Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 153

CHAPTER 4 BOX 4.6 BUILDING WELCOMING COMMUNITIES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER Church World Service For newly arrived refugees, accessing an adequate supply of nutritious food in the United States is not always easy. Like many immigrants, refugees often live in neighborhoods with limited access to retail grocery stores, and have limited purchasing power and information on healthy food choices. These factors, along with the influence of U.S. food practices, often lead to increased fat and sugar consumption, increased utilization of processed foods, and decreased consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits among refugee families. Limited access to nutritious food in the United States can exacerbate health problems, particularly among refugees who have suffered inadequate nutrition while living in camps for extended periods of time. For example, 63 percent of Bhutanese refugees arriving from camps in rural Nepal—one of the largest refugee groups that have resettled to the United States in the past five years—are vitamin B12 deficient. As a faith-based humanitarian agency, Church World Service (CWS) is addressing these nutrition and food security needs through the involvement of local congregational supporters and civic groups. In Greensboro, North Carolina, CWS has launched two community gardens, one with the support of a local Presbyterian church and the other in partnership with a local agricultural extension cooperative. These gardens provide newly arrived refugees an opportunity to grow fresh produce, including both crops from their home countries and crops that are local to their new communities. “Through community gardens,” notes Sarah Ivory, Director of the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program in Greensboro, “our clients have the opportunity not just to nourish their families with fresh foods, but also to nourish their spirits through the land and the community of the gardens. This project reminds us that when we work together in the fight against hunger, we often succeed in impacting our communities in ways that are more far reaching than we know.” Courtesy Church World Service The community gardens in Greensboro, North Carolina, not only improve refugees’ access to nutritious food, they also create a space where newcomers to the community can meet one another. Andrew Fuys, Sarah Ivory, Jennifer Smyers, Sarah Krause, Matthew Hackworth, and Erol Kekic of Church World Service contributed to this article. www.bread.org/institute? ? 2014 Hunger Report? 143 n