With the Heat Comes a Bounty
“I think it’s really important to take the stigma away from mental health… My brain and my heart are really important to me. I don’t know why I wouldn’t seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth.”
It’s July!
This month we wanted to acknowledge BIPOC Mental Health Awareness. This month is to raise awareness of the challenges that affect the mental health of racial and ethnic minority groups.
Mental health in the BIPOC community is often swept under the rug so addressing it this month helps to highlight how mental health affects every single person. As Andrea Cooke often says, “There is no health without mental health.” This is just one reason I love working with her, we both understand the need for the mind and body to be taken care of on the same level.
If your tooth aches, you would visit a dentist. The same with a broken bone; you would see a doctor. So the same should be true about your mental health. There are many ways other than seeing a doctor that can help with mental health. We can take care of ourselves by feeding our bodies healthy and nutritious foods, hydrating our bodies, and moving them. We can also talk with individuals about what is going on with our mental health.
The CDC states, “Health is influenced by many factors, which may generally be organized into five broad categories known as determinants of health: genetics, behavior, environmental and physical influences, medical care and social factors. These five categories are interconnected.
The fifth category (social determinants of health) encompasses economic and social conditions that influence the health of people and communities.4 These conditions are shaped by socioeconomic position, which is the amount of money, power, and resources that people have, all of which are influenced by socioeconomic and political factors (e.g., policies, culture, and societal values).5,6 An individual’s socioeconomic position can be shaped by various factors such as their education, occupation, or income. All of these factors (social determinants) impact the health and well-being of people and the communities they interact with.
Several factors related to health outcomes are listed below.
How a person develops during the first few years of life (early childhood development)
How much education a person obtains and the quality of that education
Being able to get and keep a job
What kind of work a person does
Having food or being able to get food (food security)
Having access to health services and the quality of those services
Living conditions such as housing status, public safety, clean water and pollution
How much money a person earns (individual income and household income)
Social norms and attitudes (discrimination, racism and distrust of government)
Residential segregation (physical separation of races/ethnicities into different neighborhoods)
Social support
Language and literacy
Incarceration
Culture (general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people)
Access to mass media and emerging technologies (cell phones, internet, and social media)
All of these factors are influenced by social circumstances. Of course, many of the factors in this list are also influenced by the other four determinants of health.”
Here are some links I found helpful:
https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/minority-mental-health/
https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/faq.html#what-are-social-determinants
This study about children’s mental health during the pandemic.
This week at the market:
Ms Eva has squash, zucchini, cucumbers, okra, purple hull peas, and tomatoes! Katie is bringing green beans, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, green and ripe tomatoes, and banana peppers. Loy will be providing plums, peaches, mangoes, pineapple, cantaloupe, honey-lopes, watermelon, tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, and boiled peanuts! Mr Porter has a selection of eggplant, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and cabbage.
We also have wonderful vegan baked goods and non-vegan baked goods and wonderful arts and crafts for you as well!
This summer heat can be a lot, we do have a cooler at the market tent that has cold water if you need it. We are not charging for it, but we would welcome any donations to help us keep this going throughout the summer.
Thank you so much to everyone who supports this market! We are so incredibly grateful for all of you! Whether you are coming in the rain or the shine or both, we are thankful for the support you show us each week! Whether you have yet to make it to the market, but are sharing our information with others, thank you! We could not do this market without you, our community! We really do love to see each and everyone of you each week! We hope to see you tomorrow! Don’t let the skies fool you into not coming out! Please watch our social media for weather cancellations, we aim for the safety of you and our vendors, so if there is severe weather, we will make an announcement on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
Okay, hear me out! While this recipe says to use black eye peas, purple hulls are very similar! Oftentimes, with seasonal markets, you don’t always have the exact ingredients in a recipe. But we can find things that almost match and end up working even better than the original.
This one calls for a can of peas. You’ll just get some of Ms Eva’s purple hulls and cook them in a pot of seasoned water or stock for about 15 to 20 minutes to soften them, then continue on to this recipe.
We are a partner market with Wholesome Wave Georgia to help make your dollars go further at our market!
Bring your SNAP/EBT card to the market tent to double your spending power!
Where to find us:
We are always looking for more people to join our fun! If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a vendor at our market, follow the link below for our vendor application!
Just a hint of all the fun we have to offer! Come join us!