Wish us luck!
I heard it through the grapevine... I just heard the news that Cornell plans on opening a teaching winery on campus.
Cornell (located approximately in my backyard) has lots of agricultural and food production programs. I really think it's awesome that the dining halls serve milk from Cornell's dairy and cider from Cornell's orchards. There is even an apple vending machine in the plant science building, where you can buy experimental varieties of apples and leave a comment card saying what you think of them.
There's even a student-run organic farm on campus, and they used to set up a farmstand once a week right outside the building I worked in. Excellent blueberries, and garlic scapes, and even (once!) they were selling pieces of the unusual and delicious chicken mushroom.
I really have to applaud Cornell for producing so much of its own food. (The university also buys about a quarter of its food from within a 100 mile radius). Just goes to show, when you grow what you can, you end up with a lot of good stuff.
April 16, 2008. 1 Comments 0 Trackbacks
local food
How to feed the hungry with sustainable food
by Beth
Sustainable food is expensive. Even when the price tag is right, it may be expensive to live in a neighborhood near a market or co-op (or afford a car to drive there). And have we already forgotten that a food stamp budget is $21 a week and the stamps don't even work at farmer's markets?
Bryant Terry (author, "eco-chef", etc) is trying to change that. Here's an interview with him.
In order to ensure that historically-excluded communities have access to grub members of those communities need to ask/cajole/pressure/demand that existing institutions in the communities (i.e., places of worship, community-based organizations, and the like) take the lead in creating locally-driven and community owned food systems.
In addition to people, many of these institutions have financial capital, land, and other resources. By creating community gardens, rooftop gardens, urban farms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), value added businesses, food buying clubs, food coops, local restaurants, and independently owned grocery stores, these institutions would not only address food injustice but also spur economic development, community beautification, youth empowerment, and a host of actions that would strengthen marginalized communities.
This week I was out driving and saw an triangular patch of land that, despite its awkward shape and location, was plowed and looked ready for planting. The sign said it was a community garden for feeding the hungry. My first thought was, Why aren't there more of these?