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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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Farms are spreading to unused city lots |
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and old properties across the United States. |
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These urban farms grow crops in areas |
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where people rarely buy fresh fruits and vegetables, |
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they also have the power to change what people eat |
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and the power to influence troubled neighborhoods. |
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Eco City Farms is an educational nonprofit organization |
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in Prince George county, Maryland. |
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It seeks to empower the community |
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by teaching economic development, |
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job training and a healthier way of living. |
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The group has set up farms near automobile repair businesses |
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and fast food stores in urban neighborhoods. |
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Social activist Margaret Morgan-Hubbard founded Eco City Farms. |
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She says the the lack of fresh produce |
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is a major health problem for children and their families |
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who live in nearby Bladensburg, Maryland. |
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"What's critical is that 70 percent of the people |
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in these towns are either overweight, obese, |
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have diabetes or other kinds of diet-related ailments |
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because they don't have access to healthy food." |
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Eco City Farms offer several programs, |
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including educational activists on agriculture, food, |
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and finding jobs with environmentally-friendly businesses. |
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People can also learn how to cook healthier foods |
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and teach others how to prepare meals. |
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On a recent day, Philip Sidibe demonstrated his cooking skills. |
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He prepared Aloco, a popular food in Cameroon where he grew up. |
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He and other young people not only cook their food, |
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they also grow it in a large garden |
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next to the Autumn Woods Apartments. |
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The apartments are home to 1,000 people, |
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but the community has just one small store. |
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Tameka Barbour-Gaskins lives in Autumn Woods. |
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She says her whole family is eating healthier meals |
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because of the local produce. |
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"I like junk food. I like quick meals. |
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Not easy to just go from eating a certain way all your life |
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to switching over to being healthier... |
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With the garden here, with my son learning, |
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he can help me switch around my style of eating. |
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I want a healthy family." |
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Margaret Morgan-Hubbard says |
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the urban garden is an agent for change |
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and the young people are its newest supporters. |
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"Our program is about planting seeds. |
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It's about planting seeds not just in the ground, |
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but in other human beings so that the movement can grow |
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and it's really exciting because... these young people |
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will be working with us throughout the year |
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to help plan the actual farm and to ultimately own it." |
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She says this means not only farming food, |
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but also making that food available to people |
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who live in the community. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. |
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I'm Christopher Cruise. |