Imagine a forest that is open to all, providing food and sanctuary, right in the middle of Washington. While it might sound like a fairy tale, Ecolocity D.C. is developing a miniature version in the Pleasant Plains neighborhood and hopes to expand this vision throughout the city. While the sun powers the growth of the [...]
“Eating local” is nothing more than a turn-of-phrase without defining the word “local.” Although some corporate natural foods stores label blueberries from Northern New Jersey as local to D.C., most agricultural advocates define local as grown or otherwise produced within 100 miles of the buyer. This range is often referred to as a region’s “foodshed.” [...]
[Cross-posted from Will Bike for Change (or Pie!)] It’s a sadly common misconception that the local food movement is elitist. That’s why I was excited to hear about Jeremy Smith’s new book Growing a Garden City. It tells the stories of how first graders, single moms, and homeless folks have benefited from community gardens. At [...]
[Cross-posted from Will Bike for Change (or Pie!)]
I attended the Rooting DC conference this past weekend, a one-day gardening and sustainable food extravaganza focused on the Washington DC area. It was organized by the Field to Fork Network, a collection of local organizations based in America the Beautiful.
The conference started out with a fiery speech by Montgomery Victory Gardens director Gordon Clark. His message was pretty common – our food system is broken and we must do better – but in the language of revolution, it was all far more dramatic than I usually think about it.
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Posted in AccessTrue social, economic, and environmental sustainability relies on empowerment. We can never fix the unjust and unhealthy social structures we have in place if people must still rely on them for their food and other necessary needs. At Ecolocity, we believe that one of the best ways to empower people is to collectively learn skills [...]
Ecolocity is wrapping up its series of gardening and food workshops supported by Washington Parks and People with “Preserving and Storing Food in Your Urban Home.” This workshop will be this Saturday, November 13 from 3-5 PM at the Emergence Community Arts Collective (733 Euclid St. NW, Washington, DC). Following up workshops on how to [...]
Posted in AccessEcolocity DC is hosting its final workshop in its composting series, “Composting in Your Apartment or House” next Tuesday, October 19 from 7 to 9 PM. The workshop is at the Emergence Community Arts Collective, 733 Euclid Street Northwest, Washington, DC. This workshop will teach how you can compost in winter or indoors if you [...]
Posted in AccessEcolocity DC, a local Transition Towns and community sustainability group, is hosting a “Building a Tumbling Composter” workshop next Saturday, September 18. The workshop will be held at 3 PM at the Emergence Community Arts Collective, 733 Euclid Street Northwest, Washington, DC. Composting is a great way to ensure that the nutrients in organic waste from food preparation are not lost and instead are returned to the soil to grow more food.
This workshop will focusing on learning by doing, as we will be building a tumbling composter for use in the Emergence Community Arts Center’s teaching garden. Tumbling composters are perfect for people with limited space or limited compostable goods, as they can create compost more quickly than traditional composting bins. They can also be put on a patio or balcony where traditional bins just aren’t practical. Although many tumbling composters are expensive, we’ll be building ours with mostly recycled materials. We’ll distribute instructions so that you can then take what you’ve learned and bring it home. If you’re a complete beginner, we’ll also have a bit of an introduction to composting.
This is the second in a series of composting workshops sponsored by Washington Parks and People. For information on this workshops or any of Ecolocity DC’s events, please email us at ecolocitydc@gmail.com or check out our events calendar.
Shannon Brescher Shea is an outreach organizer for Ecolocity DC.
