Summer in Cleveland always brings me joy. The warmer weather brings with it more opportunities to be outside and to engage in our communities. It’s also a time that’s focused on food—not just summer barbecues, but also the abundant, delicious produce that’s grown locally, in many cases, in community gardens and urban farms.
With that in mind, I invite you to use this season as an opportunity to learn more about how accessibility to healthy foods—and for those who live in underserved communities, inaccessibility to healthy food—impacts health outcomes and contributes to inequities. You can use this month’s newsletter as a starting point.
This month, we feature the Nourishing Power Network in our Community Program Spotlight. The Nourishing Power Network is a community-academic partnership that aims to transform food systems by bridging community power with organizational power to expand food justice initiatives led by the community. Also, you can learn more about one of our Nourishing Power Network partners, the FARE Project, in our Community Partner Spotlight. We’ve also included a Faculty Spotlight on Darcy Freedman, who directs the Nourishing Power Network, as well as a Fellow Spotlight on Carol White, one of the Nourishing Power Network’s fellows.
In this newsletter, you can also get acquainted with one of our Neighborhood Advisory Committee members, Gwendolyn Garth, and find ways to engage by reviewing our list of upcoming Events.
I hope to see you in and around University Circle this summer. In the meantime, enjoy the season!
Julian Rogers
Assistant Vice President, Local Government and Community Relations