Wean Foundation gets grant for food program

By William K. Alcorn

WARREN — The Raymond John Wean Foundation has received a $200,000, two-year grant to launch a new, healthful-foods access program: the Mahoning Valley Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance.

The alliance will serve Warren and Youngstown.

The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership supplied the grant. The Wean Foundation will supply matching funds from its endowment, said Joel Ratner, foundation president.

“The foundation wants to use these funds to make healthful- eating choices accessible to everyone,” Ratner said.

“For many Mahoning Valley residents, good health is simply beyond their reach. People without means, living in the cities, don’t have access to full-service grocery stores. Too often they have to get their groceries at corner stores, which stock more alcohol than fresh vegetables,” he added.

For the last two years, the Wean Foundation has provided significant financial support to nutrition programs, such as farmers markets and community gardens, for underserved neighborhoods.

Ratner said the Mahoning Valley Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance will expand on those efforts by providing leadership and grass-roots organization centered on all aspects of healthful-foods accessibility.

“We’re going to reach out and actively support a local food policy council,” Ratner said.

The council will examine the food network available in urban centers and recommend positive changes, which may include more community gardens or hike-and-bike trails to encourage healthy lifestyles; or perhaps supporting local farmers and small grocers who make fresh produce available within the city limits.

The group also may push for legislative action in the cities to make access to healthful foods more equitable, Ratner said.

“Whatever the specifics, the Mahoning Valley Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance will constantly be driving toward creating a community where economically challenged parents never have to forsake good nutritional choices for their children,” he added.

alcorn@vindy.com