Food City is a local initiative that aims to create a more inclusive, sustainable food ecosystem in the St. Louis area. This initiative allows the St. Louis community to battle food infrastructure and underlying diseases by changing diet and making healthier foods available.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2022, 1 in every 5 deaths was due to heart disease.
“With Food City, our vision of a food for all St. Louis [is] where everybody has access to nutritious food,” said Sara Bannoura, the research and storytelling program manager of Food City.
“To ensure they have that food, our farmers need access to the land, access to capital and resources,” she added. “They need to be seen as the solution. [What happens] if they stop growing our food or continue relying on everything that's processed and slowly killing us?”
Missouri has the second-highest number of farms in the country, which contribute to a $93.7 billion industry, yet an estimated 720,000 of its residents are food insecure.
“How is it that people are starving — that the heart of American agriculture still has thousands and thousands of children starving?” Bannoura said.
“[There’s] a 27-year difference in life expectancy between Webster Groves and Fairground Park,” she added. “This is because of an unequal distribution of resources.”
Urban farmers in the St. Louis region play a vital role in Food City’s initiative.
“Our farmers chose to change their lives and go back to the land because they knew that the solution lies within there. When you're talking about infrastructure, the simple solution of hunger is to feed people and grow food,” said Bannoura.
The majority of the crops grown in Missouri are used to make animal feed and biofuels. And much of the state’s corn is made into high fructose corn syrup, which is a main source of calories for people who are reliant on SNAP benefits.
People who have access to healthy food can help advocate for those who do not by using their purchasing power. Purchasing staples from a local farmer instead of a chain grocery store allows the farmer to continue to grow healthy food for the community.
“We're measuring [the impact of Food City] by the number of people we’re feeding by connecting our farmers with resources from the USDA,” said Bannoura.
In St. Louis, small farmers who have a garden lease with the Land Reutilization Authority could lose access to the land because they don’t have ownership. Food City helps farmers work toward ownership of their land and an expansion of their building capacity.
“We have the land, we have the food and we have the technology,” Bannoura said. “It’s just the people who need it don't have access to it, and that is part of our job — to bring them closer to it.”
To learn more about Food City’s initiative — and how you can help create a sustainable food environment — listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
