By Cyrus Moffett

Have you heard of a food desert? You have probably heard of the Mojave and/or the Sahara desert, but this specific term is somewhat more nuanced. A food desert implies a dearth, or a lack, of food retail stores, or anything similar, in a certain area. Imagine driving in Kansas City and not finding a McDonald’s for miles, or even a Hy-Vee or  local restaurant – that’s basically a food desert. In the United States, the land of plenty, one might think that such occurrence is a rarity, but it can happen on occasion.

On March 4, Kanbe’s Markets, along with the JCCC Center for Sustainability, will be making a presentation that deals with this and other closely related issues. 

Simply put, Americans waste tons of food. Kanbe’s Markets wants to ameliorate this discrepancy by saving and reusing certain types of food wastes. It’s a bit like recycling plastic or paper on and off campus. While the workings of such are not identical, the general gist of what Kanbe’s Markets does is significantly similar.

On their Website, Kanbe’s makes it stunningly clear what their purpose purportedly is. “Kanbe’s Markets is on a mission to build a more inclusive food system by transforming food loss into food access.” (Source: http://www.kanbesmarkets.org ) In other words, food that is wasted is hopefully salvaged and given back to the consumer in some form or another. What is being undertaken may seem to be a drop in the bucket, but organizations like Kanbe’s accomplishes what it can.

The Center for Sustainability’s Krystal Anton agreed to answer a few questions concerning this pertinent presentation. 

What is your role at the Center for Sustainability?

“I am the Zero Waste Coordinator, and I also run the JCCC Bird Window Strike Study.”

What will the presentation on March 4th be like?

“Sydney Schier, Redirection Coordinator for Kanbe’s Markets, will speak about their mission to build a more inclusive food system by transforming food loss into food access. its impact across Kansas City, and ways students can get involved!”

How would you define the following terms that are floating about in our society and media – food security, and food desert, for example?

“Food security, the ability to access enough healthy food and meet nutritional needs easily.

Food desert, areas where nutritious food is not readily available due to lack of stores that sell it, or inability to travel to places that do.” 

What would be a key motivator to have people – students, etc. – attend the event? What will 

everyone learn from such?

“Food deserts can exist in rural and urban areas. The JOCO Food Policy Council identified food deserts in Olathe, JOCO, and Edgerton. It’s something that students should be aware of, and learning about it can spark interest into several types of careers, plus the ability to get involved in solving it.”

Who arranged the event? Who did you work with in terms of creating and promoting this event?“Rachael Rost-Allen, the Sustainability Education and Engagement coordinator arranged the event as part of the Sustainability Distinction Program where students can get a distinction on their transcript for taking classes with sustainability components and participation in related events. JCCC Marketing team along with our outreach intern have worked on the marketing of the event.”

Is there anything interdisciplinary about this event? That is, did you work with other departments at JCCC? Also, did you work with the Johnson County community outside of Kanbe’s Market? 

“No, Rachael set up the presentation on her own, but it’s applicable to the Food Ethics class and the Sustainable Agriculture program.”

Kanbe’s Market is well known in the sustainability work of the KC region, they won an award from Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) in December for their work, as did JCCC for our Powerswitch program which has gotten us to 97% renewable energy on campus. JCCC Center for Sustainability is involved in both the JOCO Food Policy Council and the Kansas City Food Policy Council.

The presentation will be in JCCC’s Craig Auditorium on Wednesday March 4th, from 3 to 4 PM.