[OccupyCU] Anatomy of a Food Desert: A Performance

[Rachel Storm]

Occupy,

I'm composing a performance piece about food deserts and collecting stories
from folks all over Champaign-Urbana about their own experiences with
access to good, whole foods, healthy eating, and food manufacturing. In
Anatomy of a Food Desert, I argue that "one of the most confounding issues
confronting urban planners, activists, and health food advocates in recent
years is the food desert phenomenon. Anatomy of a Food Desert is a
three-person performance that illustrates the inequities facing the 23.5
million Americans currently living in areas with no access to fresh food
and whole grains." Through interactive story telling and multimedia,
experimental performance, performers engage participants in critical
questions aimed at investigating poverty and inequities in nutritional
access. While food deserts effectively doom the residents of low-income
urban areas to increased rates of heart disease, diabetes and other
ailments, Anatomy of a Food Desert situates the problem within a larger
historic and contemporary context of economic globalization and global
power, arguing that facing food deserts requires creative organizing that
draws strong connections between food access, corporate power, racial
justice, immigration reform, and gender inequity.
*
*
*Your story matters--whether you feel you eat well and have good access or
whether the food system prevents you from accessing the sustenance you
need. *I'm inviting you to take a brief moment to share your story. Feel
free to send it by e-mail (rachelstrm at gmail.com), in person (let's meet!),
or by phone (630-677-7219--leave a voicemail with your story.)

The questions I'm asking are/stories I'm interested in gathering are:

   - How often do you eat whole
foods<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_foods>?
   When you eat them, how do you get them?
   - Is it difficult for you to eat whole foods and fresh food? Why or why
   not?
   - Do you know who grows your food? Tell me a story about where you
   think/know/hope/fear your food comes from.
   - Have you ever grown your own food or otherwise helped foster community
   access to food (CSAs, community gardens, etc.)
   - Tell me about why you choose the food you choose to eat
   (affordability, access, ease, etc.)
   - Have you or someone you know experienced the effects of a food
desert<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert>?
   Share your story.
   - What is food justice to you? How could we reshape the food system?

Please answer any or all of these questions and/or tell me
anecdotes/stories/snippets in a way that you find most comfortable (write
as much or as little as you want). If you have something you'd like to
share about any of the following, it's all welcome--or suggest something to
me!:

   - growing your own garden/community gardening
   - local projects for food justice and community nutrition
   - how a lack of food access has impacted you, your health, your
   family/relationships
   - stories about food labor and food production
   - stories about eating food *(food as erotic, food as love, food as
   danger)
   - stories about hunger

 *Please note: Stories gathered will be compiled and used to shape the
performance "Anatomy of a Food Desert" and will be performed locally in
C-U. I will write to all who participate by giving their stories and invite
you to attend! *
*
*
Warmly,
Rachel

P.S. I've attached a flyer for the performance, but the date is TBD. :)
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