Buffalo is one of the poorest cities in the nation. The two leading candidates for Buffalo mayor, incumbent Byron Brown and Democratic nominee India Walton, recently faced questions about how to face the public health issues created by poverty, including a lack of easy access to health care and healthy food.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the nation’s official poverty rate is 11.4%. Factor in government aid, and the supplemental poverty measure rate was 9 point 1 percent, a decrease of two-point-six percent from 2019. Buffalo’s poverty rate, meanwhile, is at nearly 30%. In some city neighborhoods, there remains a lack of easy access to nutritious food and healthcare.
Brown, who is seeking a fifth term running as a write-in candidate, was asked what his administration has done and what more he could do to address food and healthcare deserts. He noted the recent opening of Braymiller Market in the Ellicott Street neighborhood, the city’s support of a Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue, investments at the Broadway Market including a community kitchen, and community garden initiatives throughout the city.
“And we continue to partner with other entities in our community, both in the block club network, the faith-based community and the private sector, the business community on other areas of the city, where we would like to see supermarket development, so that we could address the issue of food deserts in the city of Buffalo,” Brown said during a roundtable with WBFO earlier this month.
Walton, who won the Democratic Primary in June, points to efforts including the African Heritage Food Co-op, the Massachusetts Avenue Project, and mobile markets. But she feels the city could be more active.
“The African Heritage Food Co-op has a building on Carlton that has been trying to get online raising funds independently for a number of years, that can be a full service grocery store, if the city will pull its full weight behind it and just make it happen,” she said during her own roundtable with WBFO.
Buffalo Public Schools, like other institutions nationwide, are feeling the effects of supply chain disruptions. This is a concern for thousands of children who rely on their school meals as a primary source of nutritious food. Walton says if elected, she would work with the Buffalo Board of Education to implement the Good Food Purchasing Program, which would acquire locally sourced healthy foods, and prepare meals on school property.
“The Good Food Purchasing Program means that we're not going to rely on processed food shipped in, that's just being rewarmed,” she said. “We're going to locally source produce and protein that can be cooked in the building. All of our schools are outfitted with full kitchens. So it's lost on me why we're not preparing fresh, healthful meals at the building level.”
Brown, meanwhile, says while City Hall has supported the school district in many areas, they cannot legally direct them in how they feed their students. So where has City Hall helped other entities? He points to the pandemic, beginning with the distribution of personal protective equipment and sanitizer, for starters.
“We participated in and led food giveaways because we knew that there were people who were without food in their homes. We help people get tested for COVID. We help people get vaccinated. We partnered with the state on vaccination sites in the City of Buffalo,” he replied.
Brown’s plan for the city’s federal American Rescue Plan allocation includes $10 million for the creation of a Community Health Center on Buffalo’s East Side. Walton suggests a need for increased mobility, in both food and healthcare access.
“A lot of what I'm interested in, in closing the gap in access to health care, is not expecting people to find their way to a health care center, but bringing health care to them through community health workers, visiting nurses, and home visits by physicians,” Walton said.
Both candidates also recognize gun violence as a public health crisis in the city. Brown’s American Rescue Plan spending includes a $5 million allocation for community-based prevention programs. Walton supports holistic intervention, suggesting dealing with crises and frustrations though healthier approaches leads to different outcomes.
