Food Policy Council of San Antonio

Moving Day

More than three years ago, I started this blog (originally called "San Antonio Food Policy Initiative") to share information with my city about the powerful food movement I was discovering at conferences, and to advocate for a food policy council here. Food policy councils are a way for ordinary citizens to come together to address problems in the way our food is grown, distributed and so forth. Food democracy, food citizenship, food sovereignty are all terms associated with this momentum toward a more just and sustainable food system.

Since then, the Food Policy Council of San Antonio has formed, done some great work, and held a two-day conference. I didn't start it myself, but I've gotten to be part of it. Soon we will be a 501c3 with our own website, and that name would have been confused with the real organization that we now have.

I have opened another site that is just me, and it might talk about policy if that's what is on my mind. Or it might just talk about the great taste of kale chips from my garden, or how gorgeous my three red hens look against the green grass.

So that's why I'm moving. If you like, follow me on over to BlacklandFoodie.net. 

If I post anything else here, it will be on behalf of FPCSA, until our own site is up. Ciao!

E-N article on Herff Farm garden, Will Allen on "The Splendid Table"

While waiting for the food policy conference coming up next Thursday and Friday, here are some links to read and listen to, to get you into the mood.

The Express-News SA Life section today features an article on Herff Farm's sustainable "inspiration" garden next to the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne. Tracy Hobson Lehmann writes about the Nature Center's project to demonstrate a variety of sustainable practices for our climate. These include organic soil-building, growing with compost and mulch, keyhole gardens, drip irrigation, and nontoxic pest control methods.

Also on Saturday, "The Splendid Table," airing on Texas Public Radio, featured an interview with Will Allen about the founding of Growing Power, and his book The Good Food Revolution. Find it here.

And while I'm at it, I'll repeat the Living on Earth link from last weekend that features Mark Winne, keynote speaker for the food conference, commenting on food deserts.

Food Desert commentator speaking in SA May 9 to 11

Noted food activist Mark Winne was interviewed for this week's environmental program "Living On Earth," for an update on food deserts. Recent reports in the New York Times have questioned accepted knowledge about areas lacking access to healthy, affordable food, and how large a role this plays in personal behavior and health outcomes. LOE had treated this topic before and interviewed Winne, and for this week's show he gives an update on the issue and puts the current controversy into perspective. It's 10 minutes of very worthwhile listening, or you can read the transcript.

Winne will be in San Antonio week after next, as keynote speaker at the Food Policy Council of San Antonio's conference May 10-11. Registration closes soon, if you want to attend. Follow the link.

For the community at large, he is also speaking at St. Mark's Episcopal Church Wednesday evening May 9 at 7 p.m. RSVP to the church office, 210 226-2426 for that. St. Mark's is at 315 East Pecan downtown, and has free parking in the church lot across Jefferson.

Both of Mark Winne's books (Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners and Smart-Cookin' Mamas, and Closing the Food Gap) will be available starting this week at The Twig Book Shop and the St. Mark's Bookstore. He will be signing them at the St. Mark's talk and at the conference.

Mark Winne spent much of his career in Hartford, Connecticut, first working for an anti-hunger agency, and then founding an organization to work on fixing the system that was producing so much inequity in access to healthy, affordable food. From that start, he has become one of our nation's leading voices on the causes of food inequity and the policies that are needed to correct it. His analysis and advocacy have influenced federal policy, and have led to the formation of food policy councils in many communities (including San Antonio). He continues his work these days from New Mexico, writing and traveling frequently for conferences, consulting, and speaking engagements.

Food Policy Council of San Antonio hosting conference

The Food Policy Council of San Antonio is hosting a conference next month.

The $60 registration fee is underwritten for the first 200 participants by the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Grant at Metropolitan Health District.
 
The conference will consist of three tracks, focusing on Producers and Markets, Community Food Systems, and Policy. Presentations will include Community Garden Initiatives, Food Waste Recovery, Federal and State Food Policies, and Food Justice.

Sustaining Our Food,
Sustaining Our Future
Thursday and Friday, May 10-11
Madison High School's Agriscience Magnet Program
5005 Stahl Road

See the full program and register through this website, either online or by paper form.

Mark Winne (pronounced "Winnie") will keynote the conference with a presentation on May 10. He is the author of Food Rebels, Guerilla Gardeners, and Smart Cookin’ Mamas: Fighting Back in an Age of Industrial Agriculture and Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty. Winne is co-founder of a number of food and agriculture policy groups including the City of Hartford Food Policy Commission, the Connecticut Food Policy Council, End Hunger Connecticut, and the national Community Food Security Coalition.

Talk and Book Signing
If you can't attend the conference but would still like to hear keynote speaker Mark Winne, he will also be speaking at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 315 E. Pecan, at 7 p.m. Wednesday May 9. Call the church office, 210 226-2426 to RSVP.

Both of Mark Winne's books will be available soon at The Twig and the St. Mark's Bookstore, and will be sold at the conference.

Free Greens

If you made New Year's resolutions about eating lighter and healthier (and who didn't?), here is some free help for your menu: edible weeds.You don't have to buy them; you don't even have to grow them. And you will no longer want to fight them after you pick and eat them. You will want to leave a few in spots where they can look intentional, or blend in with your veggies and ornamentals.

There are many edible weeds that grow in just about any yard or neighborhood, and you can look them up: dandelion, sowthistle, wild lettuce, henbit, chickweed, lambs quarters, and the list goes on. This photo contains the first three from that list, picked from my yard, rinsed, chopped a bit, and sauteed with olive oil. Delicious!

Most, including dandelion, can be eaten raw in a salad (even the flowers are edible). For the prickly ones like sowthistle and wild lettuce, you would want to cook them until they are softened. You can steam or saute, or choose any other cooking method that you like.

Even if you have mowed them down after the recent rains, these plants will be back up, since they grow faster than your lawn grass. Pick, rinse, cook or not, and enjoy.

If you are unsure of identifying a plant, look at Google images of the above names, for starters. When trying a new plant, be on the safe side and nibble a tiny bit without swallowing. If it tastes bitter or unpleasant, leave it alone. If it tastes good, you can try eating a small amount and see how that goes. You will come to know several common plants that are good to eat and highly nutritious. Look for further resources if you want to advance your foraging skills. Foraging Texas one such blog dedicated to that purpose. 

 

Food Hubs and Yard Garden Networks at Southern SAWG

Friday I went to four sessions and a screening of the film "The Greenhorns." On Saturday, I went to sessions on policy and activism, especially around the 2012 Farm Bill. I still had a chance to catch a fascinating presentation by a Harlingen farmer who is transforming her area, one season at a time.

Two presentations from Friday were about rebuilding community around food. One was titled, "Food Hubs: Moving Higher Volumes of Good Food to Local Markets." A food hub, in this case, is a business that buys local farm products and distributes to groceries and supermarkets. The presenters were very forthcoming about the nuts and bolts, and the challenges, of putting together this kind of distribution network. I have notes and contact information to share with anyone who is interested in trying this.

The other was by Paige Hill of Urban Patchwork Neighborhood Farms, an Austin nonprofit that helps neighborhoods put together cooperative yard gardens for the residents' use, for sale, and for donation. Rather than finding one big plot for a neighborhood or community garden, she says, you can create small plots throughout the neighborhood, with all the functions served somewhere. They work with each group's unique circumstances--some people have space for a garden but no time, and others want to garden but might have too much shade for some of the crops they would like to grow. Some want food for their own households and to share with neighbors, and some want to sell at a farmers market. Most also donate some to nearby food pantries. She told a story about a backyard tilapia pond that one neighbor wanted to build, to supply fish for the neighborhood. What seemed like a daunting task was done in an afternoon by a group of teenage boys who needed a service project.

These gardens reduce the cost of living for everyone involved, and also increase the quality of life and quality of food. We can do it here, too.

 

Gardening for Good: Food Pantries, SNAPgardens

I've written before about Ample Harvest, a website that lists food pantries that accept donations of surplus produce from gardeners. So today, when the Express-News Grace of Giving series profiled the food pantry at El Divino Salvador United Methodist Church on West Woodlawn, I looked to see whether it is listed, and it is (search on ZIP code 78201). The church is struggling but is determined to keep the pantry open. Here's hoping they get all the help they need from the article.

If you have some cold-hardy greens or other veggies to donate, find a pantry near you and call them up to make arrangements.

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In other news, Daniel Bowman Simon, one of the guys who drove the WhoFarm bus (White House Organic Farm) throughout 2008, has launched a new project. He learned that SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps) can be used to pay for seeds and plants for a household garden. He also learned that he was not alone in not knowing that.

He then learned that this has been true since 1973. So he started a non-profit, SNAPgardens, to raise awareness in ways that the USDA has not been able to. Under another NP's fiduciary umbrella, and on a shoestring budget, here are some of the things he has accomplished this year:

• Distributed “Food Stamps Grow Gardens” posters to plant-purveying, SNAP-accepting farmers markets in over half the states in America, plus DC, in languages including Hmong, Cherokee, and Spanish.  You can request posters for your farmers market or garden or wherever you want to hang them at: www.SNAPgardens.org/posters

• Presented on SNAP Gardens at the American Community Garden Association’s annual conference.
• Did a poster session at the Community Food Security Conference in Oakland.
• Led a USDA People’s Garden webinar on Food Stamps and Gardening.
• Researched the history of food stamps and gardening, which you can find at www.SNAPgardens.org/history.  A larger piece with more factoids was submitted to the journal Cities and the Environment and is now in the peer-review process.
• Provided public comments to USDA on their upcoming revision to SNAP Education, to make it more garden-friendly.
• Testified at a New York City Council hearing about some ways to make gardening an easier choice for SNAP recipients.
• Built a beta website with helpful hints and information.
• Answered lots of email inquiries from farmers, gardeners, extension agents and other government officials, and of course SNAP participants.
• Answered a whole bunch of interview requests, most recently from Grist.
• Helped build a 20x50 hoophouse at the High School for Public Service in Central Brooklyn.  The hoophouse will be used to grow seedlings for sale at the on-site, SNAP-welcoming farmers market!

Notice, in the Grist article, he is partnering with Dinner Garden, our hometown nationally recognized seed-donation nonprofit. In 2012, he plans to raise awareness by providing posters, collecting and sharing best practices, and setting up a toll-free information hotline. "We’ll do our best to inspire some of the more than 46 million Americans now depending on SNAP to put food on their tables to grow at least some of it themselves."

If you want to make an end-of-year donation, you'll be going through their fiduciary agent, Open Spaces Institute. Very easy.

I also notice on their Partners page that there are no local (or even Texas) organizations listed yet (Dinner Garden will be there soon, I'm sure). We'll be adding to them, won't we? There's a resolution for 2012.

 

Green Spaces event schedule

San Antonio's incredibly effective nonprofit resource for community gardening, Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas, has been holding monthly workshops on gardening topics at different gardens in their network. Here is the schedule for those and also for their conservation and photo contest events.

Update: A post from our archives was mentioned on a couple of national listservs in the food movement (Comfood and fpc) by Ample Harvest founder Gary Oppenheimer (thanks, Gary!), and page views shot up for the last couple of days.

Goodbye to August and 105+ temperatures. Fingers crossed for that rainy forecast. In the meantime, don't forget to water your trees.

Conspicuous by its absence: Gardening

Last night I attended the KSTX Town Hall meeting on Obesity and Diabetes, and pronounced it a "wide-ranging discussion." And it was, for its inclusion of the Mayor's and Metro Health's broad initiatives to include the built environment and public safety as contributing factors to these problems in underserved neighborhoods. These are truly essential insights, and the monumental efforts to involve schools, neighborhood associations, and various City departments are impressive.

Where Have All the Gardeners Gone?

I did hear community gardens mentioned once. If there was another reference to people's ability to grow some of their own as a way to access healthy food, I missed it. Of all the ways to get hold of healthy food cheaply, putting a seed into the ground and getting back pounds of produce should be top of mind.

San Antonio, even or especially in these underserved neighborhoods, does have a tradition of growing yard gardens, and this is overlooked in many of our discussions. Many people grow their own salsa ingredients, for example. No doubt, the specter of long rows with too many of one crop, overgrown with weeds, requiring hours of labor that working people don't have, stops many of us from doing much more than that.

However, with small raised beds or container gardens, vegetables can be grown, along with flowers, in less labor intensive and more appealing ways than many of us grew up knowing about. I'm (finally) reading Eric Herm's Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth, and here is what he says to introduce the topic of gardening:

"The easiest long-term solution to ensuring a family or individual's healthy food supply is growing one's own in a personal garden. Many people are intimidated by even thinking of starting a garden. It's not as hard as you'd think, and it requires much less real estate than most imagine. Growing your own food is one of the greatest freedoms most never enjoy."

Walking the Talk

Part of my front yard this winter is a greens garden. This might be the most important, and easiest, part of our diet to grow, and we can do it year-round. My kale, collards, and Chinese cabbage laid down during our several hard freezes, but to my astonishment, they got back up. Not so the chard; it turned to mush, and I had to replant it. With a little planning, I could have used some row cover and saved even that.

You really can do this any time. During the drought of 2009, I grew lettuce all summer long, in a container under a shade tree. Every season is different, and we learn something new.

You don't have to do it all the first year. Start small, adjust, and enjoy! And don't forget, when we talk about access to healthy food, it can come from your own back (or front) yard.

Happy Thanksgiving. Give generously.

If you have fresh food to share this season, or if you are in need, ask the congregations near you if they have a food pantry. This is to make the most local connections that you can, and to learn about your neighborhood. 

Then, look online at ampleharvest.org. You can search for pantries based on your ZIP code. If you have found one on your own and it is not listed, you can encourage them to register on this site, to be more easily found by would-be donors and service providers.

I wrote about Ample Harvest and about the San Antonio Food Bank back in May. SAFB is always deserving of your support, especially at this time of year. They serve a large area very effectively, and while donations have been down since the recession, demand has been way up.

You should also know that the Food Bank isn't a place where people can walk in and get food. SAFB distributes through agencies and food pantries. You can, and should, form your own community connections in helping your neighboring pantries.