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Danielle Coles PLAC 5500

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Advancing Food Justice in Charlottesville Jefferson Area Board for Aging (JABA) | Mary Williams Community Center

In 2011, Forbes Magazine named Charlottesville, Virginia the “locavore capital of the

world.”1 This catchy and honorable title refers to the fact that many of the city’s 100+

independent restaurants, bistros, cafes, grills, and bars create their menus from fresh,

organic, and locally sourced meats and produce.2 While this certainly seems to benefit local

farmers, business owners, and residents with a healthy appetite, does it in fact mean that

Charlottesville is a “food just” city? According to the New York based non-‐profit

organization, Just Food, “Food Justice is communities exercising their right to grow, sell and

eat healthy food. Healthy food is fresh, nutritious, affordable, culturally-‐appropriate and

grown locally with care for the well-‐being of the land, workers and animals.”3 Thus, in an

attempt to better understand food justice as it relates to Charlottesville, our class was

tasked with using a unique audit tool to measure food justice in four of the city’s

neighborhoods: 10th & Page, Belmont, Fifeville, and Ridge Street. Although my

neighborhood of study was 10th & Page, after becoming “embedded” at the Jefferson Area

Board for Aging (JABA) Mary Williams Community Center, my partner and I discovered

that it was a wonderful organization that we would like to further explore. As a result, this

paper chronicles my experiences at JABA and offers community-‐based suggestions about

how food justice in Charlottesville may be advanced using JABA and other case studies as

models of success.

1 Perlroth, Nicole. "An Online Grocer For Web 2.0. Just Don't Call It Webvan 2.0." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 01 June 2011. Web. 08 May 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/06/01/an-‐online-‐grocer-‐for-‐web-‐2-‐0-‐just-‐dont-‐call-‐it-‐webvan-‐2-‐0/>. 2 "Charlottesville Restaurants." Charlottesville Albemarle County Virginia. Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, n.d. Web. 08 May 2013. <http://www.visitcharlottesville.org/visitors/restaurants/>. 3 "Food Justice." Just Food. Just Food, 2010. Web. 06 May 2013. <http://www.justfood.org/food-‐justice>.


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In order to quantitatively measure food justice within Charlottesville, our class used

the Food Justice Audit Tool developed by our class Teaching Assistant (TA), Allison Spain.

This comprehensive questionnaire required us to examine the city’s comprehensive plan,

neighborhood plans, code of ordinances, website, and other independent sources, to

determine whether there is currently existing infrastructure and engagement to support

food justice in the following seven categories: public health; food farmers and farm

workers; food-‐based economic development; school-‐based food and nutrition; food access

infrastructure; policy; and food insecurity and hunger. The audit tool not only covered

questions regarding the city as a whole, but also featured more specialized questions that

were applicable to our neighborhoods of study.

When originally conducting the audit, each team was responsible for answering all

of the 90+ questions. However, as this proved very difficult and time-‐consuming, we each

selected roughly 10 questions to answer individually, leaving the teams only responsible

for answering the remaining neighborhood questions. My individual questions were P-‐1

through P-‐11 in the Policy category of the audit. To obtain my answers, I mainly used the

Charlottesville city website and the city’s code of ordinances because the majority of my

questions pertained to plants, animals, and structures that would be permitted on a

resident’s property. For the neighborhood questions, my partner, Elise Brenner, and I

decided to evenly divide the questions. She was responsible for Public Health and Food-‐

Based Economic Development, and I was responsible for Food Access Infrastructure and

School-‐Based Food & Nutrition. Because these questions were broader and more varied, I

used a combination of the 10th & Page Neighborhood Plan, Google Maps, City of

Charlottesville website, Charlottesville Area Transit website, and a Land Use Opinion


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Survey conducted by city planners. Although dividing the questions amongst my

classmates and my partner drastically decreased the workload, I still felt challenged when

conducting my research. I discovered that while there was a wealth of information

available on the Internet, especially on the websites of nonprofits such as the Urban

Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville (UACC), it did not explicitly address the more

qualitative aspects of the audit, which inquired about community support, engagement,

autonomy, and empowerment. I found myself often feeling as though I had to infer on

behalf of the community, when all I really wanted was to remain objective.

Unfortunately, my research on 10th & Page became even hazier when Elise and I

began to volunteer at the JABA Mary Williams Community Center as a means of becoming

embedded within the neighborhood to build trust and relationships. Located inside of the

Jefferson School City Center on 4th Street, not only was the community center outside of the

boundaries of the neighborhood, but also after talking with the seniors who attended the

center daily, we discovered that many of them were bussed in from surrounding

Albemarle, Greene, and Fluvanna counties via free JAUNT services provided by JABA. In

fact, in a phone call made to the center’s new assistant, Karen Beiber, I was informed that

very few of the seniors come from within the core area of the city, and according to her

roster, none from 10th & Page.4 Although this news was very shocking and seemed to defeat

the purpose of our volunteer work, Elise and I decided to keep attending on Monday and

Thursday mornings in hopes that it would still be a helpful and meaningful part of our

assessment of food justice. We had fallen in love with the spirit and energy of the seniors,

who, despite their age, were so full of life and joy. 4 Beiber, Karen. "Mary Williams Senior Demographics." Telephone interview. 11 Apr. 2013. [I called her at 10:50 AM]


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As the weeks went by, I began to notice that JABA offered several wonderful food

related services, free of charge, to the seniors. Not only did Elise and I help serve the

seniors hot lunches prepared by Vinegar Hill Café chef, Sean Connelly, but also Whole

Foods would donate individualized groceries bags each month, understanding that it may

be difficult for seniors to make it to the grocery stores. After lunch, Cheryl Petencin, the

onsite nurse, would take their blood pressure to ensure that what they were eating was not

having an adverse effect. They also had access to the Starr Hill Health Center, which was

located upstairs. Then those who were able would participate in a daily group exercise

class, usually Yoga or Tai Chi. In the spring and summer, seniors are able to grow and

harvest produce from the JABA garden along with camp children from the YMCA (also

located in the Jefferson School). Other activities include bake sales and picnics.

After volunteering at JABA for several weeks, Elise and I realized that we wanted to

shift the focus somewhat away from our original study of 10th and Page and, instead, focus

on the services that JABA provides, as an example of how to better promote food justice

throughout Charlottesville. Elise began to explore the meals prepared for the seniors and

the ways in which JABA could increase the purchase of local foods, while still using money

effectively and following USDA guidelines for meal preparation. In addition, I chose to

explore reasons why seniors from 10th and Page were underutilizing the resources at JABA

and the ways in which JABA could expand its services to increase access and education.

When originally conducting our audit of the 10th & Page neighborhood, we discovered that

while there were several great community food related services inside of the neighborhood

(such as Reid’s grocery store, the UACC’s community garden on West Street, and Region

10) there was little connectivity to resources beyond the boundaries of the neighborhood.


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Although it could be reasoned that the neighborhood is self-‐sufficient and that residents do

not necessarily need or want to venture out of the neighborhood for additional services, in

the 2005 10th & Page Neighborhood Plan, residents expressed a desire to increase overall

connectivity and to reconnect to the Jefferson School (See Appendix A). As supported by

the neighborhood plan, our audit also showed that narrow sidewalks, fast through traffic,

limited bike lanes, inadequate lighting, and steep terrain made it difficult to venture beyond

the neighborhood. Furthermore, bus routes were inefficient and there were no low cost

taxis or ride sharing programs that connected the neighborhood to food stores or other

food related services that may be farther than walking distance. For organizations such as

JABA working to cater to an elderly demographic, oftentimes with limited physical

mobility, these barriers posed serious challenges.

Another challenge was the accessibility of information and education. While our

audit did show that Charlottesville had a wealth of resources about sustainable growing,

healthy living, and where to obtain fresh foods, the issue was that most of this information

was online. For the elderly populations who may not have access to a computer or be able

to successfully navigate through a website, there was likely to be a loss of information and

education. JABA did offer educational workshops and classes about diet and nutrition

catered directly to the seniors, but returning once more to the issue of access, if the seniors

did not have transportation, the service was largely ineffective.

In addition to conducting an audit and volunteering in the community, our class was

also given the opportunity to conduct three “thought leader” interviews and one “life

history” interview. The thought leaders were people within our volunteer service

organization with whom we interacted and felt would have opinions and suggestions as to


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how to increase food justice in Charlottesville. Our life history interviewee was selected by

one of our professors, Kendra Hamilton, and was meant to give us insight into the life story

of the individual and the role that food has played in his/her life. We could also ask this

person what he/she thought about food justice and how to increase it in Charlottesville.

The first thought leader interview that I conducted was with the JABA onsite nurse,

Cheryl Petencin. On February 21, 2013 at 10:30 AM, Elise and I met her in her office in the

Jefferson School, just down the hall from the Mary Williams Community Center. She was

very nice, although a little nervous, but altogether excited to have the opportunity to voice

her opinions. As a native of upstate New York, Cheryl, age 50, has been a Registered Nurse

for about 30 years. She was prompted to become a Certified Diabetes Educator after

working in New Mexico and seeing how the disease particularly affected the Hispanic

population. When asked about the challenges that she sees in Charlottesville, as related to

food justice, she responded that her biggest challenge is trying to get people to give up

sodas and other carbonated sugars in lieu of fresh fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately,

according to her, the food bank mostly gives out high sodium canned vegetables, which

limits a number of seniors from being able to utilize the food for health reasons. She

believes that food justice is “to have access to good quality, minimally processed, nutritious

food, and the ability to obtain factual information, as opposed to the current marketing

strategies, which enables our country to be a nation in the midst of an obesity epidemic.”

She continues, “It is unjust to trick the public into eating products that are directly

connected to health decline.”5 Although the interview lasted a little less than 30 minutes, I

truly learned a lot from Cheryl. It was very interesting to hear about food justice from a

5 Petencin, Cheryl. "Food Justice Thought Leader Interview." Personal interview. 21 Feb. 2013.


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health professional’s perspective and as a means of reducing childhood obesity. I was

particularly intrigued by her idea that the media is essentially tricking the public and that

we have a right to factual information. For me, it simply solidified the education and

awareness gap that I saw present in my audit.

Similarly, a joint interview with the Martha Jefferson Starr Hill Health Center

Director of Community Benefit & Junior Volunteer Programs and Miranda Trent, a Nurse

Practitioner also from the Starr Hill Health Center, led me to some of the same conclusions.

On March 4, 2013 at 11:00 AM, I had the privilege of interviewing them in the staff lounge

of their suite on the second floor of the Jefferson School. The Director, age 51, was more

reserved and shy, while Miranda, age 59, had a lively sense of humor. Even though these

two ladies had limited interaction with the seniors at JABA, they had a lot to say about food

justice. A native of Charlottesville, the Director recalled stories of raising her son as a single

parent and the tendency to buy fast food at least four times a week. Because the focus at

that time was solely on reducing calories, she figured that she was eating healthy if she

skipped breakfast and lunch and ate McDonalds for dinner. However, when her son began

to wear size 32 pants in the second grade, she realized that she needed to make a change in

their diets. When asked what food justice meant to her, she quickly responded that it is as

simple as everyone having access to healthy food. However, Miranda, a native of Stony

Creek, Virginia, quickly disagreed. While she believes that access is a part of food justice,

she argues that education is a strong component. As a student in nursing school, she admits

that she was never given formal training about nutrition or what qualifies as healthy food.

In fact, she only really became aware of nutrition after the rise of vegetarians and trying to

find a healthy alternative that did not completely rule out meat.


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Yet, the most provocative statement from their interview, and one that will stay

with me for a very long time, was when Miranda was advocating for early childhood

education about food, and the Director pointedly asked, “But who’s going to teach us?”6

This statement is especially relevant for JABA because it returns once more to the challenge

of an education gap. While we are working diligently to educate our youth about food

justice, how do we reach out to those individuals who have already received formal, and

perhaps outdated, education? How do we make food justice relevant and educate people of

all ages, especially the elderly?

In my research of possible answers, I came across a case study of the Earthworks

Urban Farm in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1997 as a program of the Capuchin Soup

Kitchen, Earthworks Urban Farm “strive[s] to improve food security (or, the ability of all

community residents to obtain safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet

through a food system that maximizes community self-‐reliance and social justice) for

Detroiters”.7 Built on the Franciscan values of universal brotherhood and sisterhood of all

creation, Earthworks Urban Farm sells only a small portion of its crops and gives the

remaining share to the Soup Kitchen, which feeds the poor and the homeless. However,

food security is not the only way that Earthworks and the Capuchin Soup Kitchen strive to

make a difference. Another major component of Earthworks Urban Farm is to promote

food justice and community empowerment. Each month, Earthworks hosts Food Justice

Community Gatherings at which local community members ask critical questions about the

6 Trent, Miranda. "Food Justice Thought Leader Interview." Personal interview. 4 Mar. 2013. [The other contributor of this interview wished to remain anonymous. She is referred to as “Director”] 7 Bernardo, Shane. "Food Justice." Earthworks Urban Farm. Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Detroit, 2008. Web. 08 May 2013. <http://cskdetroit.org/EWG/markets_programs/food_justice>.


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process of food production and why certain classes of people do not have access to food.

Some of these questions are listed below:

• What role does racism play in our food system? • Were food and food workers treated carefully and ethically? • Why is there enough food in the world, yet some people experience hunger? • Does the community have control in projects? • Are staffs reflective of the community they serve, and are they working with, rather

than for, the community?

While most of these questions cannot be easily answered, it is a start in the dialogue to

improving the access to food for the underrepresented members of Detroit. It is also an

important step in allowing a diverse array of viewpoints to be made known, some of which

may be the key to saving Detroit.

I think that using this model in Charlottesville would be very beneficial largely

because of the way that dialogue, communication, and education are all woven in with food.

It could also be particularly helpful at JABA by giving the seniors an opportunity to express

their unique thoughts and concerns as they relate to food, and receive helpful information

and knowledge in return. For example, the questions above could be revised to include the

following:

• How do carbonated sweets and high sodium foods affect my heath? • How do I change my cooking methods after years of using certain ingredients? • What are my transportation options to get to the grocery store now that I no longer

drive? Are there services that will bring food to me? • Are there group exercise classes catered to my physical capabilities?

By expanding their services to feature a dialogue component, JABA could make great

strides in reducing the education gap currently present among seniors in the community.

As Cheryl Petencin would argue, no longer would they be unjustly reliant on the media or


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contemporary sources, but rather they would have access to factual and pertinent

information.

My life-‐history interviewee, Karen Waters-‐Wicks, a University of Virginia alumni

and founding Executive Director of the Quality Community Council (QCC) in Charlottesville,

further supported this case study. On Thursday, March 28 at 3:00 PM, Karen and I drove to

the Bodo’s Bagel shop on Emmet Street. Karen, age 49, has a delightful personality and it is

evident that she is very passionate about helping others in her community. While most of

the interview centered on fond memories of grocery shopping and gardening with her

grandmother and her work for New Beginnings Christian Community and QCC Farms,

which is now the Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville (UACC), Karen spent a little

time describing her widely successful lecture series at the University of Virginia. The series,

titled “University of the Poor,” allowed low-‐wealth people to share their struggles with the

University community in an attempt to foster understanding. Having reminded me of my

case study on the Earthworks Urban Farm Food Justice Community Gatherings, I emailed

Karen a few days later and asked if she thought this model could be an adaptation of her

lecture series. Rather than hosting it at the University, it would be hosted by JABA at the

Mary Williams Community Center and catered to understanding the needs and struggles of

seniors as they relate to food. Karen agreed that it was a great idea because it was rooted in

the community, and would therefore serve as a tool for community building.

But beyond serving as a sounding board for my case study, Karen also provided

another interesting layer to the definition of food justice. According to her, “I think food

justice means that folks have equal opportunity to get what they need. I think you also, by

the same token, have to not only create that opportunity for consumerism, you have to


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create opportunities for people to bring things to the market. To me you have to have the

opportunity to consume, but you have to have the opportunity to work.”8 Thus, for Karen,

food justice is not just about access to healthy foods, but also access to well paying jobs that

will allow individuals to support themselves. I thought that was a very profound statement

because so often we simply assume that access means the ability to obtain food in close

proximity. However, as Karen indicates, access is also about being financially stable and

able to contribute to the market.

As I reflect on my time spent at JABA, the information gathered while conducting my

audit, and the various thoughts and ideas shared by four outstanding women, I am excited

about the future of food justice in Charlottesville. Although there may be access barriers

created by limited mobility and inadequate infrastructure, and potential education gaps

widened by an aging population and advancing technology, I believe that JABA is providing

a wonderful foundation, that, with a few minor adjustments, can become a leader for

organizations throughout the city. The following suggestion are community-‐based and are

a synthesis of my experiences and my thought leader and life history interviewees’

suggestions. In order to increase access and participation from 10th and Page residents,

JABA should extend its JAUNT bus services into the neighborhood. Rather than relying on

residents to hear about the Mary Williams Community Center through open houses, word

of mouth, or Internet resources, they should also consider alternative outreach strategies

for marketing JABA services. For example, ask neighborhood churches to include a flyer in

the Sunday program or run an add in the local newspaper. Additionally, JABA could petition

the city to implement some of the improvements listed in the 10th and Page Neighborhood

8 Waters-‐Wicks, Karen. "Food Justice Life History Interview." Personal interview. 28 Mar. 2013.


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Plan, such as better lighting, wider sidewalks, and traffic calming measures. In regards to

increasing education, JABA should expand its current educational workshop to include

dialogue-‐based community food justice gatherings, similar to the Earthworks Urban Farm

case study, which will increase awareness and understanding of health and nutrition for

both children and adults. The center already hosts intergenerational activities, so perhaps

they could begin an ongoing series where children and the seniors learn together and from

each other. By implementing these strategies, JABA will make a start in increasing

longstanding issues of access and education. Creating a more food just Charlottesville will

not happen over night, but the movement has begun.


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Works Cited

Beiber, Karen. "Mary Williams Senior Demographics." Telephone interview. 11 Apr. 2013.

Bernardo, Shane. "Food Justice." Earthworks Urban Farm. Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Detroit,

2008. Web. 08 May 2013.

<http://cskdetroit.org/EWG/markets_programs/food_justice>.

"Charlottesville Restaurants." Charlottesville Albemarle County Virginia. Charlottesville

Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, n.d. Web. 08 May 2013.

<http://www.visitcharlottesville.org/visitors/restaurants/>.

Perlroth, Nicole. "An Online Grocer For Web 2.0. Just Don't Call It Webvan 2.0." Forbes.

Forbes Magazine, 01 June 2011. Web. 08 May 2013.

<http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/06/01/an-‐online-‐grocer-‐for-‐

web-‐2-‐0-‐just-‐dont-‐call-‐it-‐webvan-‐2-‐0/>.

Petencin, Cheryl. "Food Justice Thought Leader Interview." Personal interview. 21 Feb.

2013.

Tenth & Page Neighborhood Plan. Charlottesville: City of Charlottesville Neighborhood

Development Services, 2005. PDF.

Trent, Miranda, and Anonymous. "Food Justice Thought Leader Interview." Personal

interview. 4 Mar. 2013.

Waters-‐Wicks, Karen. "Food Justice Life History Interview." Personal interview. 28 Mar.

2013.


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Appendix A

This map, taken from the 2005 10th & Page Neighborhood Plan, shows ways in which residents hope to improve overall connectivity to centers both within and outside of the neighborhood.

neighborhood

road edges

bike routes

bus routes

bus stops

school property

park


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Appendix B

• Cheryl Petencin, RN, BSN, CDE is a 50-‐year-‐old Caucasian female from the Woodbrook neighborhood in Charlottesville, VA.

• Miranda C. Trent, MSN, RN, FNP-‐C is a 59-‐year-‐old African American female from

Albemarle County, VA. • The Director of Community Benefit & Junior Volunteer Programs at the Martha

Jefferson Starr Hill Health Center is a 51-‐year-‐old black female who lives on Jefferson Park Avenue in Charlottesville, VA. She wished to remain anonymous for the purposes of this paper.

• Karen Waters-‐Wicks is a 49-‐year-‐old African American female from the Greenbrier

neighborhood in Charlottesville, VA.

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