Somerville celebrates national Food Day this weekend

Somerville Food Day Weekend began yesterday with a Mobile Market Party at 268 Powderhouse Blvd. and will continue through the weekend with music, activities and food education as part of today's fourth annual Food Day nationwide celebration.

The weekend’s events are organized by Shape Up Somerville, a subset of the city’s Health and Human Services Department, and also include another Mobile Market Party on Saturday at 530 Mystic Ave. The mobile markets provide the focus of this year’s festivities, according to Shape Up Somerville Coordinator Erica Satin-Hernandez.

She added that the market, which this year runs on Thursdays and Saturdays from mid-June to early November, coincides well with national Food Day, which takes place on a Friday this year. National Food Day aims to improve food access, education and food justice nationwide.

“We’ve been working closely with the national organization and also state iterations, on helping get the word out and helping set up Food Day and making Food Day a success,” Satin-Hernandez said.

Every year, Food Day establishes a goal or theme to serve as a guideline for those planning local Food Day celebrations. This year’s theme is about food access and food justice, Satin-Hernandez said.

Satin-Hernandez hopes to use the Mobile Market Parties to introduce more city residents to Somerville’s Mobile Farmers’ Market. The market, which is run by Shape Up Somerville, works with Enterprise Farm in western Massachusetts to provide organic, fresh produce.

“There are certain areas in Somerville, and of course across the country … that have lower access to fresh fruits and vegetables, or there may not be grocery stores within walking distance, so bringing food to people where people need it is one of our major goals,” Satin-Hernandez said.

The markets sell produce at wholesale prices, saving residents money on the organic produce. They accept the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Electronic Benefit Transfer credit through coupons.

Director of Shape Up Somerville David Hudson said the local brass band Second Line would perform at the Mobile Market Party on Saturday. He added that Shape Up Somerville hopes for a turnout of 200 people, in addition to the regulars, at the parties.

After the weekend is over, Shape Up Somerville will continue to promote the goals of Food Day in the community, as well as gathering feedback about this year’s event, according to Satin-Hernandez.

“We don’t want to do a one-off event and then the after-effects go away,” she said.

Satin-Hernandez explained that Shape Up Somerville seeks to examine how residents are participating in urban agriculture and to generate more interest in the practice.

“This can help us in the future if there are advocacy events or policy efforts that we can look towards to help people improve their dietary choices improve food access for our community,” she said.

Rose Arruda, Food Day state coordinator for Massachusetts, said Food Day celebrations have expanded and diversified across Massachusetts each year.

While each year’s Food Day theme and goals come from the national Food Day agenda, the planning of Food Day celebrations around the state is local, with schools, cities and communities creating their own programs, according to Arruda.

“There are hundreds of activities going on around the state, many in schools,” she said.

Arruda added that the focus of Food Day celebrations around the state varies from food access and food policy to cooking education and nutrition.

Shape Up Somerville has worked to publicize Food Day Weekend largely through a combination of social media and targeted outreach to residents through flyers and personal outreach, especially in the neighborhoods where the events will be taking place.

“We’re … trying to get everyone who is coming to bring people with them,” Satin-Hernandez said.

The success of Food Day celebrations in Massachusetts is driven by what local communities need and what improvements people want to see in their food systems, according to Arruda.

“The food conversation keeps getting deeper and stronger,” she said.