Man in Overalls

A friend shared this article on my FB page a couple days ago.  It is the most articulate and emcompassing article I've read about the food movement's benefits-- as well as a rebuttal against the centralized food system's attempts to hedge in our community garden, health, small-scale/sustainable agriculture, community-based food systems, nutrition, farmers' market... (i.e. food movement) work.  It's worth the read.  If you're looking for an article to pass to friends and family to demonstrate the extent of the food movement and the corresponding need for us to recreate resilient community based food systems, this is a worthy candidate. (If you'd prefer to read it on the Washington Post's website, click here .) Why being a foodie isn’t ‘elitist’  - By Eric Schlosser, April 29, Washington Post At the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting this year, Bob Stallman, the group’s president, lashed out at “self-appointed food elitists” who are “...

Every time I turn around, I learn about some new piece of the food movement.  It's abuzz like nothing I've ever been apart of before. A few weeks ago, my mother brought home and showed me a box of triscuit crackers.  On the back, there were three pictures. One picture showed a few people in a vegetable garden, and the other two depicted a single person tending container herb gardens in their window seal.  Under the pictures, the box read: " Join The Home Farming Movement ."  The small print is worth quoting at length: Everyone should have the chance to experience the simple joy of growing your own herbs and vegetables, no matter where you live.  Whether it's in your own backyard, on your windowsill, or in a plot you share with your neighbors, that's what home farming is all about.  Triscuit is working with Urban Farming to create over 50 community-based home farms across the country.  To find tips and to connect with other home farmers, visit t...

On Wednesday this past week, Hartsfield Elementary's Hawks, one of Hartsfield's after-school groups came for a visit to my garden.  We chatted about everything from legumes fixing nitrogen to pollinators to varieties of corn to seasonally available produce to bees and chickens.  They were especially interested in the methodology of grafting fruit trees.  Meanwhile, we tasted snap beans, fennel, sorrel, horse-radish greens, basil, and smelled rosemary and thyme.  What a great afternoon! The Hawk's visit was part of a larger program they're doing to investigate healthy food options via research on local and organic vs. conventional agricultural practices and by maintaining the Hartsfield school garden.  The culmination of their project will be to plan, prepare and serve a healthy meal to their parents that integrates local and organic produce. They were shepherded by their incredible teachers Mr. Landrum, Ms. Elsaka, and Ms Olivia.  If you know these fol...

Health-- especially with a focus on childhood health-- is another thriving component of the food movement that I have yet to mention. My primary link into this emerging expression of the food movement is Jan Daly who works with the Leon County Health Department.  I put in a garden at Jan's house last December.  While digging in the dirt together, we share our dreams of community gardens, widespread access to fresh, affordable food.  Somewhere amidst the conversation, she told me about her participation with HEAT, Health Equity Alliance of Tallahassee . HEAT, co-founded by Miaisha Michell (with the Greater Frenchtown Governors Revitalization Council) and Lance Gravlee (Medical Anthropologist from the University of Florida) is interested in the distribution of health in Tallahassee.  Which communities are the most healthy?  Which the least?  From that starting point, they're looking at why some communities are less healthy than others.  Is it medical...