TakePart and Grist.org got together at the Slow Food Nation Convention in San Francisco recently to talk to leaders in the Food Movement. Listen to what they have to say and let them know your thoughts.

Eric Schlosser, Jennifer Fearing, Andrew Kimbrell, Deborah Koons Garcia, Wes Jackson, Raj Patel, Dan Barber, and Anna Lappé

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Bed Stuy Meadow

Project Description

We'll be planting wildflower seeds on every single patch of abandoned soil on every single street of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bed Stuy this April.

By early summer, there should be so many wildflowers growing in the untended treepits, vacant lots, half-built developments and other tiny scraps of neglected soil in Bed Stuy that the whole neighborhood effectively turns into a meadow. The profusion of wildflowers will probably be relentless and visually unifying, and this relentless unity of wildflowers will probably make anyone walking down the street feel really good.

I want there to be so many wildflowers on the streets that the summer of 2009 is remembered very fondly every single resident of the neighborhood. I want the continuity of the Meadow to be so strong that Google Earth is compelled to re-photograph Bed Stuy. I want people who don't even live within the five boroughs to visit Bed Stuy for the first time so that they can see the Meadow with their own eyes, and I want people who will never even come to be so inspired by the Bed Stuy Meadow that they make their own amazing neighborhood project and share it on 21st Century Plowshare.

Get Involved

1. Plant Seed this April. If you live in NYC and want to spend an afternoon scattering seed, email 21stcenturyplowshare-at-gmail-dot-com to get on the list of volunteers.

2. Donate! The total budget for this project is about $2000. Donate a few dollars.
**Every donation over $10 gets you a gift: your own mini-meadow of the same seeds we are using, delivered right to your door.

3. Sponsor The Meadow. Your $100 sponsorship gets your business name mentioned on every single thing that's ever written about the Meadow, your name on all Meadow Schwag, effusive and prominently placed thanks on 21st Century Plowshare and good karma.

4. Buy Meadow Schwag. By the time spring turns to summer and results are visible, you'll be able to buy t-shirts and other Meadow Schwag. Schwag will serve three purposes. It will make up any budget deficit that I had to put on my own credit card, fund future projects, and most importantly, raise Meadow Consciousness.

5. Spread the Word. Even if it's the only thing you do, it's big help to tell people about this project and link to this page.

6. Do your own project. Bed Stuy is not the only neighborhood that needs a meadow or similar plant intervention. What should happen to your neighborhood? Email pictures and stories to 21stcenturyplowshare-at-gmail-dot-com.

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Below is some info and a link to the website - but the basic premise (and i'm sure some heifer international branding czar out there will hate me for this grossly oversimplified explanation) is that someone can give a small gift (starting around $20 for a flock of geese) to subsidize a farmer, and eventually a community of farmers (as those original geese make many babies!).

--> Rather than giving one time shopping bags full of consumables, you are contributing to an ongoing means of food production: meat, eggs, milk, etc. Heifer is an excellent gift for family, friends, colleagues, etc.

http://www.heifer.org/

Heifer's Mission to End Hunger

Heifer envisions…
A world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet.

Heifer's mission is…
To work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.

Heifer's strategy is…
To "pass on the gift." As people share their animals' offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.

Heifer's History
This simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for over 60 years. Today, millions of families in 128 countries have been given the gifts of self-reliance and hope.

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[shout-out to Ryan, whose chat message pointed me to this website]
VIDEOS: Urban Agriculture: East New York
each link below will take you to one of the five video chapters

"Urban Agriculture: East New York is a documentary video in five chapters that explains how East New York's urban agriculture movement evolved. Each chapter is dedicated to one piece of a complicated process: a portrait of a veteran local farmer in her garden; a trip to the East New York farmer's market; a look at asset mapping analysis by the Pratt Center; land transfers from HPD to Green Thumb; and the investment in the neighborhood's youth made by agricultural organizers and experts"

See the spread: http://urbanomnibus.net/tag/east-new-york/

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January 22nd, 2009  By Aaron French

"In case you missed it, it turns out that our departed President and First Lady Bush really were the First Family of Sustainable Local Eating, according to former White House Chef Walter Scheib. Laura Bush "was adamant about organic foods," he said to New York Times reporter Marian Burros, and her staff complied by sourcing from a secret list of about 40 different local farms and co-ops.

I doubt I'm the only one sensing the irony here. This is a clear case of "What's good enough for me is….too good for you!" Because while Laura was busy specifying organic produce (in secret) for her family and guests, her husband's administration was anything but friendly to those same local and sustainable farmers."

[via: Civil Eats via The New York Times via.......]

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[i have been blogging daily since october. i took a no internet break over xmas, and have been stuttering ever since. here's to another attempt to get back on the ball!]

A fascinating 52 minute documentary on the rise and fall of suburbia.  In order to successfully transition through the global food crisis, climate change and peak oil, the new suburbia must reinvent a sustainable "mom and pop" localized economy.

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