02/01/2009

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/02/01/a_barren_landscape_...

By Meghan Irons, Globe Staff | February 1, 2009

The school at the square prefers to lead by example. So the french fries are baked. There are no processed foods and absolutely no junk food on the school's free meal plan.

"If I see a student eating food from McDonald's, to me it's like you have a cigarette in your hand," said Meg Campbell, executive director of Codman Academy Charter Public School in Codman Square. "Our kids are already at risk of hypertension and diabetes."

The academy, at the Codman Square Neighborhood Health Center, is working against the odds as the economy plummets and more people seek cheaper - and often unhealthy - meals.

It doesn't help that the school is in the midst of what health experts call a "food desert," where instead of a major supermarket, a KFC sits near one end of Washington Street, and a McDonald's anchors the other end. In between the two fast-food giants is a host of corner stores and small markets that sell anything from cigarettes to lottery tickets to groceries.

No organic or all-natural foods are sold there.

The ill effects of unhealthy choices in urban centers are catching the attention of Boston health advocates, who have been stepping up efforts in recent years to promote better eating choices in schools, corner stores, and bodegas in commu nities across Boston.

Originally, the health experts galvanized around the issue of hunger and lack of access to healthy food, but now they are also targeting unhealthy food choices, said John Cook, an associate professor at Boston University who recently concluded a campaign to reduce sugar, sweets, and sugary beverages at corner stores near schools in six neighborhoods, including East Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain.

"A big problem is that some of our communities are very rich in foods that are not so healthy - fast food, a lot of prepackaged and highly processed food," Cook said. "They are very inexpensive." But they are also loaded with sugar, sodium, and calories - all contributors to obesity.

Nearly 52 percent of Bostonians are overweight or obese, compared with 55.5 percent of people statewide and 61.6 percent nationwide, according to the Boston Public Health Commission's most recent figures, compiled in 2006.

Blacks and Latinos, who make up a bulk of many Boston urban centers, have higher rates of obesity. Other health problems - such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke - are directly associated with excess weight gain, the commission said.

In Dorchester, students at the Codman Academy school and community activists are pressing their case for a healthier Codman Square. They have organized against billboards that promote what they call unhealthy eating. Since November, they have attended the monthly hearings of the state's Outdoor Advertising Board to speak out against the dilapidated conditions of the billboards, as well as the unhealthy food choices they advertise.

And activists have been canvassing the area urging local grocers to stock healthy foods, said Cynthia Loesch, president of the Codman Square Neighborhood Council.

"We are really trying to change habits in our community," said Loesch. "As we are working on food and fitness, corporations like McDonald's and KFC and the [billboard] advertisements make it very difficult to reach people."

Concerned about the rising rates of obesity, the state launched a campaign earlier this month against the bulging waistline, proposing that fast-food chains be required to post calorie counts for their products. The measure would go into effect this fall if approved by the Massachusetts Public Health Council - an appointed board of doctors, consumer advocates, and medical leaders.

The city, which has launched a series of healthy living initiatives, has also encouraged restaurants throughout Boston to add or highlight healthy, lower-calorie menu options.

The Codman Academy's campaign against junk food is spilling into the neighborhood.

Last summer, Leosch helped spark a resurgence of a farmers' market, where she said thousands of dollars' worth of fresh fruits and vegetables were brought into the neighborhood for the first time.

Some businesses new to the area are also getting on the healthy food kick.

A sign outside Kool Stop convenience store, near the courthouse, advertises "soda, snacks, and fruit."

Owner Bessie Slaughter said she's long been into healthy living and wants her customers to eat healthy, too.

"I do it because of the kids," she said in her store recently. "When the kids come in I tell them that they are not only going to get snacks. I tell them to get a fruit. . . . The parents agree with me."

Merry White, an anthropology professor at Boston University, said there are pockets of hope. Some local ethnic markets - Hispanic grocers in East Boston, for instance - tend to put less value on processed foods and more on healthier goods.

"They are poor," she said, "but they see their food as coming from ingredients," not packages.

Cook calls these markets "food oases," and White says the focus should be on how to promote and sustain them.

Not everyone can join the effort, though, even if they want to, Cook said.

Nutritious food simply costs more, and that makes it a hard sell to the stores - and their customers - who are struggling.

But Codman Square activists, are still pushing, said Campbell, of the charter school.

"The whole effort," she said, "is to make Codman Square healthy and green."