As I shop for the plentiful food available to me at the Co-op, I often think about people here at home and all around the world who face children each day with no promise of enough to eat. The community at the Co-op, the lovely produce so beautifully laid out, the flowers, the soups — it all tempts me, and for all of it, I am deeply grateful.

I know from past experience as a visiting nurse and working in health-care systems how many Philadelphians have very little food for their tables. I also know how many families depend on soda and cheap filler food as an inexpensive way to fill bellies. I worked for 10 years in the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, and often thought about what a resource all the vacant land in Philadelphia could be. I never dreamed that a strong movement to farm that land would emerge and that it would be democratic, broadly based and in neighborhoods throughout the city, or that it would weave a web of glorious vegetables, orchards, farmers’ markets, classes and, most importantly, programs for young people.

By contributing to Food Moxie through the High Five! Donate Your Discount program, I feel I am a part of a growing movement in Philadelphia to put real food on people’s tables and to help young people understand more about how to grow food, cook it and discover the joy of seeing things grow.

If people can understand the connection between the land and the food we eat, it can only help to grow environmental consciousness, as well as good eating for more people. It seems to me that being a member of Weavers Way is about more than finding a nice place to shop — it’s a commitment to the broader community in which we live and to a set of values. I like doing Co-op duty each year, working with staff, seeing friends come in to shop. Contributing to Food Moxie is a part of this commitment and understanding. It is so easy to contribute my 5 percent Working Member discount. This support is a very simple way to do something important each time I shop for food.

I am deeply committed to this work. I am so happy the Co-op has undertaken it, and it is a pleasure to support it with a portion of each dollar I spend for my family’s food.