At the launch of its Grow campaign, Oxfam warned of worsening hunger as the global food economy stumbles close to breakdown, with the charity’s chief executive Barbara Stocking warning that the food system “is pretty well bust in the world.”
According to Oxfam, and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are already around 1 billion people going hungry on a daily basis.
“We are sleepwalking towards an avoidable age of crisis – one in seven people go hungry every day despite the fact that the world is capable of feeding everyone,” continued Stocking. More…
Archive for the ‘On The Policy Front’ Category
July 4th, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
Is this a Tomato or a Tennis Ball?
From Grist here’s a story on what now passes for “tomatoes”.
My obituary’s headline would have read “Food writer killed by flying tomato.”
On a visit to my parents in Naples, Fla., I was driving I-75 when I came up behind one of those gravel trucks that seem to be everywhere in southwest Florida’s rush to convert pine woods and cypress stands into gated communities and shopping malls. As I drew closer, I saw that the tractor trailer was heavy with what seemed to be green apples. When I pulled out to pass, three of them sailed off the truck, narrowly missing my windshield. Every time it hit the slightest bump, more of those orbs would tumble off. At the first stoplight, I got a closer look. The shoulder of the road was littered with green tomatoes so plasticine and so identical they could have been stamped out by a machine. Most looked smooth and unblemished. A few had cracks in their skins. Not one was smashed. A 10-foot drop followed by a 60-mile-per-hour impact with pavement is no big deal to a modern, agribusiness tomato. More..
June 22nd, 2011 by Urban Farm Hub Team
Everett Opens up New Land for Farming
From the Seattle PI news on a new farming opportunity for Everett residents.
An Everett group is hoping to put 10 acres of unused city-owned river bottom land back to work providing produce for local food banks.
By next week, plots in the Snohomish River valley will be available to farm as part of an initiative called the Red Barn Community Farm.
Eventually, the land should provide fresh produce for local food banks and those who want to do subsistence farming but don’t have the acreage.
The community group organizing the farming project, Transition Port Gardner, also hopes to give Snohomish County a lesson in the challenges of the 21st century: diminishing fossil fuel and climate change.
“We’re determined to make this work this summer,” said project manager Dean Smith. More…
June 21st, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
New Research Show Community Gardens Increase Produce Consumption
Happy Summer Solstice!Am J Public Health. 2011 Jun 16. [Epub ahead of print]
The Influence of Social Involvement, Neighborhood Aesthetics, and Community Garden Participation on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption.
Source
1 Colorado School of Public Health.
Abstract
Objectives. We considered the relationship between an urban adult population’s fruit and vegetable consumption and several selected social and psychological processes, beneficial aesthetic experiences, and garden participation. Methods. We conducted a population-based survey representing 436 residents across 58 block groups in Denver, Colorado, from 2006 to 2007. We used multilevel statistical models to evaluate the survey data. Results. Neighborhood aesthetics, social involvement, and community garden participation were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake. Community gardeners consumed fruits and vegetables 5.7 times per day, compared with home gardeners (4.6 times per day) and nongardeners (3.9 times per day). Moreover, 56% of community gardeners met national recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables at least 5 times per day, compared with 37% of home gardeners and 25% of nongardeners. Conclusions. Our study results shed light on neighborhood processes that affect food-related behaviors and provides insights about the potential of community gardens to affect these behaviors. The qualities intrinsic to community gardens make them a unique intervention that can narrow the divide between people and the places where food is grown and increase local opportunities to eat better. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 16, 2011: e1-e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.300111).
June 20th, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
USDA Funds Incubator Kitchen
The USDA just funded this non-profit kitchen in Pennsylvania to do a whole bunch of different activities. Wonder if we could apply and do something similar here?
YORK, Penn., June 17, 2011 –Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined other USDA and local officials today to officially open a kitchen facility in York that will provide education and workforce training. Financial support for the kitchen was provided through a USDA Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise (RBEG) grant.
“Projects like this one encourage development of new food products, train individuals who want to acquire skills necessary to get a job, and provide educational opportunities for residents who want to know more about providing healthy meals to their families,” said Merrigan. “The Obama Administration is helping create jobs in Pennsylvania by developing regional food systems that will stimulate growth of new businesses within rural areas.”
Known as “YorKitchen” and located within York’s Downtown Central Market, the kitchen will help to overcome the road blocks that can stand between a farmer or food entrepreneur and marketing a food product. Operators are also partnering with local community service organizations to provide educational opportunities to low-income individuals who want to learn about nutrition and healthy food options. The kitchen will also provide workforce training opportunities and business start-up technical assistance. A “performance kitchen”, donated by various local companies, will be a complimentary show kitchen within the YorKitchen incubator. More…
June 20th, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
Resources for Gleaning
Gleaning is a great way to get food that would go to waste to people who need it but it can be tricky to know how to proceed. Here are some useful resources to get your gleaning program going:
- City Fruit’s Harvest Handbook
- Solid Ground gleaning links
- Harvest Against Hunger’s Gleaning Resource Guide
- Small Potatoes Gleaning Program
- Pierce County Gleaning Program
June 18th, 2011 by Ashley DeForest
Broad Federal Food Aid Cuts Approved
Only for some and not for all.
From the New York Times more war on the poor news. How are people going to eat in this “land of plenty”?
The House approved large cuts in food aid for the poor and various agriculture programs on Thursday after a steely weeklong debate that pitted Democrats against Republicans, and farm-state members against those within their own party who vehemently oppose certain types of farm aid….
The House agriculture spending bill was not the first spending measure considered by the House this year — two other bills concerning security spending passed with little debate. But the latest bill passed with a narrow 217-to-203 vote, and foreshadowed a host of spending fights to come in both chambers over fundamental budgeting priorities, regulatory policy, energy and science. More…
June 17th, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
Lawns to Loaves
From the Vancouver Sun here’s news on something else to do instead of grow grass.
From chicken coops in backyards and vegetable plots at city hall, Vancouver is branching out into experimental wheat plots in place of lawns.
The idea of replacing turf with a waving patch of yellow grain is among a list of ideas the Vision Vancouver-led council is considering for this year’s Greenest City Neighbourhood grants allocations.
On Thursday, council will be asked to give a youth group, Environmental Youth Alliance Society, $5,000 for a pilot project called “Lawns to Loaves — A Collaborative City Wheat Field.” The society has 30 homeowners willing to replace their lawns with small-scale grain production. It is also working with two eastside schools, Windermere and Vancouver Technical, to teach students about the origin and history of grain and where their bread comes from. More…
June 14th, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
As Maine Goes, So Goes the Nation?
Here’s an update on Maine’s push for food sovereignty:From Representative Aaron Libby:Hello All, a Joint Resolution on Maine State Food Sovereignty passed unanimously (under the hammer) this morning! In essence a Joint Resolution has “no teeth” and does nothing. However I believe very strongly that this can and will send a message to the Federal government that we disapprove of their over regulation. I will push for as much as I can for media coverage but I need your help! This resolution will only be a success if the people hear of it. Please spread the word!Thanks, AaronJOINT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE SENTIMENT OF THE LEGISLATURE FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTYWHEREAS, according to the Declaration of Independence, all people “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”; andWHEREAS, food is human sustenance and is the fundamental prerequisite to life; andWHEREAS, the basis of human sustenance rests on the ability of all people to save seed and grow, process, consume and exchange food and farm products; andWHEREAS, it is our obligation as elected representatives of the people of Maine to protect the fundamental freedoms as enshrined by the Constitution of Maine and the United States Constitution and to protect agricultural, ecological and economic diversity and sustainability for a free and healthy society; now, therefore, be itRESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Legislature now assembled in the First Regular Session, on behalf of the people we represent, and in recognition of our State’s proud agricultural heritage, take this opportunity to oppose any federal statute, law or regulation that attempts to threaten our basic human right to save seed and grow, process, consume and exchange food and farm products within the State of Maine.
June 8th, 2011 by Cathy Tuttle
Seattle Grows Supper
Seattle Grows Supper on Friday, June 3, brought together a dynamic gathering of more than 30 chefs, farmers, food wholesalers, writers, nutritionists and others working on a community-based food system. The dinner was convened by the Seattle Tilth Advocacy Group, people who are farmers, food planners, processors and food justice advocates working to nimbly develop a more resilient Seattle.
As people made their way from table to table in a World Café-style potluck dinner, ideas bubbled up, were quickly reviewed, and refined.
Some fun, unique, and important ideas emerged from Seattle Grows Supper:
- Create an on-line Farmville-style game called “Farm Bill”
- Put recipes in CSA boxes that chefs develop unique to each neighborhood
- Provide spaces at farmers’ markets for very very local producers
- Permit farm stands in very small places, parking lots, corner stores
- Focus on mothers as change agents: Snacks, school meals, family dinners, are family-values issues we can all support
- Pay attention to the commons, particularly be aware of privatizing water rights
- Find stories and learn clear language that speaks across many cultures: food as medicine
- Develop achievable food system metrics and goals. Seattle can set a goal to grow and process 30% of what its people eat in the next five years — and we can compost 90% of our food waste!
People left the three-hour dinner “hungry for more”. Another Seattle Grows Supper over the summer seems likely. Stay tuned!
June 7th, 2011 by Diana Vergis Vinh
Food Prices to Double by 2030
Plan that garden now. From Food Navigator:
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