June 2010

Stories from June 2010.

Andrew Wolf, Youth Coordinator at The Children's Aid Society

Bronx Food Justice

“Food is a weapon,” said Ray Figueroa of Friends of Brook Park at the recent Bronx Food Summit. I had not met him before, but his approach to food justice was exciting and unique, focusing on both the ways in which food can kill people through illness and how groups such as the Black Panthers have used food as a force for good in the community. Since one of my food justice classes is at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School in the south Bronx, I planned a trip for us to visit Brook Park. 

_{Students from Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom H.S. take a tour of Brook Park}

As we walked down 141st Street I could make out what looked like willow trees on the corner. On the other side of the street we noticed a sign on the front of a church advertising a food pantry. We took note of this aspect of the “food environment,” a phrase we used this past year to describe anything pertaining to food in our community: advertisements, menus, restaurants, bodegas, grocery stores, gardens, farmer’s markets, etc. As we reached the corner, we were amazed by the size of what would more accurately be described as an urban farm.
 

Sitting in a grove of trees along Brook Avenue, Ray got right into explaining the group’s work mapping empty lots in the south Bronx and expressing his vision for communities becoming food independent, green jobs for youth, and food justice education in all schools. He also talked about the earthquake in Haiti and how U.S. food policies displaced many Haitian farmers, leading to crowded cities and increasing the number of deaths. We shared with him our project looking at food access close to our school and creating a film to broadcast on the school television station.

What amazed us most about the space were the number of groups and projects coexisting there. On one end of the lot was a community garden where many people were growing food for their families. At the center of the lot was sacred ground used by indigenous groups for ceremonies. On the other end of the lot were an assortment of food plants in raised beds, a bird habitat with flowers, and a beehive. This is where youth grew food for food pantries and other distribution in the community. We left the farm conscious not only of how food is grown, but also how food is strengthening communities.

For more information: www.friendsofbrookpark.org

Justin Butler, Capacity Building Coordinator at United Neighborhood Houses

Our Community Center Leaders Met With a Local Farmer!

Directors and staff from our six UNH member community centers (and nine different kitchens) met on June 4th 2010 with Zaid Kurdieh, farmer and owner of Norwich Meadows Farm, in Norwich, NY.  The meeting was to put human faces to what has been a many-month process of planning and organizing to begin a multi-agency direct purchasing system between a local farmer and community centers’ congregate meal programs.  For many New Yorkers, these free and subsidized meals are their only meals of the day. 

The meeting was an inspiring and lively discussion, in which everyone asked questions, proposed amendments to the current plans, learned about each other’s work, and tasted food fresh from the farm (strawberries, kale, collards, carrots and juice from a nearby orchard).  There was a lot of excitement in the room.  And, though buying food locally from an organic farm that pays its workers well could mean higher food prices, these extremely cash-strapped social service agencies are still willing to give this effort a try. 

It was gratifying to finally have all these folks meet each other.  Based on feedback I received afterward, it was meaningful for the staff to meet the farmer, and vice versa.  Deliveries are slated to start on June 28th, and it is these relationships that I hope will sustain this project after my VISTAship ends in July.