Foodlink’s 9th Annual Washington Square Park Farmers’ Market Packs Local Foods and Tunes Downtown

As Published in the Democrat and Chronicle’s Young Professionals’ Blog

Imagine live blues tunes echoing betwixt Downtown Rochester’s edifices, the scent of honey roasted nuts intoxicating pedestrians with every summer breeze, and all wrapped into the scenic atmosphere of a public park. Now, imagine this happening on a weekly basis, from 11 am to 2 pm, at the heart of Rochester, NY.

For nine years, this scene has been more than a phantasm. Yesterday afternoon, Foodlink kicked off its 9th annual Washington Square Park farmers’ market, which is sponsored by Excellus BlueCross Blue Shield and ESL Credit Union. From Xerox and Excellus employees to bikers and area college students, the market commenced with an impressive first day turnout. Vendors from Lagoner Farms, Florida Nut House and Special Touch Bakery offered an array of locally produced comfort foods to Rochester residents. Add a touch of smooth sets from local blues band Danny and the Rebel Rockers and you have yourself an unrivaled shopping experience.

Foodlink’s Washington Square Park farmers’ market is a part of a large trend across the nation. With a 150 percent increase since 2000, there are currently 7,000 farmers’ markets offering fresh local foods nationwide. The vast majority of the 7,000 markets accept EBT cards, or food stamps, so that those who face low food security can have quick and easy access to fresh foods. In addition to making healthy foods more accessible, the markets also support local farmers.

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New York Primary Results: Charles Barron vs Hakeem Jeffries Fight to Rep Brooklyn

As Published on PolcyMic

The scene surrounding primary elections in Brooklyn is no different than that fiery public speaker who gave out achievement awards at your elementary school graduation — it has huge implications, but stakeholders are too preoccupied and disengaged to realize how it can and will change their futures.

According to an informal NY Daily News’ survey, 61 out of 100 Brooklynites either did not know that there was a primary election coming up or did not plan on voting. In New York’s most heavily populated borough and the country’s 8th most populated county, that is a sad reality for the landscape of statewide and local politics. While we may often hear the lackluster explanation that people abstain from voting because they no longer trust government and/or its effectiveness, that excuse assumes that people are politically conscious enough of policies role in forming their surroundings to make an attentive decision not to vote. But the truth is that people, in fact, do not know when there is an election, who is their incumbent, what they have done and how it has affected their neighborhood.

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Economies Change; Hunger Persists. Take Action Today

As Published in the Democrat and Chronicle’s Young Professionals’ Blog

At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was once again a bearer of bad news. A combination of financial woes in Europe, the fiscal cliff (tax increases and government spending cuts that are being negotiated for 2013) and other factors will likely leave our nation’s unemployment rate hovering over 8 percent up until 2014, potentially leading to a double dip recession. The Feds’ sorry forecast for America’s economic growth has prompted the visibly frustrated Bernanke to pick up the pace and extend Operation Twist — yet another stimulus. Even with historically low interest rates, the $267 billion extension will likely drive long-term rates even lower in an attempt to make it easier for businesses and consumers to get credit.

Despite the most jovial and vehement critiques of our leaders’ policy adjustments, there remains a persistent social ill that stubbornly hides in plain sight. Domestic hunger stands out as a puzzling reality in our rich democracy. The fact that over 48.8 million Americans (14.5 percent), 16 million youth, one out of every four toddlers and an all time high number of working families have this vice in common is daunting…Read More

Disney Works its Magic: No More Junk Food Ads

First Mayor Bloomberg; now Disney.

This week, the Walt Disney Company took a bold step in the same direction as NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg by challenging the too big to constrain culture of the unhealthy foods’ industry.  In an utter display of its trademark corporate social responsibility, Disney will start banning the advertisement and marketing of foods that do not meet their nutritional standards. By 2015, all of the Fruit Loops and Happy Meal commercials that I grew up watching during ABC’s “One Saturday Morning” will be nothing more than an old memory.

Walt Disney’s ban takes Bloomberg’s gesture a million steps further. Not only are fast foods and sugary cereals banned from their airwaves, but all unhealthy foods that do not meet Disney’s criteria will be cut. That includes Capri Suns, Kraft’s Lunchables and the likes. In the most ideal outcome, the ban will accomplish two things: (1) Disney’s competitors—Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network—will follow suit; (2) companies will be forced to create more healthy products if it wishes to get back to marketing to children. Read More

Who Should I Vote For In NYC’s Mayor Race? Pick From An NYPD Chief, Lesbian, Asian, African American and … Jon Huntsman

As Published on PolicyMic

As the clock winds down to this year’s election season, New Yorkers are already looking 18 months ahead to what promises to be one of the most interesting and competitive mayoral elections to date. In a city where three-term mayors (Ed Koch and Michael Bloomberg) have dominated the political spectrum for the past few decades, 2013 offers a promising opportunity for new blood and fresh ideas to mix things up in the Big Apple.

The prospects for 2013 is appropriately shaping up to be a diverse, yet nearly equally matched pool of candidates that reflect the uniqueness of the city’s population — other cities across the nation should pay close attention and take notes.

Between a ballooning pension fund that is 499% of what it was in 2002, the controversy of Wal-Mart potentially opening up shop and killing New York’s trademark mom and pop shop business environment, and a police department that is scrutinized by city inhabitants as much as it is hailed by the rest of the nation, there are a myriad of hotbed issues in place for 2013. Here is a brief lineup of some of 2013’s favorites and long shots:

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Mayor Bloomberg’s Ban on Sugary Beverages Works Where the Feds Have Failed

As Published on PolicyMic

There has been a lot of buzz on the streets of New York City surrounding Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s efforts to ban sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces, at food providers regulated by the New York City Health Department. The recurring question is whether or not the government is overstepping its boundaries when it regulates what we can and cannot put into our bodies.

The short answer? There has never been a time that our government or municipalities did not regulate what we consume. In fact, legislations such as the Farm Bill even detrimentally contribute to obesity by subsidizing the mass production and inclusion of high fructose corn syrup — which many medical studies critcize for the addictive effects it has on nervous systems — into virtually everything that we eat.

The real questions that New Yorkers should be asking are: (1) Is this ban effective? And (2) Why aren’t the higher powers in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) fulfilling their role of addressing the public health of our nation?

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My Day at the Chase Corporate Challenge

As Published in the Democrat and Chronicle’s Young Porfessionals’ Blog

Nearly 10,000 people in one location for only a brief moment in time. I could never imagine seeing so many different shades, ages, shapes and sizes gathered in one spot in Rochester. The only time I’ve ever seen anything remotely close to the volume and diversity of yesterday’s crowd was at a John Legend concert at R.I.T. two years ago. But yesterday’s tune was not that of a Grammy Award winning pianist; it was the rhythmic sound of breathing and rubber soles pounding on the rocks and granite of R.I.T.

Three-hundred ninety-nine very different companies, ranging from debt collectors to plumbers, packed the college campus for the annual Chase Corporate Challenge — Foodlink was one of them. The atmosphere was one that was eerily familiar to NYC — could it be that Central Park’s Road Runners were supplanted in the ol’ Genesee? Can Rochester possibly have a space where all these organizations of different sizes can set up tents, grill, pop brews, vibe to music, network and enjoy one another? Fortunately, I was proven wrong; unfortunately, it only happens about once a year.

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