The spread was appropriate for International Food Day, a holiday the Bloomington food pantry marks with its annual Pie Fest.
Carrying plates of pie and cups of hot apple cider, people milled about the small center, listening to talks and watching demonstrations. Kayte Young, Mother Hubbard’s nutrition education coordinator, made fresh apple crisps in the kitchen, letting spectators in on her cooking secrets.
“A lot of times people don’t think of pie as a healthy food, but it’s a great way to feature local and seasonal produce,” she said.
Baked goods are not the only way the nonprofit works with produce. In an effort to increase access to food, Mother Hubbard’s coordinates regular gardening workshops and partners with organizations like the Bloomington Community Orchard.
Pies also tie into the nonprofit’s educational goals. They try to regularly share recipes and encourage their clients to cook food at home.
“We want to show that even desserts, if you make them yourself, can be both wholesome and delicious,” Young said. “You don’t have to give up sweets and the comfort food you love to live a healthy lifestyle.”
The day’s main event centered around the Bloomington Food Policy Council’s new Food Charter.
“It’s our way of getting the larger community and the city and county governments to get a basic idea of what we want our food system to look like as a community,” said Stephanie Solomon, the Mother Hubbard’s director of outreach and education.
The city and county councils have already endorsed the charter, which includes sections on community collaboration, local food, sustainability, food security, food justice and food literacy.
The next step in the process, Solomon said, is getting more community feedback and developing a food action plan.
Pie Fest attendees were given stickers that they could place next to the charter statements they felt were the most important.
“Supporters of the food charter will regard sustainability as essential to all aspects of food security planning,” was followed by a lot of stickers.
“Supporters of the food charter will encourage community gardens, home gardens, rooftop gardens, orchards and edible landscaping to increase food self-reliance and enhance the development of community,” was the most popular statement.
After voting, people were encouraged to discuss tangible ways they could work to live out the charter’s creed.
One suggestion was for the city to allow higher fences in yards for people who want to protect their gardens from deer. If deer are less likely to eat the produce, people will be more eager to plant gardens.
Right now, fences in front yards can’t be higher than four feet, a height deer can easily jump over, one woman said.
In order to help with food accessibility in Bloomington, people can volunteer at Mother Hubbard’s and other local food pantries or, for a $10 membership fee, join the Bloomington Food Policy Council.
