CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s Department of Public Health has a big task on its plate.
It involves fulfilling a new role, which is designed to address a serious problem health officials say needs to be addressed.
“People are hungry, people are unable to afford certain things, so this opportunity allows people to build a sustainable economy,” said Cleveland Public Health Director Dr. Dave Margolius.
Margolius understands it can be a challenge for some people to access fresh food and produce.
That’s why he’s a part of a plan with the city to hire a Food Systems Strategies Coordinator to address these food barriers.
“Food banks help with hunger but what we need to break down the system. The system that they call food apartheid,” said Margolius.
Margolius says this is when grocery stores are intentionally left out of certain neighborhoods.
“The East Side of Cleveland predominantly is what people historically have called a food desert,” said Margolius.
Because of this, David ‘Doc’ Hester developed his own urban farm to serve his community.
It’s called Rid-All Green Partnership, which is located in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood.
“We’ve been here in this establishment for like 13 years now, and the first couple of years, there was like no grocery stores in the immediate area and so that caused a disparity,” said Hester.
Since then, Hester said he’s seen some growth as more grocery stores are opening and people are starting to do their own gardening.
But he said more is still needed and believes having someone in this role is a step in the right direction.
“What I really want to see is nutritional food,” said Hester.
Ismail Samad also wants to see healthier options for people living in underserved communities, so he plans to join as one of several partners with Cleveland’s Department of Public Health to come up with solutions.
He runs an organization called Loiter in East Cleveland.
They focus on reconsidering and reimaging a different future for black communities – including addressing food barriers like this one.
“It’s a big issue. It’s a city issue. It’s a county issue. It’s a state issue. It’s a national issue and it’s a global issue,” said Loiter Co-Founder, Ismail Samad
Margolius says Cleveland will be the 20th city across the country to have someone in this position once the role is filled by July.
The person will remain in the job for a couple of years.
But Samad questions if this will be long enough.
“You have this spark and then it dies off, and then you said it didn’t work and so the proper allocation of funds have got to go into play to signal that it is a priority,” said Samad.
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