As Baltimore was convulsed by protests in 2015 over the death of a young black man in police custody, a handful of people in the eastern US city started worrying about a related issue: food.<\/p>\n
Thousands of demonstrators thronged the coastal city’s streets to protest the death of Freddie Gray, forcing shops and schools in some neighborhoods to close \u2013 creating sudden food deserts, particularly for many people without a vehicle.<\/p>\n
“People didn’t have access to food,” said Darriel Harris, a Baptist preacher, noting that many in the impoverished community where the protests hit hardest ate hand to mouth, relying on convenience stores or school lunches.<\/p>\n
“If you’re getting your food from school or if you’re getting your food from the corner stores, and then the schools and the corner stores close \u2013 then how can you eat? It became a huge issue,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.<\/p>\n
In response, Mr. Harris and two others quickly began to organize, drawing on contacts who had access to farms in nearby states and bringing supplies into affected neighborhoods to distribute via a local church, one of several groups doing so.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n https:\/\/t.co\/NXJq0OdqMd<\/a><\/p>\n — G. Jeffrey MacDonald (@gjmacdonald) November 27, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n