More than 200 businesses were destroyed by violence, with as many as 150 more severely damaged. When the fires were put out, people in many of Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods faced difficult challenges finding food and medications. The Maryland Food Bank delivered more than 90,000 pounds of food to area food pantries in the wake of the violence, and community leaders have talked about food justice as a central tenet of rebuilding and revitalizing neighborhoods on both the East and West sides of the city. But the problem of healthy food being accessible is not new to the neighborhoods that were most affected by rioting.
Michele Speaks, the Major Gifts Officer at the Maryland Food Bank, is in the studio. She opened Apples and Oranges at the corner of North Avenue and Broadway in East Baltimore, an area that is one of the city’s many food deserts. It closed earlier this year. Holly Freishtat is here as well. She is the Director of Food Policy for the city of Baltimore.
Saturday May 30th, the Baltimore Food Justice Committee, working in partnership with the Baltimore City Health Department, is hosting the second annual Baltimore Food Justice Forum from 9:30-3:00 at the Lexington Market.
