The Food Project Blog » Food System

The Food Project’s eBLAST Newsletter 4.4 is Now Online

Posted by Rowan Dunlap on May 11, 2007 at 10:04 am
Categories:
Food System

Almost done with school? Feeling refreshed by sun and soil? Looking forward to a fun and eventful summer?

This eBLAST is full of great opportunities to get on your calendar for the next few months. For young people looking to connect with like-minded youth in the food systems movement, the date has been set for the 2007 Rooted in Community Annual Meeting. Check it out in the Conference Section. If you’re looking to get your hands dirty, attend the Pfeiffer Center’s workshop on the role of horses on the farm. Boston’s 2nd Annual Tour De Farm Bike Tour is coming up fast — time to start training. And if you’re looking for some relaxation, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon have just published their account of a year on a 100-mile diet, Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally.

Enjoy!

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Urban Agriculture Conference this Saturday

Posted by the News Desk on April 12, 2007 at 10:32 am
Categories:
Farming

Food System

Just a reminder that the “Farming the City: Changing the Way We Think about Food, Hunger and Health” conference is happening this Friday and Saturday.

The Saturday sessions are close to filling up (the Friday tours are already full), so we encourage you to register if you’re planning on attending and haven’t already done so.

See you Friday and Saturday!

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Setting the Course: The College Food Movement

Posted by Rowan Dunlap on April 10, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Categories:
Conferences, Meetings, Events

Food System

The speech below was delivered as part of a workshop titled “Setting the Course: The College Food Movement”. The two people referred to below are Ashwini Jaisingh, a a junior at Georgetown University and Domestic Fair Trade Coordinator for USFT (United Students for Fair Trade); and Tim Galarneau, Coordinator of the University of California Sustainable Food Coalition.

Hi, I’m Rowan. The project I want to talk about is in some ways an extension of what Tim and Ashwini are doing. They are already collaborating across campuses and issues and finding that their efforts are exponentially more effective because of this collaboration.

There are, however, many schools that are undertaking these issues in isolation, isolation from other schools and also issues in isolation from each other on a single campus. Now, don’t get me wrong, amazing things have been accomplished in this fashion.

In fact, in the back you can see a list of 168 schools that have programs that involve purchasing local foods, organic foods, fair trade foods, holding courses on food issues and even having student farms. But think, if this much as been done without the help of shared information and amplified efforts, what is possible with this collaboration?
Click here for the rest of this entry…

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2007 State of the World: Our Urban Future

Posted by Cammy Watts on February 1, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Categories:
Food System

I ordered a copy of the WorldWatch Institute’s publication: 2007 State of the World: Our Urban Future. It can be purchased as a downloadable PDF document, or as a book. Chapter 3 is called “Farming the Cities” by Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg, and it’s an interesting summary of the state of urban agriculture around the world.

It makes a compelling case for the value of people growing their own food in urban areas (urban farms, community gardens, backyard gardens, rooftop gardens) and for creative ways to facilitate access to local food in cities (farmers markets, CSA’s). It presents the results of numerous studies that document the benefits of growing food in urban areas for public health, the environment, the economy, food security, and the community. I found many of these helpful in talking about the work we are doing in Boston. I was inspired by what is happening in other parts of the country and the world. I encourage everyone to take a look at it. And of course The Food Project is mentioned!

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Whole Foods and Eat In, Act Out Week

Posted by Monica Pless on December 5, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Categories:
Food System

We had a fabulous Eat In, Act Out week this year! Groups from across the United States held 97 events to celebrate local farmers and raise awareness of local food. In Massachusetts, several organizations worked to record over $25,000 that people pledged to spend on local food. Find a list of all the events at www.thefoodproject.org/eatlocal. Below, we’re posting stories and pictures from events. Add a comment with your stories or send them in to us!

Wfimage-1

I can’t thank you enough for your support of Eat In, Act Out. I set up a Whole Foods Market tent at 3 Farmer’s Markets last week (Medway, Cohasset and Hopkinton MA) and helped to spread the word “Eat Local!” I love your signage, stickers and buttons! The energy at the events was so positive and I’m already looking forward to next year!

Bonnie Frechette (I’m the one on the left!)
Whole Foods

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Lexington Farmers Market Eat In, Act Out Week Event

Posted by Lori Deliso on November 13, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Categories:
Food System

Lori Deliso is with the Lexington Farmers Market.

Lexfarmersmarket

Event was a success, despite the very HOT and HUMID weather we had that week. Thank you for all of your help and support of this project. The teens did an exceptional job, putting a lot of time, energy and effort into this project. The teens who ran the event, Sarah Jick and Emily Miller, gave out samples of foods they had made from locally grown products, with free recipes for the public to take home, including Chocolate Zucchini bread, bruschetta with fresh tomato basil and garlic and Blueberry Lemonade. The Lexington Farmers Market donated all ingredients for this event. This gave them a chance to start a discussion with the public about locally grown food, and the importance of support local farmers.

Click here for the rest of this entry…

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Eat In, Act Out Week in Schenectady, NY

Posted by Debbie Forester on November 2, 2006 at 11:48 am
Categories:
Food System

Debbie Forester is on staff at Roots and Wisdom in Schenectady, NY.

It was a great week, and the Roots and Wisdom youth participants had a lot of fun planning the week and implementing their ideas. Steve Jobs’ quote “Let’s make a dent in the universe” was our inspiration for the week. Here’s what we were up to:

July 24 – Roots and Wisdom Summer Youth Program Participants worked with City Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard to write a resolution highlighting the benefits of eating locally grown food to the Schenectady community. Youth attended the meeting (some dressed as carrots), made statements in favor of the resolution, and handed out Roots and Wisdom Sun Gold tomatoes to the more than 100 people in attendance. (Some commented that the City Council was brave to permit people to hand out tomatoes during a Council meeting.) The Schenectady City Council presented us with a printed, signed copy of the resolution declaring July 31-August 4 BE VOCAL EAT LOCAL week.

Click here for the rest of this entry…

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Food: Whose Choice is it Anyways?

Posted by Raleigh Werner on September 14, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Categories:
Food System

TFP News

BLAST has the responsibility of giving the “Food: Whose Choice is it Anyways?” workshop to different groups and organizations. Our goal in giving the workshop is to raise awareness about the different food options available to consumers and in the process, offer some healthy alternatives to less desirable (but far more accessible) foods. Our most recent opportunity to give the Food Choices workshop was at Sportsmen’s Tennis Club in Dorchester. BLAST Interns started a garden in the area behind the courts last year, and thus we have already established a strong relationship with the youth tennis camp, Every Monday during the summer, the BLAST interns get a chance to work with the youth in our garden. Click here for the rest of this entry…

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LIFT Training at Red Hook Community Gardens in NYC

Posted by Raleigh Werner on August 28, 2006 at 11:53 am
Categories:
Food System

TFP News

On July 19th, I, along with my fellow BLAST unit accompanied Liz Luc Clowes and her slew of diversity interns to Brooklyn, NY to be a part of a one-of-a-kind training experience. Unfortunately for all of us at The Food Project (who are located in and around the Boston area), the training started at 11AM, promptly in Brooklyn. So as my clock rudely awakened me at 4:45AM on Wednesday morning, it was hard to be completely enthused about the long day ahead. However, after battling the carnage of New York City traffic, and several hours of driving, we beheld a sight the likes of which could LIFT (that’s a pun, if you read on) any spirit. Click here for the rest of this entry…

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Michael Pollan at the Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA

Posted by Monica Pless on May 18, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Categories:
Food System

Hearing Michael Pollan speak at the Brattle Theatre yesterday was a bit like going through a year of conferences and trainings with The Food Project’s BLAST Cadre. So many pieces of conversations we’ve had were woven through his talk - like his characterization of the US Farm Bill as something everyone thinks just involved a fight between Iowa and Kansas, but which affects everyone and would be more aptly named “the Food Bill”.

He talked also about the impact of big farms industrializing organic and how we look for the stories of where our food comes from…but where do the stories come from? His excerpts from the “whole foods literary experience” got the crowd chuckling, and the excerpts he read from his newest book, An Omnivore’s Dilemma, has me ready to go buy it - ostensibly for my interns but really so I can read it myself!

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