Natty Boh Vinaigrette, perhaps?

What’s your favorite food?

OK, what’s your favorite nutritious and healthy food?

Given that the top ten favorite foods in the United States include burgers, hot dogs, fries, oreos, ice cream, and pizza, it’s unlikely that those two items you listed are the same (USA Today claims that the second and third most popular foods in 2013 are “fruit” and “vegetables” respectively, but I have my doubts about that).

Baltimorean specialties are also unlikely to fall into the healthy and nutritious category, no matter how delicious the fried chicken or tender the pit beef. However, as hipster culture has filtered out to the larger community and policymakers have shifted toward making a concerted effort to promote healthy food options, Baltimore may be undergoing a healthy food renaissance. Since it is National Nutrition Month, it seems appropriate to acknowledge progress in a positive direction (despite ongoing concerns of limited food access and food deserts).

However, as Amber and Robyn have pointed out in some truly stellar pieces recently about the racial and cultural divisions in the city, a new addition to the Woodberry Kitchen franchise in Belvedere Square or Charles Village does not provide the high quality healthy options that people need in areas bereft of supermarkets. A more comprehensive, holistic solution is clearly necessary to bring the benefits of the organic/natural/healthy/hipster/minimalist/traditional food movement to those who need it most, i.e. those with limited access, time, or financial means to eat healthy food.

The Today Show has chosen Baltimore for it’s “Shine A Light” campaign to improve health and wellness in 2014, based on votes on social media. Whether or not Baltimore is a logical choice for the Today Show is being debated on their Facebook page. Personally, I wonder whether this type of campaign will make much difference, but there is certainly a great need for solutions. Baltimore has higher than average rates of disease burden, poverty, substance abuse, and homelessness than the state and national average.

One strategy that has been percolating for some time is to re-orient the corner stores toward supplying healthier foods. Many neighborhoods that lack easy access to supermarkets are served exclusively by these stores, which typically offer lots of deliciously salty packaged snacks, cigarettes, and other comforts. An initiative formally launched a couple of weeks ago by city officials funds a collaboration between the city and a number of the neighborhood institutions to bring fresh vegetables and other healthy, nutritious foods to under-served communities in west Baltimore. This effort is (at least on it’s face) an excellent example of an intervention in population health that targets a need by leveraging the relationships and resources already available to the community. 

The incentives for store owners are strong – support from government on a new, potentially risky venture, free advertising exposure, and a chance to deepen and broaden their influence in the community. Residents win as well, with added attention from city officials there is a potential ripple effect on other city services, the addition of easily accessible fresh foods for meals, and the undeniable benefits of positive energy and attitude that come with positive change.

A question that we have debated in this space and others is whether positive change is truly what is occurring. Is a change initiated from the lofty towers of Johns Hopkins or City Hall really the kind that neighborhoods in Baltimore need, or are the projected needs of the affluent (or merely well-intentioned) mistaken in their assumptions?

Regardless of the answer, there are clear needs in our city, and the symptoms include health disparities tied to healthy food. If the Today Show, the mayor, and the universities want to try to help, then we should all encourage that help, while advocating that the voices of those who are impacted are heard.

Finally, in case you’ve gotten all the way to this point and are wondering about the title, I want to encourage all of us who are engaged in some way or another in the gastric renaissance of Charm City to maintain awareness of what makes Baltimore so idiosyncratically delightful. Keep the crabs, the chicken box, and the pit beef when you design your new hipster restaurant, but feel free to put a spin on them, and I’ll take my salad of urban farm greens with the Natty Boh Blue Cheese vinaigrette.