JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval Food Policy Council and Feeding Northeast Florida are hosting a free conference style event about the future of food in Duval County on Saturday until 6 p.m.
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They discussed topics like senior hunger, childhood nutrition, urban agriculture, and a poverty simulation designed to increase empathy and understanding of challenges faced those struggling to make ends meet.
Meghan Niemczyk is the Associate Director of the UNF Center for Nutrition and Food Security.
“Those are at risk populations with our seniors in particular...they’re on a fixed income and they don’t have access to funding...cooking food is hard,” Niemczyk said.
That was the first part of the day.
The Jacksonville Urban Cultural Tour started at 2 p.m. and will end at 6 p.m. People can get tours of various urban farms and community gardens in Jacksonville. You can also see how local farmers are finding innovative ways to create food sustainability.
Mary Ellen Waugh is the garden manager at BEAM, one of the 10 gardens that’s on the tour. It’s located at Jacksonville Beach and it was started 13 years ago.
“Everything we grow in this garden goes into our food panty. More and more people are deciding that they would rather eat healthy, and more people are being more adventurous in trying to grow themselves,” Waugh said.
