Beef in Oregon isn't required to be graded according to the USDA grades, but magically I still know that top sirloin from New Seasons is way better than from winco or safeway.

Just another thing for gov to screw up..

Do these yahoos get paid for this?

I'll be amazed if this doesn't wind up pushing the wonderfulness of New Seasons everywhere for everyone, further persecuting lower income people right out of Wonderfulness City.

Lamb's sells prime beef, and it's excellent.

Deliciously ridiculous. This is my former neighborhood, definitely not a food desert ...let's see - Safeway at 122 & Glisan, Fred Meyer at 102 & Halsey, and 2 Wincos (102nd and 122nd), 2 McD's, Burgur King, Taco Bell, Skipper's, Burgerville, Arby's, Wendy's, K-Mart, Target, Bi-Mart - all within 2 miles of my home on 146th & Halsey. Crap - just crap - at a low, low price of $100K plus.

Molly don't forget the Barn on 148th that sells fresh produce. I don't think Trimet goes near the place though.

Sorry, I forgot the KFC and the several seasonal farm produce stands down Sandy Blvd way and COSTCO! for goodness' sake. The typical resident out 122nd Ave has more choices than many other Portland residents.

Trimet 12 and 23 go to the nearest intersectionn of The Barn.

What a hopelessly masturbatory exercise. Waaaaaay too much time on their hands.

Way too much MONEY on their hands. Vote with your feet people, if you can.

Go to the next meeting of the commission. It'll be like watching Portlandia, only you don't have to pay for cable TV.

Molly--you forgot Grower's Outlet, which is an excellent source of local produce at a fraction of the cost of farmers markets! 162 & Glisan.

They claim that low-income people have the time, but not the knowledge/mindset, to have a community garden plot. Have they ever had one? Do they not know how much time it actually takes to keep one up? And they think that getting to your garden plot by Trimet is a reasonable plan? If you aren't there watering daily in the hot weather, your garden is toast. And if you don't keep up with weeding, you might get evicted by the garden managers.

You aren't going to change peoples' eating habits just by forcing stores to offer more local produce, or by eliminating junk food. You have to educate (in the very best sense of the word) people, helping them to understand the benefits, guiding them through what might be unfamiliar territory (what the heck do you do with a raw beet anyhow?), showing them that produce isn't always outrageously expensive, and letting them taste and sample a lot. The libraries often offer classes in computer literacy, knitting, and other topics. Perhaps people (not necessarily library/government staff) could use the space to offer classes in cooking unfamiliar produce, or having apple tastings, or other things to introduce people to better food options.

The neighborhoods along 122nd have their fair share of problems, a lack of access to nutritious food just isn't one of them. There are plenty of places to get fresh produce.

How about doing something about our outrageous water bills so we can grow our own veggies? Or the city could do something about the gun violence, property crime, and drug dealing that keeps happening out that way.

Besides, it's just not possible for the entire population to eat organically grown food. Without chemically produced nitrogen products to fertilize food 100's of millions or even billions of people would starve to death around the globe. Why are we spending time and money trying to subsidize such a backwards endeavor in the first place?

Keep Portland anachronistic!!

PP - your point about chemical N is based on flawed assumptions. We could easily feed the planet with organic production, it would just require vastly more labor, making it more expensive. However, this shift would repair all the broken river delta fisheries suffocating from excess N flushed out of agricultural zones, increasing the fish catch globally. This system would also require careful integration of animal and plant production to maximize use of manure and compost.

We live in a world of convenience and pretend it's a necessity. The food policy council actually tries to be part of the solution to that misconception.