Women at work and their tips, challenges, advice, complaints, and experiences

I recently read an AP article discussing two studies that stated that many Americans can't afford to eat right.  The article goes over the two studies which examined the cost and availability of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as other healthy foods, in low-income and rural areas.  It also got my knickers in a twist, as the saying goes, because the "solutions" presented included a comment that "food stamp allocation could and probably should be increased and the government can do even better bringing in more farmers' markets and very low-cost sources of fruit and vegetables."

Pardon my bluntness, but it's about time for the American people to get off their butts and stop expecting the government to do everything for everyone.  It's not just about influencing "what happens in stores with subsidies, financial incentives, guidelines and public pressure."

Women in business have an opportunity here: we have a lot of power to affect change in every area of the country on this matter of health, both in our own homes and in those of the people who work for and with us, or buy our products and services.  What ever happened to the "teach the man to fish" concept?  What happened to the country that grew Victory Gardens, taught its daughters how to can and preserve food (whether home-grown or purchased in season), and generally encouraged citizens to keep themselves off the "dole"?

Here are five things you can do as a woman in business to help others better afford healthy food without encouraging government subsidies, financial incentives, or other options for the stores profiting from folks' purchases:

1. If you are an employer in a rural area, encourage your employees to create a garden of their own, where they can grow fresh produce.  Invite the manager of a local garden center to speak to your staff about items they can grow in the area, year-long or during certain seasons, so they can better learn what will grow successfully.  Allow a few hours one afternoon a week for employees to bring in their overage items and swap items with other gardeners, like a mini farmers market.  You'll fuel all sorts of interesting, healthy recipes, as no one will want to grow the exact same thing as their cubicle mates!
2. If you are a manager in a corporate environment, introduce the idea of edible landscaping on the corporate campus, or the creation of an employee garden.  Not only can staffers grow goods to take home to their families, they will benefit from the stress-release of working outdoors.  This is especially "doable" if your company has lots of green space taken up with water-hogging sod.  Sit down with the landscaping company and a garden book and set aside an area for folks to grow whatever they'll eat - as with community gardens in metro areas where citizens without property can garden.
3. Working downtown in the city?  Find a garden manager who can hold a series of seminars about container gardening.  Renters in high-rises can still grow things on balconies and rooftops - they just need to know what will grow and how to do it.  They might even be able to green the top of YOUR company's building!
4. The corporate jungle doesn't have to be all steel and glass.  If there are abandoned lots in your area, look into acquiring them for your employees to use as a community garden.  Too pricey for your smaller company's budget?  Approach decision-makers of other local businesses and chip in as a team to purchase or lease the lot.  Involve a local school or daycare.  Even more people will work the crops and benefit from the produce.  Convince them with stories about Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard project.  The whole community can band together and your business will get some super PR to boot.
5. If you're a home-based business owner or telecommuter, you're not out in the cold - you can actually do more than most other folks to create changes in lifestyles and behavior that will allow folks to afford healthier food.  Install edible landscaping or a kitchen garden in your yard/on your property (again: apartment dwellers or house renters - use containers; you can even grow APPLE TREES in containers!), band together with other business owners to create a public garden at a local park or open space; ask your children's school to create an edible schoolyard (science, math, and more in action; the health teacher will be thrilled too!); support farmers' markets and local agricultural co-ops with your paycheck; ask a local church or business to allow creation of a weekly farmers market in their parking lot for locals to frequent; and most of all, get involved with other businesses who are willing to help locals create gardens, learn to can, dry and preserve food, and generally encourage healthier eating and better budgeting.  Even banks will get in on that one - after all, folks who save money on food are less likely to overdraw their accounts and more likely to have money to put IN the bank for savings!

This is just the tip of the iceberg, ladies.  We can each do quite a bit to alleviate this situation.  We don't have to rely on the government to step in and subsidize everything.  We have the power to make changes in our own lives and to encourage and inspire others to do so as well.  It's a proven fact that fruits and veggies keep us healthy, as do whole grains.  It stands to reason that if you're an employer, you want healthier employees - it will mean better insurance costs, fewer sick days (for workers or their kids, who have to be taken to the doctor by someone!), and many other positives for employers who encourage better eating, more exercise, and smarter spending by their teams.  You also want customers who don't keel over from poor health - that way you'll still have jobs, right? 

This issue of affordability of healthy food affects us all - whether directly or indirectly.  It is time for women in business to address the issue and not just leave it to people who do studies and tell us what the problem is.  It's time to provide our own real solutions.