Over 200 DC schools will feature fresh strawberries and salad greens in their school lunches on May 23rd – all from local farms!  The D.C. Farm to School Network is also helping 50 schools set up hands-on educational tables in their cafeterias to remind students where food comes from and to get students excited about eating healthy, local food.

The Friday session will occur  at UDC’s Fine Arts Theater and is free and open to the public. The Saturday and Sunday sessions will occur at Muirkirk Farm in Beltsville, MD. For more information and to register use this link http://www.udc.edu/causes/usas.htm

Are you interested in fixing DC’s broken food system? Do you have a passion for fighting for food justice? Then come network with others who share your passion at the New Member Orientation and Community Brainstorm Training. This conversation is for anyone who’s interested in working toward food justice in their communities, or who wants to better facilitate conversations about the food system with their neighbors, co-workers, or faith community.

New Member Orientation & Community Brainstorm Training
March 26, 2012 6:00-8:30pm
Center for Green Urbanism, 3938 Benning Road NE
RSVP to Angie Stackhouse, astackhouse(at)breadforthecity.org or 202-480-8916

The DC Food Systems Organizing Workgroup is a group of advocates, activists, and service providers who are working on laying the foundation for the creation of a food policy council in DC. See our previous blog post about the work that we’ve done over the past year. Right now we are reaching out to individuals and organizations that share the vision of creating a nourishing community in which all Washington, D.C. residents can enjoy a nutritious, safe, and culturally appropriate diet provided by a local sustainable food system that fosters health, equity, interdependence, and self-reliance.

The New Member Orientation and Community Brainstorm Training is part of this outreach effort. The first half of the session will focus on the recent history of organizing around the food system in DC, what actions are planned going forward, and how to get involved. The second half, starting around 7:00pm, will be a training on how to host a Community Brainstorm session, which is a community conversation about the food system that’s used to recruit, gather information, and build relationships. Learn more about what the community brainstorms are here.

Come for the whole evening or just the half that interests you. The event will be held on the evening of Monday, March 26th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Center for Green Urbanism (3938 Benning Road NE). Please RSVP to let us know if you plan to attend. Hope to see you there!

You can find the flyer for this event here: http://goo.gl/LYfNk. Please pass it along to anyone you think might be interested. Let’s get the conversation started and ignite a DC food revolution today!

Directions and note on accessibility: If driving, from Benning Road turn onto 39th Street to come up driveway to the property. There is parking on site. If taking public transportation, Minnesota Avenue (Orange Line) is the closest station. There are steps from the street to the building. Please let us know if you need any accommodations!

How it works: You shop like any other day, EXCEPT that 5% of all sales at the two Whole Foods locations that day will go toward growing the WIC and SNAP (food stamp) programs at the 14th & U, Mount Pleasant, Bloomingdale and NoMa farmers’ markets during their 2012 season.

Learn more about the project here.

What: A public oversight roundtable on community gardens and urban agriculture
When: Thurs, Dec 15, 2011 from 1–5pm
Where: 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (Room 412, John A. Wilson Building)

Councilmember Tommy Wells, Chairperson of the Committee on Libraries, Parks, Recreation, and Planning, will convene a public oversight roundtable to discuss community gardens and urban agriculture in the District, including the Department of Parks and Recreation’s role in the establishment and use of community gardens, as well as the Office of Planning’s work in this subject area.

Submitting testimony in person
The Committee invites the public to testify or to submit written testimony, which will be made a part of the official record. Those who wish to testify should contact Ms. Tawanna Shuford at (202) 727-8204 or tshuford@dccouncil.us before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 13, 2011. Individuals will be permitted 3 minutes for oral presentation; individuals representing organizations or groups, 5 minutes.

Submitting testimony in writing
If you are unable to testify at the public oversight roundtable, written statements are encouraged and also will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted to Ms. Tawanna Shuford, Committee on Libraries, Parks, Recreation, and Planning, Room 117, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, 20004, or electronically at tshuford@dccouncil.us, by 5 pm on Friday, December 16, 2011.

Of note, one working group is to focus on food issues in DC. Anticipated topics include: local food production; commercial distribution; access to land and the food grown on it; security and links to social services; composting; and community benefits for health, education, and jobs.

Time: Tues, Nov 29, 2011 from 6:00-8:30 pm
Place: Walter E. Washington Convention Center (Room 202B)
RSVP: If you’re interested in attending, please RSVP here.

Harriet Tregoning (Director, DC Office of Planning) and Christophe A.G. Tulou (Director, DC Department of the Environment) invite you to join Mayor Vincent Gray on November 29^th from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center as they present the progress from the “Start in September” outreach, and establish working groups to develop recommendations.

In their own words:

“On behalf of the Mayor, we thank everyone who contributed ideas at sustainable.dc.gov, attended one of over 50 public meetings and events, or tweeted during our #SustainableDC Twitter chat.  Now it’s time to take our initial collection of ideas, existing local efforts, and the best national and global examples of sustainable practices to develop our vision, goals, and priorities.  The plan will also evaluate environmental and health benefits, and take steps to strengthen the city’s economic vitality and build community.

On November 29^th, we will begin the meeting together as a group to hear from Mayor Gray, review input to date, and map out the Sustainable DC planning process.  We will then break out into nine topical working groups:  the built environment, climate, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, water, and the green economy. We invite you to actively participate in one (or more) of these working groups, which will delve into the details of these topics over the course of four to six meetings from December through February.  At the mid-point and again at the end of the working group process, all participants will come together to share ideas and address the critical connections among these working group topics.

While all meetings will be open to the public, we are asking those who wish to officially participate on a working group to commit to some basic roles and responsibilities.”

For questions, please email sustainable.future@dc.gov or call (202) 442-8809. For more information on the plan and to follow plan updates, please visit http://www.sustainable.dc.gov/ or click here.

We look forward to working with you to make the District the greenest, healthiest, most livable city in the nation!”

It’ll be downtown, at a park near Farragut Square (indoor rain location near Chinatown metro). BYO picnic and blanket. Exact location will be posted Monday morning. Ooooh, the anticipation….

No need to RSVP, just come by. And bring some friends/colleagues. More details can be found here (or if you’re not addicted to facebook, also posted here).

Be ready for fun, an apple or two (a few crates have been donated by local farmers for picnickers to enjoy and hand out to passers-by), and a freebie or two from CSPI. (Now to figure out how to schlep a picnic and more than a bushel of apples there on my bicycle….)

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Food Day’s Goals

1: Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods

2: Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness

3: Expand access to food and alleviate hunger

4: Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms

5: Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids

6: Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

Distillery Lane Ciderworks is offering the chance to learn all about the process of turning apples to cider. Located just outside Burkittsville, MD, the family-owned and operated farm grows unique apple varieties for baking, eating, and cider making. On Saturday, October 15, 2011 you can come to pick apples, learn about cider making and participate in pressing the apples.

Tickets are $20 dollars for the public and $15 for Slow Food members. Some of the ticket price will be credited towards the apples you get to take home.

The official tour starts at 1pm, but if you come at Noon, Slow Food DC is planning on having a potluck lunch. Just bring something to share with 3 other people. And if you only spend $5 for your contribution, even better!

The Distillery Lane Ciderworks is about 15 minutes from Frederick, MD and about an hour from DC. Given that, we are hoping to coordinate rides. If you can offer one or need one, please contact kati@slowfooddc.org with info on where you’re coming from.

DC Farm to School Week — which celebrates healthier food options inside the schools — begins next Monday, Oct 3. But this week you can celebrate the gardens that are helping to teach kids how our food grows just outside of their classrooms, in their very own schoolyards. Yep, it’s DC School Garden Week. Come check out some of the most impressive school gardens around by joining a school garden tour this Saturday, October 1.

It all starts at 8am with a free breakfast and tour at Watkins Elementary (420 12th St., SE, Washington, DC 20003). After biking — or catching the van if you’re not up for biking* — to 10 other local schools, the group will finish at Tubman Elementary with a recap of the tour over a free lunch (thanks to Chipotle). Come meet the hard-working and inspiring people involved in sustaining these gardens, and ask questions.

Where: Meet at Watkins Elementary

When: Saturday, October 1 from 8am-1pm

Cost: None

RSVP: tours@dcschoolgardenweek.com. Please indicate whether you’d like to participate in the van or bike tour.

More details can be found here.

*If you don’t have a bike, but would like to participate in the tour, let us know- we’ll hook you up with a bike courtesy of Capital Bikeshare!