AHCJ2010 (part due) and the lack of veggies

Due (pronounced du-ay) is Italian for two. It's also the name of the restaurant where we ate deep dish pizza the second night at AHCJ2010.

Two was also the day sessions started. And they were some of the best sessions I've ever attended at a conference. The first session's title wasn't all that attractive (Incorporating social determinants into your local health coverage), but it's content was solid. Much of the conversation was on food deserts - and what defined or did not define this term. I liked Mari Gallagher's comment (that I tweeted): "The food desert is also a verb - to desert, to abandon - Chicago has seen abandonment over the past 30 years. #ahcj2010"


The main gist of her part of the session was about how the USDA isn't keeping tabs on stores it allows to accept food stamps, such as liquor stores that also sell junk food.

The next speaker, Bianca Alexander of Conscious Planet Media, showed the segment that won her and her husband a third place AHCJ award in multimedia for "The Color of Health, Part 1: A Growing Solution to the Food Desert Crisis." What stuck out to me wasn't her narration, although it was wonderful, but the video and quotes from a few of the people she interviewed.

One woman's quote stuck out in particular: "We can buy fried chicken all the time, but we can’t get no vegetables and fruit."

A man showed his plate of chicken and fried potatoes (and probably another starch, but I don't remember), and commented that "I think if we had vegetables and fruit in our neighborhood, I think people would be more interested in eating right...If I had a place where I could get bananas and fruit and things of that nature, then that would be helpful to me."

These are foods I take for granted. Most days out of the week, I'd be happy living off of vegetables, fruits and various starches (and butter. Don't forget the butter). I am not a meat and potatoes kind of gal. I'd be a vegetarian except for bacon and really good steak (and Zaxby's fried house salad). My stomach and tongue craves green - and carrots. But there are so many who don't have that as an option.

The point of Bianca's video wasn't the lack of good food, however, it's what poor neighborhoods in an inner city (Chicago, I think) are doing about it. I like, particularly, seeing kids plant a garden - and the hope of one man as he plants another. It's hope that something can be done, not handouts, I think, that will get people moving and eating better foods. It's encouraging to see teens interested in growing their own vegetables.

Now that I'm thoroughly craving brussel sprouts and green beans, here's a not-so-green pizza - my first Chicago deep dish pizza. And, because I hate pepperoni, the guys were nice enough to order sausage - and pesto for the vegetarian crowd. Mmm (unfortunately, I discovered that the deep dish was more bread than cheese and toppings. I was a little bit disappointed. And, thus, I'm more of a NYC kinda thin-crust pizza gal myself).

And, for good measure, a photo of the group that ate at Pizzeria Due (everybody but me is in the shot - the hand belongs to Sonya).