Feb. 19, 2004

A UMNS Feature By Amy Green*

You won't find hamburgers and hot dogs at this market, only fresh produce and an army of researchers ready to show you how to prepare a healthy meal.

Fed up with advising residents of north St. Louis to eat better yet knowing they don't have the resources to do it, religious leaders have joined with business people and St. Louis University researchers to open the Garden of Eden, a produce market in the basement of Union Memorial United Methodist Church.

The market opened last year with a grant of nearly $500,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was designed to offer the low- and middle-income community a healthy alternative to fast food by providing fresh produce at low prices, along with help preparing it. Now many look to the market to provide jobs and bring the community together in a common cause.

"It's one thing to tell people to eat better, and it's another thing to tell them to eat better and we're going to provide you with some resources to do that," says Orvin Kimbrough, executive director of the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis, which helped open the market.

Betty Carr of St. Louis is one of 50 customers who shop at the Garden of Eden each Saturday.

The CDC grant funding the Garden of Eden is among 25 awarded to communities across the country to promote locally based solutions to health problems. Other communities are addressing drug and alcohol abuse, asthma and suicide prevention.

Studies show that while 23 percent of Americans are overweight, the obesity rate for blacks is among the highest at 30 percent. St. Louis University researchers hope to improve that rate among urban blacks by giving them the food and recipes they need to eat better.

For example, supermarkets often cut their produce if it doesn't sell before it spoils - a concern considering the cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other illnesses that could be addressed with a better diet, says Beth Baker, associate professor of community health at St. Louis University. In north St. Louis, supermarkets have virtually left the area altogether, she says.

"Grocery stores are leaving the area, and fast-food restaurants are maintaining or even growing," she says. "It makes it so that individuals who want to make changes don't have access to do so."

At the Garden of Eden, shoppers browse in an atmosphere reminiscent of a farmer's market. Researchers give nutritional guidance and survey shoppers on their eating habits. Other workers, both staff and volunteer, show how to prepare healthy meals, give samples and offer recipes. Teens bag groceries, earning gift certificates to the local mall.

The greens are most popular, says Rose Goodrum, 72, who has worked at the market since it opened.

"They marvel over our greens. Our vegetables they say are first-rate, better than Dierbergs or Schnuks," she says, referring to other local supermarkets.

Besides the CDC and St. Louis University, the market is supported by Union Memorial United Methodist Church, the Interfaith Partnership and three other churches. Owners of other local supermarkets have helped train the staff, teaching how to select good produce and organize displays. One supermarket owner invited the staff to shadow him at his job.

The Rev. Lynn Mims, pastor of Union Memorial, says the church got involved because the effort was a solution to "organizations (that) come into poor communities ... and do research and never leave anything behind."

The Garden of Eden project in St. Louis teaches low- and middle-income families how to improve their health through better nutrition.

Suggested Articles Local church teams with Kroger to feed working poor Harvest of hope: The new gardens of Eden Camp Dogwood springs to life, mobilizes to battle hunger Churches open community produce store to teach about nutrition (AP)

Suggested Resources Centers for Disease Control The Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitian St. Louis