What Each of Us Can Do To Help the Food Crisis?
June 30th, 2009 — 12:08pm
WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP THE FOOD CRISIS???
A group of us saw the new movie, Food Inc and discussed what we could do about the problems afterwards at a potluck afterwards. Annie Spanel kindly offered to research what we could do in local existing groups; she kindly researched and wrote the following article. Please reply if you are interested or could tell us of other groups, especially if there is one supporting government subsidies for fruits and vegetables and adding fresh fruit and vegetables to the government commodities given to schools (right now there are only canned and frozen vegetables on the commodity list).
LOCAL FOOD ORGANIZATIONS Annie Spanel
Boston and surrounding towns have many wonderful food organizations. Here are five of the best, and ways to get involved. You won’t find food banks, soup kitchens, shelters with kitchens and individual CSAs here, but these are also excellent organizations that can use volunteers knowledgeable about nutrition.
HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES
www. healthyschoollunches.org/background
This organization is part of Dr.Neal Barnard’s group, PCRM, Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. What veggies are actually served and what should be served. Has a link to the Farms to Schools project.
“Farm to School programs are gaining in popularity across the country. Their goal is to connect schools with local farms in order to provide more fresh fruits and vegetables to school cafeterias to help improve student nutrition while also supporting local small farmers. The National Farm to School program is a project of the Center for Food and Justice and is funded by the USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems.” –from the website
If your local school isn’t part of the Farms to Schools project, you could contact this organization and see how you can get your kids’ school hooked up with it. There’s probably a farm, hopefully an organic one, near your school.
THE FOOD PROJECT
thefoodproject.org
About Us
“There is another way to live and think: it’s called agrarianism. It is not so much a philosophy as a practice, an attitude, a loyalty and a passion—all based in close connection with the land. It results in a sound local economy in which producers and consumers are neighbors and in which nature herself becomes the standard for work and production.” –Wendell Berry
Welcome to The Food Project!… We invite you to join us in our efforts!
Our mission is to grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system. We produce healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs and provide youth leadership opportunities. Most importantly, we strive to inspire and support others to create change in their own communities.
Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, we work with over a hundred teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 31 acres in rural Lincoln, MA and on several lots in urban Boston. We consider our hallmark to be our focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.
Each season, we grow nearly a quarter-million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating half to local shelters. We sell the remainder of our produce through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) crop “shares” and farmers’ markets. We market our own Farm-Fresh Salsa, holiday pies, and other value added products. Locally, we also partner with urban gardeners to help them remediate their lead-contaminated soil and grow healthier food…
There are so many ways you can get involved in The Food Project: donate, volunteer, buy our food, work here, sign up for our mailing list and more. Please explore them all on this website! —from the website
FIELD OF GREENS, Lincoln, MA, part of FOOD FOR FREE
http://www.foodforfree.org
The mission of Food for Free is to reduce the incidence of hunger, while preventing the waste of valuable food.
Established in 1981, Food for Free (FFF) has grown from a small volunteer effort into a comprehensive, efficient and consistent food rescue program. FFF identifies and recaptures safe, nutritious food that would otherwise be discarded and distributes it to those in need. Additionally, they work closely with food donors, recipients and the general public to increase the awareness of hunger and its fundamental causes.
Food For Free’s daily operations—gathering up and delivering food to nearly forty agencies—closely corresponds to the education process they are involved in—gathering information about the cultures, needs and wants of the people we serve and delivering that back to the farmers, wholesalers and grocers who provide the food.
The Field of Greens program was founded in 1991 when FFF acquired its own organic farm in Lincoln, Mass. ***Volunteers prepare soil, plant, weed and harvest the crops. Collard greens, kale, and other vitamin dense foods are grown specifically to meet the needs of low-income residents.***
IMPACT
Each year hundreds of bushels are distributed from Field of Greens to local meal programs and pantries.
To volunteer, contact director@foodforfree.org
NOFA NORTHEAST ORGANIC FOOD ASSOCIATION
nofa.org
“NOFA/MASS is a community including farmers, gardeners, landscapers and consumers working to educate memebers and the general public about the benefits of local organic systems based on complete cycles, natural material, andminimal wastes for the health of individual beings, communities and the living planet.”-NOFA website. NOFA also can use help advocating for food safety. They promote organic farmers’ interests and does legislative advocacy for them. See nofa.org
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NOFA is sponsoring canning and preserving (dehydrating, pickling, freezing) workshops around MA this summer. Their 35th big annual conference takes place in Amherst area every summer. (There is also an annual winter conference.) August 7th-9th. Register online at nofasummerconference.org FAIR TRADE FEDERATION fairtradefederation.org Brookline and Cambridge and other MA towns- Offers farmers in Third World fair rates for their produce, especially coffee, tea cacao products, bananas and rice. Many ways to get involved: events, advocacy, movies, shopping guide: Buying from locally owned and locally made businesses is encouraged. A national movement to create “Fair Trade Towns” with more businesses taking part is underway. Entrepreneurs, citizens, students, educators, community leaders, and many others remain the backbone of the fair trade movement. Bring great fair trade products into your • Shop, • Home, • School, • Faith community • Municipality; • Wedding; and • Workplace Hosting an event, speaker, or fair trade fundraiser can demonstrate the connections between consumers and producers. Starting a fair trade business presents a viable way to contribute to sustainable development. Though these and other opportunities, interested individuals can find rewarding and remarkable occasions to get involved in fair trade. For more information and ideas, please consult the Fair Trade Action Guide.
NOFA is sponsoring canning and preserving (dehydrating, pickling, freezing) workshops around MA this summer. Their 35th big annual conference takes place in Amherst area every summer. (There is also an annual winter conference.) August 7th-9th. Register online at nofasummerconference.org FAIR TRADE FEDERATION fairtradefederation.org Brookline and Cambridge and other MA towns- Offers farmers in Third World fair rates for their produce, especially coffee, tea cacao products, bananas and rice. Many ways to get involved: events, advocacy, movies, shopping guide: Buying from locally owned and locally made businesses is encouraged. A national movement to create “Fair Trade Towns” with more businesses taking part is underway. Entrepreneurs, citizens, students, educators, community leaders, and many others remain the backbone of the fair trade movement. Bring great fair trade products into your • Shop, • Home, • School, • Faith community • Municipality; • Wedding; and • Workplace Hosting an event, speaker, or fair trade fundraiser can demonstrate the connections between consumers and producers. Starting a fair trade business presents a viable way to contribute to sustainable development. Though these and other opportunities, interested individuals can find rewarding and remarkable occasions to get involved in fair trade. For more information and ideas, please consult the Fair Trade Action Guide.
On Saturday, May 30th, Sergei Boutenko urged members of Optimum Health Solution to feast on wild edibles, such as the delicious and beautiful violet flowers and leaves on this newsletter banner.