Sharing paletas – and our concerns about health and the environment

Last Friday, we celebrated Harvesting Health’s second birthday with paletas from La Reina de Michoacán.

But the event was more than a chance to dig into Fresno’s best ice cream. It was also an opportunity for friends of this blog, and health and environmental advocates, to come together, in real life, to discuss how community health and environmental justice issues impact their daily lives.

To foster this discussion, I wrote simple, personal questions about health and the environment on index cards. After savoring their paletas, party guests picked a card, and then wrote their answers on a white board.

Below are their answers, in their own words.

What community health issue makes you tick?

Alisha
Paleta: pineapple

Cathy
Paleta: stawberries and cream

Sandra
Paleta: pistachio

Kevin
Paleta: stawberries and cream

Teresa

Name one change you would like to see in our community health or environment.

Erica
Paleta: mango and chile

Mike
Paleta: mango

Deiglis

Camille, Phoebe and Angelica
Paleta: coffee, cookies and cream

How does the environment impact your health?

Elizabeth
Paleta: guayaba

Heather
Paleta: coconut

What have you done to improve your health, or the health of our community?

Anna
Paleta: strawberry

Gabriel
Paleta: chocolate

Sarah

Jefferson
Paleta: yogurt and fruit

What have you done to improve our local environment?

Tracy
Paleta: pistachio

Thanks to everyone who made it to the party, and thanks for supporting health blogging in the San Joaquín Valley! And thanks to La Reina, for providing the sweet treats. If you missed the party, drop me a note, and we’ll meet up for a paleta in the future!