Ron Finley brought his international motion to D.C. on National Food Day.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC– Food insecurity is a growing issue throughout the country. According to Feeding America, one out of every six children in D.C. face appetite.
Ron Finley, the worldwide understood metropolitan garden advocate known as the ‘Gangsta Garden enthusiast,’ was in D.C. Monday on a mission to march from one of our food deserts in Anacostia. About 3 lots supporters holding signs crossed the South Capitol Street Bridge, through the southwest waterfront to the National Shopping mall. Their objective was to inform individuals required to live in food deserts that regardless of the lack of grocery stores in their communities, they can reclaim their health.
“You do not have to depend on outsiders to always be available in and give you access to food you can feed yourself, you have the land, you have the area, you have resources, you can feed yourself,” said Jaren Hill Lockridge.
Lockridge is the director of The Well at Oxon Run Park, a farm and community health space in Ward 8.
“We’re bringing resources into the community and letting us choose with ourselves for ourselves what we wish to do with it, how we want to eat what we want to eat,” she said.
Even though D.C. leaders simply opened a brand-new Lidl in Ward 7, East of the River communities are still considered food deserts with simply four full-service supermarket for more than 160,000 individuals. In truth, supporters stated if you do not grow your own, folks in food deserts should walk approximately 3 or more miles to access fresh food. So, their walk, called ‘The Last March for Food’ was precisely 3 miles. It was led by the Gansta Garden Enthusiast himself, Ron Finley, who produced an international movement promoting urban gardening.
“With this kind of action, with my master class, with my Ted talks – it’s spread out all over the world,” said Finley. “So, yes, it’s a movement however it’s a motion to get us back to who we are. It’s not that I’m some sort of ex-gang member or anything, it’s ‘gangsta’ having that shovel because kids’ hands – so it’s changing the vernacular of what we take a look at as a ‘gangsta.’
After 2 hours of walking, the group got to the National Mall at 20th and Constitution Avenue, NW. They staged their rally throughout the street from the Federal Reserve. There, the advocates planted their own cash not only with Finley’s face on the front but with tomato, carrot, and collard green seeds on the back. Their message was scrawled on the expenses that read: ‘Growing your own food resembles printing your own cash.’
Tyrone Cherry, III traveled to D.C. from Petersburg, Virginia with his 2 young kids.
“We turned up since we live in a food desert, Petersburg is thought about a food desert, and since of that we’re in business of serving the community,” Cherry described, “with neighborhood green areas and we simply began a farm that is also a youth farm.”
“It’s enjoyable to plant and it makes me feel really happy and ecstatic,” added his 9-year-old child Jade.
“We need to alter our DNA and kids’ DNA and tell them what the real is,” said Finley. “Rather of feeding them sodas, fast food because the practical food is easily killing them.”
“We need to take control of our own situation much like the criminal offense,” said Nico Hobson owner of Go-Go Radio. “We complain about the criminal activity in our areas but a lot of that is us taking care of ourselves like we used to do.”
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