Albany

One in seven Americans receives food stamps.

Republicans say that statistic shows a disturbing rise in government dependency. Democrats say it shows the prevalence of poverty and believe reducing food stamp availability would hurt the most vulnerable.

Both arguments contain some truth. But here's a little-known piece of the federal program that should bridge the political divide: Food stamps can be used to buy plants and seeds.

They can be used to start a garden.

That under-the-radar aspect of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) dates to 1973 and was passed with bipartisan support. I don't know about you, but I think it deserves more attention.

Here's why: Good food grown close to home is the best way to alleviate hunger, obesity and the many health problems associated with low-nutrient diets. Gardens can be especially valuable to the poor, who often have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

I know what some of you are thinking. People in, say, Arbor Hill are supposed to grow their own food? Where would they get the land?

I refer you to Ron Finley, the guerilla gardener of South Central, who famously decided to grow food along parkways near his home. He notes that his city, Los Angeles, has enough city-owned vacant lots for 726 million tomato plants.

A YouTube video of Finley talking about his gardening philosophies has been viewed nearly two million times. It's loaded with good advice:

"Grow your own food. Growing your own food is like printing your own money."

"When kids grow kale, they eat kale. If they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes."

"Be gangsta with your shovel, and let that be your weapon of choice."

There are plenty of empty lots in Albany. Schenectady and Troy, too. Let's get them tilled. Who's with me?

I'm not saying gardens alone can feed the hungry or solve all nutrition problems. The depth of poverty is too deep and upstate winters are too long.

But as we debate the appropriate size of the food-stamp program — Republicans in Congress are proposing a five-percent cut to its $80 billion annual budget — it's remarkable that self- or community-grown food is never part of the discussion.

I just saw "A Place at the Table." It's a documentary that details the incredible problems with our food system, including the "food insecurity" experienced by 50 million Americans.

The movie puts real and heartbreaking faces on hunger, and the families say they rarely eat fruits and vegetables. As I watched, I kept waiting for someone, anyone, to mention home gardens as a partial answer to the problem. Nobody did, though much of the movie focused on rural households with ample land.

Federal action was presented as the only solution to hunger. Nobody suggested helping the poor help themselves. Food was shown only as a consumer product.

In a way, I get that. As I've mentioned here before, I grew up in a poor family that at times received food stamps. And, no, we never had a backyard garden. It just never occurred to us.

As a people, we've become remarkably disconnected from the origins of food. It's as though we've forgotten that a small garden plot, or a lonely apple tree, can produce remarkable amounts to eat. We're conditioned to think food comes only from the supermarket, or worse, a box or can.

In part, that shows the success of food marketing; we're inundated with ads for factory-made junk. And many of the massive companies that make corn syrup and other junk food ingredients get federal subsidies, while the typical broccoli or lettuce farmer gets no such help.

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Yet we wonder why healthy food is more expensive, or why poor families struggle to afford it.

It's time to rethink those subsidies.

To end hunger and nutrition problems, we need to rethink our mentality about food. We need to stop viewing food as something that comes from somewhere and someone else.

In food deserts, where people are hungry, why not plant apple trees along roads and blueberry bushes in parks? Why forbid backyard chickens that turn table scraps into nutrient-dense eggs?

Why not donate city-owned vacant lots to gardening groups? How about having gardens at schools, and letting students take home the fruits and veggies of their labor?

Why not publicize that food stamps can be used to buy plants and seeds?

These things alone wouldn't end the need for food stamps. But they'd be a start.

cchurchill@timesunion.com • 518-454-5700 • @chris_churchill