In 2007 the Pinellas County School Board stopped integrating schools, causing a shift in school demographics that was especially drastic for 5 elementary schools in south Pinellas: Campbell Park, Fairmount Park, Lakewood, Maximo and Melrose. These schools became noticeably segregated and performance dropped, they were dubbed “failure factories” in a Tampa Bay Times series about the schools. South Pinellas is also known for its lack of fresh food resources and could be considered a food desert. What is vital for a community to be a healthy and thriving population? That is a complicated question that cannot be answered in one paper, but nutrition and education are a good starting point. Not all communities have resources for fresh food and
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The existence of food deserts is a symptom and not a cause of complex social issues, but it also perpetuates the problem because people don’t have access to proper nutrition which effects their health and the health and development of children. If a food desert exists in a community, the community is likely struggling in other ways, such as education. Proper nutrition is important for development and learning, if a child doesn’t have access to fresh food at home they may be less likely to preform well in …show more content…
Food deserts are typically urban communities with more racial segregation and low income housing, these areas lack grocery stores but also have low performing school and a record number of school closures. Martinez uses the extreme example of Detroit who's economic status is rough to say the least. Around 2011 the emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, sent in by the state to cope with the $219 million budget deficit and declining school enrollment. Bobb’s plan to solve the problem involved the closure of 172 schools, and there had already been 29 schools closed the fall before that in 2010. School closures are not unique to Detroit; Cleveland, Chicago and Kansas City, MO also reported school closures around that time. The Kansas City school board decided to close about half of their 61 schools due to the possibility of bankruptcy. According to Martinez, “ All of these closures stem from two problems: significant budget shortfalls as a result of declining enrollment and perpetual underperformance of multiple schools” (Martinez 2011 pg 2). Some people see school closures as an opportunity to transform their school districts and others believe closing schools can only contribute to the abandonment of urban communities and that a neighborhood school is essential for the
The existence of food deserts is a symptom and not a cause of complex social issues, but it also perpetuates the problem because people don’t have access to proper nutrition which effects their health and the health and development of children. If a food desert exists in a community, the community is likely struggling in other ways, such as education. Proper nutrition is important for development and learning, if a child doesn’t have access to fresh food at home they may be less likely to preform well in …show more content…
Food deserts are typically urban communities with more racial segregation and low income housing, these areas lack grocery stores but also have low performing school and a record number of school closures. Martinez uses the extreme example of Detroit who's economic status is rough to say the least. Around 2011 the emergency financial manager, Robert Bobb, sent in by the state to cope with the $219 million budget deficit and declining school enrollment. Bobb’s plan to solve the problem involved the closure of 172 schools, and there had already been 29 schools closed the fall before that in 2010. School closures are not unique to Detroit; Cleveland, Chicago and Kansas City, MO also reported school closures around that time. The Kansas City school board decided to close about half of their 61 schools due to the possibility of bankruptcy. According to Martinez, “ All of these closures stem from two problems: significant budget shortfalls as a result of declining enrollment and perpetual underperformance of multiple schools” (Martinez 2011 pg 2). Some people see school closures as an opportunity to transform their school districts and others believe closing schools can only contribute to the abandonment of urban communities and that a neighborhood school is essential for the