Expanding knowledge of health through urban agriculture
BY MIKE SINGER
The Et Cultura festival was hosted in South St. Petersburg from Nov. 15-19. There were a number of themes of the event, including music, art, healthy eating, addressing the future of St. Petersburg and its schools and more.
On Thursday, Nov. 16, the Et Cultura theme was SEEDS, which deals with sustainable healthy food systems and urban agriculture.
The morning SEEDS session, called “Prescribing Food as Medicine,” had a panel of experts in the urban agriculture field. As moderator and public health specialist, Mark Trujillo, spoke with John Correy of PlantPure Inc.; Randall Russell, President & CEO of Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete; Dr. Roland Lajoie, board-certified endocrinologist; Dr. Bob Linde, Owner of Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies; and Reverend Katie Churchwell from the Cathedral of St. Peter.
Of the five on the panel, one person stuck out from the crowd as someone who is not necessarily an “expert” in the urban agriculture field, and that was Churchwell.
And she will admit it.
Churchwell doesn’t know a whole lot about urban agriculture, but what she cares about is people.
“Here’s the thing – you’re probably going to encounter a lot of people where [urban agriculture] is their passion,” Churchwell said. “They love growing food; they love the health aspect. But my passion is people. I have to be really honest that this is really exciting for me to be in a place like this and learn from people because this is not my area of expertise. It’s not even a personal area of enjoyment. So much of this is nothing that I know about. But what I really care about and what I’m really passionate about are people.”
“Next year, it’d be really easy for you to see me talking about housing or economics. I’m not a housing expert and I really know nothing about the economy other than I love to shop local.”
Churchwell did have a reason to be selected on the SEEDS panel of experts though. There can be a lot of “talk” about initiating urban agriculture programs in Midtown St. Petersburg, but Churchwell is actively leading a community outreach initiative.
Campbell Park Recreation Center is located on 14th Street S. and 7th Avenue S. and is home to the Food is Medicine program. It is a six-week class that engages in health, diet and nutritional needs. Each member of the class also receives a free health care screening from community health nurses from Baycare.
Food is Medicine is a collaborative effort comprised of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Baycare Health Systems, Gulfport Produce, The Cathedral Church of St. Peters, and the city of St. Petersburg.
“It is modeled after the Florida Hospital System West Division’s Food Is Medicine program,” Churchwell explained. “One of the requirements for determining the placement of a Food Is Medicine site is that the location must be situated within a food desert.
“The Cathedral Church of St. Peter, already having a robust and joyful relationship with Campbell Park Elementary School, felt that it made a lot of sense to set up Food Is Medicine St. Pete at Campbell Park Recreation Center, just across the street from the elementary school. In working with the City of St. Petersburg, we are glad that we were able to secure – as an in-kind gift – the room use at Campbell Park Recreation Center.”
Trujillo, was a key contributor in helping the St. Petersburg chapter of Food is Medicine launch.
“He was instrumental in bringing everyone to the table,” said Churchwell. “His hard work made Food Is Medicine St. Pete happen.”
Currently, Food is Medicine St. Pete has been showing progress as it has reached its third-class series (it launched Aug. 16). Churchwell noted that they are still learning more about the community’s needs, and they accomplish that by conducting class surveys.
“I have been really intrigued by what I have seen coming out of the urban agriculture initiatives in St. Pete and have even sampled some of the delicious and healthy produce,” Churchwell said.
The Food is Medicine program could extend to other areas across the state of Florida that finds itself in a food desert.
“Food Is Medicine St. Pete is a standard template of free health screenings, free health education and access to fresh produce,” Churchwell explained. “This template can be replicated and altered to fit the needs of any community – to help address the needs and concerns of specific communities.”