Food Policy Council of San Antonio

SNAP Benefits Local Agriculture--Farming magazine

We can all use a refresher course now and then on how some important federal programs started out. When "government" (which, the last time we checked, is of us, by us, and for us) is reviled by so many, it can be very surprising to learn that some programs getting a bad rap today arose from national security and economic development concerns. For example, the National School Lunch Program resulted from the realization during World War II that military readiness was being impacted by malnutrition.

Similarly, in Farming Magazine (the Journal of Northeast Agriculture), we learn from this article on how SNAP helps local farmers that the Food Stamp program (now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) had its origins even earlier in the 1930s, in an effort to connect hungry city folks, who could not afford to buy food, with farmers with good food to sell. The article not only highlights that historic beginning, but also addresses ways of overcoming barriers to accepting SNAP benefits for some modern-day farmers markets.

Stamps or coupons are no longer used. The benefits are delivered on an electronic card (the Lone Star card, in Texas), which many FM vendors are not equipped to handle. That's one barrier. Another can be the price of the food. Read the article to find out some of the solutions that are available.

Public radio's On Point nails it on fighting obesity

The second hour of today's On Point on KSTX (FM 89.1) has a good conversation about measures taken to combat the obesity epidemic. It features Oklahoma City, but touches on many of the initiatives that San Antonio adopted with the same CPPW grant that started the Food Policy Council.

Apart from the noise about whether the government should or shouldn't tell people what to eat/drink (NYC ban on large sugary drinks for example), Tom's guest made the very good points that (1) processed food has drastically changed in the last several years, in ways that our bodies are not equipped to metabolize, and (2) changing the food environment assists people in "making the healthy choice the easy choice" as we say.

Be honest-doesn't your own consumption often depend on what someone puts in front of you?

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.

Courses and certificates in Urban Agriculture

Palo Alto College has a certificate in Organic Agriculture that has a focus on urban agriculture. It is great to have this resource so close to home. We have a strong community and yard gardening culture here, but there is untapped potential for commercial growing inside the city.

A faraway option for such study is see Ryerson University's (Toronto, Ontario). James Kuhns, Instructor in the program (and past president of the American Community Gardening Association), writes:

If you are particularly interested in urban food and agriculture issues, the following two courses are available:

Urban Food Security (CFNY408) – this important course has recently been completely revamped. It explores the factors that currently affect urban food security and how to work towards creating socially-just, sustainable, urban food systems. (Note: the prerequisite for this course has been waived)

Urban Agriculture Types (CVFN412) – this course explores the wide diversity of approaches one can take to developing urban agriculture systems. The course forms part of an Urban Agriculture course series of four courses.
 
If a student completes the four courses, they will receive a formal document of completion from the university. The courses also count towards attaining a certificate in food security should students wish to pursue the certificate as well.

Download an application form and FAX it to distance education at (+1)-416-979-5196. Alternatively, you can scan the application form and send it by email to distance@ryerson.ca. DO NOT MAIL THE REGISTRATION FORM.

If you have any problems over registration, please contact Reg Noble, the Academic Coordinator at food@ryerson.ca.

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.

 

Conference Junkie is on the ground at SSAWG

Tonight at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conference in Little Rock, we are treated to virtual farm tours, via 10 DVDs produced by SSAWG to highlight several kinds of sustainable growers. Check out the descriptions here. Somebody needs to order these and kick off a regular foodie movie screening in SA.

Right now, I'm watching "Cut Flowers." The farmer is telling us that landscape fabric will last 5 or 6 growing seasons, versus black plastic which lasts for one, and it lets rain through. In another one, the farmer used black plastic to prevent too much rain from leaching nitrogen. That's not usually our problem! These diverse organic farmers have developed so many efficiencies and cool labor-saving tricks, and they've all had to learn it as they go along, for their particular farms and crops or animals. They are also intent on catering to their customers, whether at a farmers market or CSA (Community Supporte Agriculture).You will be amazed.

Next up are "Pasture-Based Dairy Farming" and "Artisan Cheese Production and Marketing." As the granddaughter of a dairyman, I've been waiting for these.

This conference draws sustainable farmers and food activists from all over the South, and beyond. Several Texans are on the program. More tomorrow!

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.

------------------

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.

 

Didn't believe me about the Farm Bill problema? Believe Bittman.

I mentioned the #secretfarmbill last post, and there was much talk and action about it at #cfsc2011. Now comes Mark Bittman, the Minimalist Cook and NYT goodfood blogger, to call it out. Here's the start:

The Republican-manufactured budget crisis of this past summer — remember? — resulted in a “solution” that’s hijacking what little representative democratic process we have left. Equally sad is that the so-called supercommittee — charged with creating an outline for reducing the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years — may preclude full discussion of the farm bill. Read more. 

I've linked to Bittman's food advocacy pieces so often, he deserves his own tag. Done.

What's up with the Farm Bill? It needs your help now.

I try to write something here at least once or twice each month, and there are always many things I want to write about but don't make time to. October went by in a flash, and I didn't write about a farm tour, or the food trucks article in the newspaper, or a dozen other things that I wanted to.

Now I'm in Oakland at the 15th annual CFSC conference (#CFSC2011 on Twitter), and I should have plenty to say about that. But first, there is something very important going on that you should know about.

People everywhere are waking up to the importance of the Farm Bill, and its effects on local economies and health. Usually it is reauthorized every five years after being revised by the House and Senate Agriculture committees, and after public input. I've been working with several groups gathering that input on Farm Bill priorities. But now, this important legislation that shapes our food system is about to be written behind closed doors, in the Supercommittee. If enough people speak up, the doors can no longer stay closed.

The rest of this post is lifted from the blog "livingmaxwell.com." I saw it on the Sustainable Foods Network of Linked In, and it's the most concise, least wonkish summary I've read of how we got to this point. It also has easy links for the call to action. Please read this by Max Goldberg:

-----------------------

FARM BILL NEGOTIATIONS

When President Obama came into office, I specifically remember him saying that there will be “no more business as usual in Washington D.C.”

Yet, there is plenty of “business as usual” going on right now, and we need your help to stop it.

For those who don’t know, the very, very important Farm Bill (which gets voted on and funded every five years) is expiring at the end of 2012.

With huge cuts coming across all government agencies, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) proposed to cut farm subsidies to anyone with an average income over $1 million.

(GMO seed companies, chemical companies, GMO farmers and many others make WAY MORE than $1 million per year, thanks to our generous tax dollars/subsidies.)

This cleared the Senate by a vote of 84-15 and was a huge blow to Big Ag.

Obviously, Big Ag is not going to take this lying down and wants any Farm Bill to be secretly negotiated behind closed doors within the Super Committee. If this is done without any debate or open discussion, organics will definitely suffer and GMOs will definitely benefit.

Right now 4 members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are meeting to rush the 2012 Food and Farm Bill to the Super Committee and steal any chances for reforms for local, organic and healthy food until the next Farm Bill comes up in 2017.

Please make an urgent call to the listed leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees today to tell them to say no to corporate greed and NO to the “Secret Farm Bill”.

Personally, I have called all four Congressional representatives below.

And their people are telling me that all the calls are making a difference. Please pick up the phone and complain. It doesn’t matter if the people below are not from your state.

Thanks to Food Democracy, here’s a sample script.

Hi, my name is _______  I’m calling to put an end to corporate greed and say “No” to the Secret Farm Bill. Rushing this vital piece of legislation behind closed doors is unfair and undemocratic.

Please tell Congressman / Senator _____ that I care about America’s family farmers and support the right to an open and transparent Food and Farm Bill for the benefit of farmers and eaters everywhere.

Senate Ag Committee Leadership:

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Chair of Senate Agricultural Committee – call: (202) 224-4822

Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) Ranking Member Senate Agriculture Committee – call: (202) 224-4774

House Ag Committee Leadership:

Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK) Chair House Committee on Agriculture – call:  (202) 225-5565

Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN) Former Chair House Committee on Agriculture – call: (202) 225-2165

If you feel like calling additional members of the Senate or House Ag Committees to tell the to Kill the Secret Farm Bill, click on the links below.

Members of the Senate Ag Committee:

Members of the House Ag Committee:

—-

Thank you so much for interest in and support of organic food.  I sincerely appreciate it.