Man in Overalls

[Garden installed by Tallahassee Food Gardens featured in Democrat.] By Elizabeth M. Mack Democrat staff writer Turnips, cabbage and radishes are all fall vegetables that can be found in any home or community garden. But what about at work? The employees at FBMC Benefits Management started an urban garden of their own in the spring, said Glenda Atkinson, FBMC wellness coordinator. The garden is part of the company's many wellness programs, Atkinson said. FBMC has had a wellness program for than 20 years offering employees yoga classes, a workout area on site and cooking classes. Wednesday afternoon the company received recognition from the American Heart Association as one of its Fit-Friendly Companies — an honor FBMC received for the third consecutive year. It also received the Workforce Innovation Award for implementing the garden in its wellness program. "You guys have done a wonderful job," said Kellie Thigpen, American Heart Association regional direc...

"A Peace of Bread" a new documentary by Diva Communications, is about young folks around the country who are working on food system change as a method of addressing hunger in their communities.  Debra, Diva's director/producer got wind of my work here in Tallahassee because I am a Food Justice Fellow with the Presbyterian Hunger Program .  She came through Tallahassee this past August to interview me and others amidst the Tallahassee Food Network . Take a look at their opening sequence: A Peace of Bread - opening sequence from Diva Communications on Vimeo .

This past week I was in Oakland for the 15th annual conference of the Community Food Security Coalition .  With the Oakland's rich history of food justice work rooted in the Black Panther's Free Breakfast for School Children Program (that gave rise to the nation-wide free and reduced lunch programs), the Occupy Oakland movement centered just around the corner, and a gathering of 1100 folks from across the country and world all working amidst the food movement, the stage was set for a dynamic conference. But how do I tell the story of a movement meeting itself? Of 1100 workers in the food movement-- a microcosm of the global good-food system-- in the same place sharing stories, successes, challenges, models, and dreams?  Can I capture the dynamic via lists and links of represented organizations? If nothing else, I've got to discuss Food Sovereignty .  It was an oft repeated phrase at the conference.  As Malik Yakini from Detroit pointed out, " Food Security is...

Food Day festivities were a whirlwind of Tallahassee's food movement.  From the New Leaf Farm tour to video screenings , garden open houses, the community gardens tour , the Youth Symposium on Hunger and Food , Food-O-Rama at Kleman Plaza, the Sustainable You conference, and the "Florida Grown School Lunch Week Kick Off" at the capital, Food Day revealed many of the organizations and efforts amidst the food movement that largely go unseen, especially the Tallahassee Food Network . On Food Day proper, Oct 24th, I exhibited in the capital courtyard with the aid of my "truck farm," which was picked up by WCTV .  (As an aside, I'm working with a team of Frenchtown Youth to manufacture and sell the garden buckets you can see in the below picture, which are improvised earth boxes (which retail $60, empty).  We'll be selling ours, filled and planted for $25-$30.) The same day, I taught a workshop at Sustainable You called "Food and Community Gardening ...