Virginia State University’s Community Assessment is One More Step Towards Addressing Local Food Insecurity
An urban garden near the Harding St .Urban Ag Center in Petersburg, VA.
The Harding St. Urban Ag Center in Petersburg, Virginia has one mission: to address existing food deserts in the City of Petersburg by building a sustainable food production system and distribution hub. This includes educating the community about indoor food production operations, marketing, and entrepreneurship. To help further this mission, Virginia State University’s (VSU) Extension Program is spearheading efforts to change the policies behind some of the local problems of quality food access.
VSU’s Dr. Marcus Comer held a series of listening sessions with the community and various stakeholders and is analyzing an audit of current policies that will inform the new policy recommendations. “This food policy audit looks at land use policy, food policy, and health-related issues in municipalities; everything that ties into a vibrant urban agriculture system,” says Dr. Comer.
This work is the next step in a long process of VSU’s Extension program working to provide greater access to food in Petersburg. Dr. Comer and his team spent over a year reviewing current policies in Petersburg and examining urban agriculture models that other municipalities have already enacted. “We know what our recommendations will be, and they were confirmed through the listening sessions,” says Dr. Comer. “Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, and Northern Virginia have similar recommendations. Petersburg lacks a lot of environmental policies and food policies.”
One of the most critical recommendations will address land use by designating areas of the city for urban agriculture. “Right now, all we have is land that’s dedicated as agriculture on the outskirts of town, for traditional agriculture,” Dr. Comer explains. “There’s nothing in the city itself.”
Another essential recommendation will seek to change school food policies to include healthy food options. Currently, no policies state that local schools must provide healthy foods. As Dr. Comer laments, “our schools here still only have sugary drink options in the vending machines, so we’re looking at a policy that will provide only healthier options, for example.”
Currently, Dr. Comer and his team are analyzing the audit. He expects to complete the analysis in October, at which point, hopefully, the City of Petersburg will embrace VSU’s recommendations for policy changes.
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