Slow food movement picks up speed in Baton Rouge

A small number of Baton Rougeans from different corners are working to bring life to areas of the city known as “food deserts.” Classified as an area overly reliant on nearby drive-thru joints and high-priced convenience stores, but lacking the physical or financial access to fresh foods and produce—and breeding everything from high blood pressure and heart disease to childhood obesity—Old South Baton Rouge between LSU and downtown is a textbook example. A Slow Food Baton Rouge chapter meets monthly on Saturdays following the Red Stick Farmers Market to plan ways to promote healthy eating. The city’s Center for Planning Excellence and the LSU AgCenter have their own urban agriculture efforts, including a new C-PEX program that could directly benefit Old South Baton Rouge. Read all about the efforts to bring nutritious food to all people in this month’s 225 magazine here.