Annie's Post

Hi Everybody!

So Rachel and I decided to collaborate on our blog post this week since we have a shared interest, that being urban agricultural solutions happening in Detroit. I know we touched on Detroit a few weeks ago, but I thought it’d be nice to present the class with some concrete examples of what’s going on rather than just spewing abstracts off the top of my head. Detroit is really interesting to study because of its relative abundance of vacant land, and how many community members have confronted various disparities (lack of food access, safety, neglected land, community) through urban farming.

First, I thought this article did a good job of glossing over the community of agriculture in the city. This is a particularly good summary quote from the article in regards to Detroit’s history and why the issue of vacant land exists: “It’s a contrast that’s at the core of Detroit’s problems: with so much abandoned space, Detroit’s land has lost its value, eroding the city’s tax base and making it even harder for the city to maintain neighborhoods or keep empty lots from decaying further.”

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/urban-farming-takes-hold-blighted-motor

Ok, so now here is a project started up by John Hantz of Hantz Group, an insurance and financial services company. Please watch this seven-minute video, and feel free to explore the website further:

http://www.hantzfarmsdetroit.com/introduction.html

Particularly in relation to Hannah’s discussion, what do you think of Hantz Woodlands? Is it an intrusion on those neighborhoods, an improvement, both? What do you think about brining in some of the neighbors at the end of the video? Is there a benefit to corporations and companies interacting with a community in this way, or does this sort of initiative have an implied infringing nature?

Here’s another, more community-based project called Brother Nature, a farm in Corktown started by a husband and wife couple (who also started the really cool Detroit Dirt, http://detroitdirt.org/). This video is a few years old, but since then Brother Nature has only expanded  and is open to the community on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Brother Nature sells produce at the Farmers Market, as well as offers a CSA share they call a “niche” share (smaller quantity of food per share + a specialty item like pesto to make it personal = lower costs for shareholders). Here it is:

https://youtu.be/8LEy4RlUufc 

What do you think of this farm in comparison to Hantz Woodlands? I know they serve different purposes, but what about how Greg and Olivia interact with the community as opposed to the Hantz Group?

There are a multitude of other farms, projects and nonprofits focused on agriculture happening in the Motor City, including the Greening of Detroit, Keep Growing Detroit, Recovery Park, and Earthworks Urban Farm, that we could talk about, but I don’t want to bog you down with research. In all honesty, it would be ideal if we could take a trip to Detroit and simply drive around some of the neighborhoods. There are countless smaller plots that maybe just a few blocks of a neighborhood tend to and use to provide for themselves, but these types of farms don’t have videos made or articles written about them. The fact that residents of Detroit (and it seems that these are often lifetime residents) take matters into their own hands speaks to the attitude of its people, that people are acting on rather than just talking about problems. Hopefully the larger projects and nonprofits Rachel and I talk about portray, though, how urban agriculture in Detroit functions as more than just a food supply. It is about sparking a connection for the community, lowering costs for residents along with offering them work, getting groups of people with various skill sets behind a project with organization in mind, and nourishing the spirit as well as the body. 

I’m excited what you all have to say about the solutions proposed by these different groups, and I’d also welcome anybody to speak about successful initiatives they’ve heard of in other urban settings and why those are unique to the specific cities in which they exist.

Week 6 on the Farm: Potatoes (& Climate Change)!

Weather forecast: Tuesday, 100% chance of rain. Wednesday, high of 78 F, 20% chance of rain.

We're dancing around the rain this week on the farm as we try to get as many seeds and plants in the ground as possible in between rain events. This is the time of year when we really start to feel our vulnerability and personal relationship to climate, as our daily and sometimes even hourly activities become dictated by what's happening with the weather. Planting at the right time under the right weather conditions is really important in getting a crop off to a good start--sometimes it can mean the difference between having a crop to harvest or not! That's why if you drove past my house at 2am this past Sunday you would have seen me out in the garden planting carrots and radishes by the light of my headlamp in order to get them in before Monday morning's rain.

One reason that climate change is of such concern to farmers is that as weather patterns become more extreme and difficult to predict, our old assumptions about how to work with the weather may no longer serve us. We'll have to figure out how to adapt.

Because of Tuesday's rain and because the Wednesday farm group will most likely miss a farm class due to DOGL in the next couple of weeks, I've offered the Tuesday farm group the option of not coming out to the farm this week. By Wednesday afternoon, I hope the ground will be dry enough to do some planting. One crop I hope to get in this week is potatoes.

Here are two videos that describe two very different food systems involving potatoes. The first is 10 minutes; the second is 15 minutes long. Take a look and let's talk about the implications of each. Which system do you think will best feed us and future generations?

100 Circle Farms, Washington State: http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/see_what_we_are_made_of/meet_our_suppliers/100_circle_farms.html

Potato Park, Peru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLI2KySC9-U

And here's the website for the Potato Park if you'd like to learn more: http://www.parquedelapapa.org/.

Elisse's Post Wk 6!

Laura and I decided to collaborate on our topic for this week’s discussion. We felt it was important to talk about our personal connections to food and examine food as more than just a source of sustenance. We both felt strongly that the loss of a spiritual connection to food can be damaging to oneself and ultimately damaging to the food system as a whole. We want to address the shift from thinking of food as nourishment for your whole body and spirit rather than purely as fuel.
The article Spiritual Nutrition: Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Spirit introduces the idea of ‘mindful eating’. In the context of this article, eating mindfully means being present in the moment while eating a meal with one’s complete focus on the food they are consuming. Just thinking about the past two weeks, it has been a while since I have had a mindful eating experience. While trying to balance work, school, and other aspects of life it can be difficult to find time to enjoy a meal let alone prepare one. It is hard for me to think of a time where I ate a meal alone without multi-tasking. In our fast paced society often times ‘taking a break’ to eat seems like giving up. The article presents the notion that eating for health and eating for well-being are two different things. Nutritional science in the U.S. has been primarily focused on what you are eating to stay healthy rather than how you are eating which benefits your well-being.
Take a look at this short article about food and culture: http://ideas.ted.com/what-americans-can-learn-from-other-food-cultures/
Amy Choi talks about food in terms of: Identity, Survival, Status, Pleasure, Community, and Humanity.
I think the idea of food as a link to our humanity is particularly enlightening, especially the final quote from Richard Wilk that ends with “Learning to eat is learning to become human”. All animals eat (and all organisms gain energy in some way) but the way in which we have turned eating into a ritualistic experience separates us from other life forms.
What does food culture mean to you? Do you think the United States has any kind of unifying food culture? How does this culture/ lack thereof change our personal relationships to food?
As much as everyone feels comfortable doing so, Laura and I want everyone to reflect on their own journey with food and how their relationship to mealtime and eating has transformed throughout your life.
During elementary school my parents worked a lot and we did not have many meals all together. After school I would go to an after school program at the local YMCA until my dad got off work at 9. A snack was usually provided right after school during homework time. About half the kids would get picked up for dinner while others would stay later and get meals from the vending machines. My brother and I would usually buy snacks until our dad came and we had a quick microwavable or fast food dinner before bed. Meals were very rushed. During that time I do not think I thought too much about what I was eating or really how I was eating it nor was I encouraged to do so.
I think my true relationship with food began when I was old enough to go home myself after school and learn how to make food that I wanted to eat. My mom began working less in high school and taught me how to cook. While I do not feel a strong cultural connection to any particular dish growing up, I do think I was able to value food differently once I had the time to prepare it and enjoy it.
Reflect on your relationship with food. How can you strengthen your spiritual connection to the food you eat? How can strengthening our personal connections to food help support others and change our food system?
We all come from different backgrounds and have varying perspectives to offer to the broader discussion on the food system.  Hopefully thinking about cultural and spiritual connections to food can help us to generate some solutions to food-related issues in the United States.

Week 6: Laura's Post

Conscious Consumption: Mending our Relationship with Food

“Spiritual Nutrition transcends all cultural borders. It is a part of the original spiritual teachings in every country in the world; in every faith. All the way back to the ancient Essenes and the wisdom of the Rishis masters of India, regardless of our creed or culture. It was given to all of us as a tool, a step on the path to Enlightenment.”

-W. Kacera

For many of us living in the world today food has become a topic of confusion and struggle. Especially in the United States there is an endless obsession with weight-loss, cravings, and body image.

With the fast paced environment that we live in, many people have lost their spiritual connection to food. Food has become something that we chew as fast as we can while commuting to work, to school. It has become a nutritional value on the backs of wrappers. Our bodies are not machines. We need to look at the absence of consciousness about the relationship that exists between our bodies and our spirits.

Food is something that impacts us on the physical level, emotional level, and spiritual level.

From the article entitled “Spiritual Nutrition: Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Spirit,” that Elisse and I both utilized from The Living Centre website, we understood that there are four aspects of food: “Biological, psychological, spiritual, and social nutrition.”

“Biological Nourishment: the nutrients in optimal foods have the power to heal and balance physical health.”

“Psychological Nourishment: Food influences mood; conversely, mood, emotions, and feelings often affect food choices.”

“Social Nourishment: dining with others in a pleasant atmosphere affects well-being.”

“Spiritual Nourishment: eating with an awareness of the mystery of life in food and connecting with it via mindfulness, appreciation, and a loving consciousness may enhance health.”

Please read this short article entitled “The Connection between Spirituality and Food.”

http://www.edgemagazine.net/2014/05/spirituality-and-food/

Maggie Christopher, the author of this article, is a certified holistic nutrition counselor and a licensed marriage and family therapist. Utilizing these two parts of herself, she supports people in their quest to find a healthy relationship with food.

This article explores how and why people have lost their healthy relationships with food. What I really like about this particular article is that she explores the ways in which people can mend that relationship.

There is one quote in particular that I would like you to draw upon in your comment and explore:

“If you are on a spiritual path, I invite you to consider the benefits of truly exploring your relationship with food. Food is a profound doorway into spiritual growth, because how you experience food is how you experience life.”

Now, I would like to talk a little bit about my personal relationship with food. This always gets a little bit uncomfortable for me because for a long time this relationship was incredibly unhealthy. As a child my parents worked a lot. I didn’t see my mother very much growing up and we’d stay at school most nights in the latch-key program until 8 or 9PM. We’d eat McDonalds or Spaghettio’s, sometimes Lean Cuisines. I became overweight at a very young age and was made fun of by the other children. Because of this I saw my body as something that got in my way. I started dieting when I was ten years old and very drastically fluctuated in my weight even through high school. It wasn’t until my sophomore year at K that I really decided to eat what my body wanted. Notice that I said my body, not my mind. I think that the biggest challenge for me has been understanding the difference between my body and my mind in relationship to food. Something that I have had to come to terms with is that if I am nourishing my body in the way that feels good I cannot get angry at my body for the way that it looks. If I have eaten healthfully and focused on my own spiritual connection, I have been larger than what is societally rewarded. That is something that has been incredibly hard for me to cope with, but as long as I feel good and am being good to my body, I love my body and I love myself.

Something that I have been trying to do recently is focus on eating when I eat. How simple is that? In actuality, it is incredibly difficult. I don’t turn on the television. I try not to text on my phone. I don’t take so many selfies with my salads. I sit with my food and I enjoy it. I let eating be it’s own experience.

Some things to consider in your response:

What is your own relationship to food? How does that affect your spiritual side?

What would you change about your relationship to food?

Feel free to write from your heart. Elisse and I want to make this week’s class very open and honest, and we want people to be comfortable.

“To receive the most subtle particles in the food, you must be fully conscious, wide awake, and full of love. If the entire system is ready to receive food in that perfect way, then the food is moved to pour out its hidden riches. When food opens itself, it gives you all that it has in the way of pure, divine energies.”

-O. M. Aivanbov

Have a wonderful week. Don't forget to love yourself.

See you all on Thursday.

Week 5 on the Farm: Planting! (And breeding)

Weather forecast: mid-60s, partly cloudy/mostly sunny.

Looks like Spring is back this week with some nice warm temps! The weekday weather is forecasted to be dry, but rain is supposed to move in this weekend, so we'll be making a big push to get some things in the ground before that rain event.

As of tonight, we've got arugula, sugar snap peas, scallions, spinach, and turnips direct-seeded into the ground, along with cover crops of field peas, dutch white clover, and ladino clover. By the end of this week, I hope we'll have our cabbage, kale, and chard transplants in, and red beets, radishes, dill, and cilantro direct-seeded. You can help us with some of this work as we talk some more about the difference between direct-seeding and transplanting and demonstrate our techniques for hardening off transplants and getting them into the ground.

John and I got some exciting news this week. We've been accepted as a part of the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Farm Breeding Club's tomato and zucchini breeding project headed by organic plant breeder Frank Kutka. He has thirty growers across the country (from New Jersey to the Pacific Northwest) who will be growing out specific strains of tomato and zucchini this year and selecting seed from plants that show early vigor, disease resistance, and produce early, tasty fruit!

Frank will be sending us one tomato variety and one zucchini variety. We'll plant out the seeds and observe them closely for the traits listed above. Because tomatoes are (generally) self-pollinating, we won't have to do any hand-pollinating to make sure they don't cross with our other varieties. But the zucchini is a different story. Here's a video that shows how we'll hand-pollinate the zucchini to make sure that we don't get any unwanted crosses with some of our other squashes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYEckgRRtjw.

Once we've identified the plants that best meet the criteria that Frank is looking for, we'll save seeds from those plants and return them to Frank, as will all of the other growers in this project. Next year, he'll send out the seeds that he received this year and repeat the process. This will probably continue for a couple of years until he's established a line that meets his breeding objectives and then the variety will be released for production.

Here's a link to the farm breeding club site: http://www.npsas.org/about-us/farm-breeding-club.html. The sections "What is plant breeding?" "Background and History" and "Seed Saving & Selection - Why Do It?" are short and a good overview of why it's important to have farmers (not just corporations and universities) actively involved in plant breeding.

Also! This is exciting! As we were learning more about the Farm Breeding Club, we found out that Frank Kutka has been working on a strain of corn that resists outcrossing with GMO corn. So--yet another creative solution to problems posed by GMOs to organic growers and breeders. Check out this article that describes the project: http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/04/organic-ready-corn-fight-stop-gmo-cross-pollination/. And note that rather than patenting the genetics he's working with (as an earlier breeder did), Frank is making sure that these genes get into open pollinated varieties that can be made available to everyone.

Week 4 on the Farm: Weeds

Weather forecast: Cloudy & windy; highs in the mid-40s to low 50s.

Well, it looks like the good-weather streak might be over! It's going to be cold this week, so bundle up. Jackets and hats and gloves will probably come in handy.

One of the biggest problems we're contending with on the farm this Spring is weeds. As we've mentioned, we got overwhelmed toward the end of last season as a consequence we let quack grass creep in and annual weeds go to seed around the perimeter of the gardens, which means that we've got lots of weeds to clear from our beds before we can plant.

If we were conventional farmers, we'd simply spray these weeds with Roundup and our problem would be solved. In conventional farming, Roundup (glyphosate) has had the reputation of being harmless. But questions about its safety have been raised over the past several years, most recently in a World Heath Organization report which classifies glyphosate as a probable carcinogen.

If you remember our conversation last week, one of the major genetic crop modifications is to make crops such as corn and soybeans resistant to Roundup so that it can be sprayed over top of these crops to kill the weeds around them but not the crop. This means that the probable carcinogen glyphosate is used heavily in GMO fields. According to the EPA, in 2007 185 million pounds of glyphosate was used by US farmers. It's probably more than that now, but I haven't found more recent numbers. That's a lot of probable carcinogen to be spreading around.

So how can we solve our weed problem without probably creating a cancer problem? Well, there are lots of things we can do. We use cover crops and mulches to suppress weed growth. We mow weeds off on some of the paths between our beds. Currently, we're experimenting with temporary plastic mulch as a means to kill back some patches of quack grass that are out of control. But also, there's simply a lot of hand-pulling and hoeing to be done, especially right now. If the weather cooperates, you can help us with this this week as we make a big push this week and next to get beds in shape for planting.

Speaking of solutions, I came across an article in the Des Moine register this week about how some farmers are going back to planting non-GMO crops because they can sell to companies who are producing non-GMO certified foods and get a higher price for their crop. Here's a link to the article: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2015/04/18/non-gmo-farming/25951693/.

This reminds me of the controversy over recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST). This is an artificial version of a naturally occurring bovine growth hormone that was created by Monsanto in the 90s using recombinant DNA technology. When injected into lactating cows, it boosted their milk production, but it also created a lot of other health problems for the cows. Some people were also concerned that the milk produced by these cows might have detrimental effects on people too and in a move similar to the GMO-labeling movement, started a campaign to label dairy products which were produced using rBST. This movement ultimately failed, however, companies saw a marketing opportunity in promoting their products as rBST free. As more and more consumers chose rBST-free dairy products, chains such as Safeway and eventually even Walmart stopped carrying dairy products produced with rBST. So, it's still legal but it isn't used as widely as it might be if consumers hadn't "voted with their dollars."

Now, I'm not saying that market-based solutions in and of themselves are going to solve all of our problems (in fact, I'm pretty firmly convinced they aren't). But consumer choices can definitely make a difference!