Food as medicine, not just sustenance

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UM3LAEPgzI
​By Jessica Burnette-Lemon

Food insecurity is a huge problem for many people in the Bay Area, even in an agricultural hub like Northern California. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t producing enough food. What’s even more mind-boggling is that roughly 30-40% of the food we grow goes to waste, uneaten.

The new short film from the BAGT Lens team, “Food as Medicine: Community, Health and Resilience,” shows what some dedicated, inspiring people are doing about that disconnect. Between them, they’ve created food distribution hubs at elementary schools, built a community kitchen for unhoused neighbors, and fed those who needed it with food that would otherwise end up in a landfill.  

The film, produced in partnership with StopWaste, premiered May 27 in a special event that included a panel discussion with the “solutionaries” featured. They share what led them to take action on food insecurity and food waste, what inspires them to keep doing the work, and what we can all do to reduce waste and nourish each other. 

“How we treat our waste,” said panelist Wanda Stewart of Common Vision, “has all the lessons for how we treat our people and our communities. Let’s live in a way that allows us all to survive and get past the illusion of scarcity.”  

Check out the event recording to see what we can all do to remake the food system on a human scale, giving everyone access to nourishment while reducing food waste and combating climate change. 
Watch the film and panel discussion
“Food as Medicine: Community, Health and Resilience” was created by BAGT Lens team members Maya Curry, Elisabeth Gallego, and Dennis Chang.

Event panelists 
Wanda Stewart, Common Vision
Xochitl Moreno, Essential Food and Medicine
AshEL Seasunz Eldridge, Essential Food and Medicine
Grace Liao, Berkeley Food Network
Holden Bussey, Berkeley Food Network