We live in one of the richest countries in the world with an abundance of resources. However, we also have some of the highest poverty rates in the world. According to worldpopulationreview.com, the United States currently has the 4th highest poverty rate in the world. Millions of people struggle every day just to have the basic necessities. One of those basic needs is, of course, food. Across the country, many people live in a food desert. A food desert is an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. Sadly, most food deserts directly affect low income black and brown neighborhoods. As you can see from the map, there is a food desert located in every state of America! When you don’t have access to fresh food, your health can be negatively affected. Poor health almost always requires medical bills that cannot be paid. One of Hamama’s core beliefs is that all people should be able to have access to fresh and nutritious greens. So what does this look like on a larger scale? To a lot of people, it would be called Urban Gardening. Urban agriculture, urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. There are so many amazing people changing their communities one vegetable at a time. One of those organizations is Bonton Farms! Bonton Farms is located in South Dallas. Their mission is to transform lives by disrupting systems of inequity and laying a foundation where change yields health, wholeness and opportunity as the norm. To understand the significance of Bonton Farms is to understand the history of the Bonton neighborhood in South Dallas. Like many food deserts across America, the community of people is mainly made up of black and brown people. Unfortunately, in these neighborhoods many people live with health conditions and do not always have access to better job opportunities. The majority of the time, to level the playing field in food insecurity and poverty, these communities just need the access and additional resources. So Bonton filled the need. What started just as a farm, has grown tremendously. They now have a Market and a Coffee House. They are redefining what it means to show up for a community of people. They are not just providing a product, but investing in the well being of the people in the community! Bonton Farm provides nutritional counseling and has created multiple jobs in the community! Check out this awesome video to learn a little more about the impact of Bonton Farms in South Dallas. The inspiring part of Urban Gardens and Bonton Farms is that it can literally change lives. When we provide healthy fresh foods to communities that do not have access, it invites us to notice the other inequalities that show up in their lives. I think the Bonton CEO says it best: “ Investing in the soil yields healthy plants; Investing in the souls yields healthy people.” To learn more about the amazing things going on at Bonton Farms, you can visit their website here. If you would like to support Bonton Farms, and I know you want to, you can donate here.
