This past Wednesday I celebrated the Big 3-0 with a few of my sustainable food fighter colleagues/friends at a new restaurant in my hometown (can you say hometown when it’s a Brooklyn neighborhood?). I’m beyond ecstatic about Peaches Hothouse, not just because it’s the owners’ third Brooklyn installment, and not just because they opened two posts in Do or Die, but because they source locally and take great pains to be as sustainable as possible.

OK -  I am geeked that it’s in Bed-Stuy, in a location whose former occupant was a lackluster American-Caribbean-Vegetarian attempt and previously a longtime BBQ takeout joint. That they have two restaurants in a neighborhood whose health disparities and food security issues are some of the highest in NYC speaks volumes about the risks the owners are willing to take to bring good food to everyone.

In less than a decade, Bed-Stuy has welcomed and sustained three farmer’s markets, a community supported agriculture project, and an increase in community garden participation. Even pantries are offering organic, locally grown food in their emergency food packages.

Despite all this, the bodegas, supermarkets, and a greater part of the neighborhood’s 100,000+ residents are resistant and/or powerless to position Bed-Stuy as an oasis for good, clean, healthy food.

I remember when the bodegas carried fruit and root vegetables. I remember going to the butcher for slab bacon, turkey wings, and pigs’ feet. There have always been green grocers owned by Koreans, and grocers like Village Mart on Nostrand across from Tiny Cup are trying to change things by bringing back fresh fruit, limiting junk food items, and not stocking beer and cigarettes.

Peaches and Peaches Hothouse manages to stay fairly busy, even on weeknights, a sign that the neighborhood is hungry for real, good food.

Their presence carries the promise that a healthier, sustainable Bed-Stuy can be realized in my lifetime.

It’s a heavy weight to bear.

I won’t hold my breath.