Speaker: 

Rebecca Burns

Title:

Stranded in Atlanta's Food Deserts

Abstract:

In Atlanta, the ninth-biggest metropolis of the world’s richest country, thousands of people can’t get fresh food, and some are getting sick—even dying—as a result. Which raises a simple question: Why can we build multimillion-dollar highway systems and multibillion-dollar stadiums but not more grocery stores? If we can build a museum dedicated to a soft drink and one that celebrates college football and another that trumpets civil rights, can’t we help our neighbors with what seems to be a most essential and basic right: putting an affordable and healthy dinner on the table?

When you talk about Atlanta’s food deserts, you have to talk about the three themes entwined in every civic issue in this region: race, class, and sprawl. The fact is, food deserts are more prevalent in nonwhite neighborhoods. In poor communities, food is more expensive. And here’s an irony: Much of the local produce prized by the city’s finest chefs is grown in urban farms in poor neighborhoods—produce that is often trucked across town to farmers markets in wealthier enclaves. But of all the factors, none is more important than transportation. Our low population density combined with a lack of comprehensive public transit means that many people simply cannot get to places where fresh food is available.

This talk will draw on research for recent articles for Atlanta magazine and POLITICO, looking at the complex challenges of access to fresh and healthy food. The talk will focus on case studies of three unlikely, but very effective, "food oases."

Bio:

Rebecca Burns is an Atlanta-based journalist and author whose work focuses on social and economic justice, civil and human rights, and urban development and preservation. She is the deputy editor of Atlanta magazine and contributes to other publications such as POLITICO, the Guardian, and the Atlantic Monthly's CityLab. She is the author of three books on Atlanta history, most recently Burial for a King (Scribner 2011). A frequent speaker at colleges and community groups, she also teaches journalism and digital media, most recently at Emory University and the University of Georgia.