The Food Project blogs

Eating school lunch every day

joe — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:52:39 +0000

A friend of TFP recently passed on the URL to the facinating new blog FED UP WITH LUNCH: THE SCHOOL LUNCH PROJECT. "Mrs. Q", an anonymous teacher in a US school, eats the lunch from her cafeteria every day and writes a post about it, complete with a photo. In addition to the lunch profiles, recent posts have included a FAQ on the project and an open thread that's pulled in some interesting perspectives from other school lunches across the country. Well worth a vist if you'd like to see for yourself what American children are faced with on a daily basis.

Tickets still available! Please join us at the symphony!

joe — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:06:33 +0000

It’s not too late to purchase tickets to the Longwood Symphony Orchestra’s benefit concert for The Food Project next Saturday, March 13 at Jordan Hall in Boston. Please join us for an evening of the music of Barber, Debussy and Ginastera, and a chance to celebrate and support The Food Project’s work. More information is available online at www.thefoodproject.org/lso, where tickets may also be purchased, or call 781-259-8621 x38. Please purchase your tickets today!

The 2010 Winter Institute is a wrap

joe — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:23:42 +0000

Our annual Winter Institute came and went last week. Following is Institute organizer Greg Gale's summary. If you were interested but couldn't make it this winter, it's not too early to start thinking about attending the Summer Institute, coming up August 4th - 6th.

13 eager souls participated in this year's Winter Institute. They came from as close as Boston and as far away as NJ, NYC, VT, and ME. Most of them are running existing programs and some were getting ready to start new ones. All of them shared a deep passion for engaging youth in sustainable food systems work.

Their favorite part, imagine, was being with TFP teens talking, building raised bed containers, sorting seeds and doing a social justice workshop that required them to scramble across the floor grabbing candy in the ‘Scramble for Wealth and Power’. In between these experiential moments, we did some powerful reflection and learning about the theory and practice that drives TFP work.

A learning for me, as the facilitator, was to make time for the participants to teach each other from their own wide range of experiences. We created a learning community that was springing back and forth from the TFP experience to the lived experience of the folks in the room. The Food Project is an incubator really, of inspiring and hopeful youth and adults doing their best to make a difference. Having TFP teens and staff come into contact with other like-minded people is quite fun, powerful and creative.

I am looking forward to the Summer Institute where we will continue the learning journey.

Looking Back at TFP From College

joe — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:50:43 +0000

Gabriella Spitzer, an intern this past summer in Roxbury, wrote us recently. Here's what she said about TFP's impact on her experience at college (reprinted with permission!)

I wanted to tell you again how grateful I am to The Food Project. I am now at Barnard College, and I use so much that I learned from The Food Project all the time. I can and do talk about all the different ways oppression hurts people in all kinds of contexts. I'm so glad I came to college with the framework for thinking about oppression that I learned at the Food Project. I'm thinking seriously about majoring in Environmental Policy, and that comes directly from the work I did at The Food Project. I volunteered at a preschool this past semester, and I will work at a different preschool this coming semester because I know that I can't spend four years only dedicated to me -- I need to serve my community always, no matter what else I am doing. Thank you. I came to college prepared in part because of The Food Project.

The Earthquake in Haiti

joe — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:54:14 +0000

As is true for so many in the Boston area, The Food Project's community has numerous ties to Haiti. We've been in touch with a number of our community members. Some have been lucky enough to talk to their friends and families in Haiti and know they're OK. Others are still waiting to hear news of the people they know.

If you'd like to help support those actively providing relief to the earthquake victims, Food First's giving guide is the best we've seen.

a few food system pieces

joe — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:45:30 +0000

that happen to mention us!

Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl of the Center for a Livable Future launches a passionate defense of school garden programs. It's news to me that school gardens need defending from anything but challenged school budgets, but apparently the movement is becoming big enough to spawn a backlash. Fortunately, "then they fight you" is step 3 of 4 according to Gandhi!
One of my personal heroes, Bryant Terry, includes us on his short list of "organizations. . .doing particularly effective work right now" in a brief interview with change.org.
Our School at Blair Grocery is working to bring food security and rebuild community in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. And, they're hoping to use a couple of our books to help anchor a new Urban Farming Library.

Perspectives on "Drinking Fat"

joe — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:21:32 +0000

Following are excerpts from an online discussion here about an anti-soda video from the NYC Dept. of Health. What do you make of the video and the related questions?

J: *Warning* could gross you out. Do you think it’s effective in
delivering the message?

http://www.youtube.com/drinkingfat

A: I’m so thirsty now

K: I’ve succeeded in grossing out several staffers by showing this just now!

(if you're just seeing the preview of this, more meaty discussion in the full version)

L: I’m really, really not down with the fat-shaming in this ad. . .I
don’t deny that obesity is a problem, a systemic problem, but this ad
gives a strong impression that being overweight or obese is a moral
failing (and GROSS), as opposed to a wide combination of factors
including lifestyle, genetic predispositions, accessibility to healthy
food and opportunities for physical activity, stress (including stress
resulting from systemic oppressions like racism and classism, which is
being shown to be more and more a factor in weight gain), etc. It
promotes the already widespread prejudice that overweight people are
disgusting (look, they might as well be drinking a giant glass of FAT!),
gluttonous, and morally culpable for their weight — so it ends up
promoting the shaming of fat people as well as (indirectly) classism and
racism. . .I think it gets across the point (don’t drink soda you’ll
get fat and gross), and I find that point to be appalling and
counterproductive to everything we’re trying to encourage our youth to
be.

J: Really appreciate the response. . .some other topics that
come to mind on this issue for me that I would like to share as well
are:

In the United States, in my mind, there is much more structural injustice
around food than there is beverage. First, while maybe not as
tasty to some, you can by and large choose to just drink water. Also,
other healthier beverages are more accessible than healthy food
maybe... bodegas typically have milk. They could even buy powdered milk in
bulk once a year. Additionally, in other countries, there are issues of
cost, accessibility and cleanliness/pollution to think about.
While obesity is a systemic problem, it is also one of personal
responsibility. Not completely one or the other. However, the
advertisement does lean on one more than the other.

On top of those issues, there should also be a conversation on
advertising. Can you catch someone’s attention in a few seconds with
something less controversial? Would it be effective? We use the same
strategy in youth development here in The Food Project. . .From my
experience, they are effective, powerful and at times life changing, IF
processed with much care and concern. People, right now, are
talking about this advertisement through magazine articles, forums and
popular social media sites, even here at The Food Project. . .while I
don’t appreciate the comments mentioned by [youtube] posters in the
video, I do appreciate NYC taking a step in addressing this issue by
creating a forum for discussion. That way these uneducated/unaware
comments that people make can be exposed and addressed.

This also brings up another point that we should talk about with the
youth, especially in regards to advertising. If they are going to be
spreading our message about things we are passionate about. . .having
our youth view these videos is extremely important. Their generation is
the most affected and they are the ones we are sending out into the
world, to educate others.

Gardening is for Superheros

joe — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:35:22 +0000

Thanks to the excellent City Farmer News for this historical image. Hope it helps get you fired up for growing food in 2010!

Winter CSA is a wrap

joe — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:04:27 +0000

Last week, Winter CSA members braved frigid weather to get their second and final batch of veggies. You can click on the photo over there if you'd like to see a few more shots of the pickup.

Many thanks to our friends at Codman Community Farms for making their warm office available and preventing frostbite amongst CSA members!

If you'd like to be in on the fun in 2010, the best way to get a crack at the Winter CSA signup is to be a Summer CSA member. Watch this space for Summer 2010 signups, coming soon!

Apply for Summer Youth Program in our office

joe — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:24:14 +0000

Are you excited about applying for the 2010 Summer Youth Program, but aren't sure where to get access to a computer and printer to fill out and print your application? You're in luck: as of last week, each of our offices has a workstation reserved for use by SYP applicants.

Before coming in, you'll need to review the application instructions and assemble your materials. You may want to copy and paste your essays, which would be easiest to do from a webmail account (yahoo, gmail, etc.). Finally, please call ahead to make sure there will be someone in the office at the time you're planning to come.

As always, any and all questions about the Summer Youth Program and the application process can be directed to one of the following folks:

Greater Boston Program Coordinator:	syp@thefoodproject.org	781-259-8621 x23
North Shore Program Coordinator:	syp-ns@thefoodproject.org	781-346-6726

Good luck, and hope to see you on the fields next summer!