Chez Mama Daisy's teaches cooking classes

Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 15:55

Healthy Soul Choice. The problem of food deserts, vast stretches of black neighborhoods without access to fresh produce and fruit, is causing a number of activists to spring into action. The restoration of New Orleans' Circle Food Market, which served the lower 9th Ward for 60 years, is being aided by business students at Tulane University. Indianapolis' Kerry Cowden has organized Healthy Living Urban Grocery to design new grocery formats. Treme' actor Wendell Phillips is seeking to launch new groceries in New Orleans.

Delicacies of the Day. A good place to recover from a long stretch in a food desert is Scott Barton's Gravy, 32 E. 21st St. in New York City for a smoked filet mignon.

Chief Popsicle Felicia Hatcher Pearson brings coolness into Miami's food deserts with her Feverish Ice Cream trucks including mojito strawberry or roasted plaintains.

Chez Mama Daisy's, 7701 Crenshaw in Inglewood, CA, teaches cooking classes for its neighborhood.

Favorite Farmer: Ralph Paige, executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund in Atlanta.

Cookbook of the Day: Black Family Dinner Quilt by Lauren Swann.