to residents in food deserts and we’re really proud of that. Our food retail index is really high, for every 9 fast food or convenience stores there is 1 grocery store. The Latino Health Collaboration is committed to creating access to healthy produce and providing better overall health to the community.” About 100 people attended the event and were extremely excited to take part in the Fresh Start Farmshare Market. It is hoped that more locations will be added in the future. There are three phases to the program set over a period of 9 months. The first phase is providing a box of fresh fruit and vegetables at no cost, the second phase is using the WIC Fruit and Vegetable Vouchers to help offset the cost, and the last phase is to have residents purchase the produce box on their own. Each Wednesday, residents of Waterman Gardens and surrounding neighborhoods will participate in the Healthy San Bernardino Striders Wellness program and also collect their share of fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables provided by the Old Grove Orange, a co-operation of 31 local farmers growing produce for local residents. Members of the farmshare sign-up for a 13-week season, where nutritious and seasonal produce is brought to them by the farmers. This concept is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which allows the resident to build a sense of community, but it goes a step further by giving the community a since of ownership, because everyone involved shares the responsibility of the success of this program, thus a farmshare. A unique feature of the Fresh Start Farmshare Market is that participants will have the opportunity to use WIC Fruit and Vegetable Checks (FVC). This is the first time that WIC vouchers have been used in this way in California. The Fresh Start Farmshare Market is a pilot program that has been in development for two years. Focus groups have been held to see how to best fit the needs of the community and much time has been spent generating awareness about the Fresh Start Farmshare Market. The goal is provide residents with fresh produce, provide health education, advocacy, and empowering residents to be active in their local neighborhoods. The Healthy San Bernardino Striders Wellness program involves three components: education, physical activity, and health advocacy. The farmshare program will unite alongside the Striders to strengthen the opportunity for health.The Healthy San Bernardino Coalition strives to create a community with: • Access to healthy food • Safe streets and public spaces, schools, parks, and open spaces • Appropriate healthcare, wellness, and prevention, including behavioral health • Economic stability and quality educational and employment opportunities • Community-driven collaborative leadership • Personal awareness, motivation, and responsibility with a community-wide sense of hope and purpose By becoming a member of the farmshare, you’re creating an economic engine by helping local farmers create jobs and offer income for local farmers. In addition, natural materials that farmers use to grow and harvest the fruits and vegetables aids in the improvement of the environment. Just in one farmers land alone, the use of fertilizer is the equivalent of taking 1000 cars off the road! WHO defines health as “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Research show that, just giving produce to people or education alone does not work, however, the combination of giving, educating and actively participating in a program for 13 weeks, along with physical active, will increase the likelihood of health and wellness. This is part of the vision of Healthy San Bernardino Coalition. More information can be found at: http://healthysanbernardinoca.org/?page_id=33