From the Chez Panisse Foundation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/opinion/20waters.html?emc=eta1
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A First-Timer’s Guide to WWOOF-ing
A First-Timer’s Guide to WWOOF-ing.
If you’re seeking a deeper connection to the land and local economy, WWOOF-ing takes you right to the source.
via matadorchange.com
If you’re seeking a deeper connection to the land and local economy, WWOOF-ing takes you right to the source.
via matadorchange.com
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Anti-coal protest in DC on March 2nd.
Wendell Berry and Bill McKibben have planned a day of civil disobedience outside a coal-fired power plant near Capitol Hill:
http://eatthestate.org/13-11/LetterfromWendell.htm
http://www.capitolclimateaction.com/
Spread the word!
http://eatthestate.org/13-11/LetterfromWendell.htm
http://www.capitolclimateaction.com/
Spread the word!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Act Local
[shout-out to Ryan, whose chat message pointed me to this website]
VIDEOS: Urban Agriculture: East New York
each link below will take you to one of the five video chapters
"Urban Agriculture: East New York is a documentary video in five chapters that explains how East New York's urban agriculture movement evolved. Each chapter is dedicated to one piece of a complicated process: a portrait of a veteran local farmer in her garden; a trip to the East New York farmer's market; a look at asset mapping analysis by the Pratt Center; land transfers from HPD to Green Thumb; and the investment in the neighborhood's youth made by agricultural organizers and experts"
See the original page: http://urbanomnibus.net/tag/east-new-york/
VIDEOS: Urban Agriculture: East New York
each link below will take you to one of the five video chapters
"Urban Agriculture: East New York is a documentary video in five chapters that explains how East New York's urban agriculture movement evolved. Each chapter is dedicated to one piece of a complicated process: a portrait of a veteran local farmer in her garden; a trip to the East New York farmer's market; a look at asset mapping analysis by the Pratt Center; land transfers from HPD to Green Thumb; and the investment in the neighborhood's youth made by agricultural organizers and experts"
See the original page: http://urbanomnibus.net/tag/east-new-york/
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Meeting tonight at the Flatbush Reformed Church!
Reminder from Veda and Amy: tonight's Flatbush CSA meeting will take place at the Flatbush Reformed Church at 890 Flatbush Avenue on the corner of Flatbush and Church Avenues at 7pm tonight (Wednesday 1/28). This will be a chance for the core group to talk about roles and to meet our project partners at the NYC Coalition Against Hunger.
See you there!
See you there!
Lucky Dog Farm Fundraiser on February 8.
At the coop general meeting last night, a couple people spoke about a farmland preservation effort in Delaware County, New York. The people organizing the effort are from Lucky Dog Farm, and they are trying to raise money ($40k) to get a matching grant from New York State to purchase the farmland adjacent to theirs in order to protect it from development. It's a compelling story for those of us who are interested in farmland preservation!
http://www.applewoodny.com/events.html
http://luckydogorganic.com/index.html
http://www.nycwatershed.org/lc_crep_archive_lucky.html
http://www.applewoodny.com/events.html
http://luckydogorganic.com/index.html
http://www.nycwatershed.org/lc_crep_archive_lucky.html
Monday, January 19, 2009
Talking About CSAs / Just Food Workshop
What is a CSA?
It is a direct market relationship in which farmers sell their produce directly to consumers, who purchase a share of the season's produce before the season begins. Through CSA, members develop a relationship with the farmer and the land on which their food is grown -- and share the risks that are inevitable during a growing season.
For talking about CSAs it is good to understand the benefits they provide all around, to farmers, to members, and to the larger community.
Benefits to Farmers:
-capital upfront
- consistent demand
- on the short term as well as year after year
- farmers say: ' don't grow anything you haven't already sold' -- and CSA allows for that!
- less work for farmer (no advertising, etc)
- members share the risks
- allows farmers to diversify
- farmers get better price because no middle man
- allows farmers to be organic (supports them in investing in better practices all aroun
- supports expansion of farmers business (like off-season enterprises such as pickles...)
- they know who is eating their food
Benefits to Members:
- knowing your farmer and his practices
- fresh, organic, local food
- being part of a shareholder community
- less packaging
- confidence that the methods advertised (organic, etc) are actually being used
- learning about food, cooking, agriculture
- eating higher proportion of nutritious food -- because you have a load to get rid of every week!
- supporting a local farmer (and not some corporation somewhere)
- better cost
- better variety
Benefits to the Community:
- increased access to fresh food
- creating a stronger urban/rural connection (economically and in our heads)
- makes organic food more affordable
- better for the environment
- supporting local economy and preservation of local farms
- brings together a broad community
- increases food security
Another way to think about CSA is to frame it as an issue of 1. economic justice and 2. environmental justice.
Economic Justice:
- making quality fruits and vegetables available in neighborhoods that wouldn't otherwise offer these products.
- providing the farmer with a more favorable share of the profit.
Consider this: in the Upper West side there are about 7000 people per grocery store. In Bedford-Stuyvesant there are more than 63,000 people per grocery store! People in these areas are forced to buy at convenience stores which charge on average 8% more than groceries.
Meanwhile, farmers are getting only 19 cents per dollar when you buy at a grocery! All the rest goes to shipping, packaging, processing, advertising. CSAs eliminate all the middlemen and give the full dollar to the farmer.
Environmental Justice:
- providing toxin-free food to communities (especially low-income communities) that are routinely exposed to a variety of environmental toxins
- making it possible for farm workers to work in an environment free of the chemical products routinely used in conventional agriculture.
It is a direct market relationship in which farmers sell their produce directly to consumers, who purchase a share of the season's produce before the season begins. Through CSA, members develop a relationship with the farmer and the land on which their food is grown -- and share the risks that are inevitable during a growing season.
For talking about CSAs it is good to understand the benefits they provide all around, to farmers, to members, and to the larger community.
Benefits to Farmers:
-capital upfront
- consistent demand
- on the short term as well as year after year
- farmers say: ' don't grow anything you haven't already sold' -- and CSA allows for that!
- less work for farmer (no advertising, etc)
- members share the risks
- allows farmers to diversify
- farmers get better price because no middle man
- allows farmers to be organic (supports them in investing in better practices all aroun
- supports expansion of farmers business (like off-season enterprises such as pickles...)
- they know who is eating their food
Benefits to Members:
- knowing your farmer and his practices
- fresh, organic, local food
- being part of a shareholder community
- less packaging
- confidence that the methods advertised (organic, etc) are actually being used
- learning about food, cooking, agriculture
- eating higher proportion of nutritious food -- because you have a load to get rid of every week!
- supporting a local farmer (and not some corporation somewhere)
- better cost
- better variety
Benefits to the Community:
- increased access to fresh food
- creating a stronger urban/rural connection (economically and in our heads)
- makes organic food more affordable
- better for the environment
- supporting local economy and preservation of local farms
- brings together a broad community
- increases food security
Another way to think about CSA is to frame it as an issue of 1. economic justice and 2. environmental justice.
Economic Justice:
- making quality fruits and vegetables available in neighborhoods that wouldn't otherwise offer these products.
- providing the farmer with a more favorable share of the profit.
Consider this: in the Upper West side there are about 7000 people per grocery store. In Bedford-Stuyvesant there are more than 63,000 people per grocery store! People in these areas are forced to buy at convenience stores which charge on average 8% more than groceries.
Meanwhile, farmers are getting only 19 cents per dollar when you buy at a grocery! All the rest goes to shipping, packaging, processing, advertising. CSAs eliminate all the middlemen and give the full dollar to the farmer.
Environmental Justice:
- providing toxin-free food to communities (especially low-income communities) that are routinely exposed to a variety of environmental toxins
- making it possible for farm workers to work in an environment free of the chemical products routinely used in conventional agriculture.
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