Name: Charlotte Vitale

Social Justice Group: Food insecurity in NYC (B)

Date of Fieldwork: January 16, 2025

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Laura Sewell the Executive Director at EVCC

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

My group met with Laura Sewell, the Executive Director at EVCC (The East Village Community Coalition), to talk about her organization’s work on food insecurity. Right from the beginning we talked about EVCCs work on food insecurity. One of the things she told us about was the community fridge that she maintained for many years. She said that they had to move the fridge because people complained about fights or noise due to the fridge but it still exists just not as close to the area. Another thing we talked about were the causes of food insecurity in the East Village. One of the things she highlighted was covid´s effects on people in the area. She talked about how many people became food insecure without even knowing that they were at risk of becoming food insecure.

Another thing we talked about was food waste in the area, especially considering restaurants. Laura told us about how many restaurants do not want to waste food and how local restaurants are actually some of the best resources for community feeding. She also talked about the amount of food that bakeries waste because they have to cook in batches and cannot always predict the amount of food that will not be sold by the end of the day. She also mentioned how originally when she was giving out food she tried to keep it healthy but in the end, realized how special it is for people to get a treat. She also said that people are never too young to start trying to make a difference.