Located on Chicago’s West Side, the Austin community doesn’t have a lot of healthy food options. A group of 22 partner organizations, called Austin Eats, is trying to change that. One of the ways is through twice-yearly food education events led by One Earth Collective. This summer we helped lead Austin Eats’ food education team to plan and put on a “Movie At The Farm” event that welcomed at least 150 people.
Much has been written about the lack of access to fresh and healthy foods in the West and South Sides of Chicago. Many of us read about it. Many of us live it. Some brilliant people are actively working to revise that story. People like Liz Abunaw, owner and operator of Forty Acres Fresh Market, which serves the city of Chicago and western suburbs along Interstate 290 up to Westchester, Ill. . . .
Abunaw is not alone in her efforts to enrich the local food supply. Austin Eats Initiative is a collaboration of organizations that promotes grocery access, culinary entrepreneurship, food education, community gardens, and urban farms in the Austin community, which is Chicago’s second-largest neighborhood by population and size. . . . On Thursday, Oct. 21, the group is staging a screening and discussion of the documentary film, “Can You Dig This.” You have two ways of seeing the film and participating in the discussion: in person or virtually.
