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I just got back from doing some garden work with BLAST Local. It’s great to get out into the surrounding community and work with people in the gardens. I always enjoy getting out to see some of our work on the ground and to divide up my time in the office.
First, we went to Sportsmen’s Tennis Camp where, each week, I have gone with the BLAST interns to work with the campers to create a wonderful garden. Some of the Sportsmen’s Staff has been great at helping us set up the garden and recruiting kids from the camp to work. With some of the 5 and 6 year olds, we like to dig holes in a dirt pile which, although seemingly pointless and boring, quickly becomes a rewarding activity. Click here for the rest of this entry…
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Food. Everybody needs it. It is linked to health and health disparities. It is what gives a six year old the energy needed to perform in a learning environment. Access to it in urban areas often separates the haves from the haves not. In some areas, where food is grown speaks silently about what it is grown in so that soil quality takes on new meaning, especially for immigrant populations who come to urban areas from places where agriculture is a way of life.
Food is a symbol of community and brings people together to celebrate life, death, and all the milestones and challenges along the journey. More and more people are relying on emergency food to meet their family’s need. There is often not an understanding about the relationship between food and nutrition and those who need healthy food most often cannot afford it. Research indicates that the cost of a healthy diet is not an options for too many people. Click here for the rest of this entry…
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Today was The Food Project’s Staff Field Day. It was my first Staff Field Day, and I was assigned to the Lincoln Land with a group of about 15 other staff members.
I was in a group with Anim, Josh, Jess, Adelle (a crew worker from the 2005 SYP) and Sharon. Together we harvested over 1,000 pounds of slicing and pickling cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, and patty pan squash. The Ag staff at TFP explained to me that each pound of produce makes up 2 full servings of food. This means that the six of us harvested enough food to feed 2,000 people! Click here for the rest of this entry…
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Bernie is the official Rabbit of Approval over at Annie’s Homegrown, and he’s got some kind words for us on his blog! In addition, Annie’s has also dedicated an entire page of their website to us!
Annie’s Homegrown is the second-largest brand of macaroni and cheese in the U.S., and are also active in many communities through their various programs.
Thanks for mentioning us–both Bernie and everyone at Annie’s.
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It all happened on Wednesday August 3, 2005. An army of thirty-two Food Project interns in bright yellow “banana colored” shirts led by only a few staff wearing the same, charged into Copley Square and changed the way the many unhealthy food habits that inner city people had. First we started off by picking our weapon of mass local eating on our turf in Lincoln, Massachusetts then of course washing it to make sure it was clean then we drove it over to our battlefield where we unloaded, bunched, and tagged,our carrots. Click here for the rest of this entry…
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On Monday August 1, 2005, six BLAST interns went to meet with our local state representatives and senators at the State House in Boston. We met primarily to discuss two bills coming up for debate in the fall regarding nutrition. These two bills call for making school meals much healthier and setting nutritional requirements for meals served by schools to students. We urged those who had not signed onto the bills to support them, and we thanked those who had signed on in support and offered our ideas as to how the bills could be made more comprehensive. We were unsure of what to expect going into the meetings as we had never met with politicians or their aides before, but everyone we met with was very kind, courteous, and supported the health of children in the schools even if they hadn’t yet signed on in support of the bills. Click here for the rest of this entry…
