Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Posted by Ken Moore | August 4th, 2010

DC has no county or state fair where DC residents can show off their talents in baking, canning, urban agriculture, poetry, and photography, for example. We decided that was a shame, so, starting this year, we’re changing that. We, a group of three DC resident garden and food bloggers, are partnering with Columbia Heights Day to hold the first-ever DC State Fair, which will feature such contests as Tastiest Tomato, Most Funky Vegetable, Best Home-Made Pie, a DC neighborhood photography contest, best backyard chicken egg, andbest homemade jam, to name a few. DC residents will be able to submit their entries soon for a chance to win everlasting glory (and prizes!) –keep an eye on the DC State Fair website for entry forms. The DC State Fair, with contest judging and prizes, will be held on August 28th, hosted by the Columbia Heights Day festival.

The state or county fair concept is largely focused around community: The fair provides a forum for neighbors to engage one another, to share knowledge and experience, and to spotlight and reward the hard work of cooking, crafting, and farming. DC State Fair strives to achieve these same goals within the District and to help build a multicultural community focused around urban agriculture, education, and art.

In order to pull this off, DC State Fair is still looking for sponsors at all levels. These sponsors may also choose to have the honor of judging various contests. For example, DC-based businesses and organizations can be Table Sponsors, who will have a spot under the DC State Fair canopy and receive top exposure to DC State Fair attendees . Current Table Sponsors include A Few Cool Hardware Stores and Kid Power. There are also opportunities for contest sponsorship and general sponsorship from community members. For more details, please contact the DC State Fair planning committee or visit the DC State Fair’s website. DC businesses and nonprofits that focus on education, nutrition, agriculture, gardening, or related activities and that are not able to sponsor the fair can still be a part of this great event by getting a table Please contact us for more information on how to be involved on any of these levels.

Beyond the vegetable, cooking, and art competitions run by DC State Fair, Columbia Heights Day festival itself will feature two stages with musical acts and dancers, a petting zoo, a dog show, a kids’ area, and many other activities and DC-based groups.

DC State Fair’s aim is to turn this event into an annual tradition that fosters community spirit and celebrates DC’s talented residents. And maybe there will be funnel cake, too.

The planning committee consists of three DC resident food and garden bloggers: Amelia Showalter of Gradually Greener, whose post last year started the ball rolling; Jenna Huntsberger of Modern Domestic; and Ken Moore of The Indoor Garden(er).

Posted by Greg Bloom | July 29th, 2010

Yesterday I posted the statement presented by the People’s Movement Assembly on Food Justice at the US Social Forum in Detroit last month. The statement is a collective declaration — of the shared principles and intentions (“…re-building local food economies in our own communities, dismantling structural racism, democratizing land access, building opportunities for the leadership of our youth, and working towards food sovereignty in partnership with social movements around the world…”).

As I reported during the Social Forum, many of these principles and intentions can be seen in practice in Detroit. My reporting there only scratched the surface of the work that’s been done — and one of the things I learned was how much discussion and collective self-reflection had come before (and in the course of) meaningful action.

In the particular case of Detroit, the local food movement engaged in a series of workshops (facilitated by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond) focused on confronting and dismantling racism in both the industrial food system and the movement itself. Participants analyzed race and power dynamics, and emerged with a shared set of ideas and vocabulary with which they can collaboratively work to restructure those dynamics.

During the People’s Movement Assembly on Food Justice at the Social Forum, participants formed a breakout group to focus specifically on this process of dismantling racism in the food system. As a white person of privilege working towards food justice in low-income, largely black communities in DC, I was grateful for the opportunity to join this group and learn more about my own role. Several leaders of Detroit’s movement helped facilitate the conversation, and we worked hard to consider what broad lessons could be drawn from their experience. The need (and desire) for greater dialogue was shared by all at the table, but many local food movements might not yet be at a point where it’s possible to gather the right set of people together in a room for a deep analysis of race, power, and white supremacy.

Yet we have to start the process somewhere (and, like it or not, that process is really best started in a place–not on a blog).

Fortunately, one promising answer can be found within the very stuff of this movement: food itself. More specifically, the way that social capital is generated by the growing, preparing, and eating of food. Several participants of the subgroup shared insights into how simple, deliberate community meals are used in their community to create spaces for dialogue and relationship-building. The Detroit folks recalled that their community’s dismantling racism workshops were, in fact, an idea that germinated in the course of a series of dinners among the movement’s leaders.

And so our Dismantling Racism subgroup of the Food Justice People’s Movement Assembly at the 2010 US Social Forum concluded with the presentation of what some may consider a “radical notion”: that we should gather people together in our communities to collaboratively prepare food, eat the food, and talk about the food.

Personally, I was energized and encouraged by this experience; after all, the DC Food For All launched 9 months ago in this very way. Relationships forged in the course of these early meals continue to bear fruit today. So I’m sharing the text of the proposal forged in Detroit here in hopes that we can experiment with these accessible, social, and political community-building meals here in DC.

A proposal for dismantling racism: Let’s eat together

{Click to read the full post.}

Posted by Jonna McKone | July 22nd, 2010

Freelance food educator and writer Ibti Vincent recently returned to DC following a 14-month bicycle trip around the country to learn about sustainable food and community building.  She attended an Ecolocity workshop on seed saving at the Emergence Community Arts Collective.

The process is a little more sophisticated than simply smearing a hunk of tomato on a paper bag (which was all of the guidance I’d previously acquired on the subject), but I am happy to say that saving seeds from open pollinating fruits and vegetables wasn’t as difficult or mysterious a process as I’d feared. In fact, it was pretty fun.

On Tuesday evening, I attended my first seed saving workshop, courtesy of Ecolocity — a group dedicated to making DC a “transition town” (i.e. not dependent on unsustainable fossil fuels and able to support its needs through local community partnerships). Most of the folks attending were fellow amateur gardeners and community activists, though there were a few local celebrities as well, including a woman from Washington Gardener magazine and a gentleman from Southern Exposure Seed Company. Regardless of our backgrounds, all of us were drawn toward a common purpose: saving seeds to share with others and plant during future growing seasons. Our world is rapidly losing its plant diversity, and one way I have learned the average person can help is by continuing to grow a variety of food crops in a home garden. Yes, farmers and gardeners can save the world.

I like hands-on learning, and this was exactly the kind of practical experience I was hoping for. Slice, scoop, ferment, rinse, dry, store. I made the rounds, ultimately departing with a jar of fermenting tomato seeds, a baggie of freshly harvested pepper seeds, and a bellyful of watermelon. I was now a novice seedsaver, the world was my watermelon….

Want to learn more about seed saving? Read the full blog post on the seed saving workshop here.

Posted by Jody Tick | July 20th, 2010

Here’s a thought experiment:

How much food could you buy for $16 per month?  Furthermore, what could you buy for $16 that would be nutritious and didn’t involve fast food joints?  For too many individuals in our community, the $16 thought experiment is actually a reality.  As of April 2009, the minimum SNAP (formerly food stamps) benefit is $16 per month. Sadly, this is an increase from the previous minimum of $14 per month.

So, how are SNAP recipients to cope? The good news is that with a bit of planning, $16 can go a lot further at the grocery store than you might think!  Join the Capital Area Food Bank’s Director of Nutrition Education, Jodi Balis, on July 22nd as she facilitates an interactive workshop on how individuals can stretch their food budget–and still eat nutritious meals. This workshop is aimed at service providers as they seek to communicate healthy eating on a budget to clients.

The Nutritious $16 Food Bag
11am-1pm on Thursday, July 22^nd
George Mason Regional Library
7001 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA 22003

Click here to register for this free workshop.

If you are interested in other free workshops offered by the Capital Area Food Bank, check out this website or send an e-mail to aaa@capitalareafoodbank.org.

Posted by Andrea Northup | July 15th, 2010

This is the story of a rising D.C. high school senior’s experience volunteering with the D.C. Farm to School Network, a program of the Capital Area Food Bank that works to get more healthy, local foods into D.C. schools.  Bella Herold volunteered during a special event – Strawberries & Salad Greens – when the Network [...]

Posted by shannonbshea | July 14th, 2010

Ecolocity DC, a local community sustainability/food group, is holding a workshop on July 20 that draws on ancient traditions and yet is still socially relevant today.  Seed saving is as old as agriculture, and yet large corporations are not allowing farmers both here in the U.S. and in the developing world to save their seeds.  [...]

Posted by Andrea Northup | June 23rd, 2010

Local lettuce and berries for school lunch being prepared at CentroNIA
If you walked into a D.C. school cafeteria on June 3rd 2010, you may have been surprised at what you saw on students’ trays!  Over 150 schools in DC featured fresh, locally-grown strawberries and salad greens as a part of their school lunches.  This was [...]

Posted by Jonna McKone | June 12th, 2010

DC Digital Capital Week began yesterday. The ten-day event is a series of workshops, demonstrations, networking events, public art pieces, talks and parties on all things technical. It aims to amplify D.C.’s creative, entrepreneurial, tech, govt/non-profit sectors, linking groups, inspiring projects and collaborations and identifying local and global opportunities for change.

And there’s a food specific event called, “The Food Revolution: One Byte at a Time.” Panelists  will include “individuals from organizations “who have sucessfully used social media to dissmeninate their pro-food/sustainable agriculture/nutrition advocates’ message…” According to the site, each speaker will provide examples and case studies. A  panel discussion will follow.  The panel occurs this Thursday, June 17th at 10:00 a.m. Full details are on the website.

Speakers include:

• Courtney Gray Haupt (@CourtneyGH), Vice President of Public Affairs and Health Policy at Spectrum, will moderate and discuss how she has helped her sustainable ag-focused clients navigate the digital sphere in a smart, strategic way.
• Ed Bruske (@theslowcook) began his writing career as a reporter for the Washington Post but has since started his own blog, The Slow Cook, and tends his “urban farm” about a mile from the White House in DC. Ed is a personal chef for clients with special needs, and teaches “food appreciation” to children enrolled in the after-school program at Georgetown Day School. He is a co-founder of the group DC Urban Gardeners and sits on the advisory board of the DC Farm to School Network. Ed believes in self-reliance, growing food close to home, and political freedom for District residents.
• Helena Bottemiller (@hbottemiller) is a Washington, DC-based reporter covering food policy, politics and regulation for food borne illness lawyer Bill Marler’s Food Safety News. After years of being a self-described food policy wonk, Helena delved into the food safety world for the first time while writing her thesis on the politics of food regulation at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles, where she graduated with a degree in Government.
• Sarah Alexander (@sa4schoolmilk) is a senior food organizer at Food and Water Watch. She works to promote a healthy and independent food system and to improve public knowledge on food issues including factory farms, and country of origin labeling. Sarah led a successful grassroots campaign, Healthy School Milk or Bust Tour, using social media that helped put organic and rGBH-free milk in schools. Sarah previously worked with Green Corps, the White Earth Land Recovery Project, and the American Community Gardening Association.