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By Joseph A. Curtatone

Taking a closer look at notable city data—and interesting numbers.  Last summer, the City’s first Community Food System Assessment was released and it looked at food access in Somerville and areas where improvements were needed. Recently, the assessment was followed up by the Somerville Food Action Plan, which details ways we can help Somerville’s food system work for all residents.

55%: About 55% of Somerville residents live within a 10-minute walk of a full-service supermarket. Fortunately there are many small, neighborhood markets that help fill in the gaps for people who live farther away from full-service markets, but they don’t always carry everything a family needs. Distance itself isn’t the only barrier that can make it difficult to get to a grocery store. Having to cross a busy, wide road like McGrath Highway or trek up one of Somerville’s many hills makes it much harder to go shopping. And for a person with mobility impairments or a parent pushing a stroller, that 10 minute walk can be much longer.

1,117,500 meals: The Somerville Public Schools serve more than 1.1 million meals each year. The schools make up an important part of the City’s food system, especially for the more than 40% of students who are eligible to receive free or reduced meals. The breakfasts and lunches students are able to get at school can help stretch a family’s food budget. And the schools aren’t just making sure Somerville kids are getting nutritious meals when class is in session. During the summer the Food and Nutrition Services Department visits parks around Somerville to provide free meals to anyone 19 and younger. For a schedule of where and when meals are served, visit www.somerville.k12.ma.us.

98 action steps: The Somerville Food Action Plan includes 11 goals, 22 recommendations, and 98 actions steps to help increase equitable access to affordable food, strengthen Somerville’s food system, and support those who work in food-related industries. Action steps range from working with the MBTA to better accommodate riders carrying groceries to making sure there are safe routes to grocery stores to finding more ways to ensure young people have access to meals outside of school time. To read the full plan and background on its development, visit bit.ly/FoodActionPlan.

15 weekends: The annual Somerville Mobile Farmers’ Market is one way we’re trying to make fresh, healthy food available across Somerville. Starting July 12, the Mobile Market will set up shop on Fridays and Saturdays to bring affordable produce into different neighborhoods. Residents who live in Mystic or North Street housing or who show a SNAP, MassHealth, WIC, or senior coupon get a 50% discount and customers paying full price at the market help make that discount possible. You can find the Mobile Market schedule and see what fruits and vegetables are in stock each week at www.somervillemobilefarmersmarket.wordpress.com.

13,900 pounds: Mobile Market customers bought 13,900 pounds of produce during the 2017 season, including 1,700 pounds of sometimes difficult to find, but culturally-relevant items like callaloo, cranberry beans, and jiló. Since it opened in 2014, we’ve seen the Mobile Market grow in popularity and sales – there was a 54% increase in net sales at the market between the 2016 and 2017 season.

Data-based decision making is at the core of how the City of Somerville develops policy and sets priorities. Every day we check the latest 311 stats, and throughout the week we meet for in-depth review of departmental data and city trends. The Data Download column shares some of the data we’ve been reviewing recently, as well as interesting updates. To see more Somerville Data, visit the online Somerville Data Farm at www.somervillema.gov/datafarm.