In most places these days, food is something you buy in a supermarket. It’s gotten so some towns hardly have sidewalks anymore, just roadways for people to drive from place to place. It’s the kind of set up that can actually affect people’s health. But, the town of Pulaski, in southwestern Virginia is on a tear to bring back those lost connections.
Every Tuesday night, a magnificently restored train station is the back drop for the Pulaski Farmer’s market. This former manufacturing town is looking to rebrand itself into a go to destination for food and fun.
“We’re noticing a change. We had 29 venders here last night," says Nichole Hair, Pulaski town manager. "When the town of Pulaski took on the management of the marketplace two years ago we had a dozen to 15 venders. We’re doubling that, so we’re seeing an interest in our community."
And they’re seeing support from their federal partners. Pulaski is one of just 14 out of 70 applicants, to win a Smart GrowthLocal Food, Local Places grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to beef up their town.
Alison Hunter says, “We laugh about this, but we all went to the interview and we’re like ‘we’re not going to get this.’ Still, they decided to just go ahead and tell their stories to the panel of the sorts of signs they were seeing in town about how things there should and could be.
Hunter is Executive Director of the Pulaski County YMCA. She says, “Beside being seen as a ‘child care desert’ I think we’re seen kind of as a food desert as well.”
But with the help of Master Gardeners, they managed to build raised planting beds as part of the push to bring farm to table, and here’s what says it all.
“A little boy came up to me and said, Miss Alison, what’s a beet? Hunter smiles, “and he had this, covered in soil, brown thing. He had never seen that before. So, we roasted the beets and he got to taste them. She says, it was like an epiphany for me because these kids don’t even know what a lot of these vegetables even are.”
“And that’s one of the reasons we went into farming,” says Amy Tanner, “because, growing up food was community.” She and her husband started Pear Tree Hill Farm a few years ago, alongside their day jobs.
“And through that sense of community – we participate in Pulaski’s farmers’ market and we’ve met so many amazing people; Chefs, young people, older people, all walks of life, we love it and we have become a part of the local community just because we put seeds in the ground. As a farmer, part of our responsibility is educating people, ‘where did this food come from? What’s the benefit? And how do you cook it.”
Next Monday the EPA is coming to town to see what’s being done and what still needs doing. Where are the points of connection needed most?
Hunter points out one area of concern. “The YMCA is about two miles from the down town area, but it’s not walkable. There are homes for low income residents nearby, but there’s no way for them to walk to the facility on foot. There are high grasses and no trail through it. “So, when we were first talking about it, my vision was, how do we connect the marketplace and down town Pulaski, connect our new trails with the well-known New River Trail, connecting all those pieces together, which has never been done?”
Town leaders are urging the public to attend a community meeting June 17th to share ideas for the following day’s Action Planning sessions for Pulaski’s future in food, community and better health.
Again, Nichole Hair: “We really want the community to come out and have a discussion with us regarding access to local foods. We’re inviting our farmers all of our communities, and anybody that might have an interest in this project, connecting our citizens to fresh healthy foods.”
Community Meeting: June 17 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Action Planning sesions: June 18 8:30 a.m. -4:00 p.m.
Location: Pulaski Train Station 20 S. Washington Avenue
Contact: Nichole Hair: 540-994-8610 / nhairApulaskitown.org
