Everyone seems to have selected very provocative ideas for their final project. I however, chose to do tackle the challenging task of featuring a farmer’s market in downtown Phoenix. Upon initial approach, this story may appear to be trivial in nature and merely highlight a food related event.
My thought process, however, was one that began upon my arrival to the city. My hair gel and shaving cream was confiscated at the airport because I did not follow the 3-1-1 rule. Essentially, I should have not brought liquids onto the plane. Needless to say, I spent day one frantically searching for a market of some sort in order not to offend any of my other fellows.
While I did find a CVS a mile away, I realized that there were no supermarkets, or banks for that matter, which were visible and easily accessible. Being a graduate of an Urban Planning program, I immediately began to question how residents of downtown Phoenix obtain their food. Do they have to drive far? Where is the nearest place to acquire fresh fruits and vegetables? Is the obesity rate higher in the metropolitan Phoenix area due to a lack of accessible healthy food? Then again, fast food eateries are not readily available as well.
I also thought of urban gardens, patio gardens, and informal exchange programs among community. Hence, the possibilities are plentiful in terms of potential follow up stories. Having said that, I’m off to the farmer’s market
Eric Gutierrez
Whitney High School
Cerritos, CA
Posts
Just the other night I was talking about the apparent blandness of downtown Phoenix. Mi Amigo's were just plain sad. I've had better at Taco Bell, not to mention the local Mexican eatery in Baltimore. Sad. There has got to be some culture out there, and I think the market would be a great place to find it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your story goes, I would make it a community angle. As people where and how they stay informed. Ask them where a good cheap bar can be found. Just get out and talk to them about issues. Isn't this reporting?
This might be a great place to get the human side of my story as well. I'll ask them where I can get a real taco too. Locals always know.
Adam Haller
Northwestern High School
Baltimore, Md
Good after dinner trip for sure. Ran into Jose Diaz and his Cafe Justo (Just Coffee) stand. I got a fine iced coffee with half & half and agave. I found a source for my story as well. The idea is to get out into the community. And while I am a long way off from Park Heights in West Baltimore, this is all the more reason to get out and talk to people, which has become a consistent theme at the institute. Pictures to follow.
ReplyDeleteAdam Haller
Northwestern High School
Baltimore, Md
I was browsing the literature from the Cronkite School, and somewhere (please don't punish me for not being able to make a proper attribution here) the Cronkite School of Journalism is hopefully going to help change things and the theory is it can become a starting point for some downtown revitalization.
ReplyDeletewith so little around here I do wonder exactly why the parking rates are over $20/day...
Jeff Jones
Miyamura High School
Gallup, NM
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ReplyDeleteYour idea will only be trivial if you approach it that way. I'm sure there are a dozen stories lurking in there. Not just the economic reasons and all that, but the human interest stories as well. Who are the people that work the market? Is this a glimpse of the "real Phoenix" and the area developments idealize version of downtown? Where do these people live? What else do they do when they are not working the market? With water issues in Arizona, how do they grow their fresh vegetables? It's all how you look at it.
ReplyDeleteAlma McDonald
Hattiesburg High School
Hattiesburg, Miss