Archive for the ‘On The Policy Front’ Category
Convince Parks to Let Atlantic City Nursery Get One Step Closer
Atlantic City Nursery Concept Plan
When you think of Rainier Beach, urban farming is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. A group of local community members organized as the Friends of Atlantic City Nursery (FACN) have been working for months to change that perception by advocating that Seattle Parks and Recreation convert the closed Atlantic City Nursery on S. Cloverdale Street north of Beer Sheva Park into the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands Restoration Project.
The core idea of this project is transforming the existing horticulture buildings for productive and sustainable food-growing to provide healthy food for local food banks and school programs along with job training and youth education opportunities. Just as importantly, the project calls for restoring the acres of wetlands on the site and making them come alive again with native flora and fauna. Social justice, urban agriculture and environmental stewardship all combined in a single project!
More…
Don’t Leave Kids with an Empty Plate
Thirty million kids eat school lunch every day. For some children this is their only meal of the day but the bill that funds these programs is set to expire on September 30. From the Community Food Security Coalition, here is how you can help:
This is the home stretch for Child Nutrition Reauthorization! NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT!
This week, the Community Food Security Coalition joined 127 other national organizations urging Congress to pass a strong child nutrition bill [PDF]. This legislation would strengthen programs like school meals, WIC, and summer and afterschool feeding programs, and PROVIDE MANDATORY FUNDING FOR FARM TO SCHOOL PROGRAMS. With 1 in 4 children in our nation struggling with hunger and 1 in 3 obese or overweight, the Child Nutrition Reauthorization could not come at a more critical time. More…
Comments on Urban Ag Code Amendments
Marra Farm, Photo by Steve Tracy
Dozens signed up to have their turn to speak to members of Seattle City Council during Wednesday’s public hearing on the urban agriculture code amendments. (To learn more about what was on the table, see this earlier UFH post or listen to the first six minutes of the hearing.)
Generally speaking, public comments fell into one of two camps:
1) in favor of the code amendments as written
2) not in favor of domestic fowl
Since increasing the number of fowl from three to eight was just one of many far-reaching code changes, I think it’s safe to say that the proposed amendments are overwhelmingly supported by Seattle residents. More…
Sustainable Economies Law Center Provides Legal Support for Urban Agriculture Movement
This video is rather unpolished from a graphic standpoint, but once you start listening to the dialogue you realize how informative and sophisticated it really is. Created by the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), the video gives a high level explanation of urban agriculture and covers a variety of ways city residents and city officials can support growing food in urbanized areas. (Mainly by revising policies that currently restrict or discourage food production.) More…
Rainier Vista Farm to Break Ground Soon
The Seattle Community Farm at Rainier Vista is excited to unveil its final design! The feedback we heard from the Rainier Vista neighborhood has helped to develop a beautiful design for growing, sharing and gathering around food in the Rainier Valley.Our volunteer landscape architect, Eric Higbee, has been working with the Seattle Housing Authority, P-Patch Program and Solid Ground in order to create a garden design that will enrich the Rainier Vista neighborhood and immediate surroundings.
The prominent characteristic of this design is the “long tables.” Three long tables will stretch the width of the cul-de-sac at S. Lilac Street. These tables will be used for teaching, eating and harvesting. This space belongs to everyone in the neighborhood… coffee, barbeques and birthday parties are all encouraged! More…
Inner-City Cornfield Project Update
A couple of weeks ago, Urban Farm Hub learned of the Inner-City Cornfield Project, which will be taking over spare public space in Seattle to plant corn to provide some additional beauty and food to our landscape. Here’s an update from the artist who is spearheading the effort, Joanna Lepore:
We are officially up and growing! With the help of fantastic volunteers I’ve installed cornfields at three locations, totaling a 100 square feet of reclaimed public land! Visit this Flickr album for some action shots. I’ll be updating it regularly, so try to check back. More…
Employees at Tech Companies Have Unique Approach to Gardening
Last month the Oregonian published an article about the new crop of gardens popping up alongside big companies. Employees happily tend to the plants during their lunch breaks and provide local food banks with a new supplier of fresh produce.
The News Tribune took a closer look at some of the same corporate farms to find that those tending to them are no ordinary gardeners. The employees at tech company Intel take a different approach to cultivating fruits and veggies. Though they have no professional gardening experience, participating employees did quite a bit of research and experimentation to make the most of their plots, which resulted in a hearty early harvest.
Here are the details from the Tribune on the employees’ techniques and the state of their garden:
Corporate culture has met agriculture at Intel, and the broccoli is amazing.
Employees at the DuPont offices have turned a rocky lot next to the streamlined building into a geek Eden of raised beds, compost heaps and generosity.
They are surprising food banks in Pierce and Thurston counties with deliveries of lettuce, spinach, peas, broccoli and bok choy in a season when many home gardeners are just getting their recently waterlogged soil going.
These techies do not approach gardening the way mere mortals might.
They’ve got next to no experience. They don’t trust luck. They work as teams and research strategies.
USDA Study Shows Taxing Empty Calories Reduces Waistlines
A new study from the US Department of Agriculture shows that by taxing sweetened drinks, such as sodas, more consumers opt for the comparatively cheaper, more nutritional beverage options. On average, if the price of soda increased by 20 percent, adults would consume 43 calories less per day by drinking more milk or juices instead, which amounts to not gaining an extra 3.8 pounds of body weight over a year. For children, reduced calorie consumption from sodas would result in 4.5 pounds of body weight not gained. More…
Mexico City’s Mercado Gigante
Photo courtesy of Nicola Twilley, Edible Geography
Edible Geography posted a fascinating piece on La Central de Abasto last week. La Central is a mostly-food dominated marketplace in Mexico City. To call it “large” would be an extreme understatement. Sitting on more than 800 acres, the market has about 100 passageways and its own police force. Approximately $8 billion exchanges hands at the market each year.
Its goal is to be “the axis of the country’s food supply system” and to ensure a sufficient supply of quality food to residents for the benefit of producers, traders and consumers.
Satellite photo of Central de Abasto via Google Maps
In addition to conveying the sights and smells of the market, the article details La Central’s history and highlights the significant role food plays in life and in politics. More…
Faux Farmers’ Markets Spur Anger
Safeway is taking advantage of the increased interest in local foods by starting up its own farmers’ market in front of its stores. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean Safeway is actually allowing local farmers to sell their produce on Safeway’s property. Rather, the store is simply setting up produce stands to push their own products.
The deceitful marketing tactics upset those that participate in real farmers’ markets. Here’s the transcript of a recent KUOW story on the mock market:
Martha Tyler says she was driving past a Safeway store in Kirkland recently, when she noticed a large banner. It promoted a farmers market at the store that weekend. Tyler knows many local farmers since she runs the Redmond Saturday Market, so she went in to ask the Safeway manager for details.
Tyler: “And the manager told me that they were going to be setting up tents and selling Safeway produce by Safeway employees farmers–market style.”
For Tyler, and many others, that concept violates the definition of a farmers market, in which farmers sell locally grown produce directly to customers.
Categories
News Aggregator
- Old School Food Infographic July 24, 2010 Andrew Price
- New Livestock Rules Cause House Ag Committee, Industry to Blow a Fuse July 22, 2010 pcrossfield
- Insatiable: How Forward-thinking Cities are Feeding Themselves Now and in the Future – forthcoming book in 2011 July 21, 2010 Michael Levenston
- Cattle Burps and Climate Change: What About Bison? A Response to Joel Salatin July 20, 2010 Bkim
- The Huntington Urban Farm designed by New Zealand architect Tim Stephens July 19, 2010 Michael Levenston
- Urban farming is catching on in New Orleans July 18, 2010 Michael Levenston
- Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association National Conference July 17, 2010 Taylor
- Gardening for the Next Generation July 16, 2010 deschmeyer
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