Announcements

Basis Foods is looking for energetic food lovers to volunteer in support of the 1st Annual Back to Basis Good Food Festival on September 19th in Gansevoort Square.  We are seeking volunteers on Friday September 17th to promote the event and get the word out in the neighborhood, as well as volunteers on the day of the festival to help with operations and publicity.  There will be two shifts on each day: 9am to 12pm and 12pm to 5pm.  Each volunteer will receive a limited edition Basis t-shirt as well as 4 tastings at the Festival on Sunday.  To volunteer, please e-mail Brett Williams at brett@basisfoods.com.

Farming Concrete  is a project to measure food production in NYC community gardens for the 2010 growing season. One critical component to making this a success is drawing plot maps and doing crop inventory - something anyone could do and that only takes an hour or two!

We've just launched the Mappers' Map - our means of coordinating mapping across the city. Our goal is to turn all of the blue markers GREEN by mid-September!

If you have a few hours to spare and want an excuse to hang out in community gardens, please choose a few gardens to tackle and email volunteer@farmingconcrete.com for detailed instructions. Mapping urban agriculture is really fun, and you may be surprised at the incredible variety of yummy edibles we can grow in NYC!

More about Farming Concrete:

Farming Concrete is a study quantifying food production in NYC community gardens, fiscally sponsored by the Open Space Institute and partnered with GreenThumb (NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation), Just Food, and New York Restoration Project. A team of volunteer researchers, students, interns, and gardeners are working with hundreds of gardens to map areas under production, measure total acreage, and track harvest volume by crop. For the first time, metrics will be developed to estimate yield from a small, poly-culture raised bed, a common model for urban agriculture with characteristics that differ vastly from large-scale conventional agriculture.  This information would also inform any new shifts in policy related to urban agriculture and push New York City ahead of the curve in expanding urban food production. The data from this will be available to the public and will be able to answer for each garden and for all gardens as a whole, “We at ___ Community Garden grew ___ pounds of food in ____ square feet, which is worth $___ and prevented approximately ___lbs of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.”

See attached files for a clear explanation of the policy being dealt with at the August 10th Public Hearing on the proposed rules to govern NYC community gardens.

The USDA Food and Nutrition
Service (FNS) has just announced the availability of $1 million for a
people’s Garden School Pilot Program.

Purpose:  

To teach students involved
in the gardens about agriculture production practices, diet and
nutrition; contribute produce to supplement food provided at eligible
schools, student households, local food banks or senior center nutrition
programs; and conduct an evaluation of  funded projects to learn more
about the impacts of school gardens.

Funding:

This grant offering will be
awarded as a cooperative agreement between the award recipient and the
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) which means FNS will have involvement
in carrying out the activities of the People’s Garden School Pilot
Program. The grants will be awarded to develop and run community gardens
at eligible high poverty schools - defined as public schools with 50
percent or more students eligible for free and reduced price meals,
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(g)(3).

FSNYC POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE -- CONCEPT PROPOSAL

I. MISSION AND OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE

 
The purpose of the FSNYC Policy Subcommittee is to educate our members about timely policy issues related to food and farms, and to provide a networking platform for anyone interested in these topics. We are not an advocacy committee. But part of our role as educators and connectors is to inform people of ways they can take action on their own, and to direct them to advocacy groups already working on the topic.

The FSNYC Policy Subcommittee will meet once a month. As chair, Heidi Dolnick will update the Leadership Committee by email after each subcommittee meeting, informing the committee of our present work and future plans. This will ensure that Leadership Committee members have the opportunity to give suggestions and feedback.

Next steps:

* Form subcommittee, identify co-chair, submit to FSNYC Leadership Committee for approval
* Subcommittee or leadership committee (either or both), will vote on:
o Policy topic or topics to be pursued in 2010-2011.  
o Action steps (see part III below): e.g., Present a workshop series open to the public but separate from the open networking meetings; write a blog; organize debates, etc.  
* Draft an action plan and timeline.

II. PRIORITY TOPICS

NEW!!!  at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine for Individuals & Families
in West Harlem, Morningside Heights, the Upper West Side, and more…
 
What: FOOD STAMP/”SNAP” PRE-SCREENING and FOOD STAMP APPLICATIONS

Cathedral Community Cares (CCC) professional, qualified, trained staff provides Food Stamp/SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Pre-Screening and Online Applications for eligible individuals/families to obtain Food Stamps.  In an effort to streamline the food stamp application process and make it easier for clients to access food stamps, CCC is now a “single stop” POS (paperless operating system) SNAP/Food Stamp provider via Human Resources Administration (HRA) and the Food Bank for New York City.
 
Where: Cathedral Community Cares (CCC) - Walk-In Crisis Intervention & Counseling Center
at The Cathedral Church of St, John the Divine - 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 111th Street, NYC 10025
(#1 Train to 110th Street stop.  Walk one block east to Amsterdam Avenue and one block north to 111th Street.
walkway/driveway toward security booth - ask Security Guard to direct you to Cathedral Community Cares (CCC.)
           
How: Food Stamp Pre-Screening – Walk-Ins welcome Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10am - 1pm

Food Stamp Applications Online – by appointment only after Pre-Screening is complete and client is eligible.

Appointments:  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 2pm – 6pm or Tuesdays & Thursdays 2pm – 6pm
 
Who:   To schedule an appointment for Food Stamp Application after Pre-Screening is complete, please contact:

Victor Carrera, Program/Intake Manager at 212.316.7584     vcarrera@cathedralcares.org
                       

This
report to Congress fills a request for a study of food deserts, areas
with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, from the Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The report summarizes findings of
a national-level assessment of the extent and characteristics of food
deserts, analysis of the consequences of food deserts, lessons learned
from related Federal programs, and a discussion of policy options for
alleviating the effects of food deserts. Overall, findings show that a
small percentage of consumers are constrained in their ability to
access affordable nutritious food because they live far from a
supermarket or large grocery store and do not have easy access to
transportation.

Food for Thought and Action: A Food Sovereignty Curriculum

It's been said that "you are what you eat." In the face of a global food
crisis, it's clear that we've been forced to swallow far more than
what's on our plates. Our global food system is terribly broken, with
nearly a billion hungry people around the world. Millions more are
forced from failed farms as industrial agriculture privatizes and
despoils our water, soil and biodiversity. Policies such as the U.S.
Farm Bill and the North American Free Trade Agreement, have, in large
part, brought us to this place. How can we respond to such a massive
and urgent problem? The answer, according to small farmers,

Could you use some simple, colorful handouts
on community food issues?   

We can help!  

We have created three handouts designed to inspire people to learn more and
take action, and to link them up with local organizations. And we are making
them available for free to groups working on food issues to use as an education
and outreach tool.

These handouts are beautifully designed, with original artwork on the front.
They each include plain-language educational information, action ideas,
and space to add local contact information.  They are available in both
English and Spanish.