Jan
29
Urbanity Sanity
Urban agriculture is a means to create local agronomic systems, address food insecurity and access in low-income communities, while responding to global climate and food changes.
Participating in one’s community’s prosperity is also participating in one’s own prosperity....
Master Peace Farm is one awesome urban farm+school+community garden
The University of Maryland supports an urban farm project in the greater D.C. area; Riverdale, MD, to engage the community in localized production and consumption. This has been enabled through a partnership with the food stamp nutrition education program, now a bifurcated part of the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, with work efforts from students and volunteers with the mission to till, educate, collaborate and nourish.
Participants are offered an opportunity to buy into one of the “22 community garden plots that are assigned to neighbors for the grand sum of $10 per year, which is returned if the gardener sticks with it for the whole season, so it’s actually free.” The “main garden” is cultivated by students who mentor local youth and contribute to a farmers market. Tools, water and vegetable starts are all within reach. In return, participants propagate community, food and the future.
OXFAM
Face the Music
Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution
This is an agricultural conference held in my “backyard” hosted by Sustainable Food Laboratory (works to accelerate the shift of sustainable food from niche to mainstream), The Keystone Center (seeks to solve our society’s most challenging environmental, energy, and public health problems) and SAI Platform (an organization created by the food industry to communicate worldwide and to actively support the development of sustainable agriculture involving the different stakeholders of the food chain), and sponsored by The CocaCola Co., Kraft, Monsanto imagine, Sodexo, Unilever, Nestle, Sysco, W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
“This international group of participants will work across traditional boundaries to develop priorities toward practical solutions that can be implemented at scale across different geographies, crops, and farm size. “
Jan
11
Capital Area Food Bank provides more than cans...
After reading about gardening projects in Tucson (see below), I was curious about such projects in my neighborhood and was pleasantly surprised to find that the D.C. area’s Food Bank supports peri-urban farms as well! The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) partners with the Clagett Farm in MD (15 miles from the Capital) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to cultivate 20 acres of farmland.
“In addition to raising vegetables in an environmentally sensitive manner on 20 acres in Upper Marlboro, MD, FGU (From the Ground Up; a project organized by CAFB to bring nutritious food available to people of all incomes to the city) works to educate the public about the relationship between agriculture, our environment, the food supply and social justice. Nearly half of the chemical-free produce harvested by FGU is donated to high-need families in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and the remainder is sold as shares to area residents through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.” In addition to this, the farm also offers a work share program to individuals willing to put in 4 hrs (a week, I think) of work for a share of vegetables.
Partnerships like these demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of complex food security issues, aware of the interconnectedness of social and environmental constraints with community and economics. It will be through holistic programs like these that we will be able to sustainably address how we feed ourselves, neighbors and communities in a manner that is just, environmentally sound and economically vibrant.
Tucson Food Bank - learns to grow and grows to learn
Orion Magazine put out an article on backyard garden demonstrations held at the Tucson, AZ Food Bank. The Community Food Bank offers nutritional and educational support to those in need, demonstrating that food can grow in the harshest climates-both economically and ecologically. They are gathering educators and experienced farmers to give hands on knowledge to those seeking alternatives and self sufficiency. Such projects lend me to believe that “knowledge is power” and longer lasting than any handout. Through these types of efforts, Tucson can begin to change its landscape, both socially and environmentally.
Orion Magazine’s article recaps a gardening demonstration that takes place at the Food Bank: “The event took place in a beautiful seven-thousand-square-foot organic demonstration garden next to the Food Bank, in an industrial part of town. The garden was filled with tomatoes, beans, chiles, and other vegetables, proving that good food can be grown anywhere. The chicken coop was bustling with chickens eating garden scraps, and the compost pile stood off to the side, a testament to efficient “waste” management.”
One in the Same: local agriculture and food security
These are issues near and dear to me and are going through potentially confounding changes, along with our new Administration. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)-often my go-to source for agricultural politics-reported on some of these opportunities and their altercations. The Community Food Security Coalition (CCSA)-an immense food security and access resource-helps connect the farmers of tomorrow with the consumers of today though outreach and sustaining multiple stakeholder connections by answering money related questions and grounding them in the community. A few things to take note of: There are resources for new-old small scale farmers to take advantage of, such as grants and other supporting networks that will help you write your proposals and fund your business plan. These are opportunities for those of you interested in getting your hands dirty and taking on more responsibilities in the world of urban and peri-urban agriculture.
“NSAC has also been pushing for one or two year extra funding for the Value-Added Producers Grants program and the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program, both of which were shortchanged in funding during consideration of last year’s farm bill and both of which stimulate jobs in rural areas.
Anti-hunger groups also continue to pitch a temporary increase in spending of roughly $25 billion for federal nutrition programs as a key aspect for the safety net portion of the stimulus bill. By the beginning of this fiscal year, the number of participants in the food stamp program has increased by 4 million, to 31 million, with further increases on the horizon as unemployment continues to rise. On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office released new cost projections for government programs, and predicted the food stamp program would rise from $39 billion last year to an even $50 billion this year, a 27 percent increase.
Heads Up on Community Food Projects (CFP) Grants: This week the Community Food Security Coalition provided an update on the FY 2009 grant cycle for the Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program. The request for applications (RFA) is expected to be released around mid to late February this year, with applications due 60 days later. Contact CFP National Program Leader Liz Tuckermantyto be added to the CFP email list.
A Letter of Intent is not required this year, so the application process will start with a full proposal. The FY2008 RFA is still available and can be used for planning an FY 2009 proposal. Electronic submission of proposals will be required. The registration process for electronic submission can take up to two months, so applicants who are not already registered should start the process as soon as possible at grants.gov.
The Community Food Security Coalition will continue to provide free written guidance and one-on-one technical assistance to CFP applicants this year. More information about CFP grants and assistance available can be found on the CFSC website.”
“I believe in the forest, and in the meadow, and in the night in which the corn grows.”
Henry Thoreau, “Walking” (1862
Jan
7
I took a trip back to my old stomping grounds in NYC and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the locavores were still persistent, despite it being in the middle of winter. Anna and Olivia’s Upper Eastside backyard garden in NYC was one such pleasant surpise. Olivia shows off their baby greenhouse keeping their greens safe from the elements. We climbed out the window from their ground level apartment to get to the patch of open space they cultivate year round. Next to the “greenhouse” were open patches of dirt bounded by some bricks harboring space that they plan on using to grow more winter wonders. I look forward to seeing what their garden looks like in spring and summer!
Even in the winter Anna and Olivia have life in the city!! With a little love and tender care, there are ways to produce your own food year round. All kinds of greens can be sprouted throughout the colder months when most urbanites give up. It’s cold, it’s biting and the soil is hard. There is very little motivation to go out into the frigidity and tend your garden, but Anna and Olivia have found reason amongst the madness. And, for their tenacious efforts, they will dine on fresh veggies from their own backyard. Talk about DIY!!
Dec
28
Trekking around D.C. gardens-A starting point
I’ve been moving around a lot lately, and in doing so, I have been able to gain some small perspective on urban agriculture around some of the major cities in the U.S.-Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and now D.C. My latest relocation to the D.C. area has spurred an interest in what urban agriculture is, and looks like, out here in a place that appears to be more diverse, disparate and varied in it’s land uses and demographics than some of the other cities I have lived in and visited (My sample size is small in comparison to what is out there, but my experiences are lived-in). The D.C. area is interesting in terms of what it can produce and who can consume it since the demographics and landscapes are so varied. Right across the Potomac is Arlington and Alexandria, Va, which is more suburban with rural counterparts. Densities, as well as prices, increase as land gets closer to the Capitol Building.
Such physical and social diversities in close proximity lends me to question the land potential that could be employed. What do backyards look like in the different neighborhoods? How does zoning integrate agricultural production and consumption? Are there community organizations that support urban agriculture; CSA, farmers markets, etc? Is the community involved?
Here’s a baby step start to some of my discoveries, all of which start with a little research: There are backyard gardens , though they appear to be for personal consumption only-more of an agrarian homage than cultivation with the ambition to feed their less fortunate neighbors. In support of the locavore efforts, there is D.C. Urban Gardeners offering words of wisdom and tricks of the trade. There are some community gardens in and around the greater D.C. metropolitan area that have partnered with schools and neighborhoods to cultivate underused plots, though I have not stumbled upon any of these green gold mines yet. I believe that there are more agricultural sights to be seen, including smaller community plots for gardening and possibly some larger community agriculture initiatives that introduce the exchange of information and economics. I’ll keep you posted.
Dec
21
Ever wonder what urban agriculture looks like outside of dense urbanity? In sum, it’s small and underdone. This is a farmers market in Old Town Alexandria, VA, which is about a 15 minute metro ride from D.C. The metro station is a 15 minute walk from the town square, where this unimpressive display of produce is currently held every Saturday morning. This is what farmers markets looked like in Western Massachusetts in small towns like Amherst, about 1-1/2 hour drive from Boston, as well.
I really don’t see much of an excuse for the lack of impression these farmers markets have on their communities and local farmers, which are only a couple hours away at most. Virginia and Massachusetts have ample active farms and CSAs surrounding the towns of Amherst (I think Amherst, MA is doing a lot better in terms of their farmers markets since I was last there in 2003) and Alexandria that are growing things like greens, root vegetables and gourds. I saw none of these varieties of fine winter produce at this farmers market. Rather, I saw Chiquita bananas and blueberries being sold by one vendor, which I was deeply offended by, and buckets of apples and fatty pastries being sold by the rest.
There is affluence, demand and availability of goods to be had in Alexandria. So, why is the farmers market so deplete of anything community oriented, healthful or prosperous? There is much work to be done here in this town of plenty!
Dec
18
USDA Secretary Pick Tom Vilsack
This matters. This matters a lot!
The new USDA Secretary has a lot on his plate-pun intended. There is the farm bill to remedy, the reality of depleting crop yields unable to meet the rising food demands to address, and the political piracy of agriculture that has placed growing power in a few top producers on large parcels of land and monopolizing chemical suppliers to deal with. And then there is the issue of climate change and fuel dependency to grapple with, many of which are residues from the last Green Revolution. You know, just some minor globally heavy issues Secretary Vilsack will be demanded to respond to.
Dec
16
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Back to the Vertical Farm Project. If you remember, one of the first few posts I made was about Dr. Despommier’s science project at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He’s back and still getting the word out. I think it’s crazy, but the people are eating it up! Practical, no. Interesting, indeed. His polemic is right on (The location keeps on changing. It was originally in NYC, now the prototype is in Toronto. Maybe he’s thinking more about politics these days), but the way he wants to get there is less practical then the conventional green houses or hydroponics in warehouses set in peri-urban areas. It’s a lot less boring to talk about urban agriculture in reference to the Jetsons. At least he’s getting the word out about sustainability and localization, though where are the small farmers and family consumers?
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