Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Real Food BBQ





Happy Earth Day!

What have you done today to be green?

Here in DC, FJA has been busy planning a menu, ordering food, applying for funding for our real food bbq in honor of earth's bounty. Thanks to the help of Sodexo, our fearless FJA members, Gina, and the Office of Sustainability our BBQ was a complete success.

The menu included organic burgers, veggie kabobs, potato salad, green salad, local apples, and organic cookies. We had food for 600 people and were a little worried about getting rid of all the food; but we ran out of food in an hour! That was incredible. I also think we got our name out there and recruited some new members. Yay for local, organic food.

Have a green day

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Garden Inspiration!


For some inspiration, here is the plan for the garden being planted at the White House- Just about 6 blocks from our garden we are planting this fall!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Farmer's Market!


The Foggy Bottom Farmer's Market is open! I am exited that it's the seasons for farmer's markets again. This one takes places by the metro on Wednesday's from 2-7. I went yesterday and there was a lot of great food to be had! I bought a bunch of kale ($3), cilantro ($3), potatoes, and apples.

With my fresh cilantro and potatoes I am currently making a potato dish. It is relatively easy and most of the items can be found local! The farmers market definitely has a bunch of great things to offer- especially samples!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Foggy Bottom Community Garden Project




Who we are:
The Food Justice Alliance is a GW student organization founded the spring semester of 2009 with two main goals: to get more local food served in our cafeteria and to create an on-campus community garden.

What we want to do:
We want to create a community garden that will allow students and the larger DC community to connect with food production through service-learning.

How We Are Doing It:
Currently: We are working with Sodexho to bring local food to our cafeteria and have succeeded in making local apples available. Through the Earth Week Committee we are planning a “Real Food” Barbeque for three hundred people utilizing local, organic foods. We are collaborating with Professor Jeanette Ankoma-Sey’s Edible Landscaping Class whose students are creating a layout, plant list, and detailing the logistics of our community garden at GW. The students are being encouraged to utilize native plants and plants found on the Mount Vernon Estate. The garden will be maintained using permaculture and organic methods. Further our garden will be ADA accessible.

Future Plans: Our current focus is on fundraising and developing a sustainable plan for our community garden. We have set a first planting goal for the Fall of 2009. After our first growing season we plan to cover our overhead costs by selling produce at the Foggy Bottom Farmers Market and donating excess crops to Miriam’s Kitchen and the Foggy Food Pantry. Volunteers for the garden maintenance will be overseen by two year-round student “Garden Manager” interns, hopefully from the biology and environmental studies departments. The managers will be responsible for drawing volunteers from the GW student body, local schools, and the Foggy Bottom community, including elderly and homeless citizens.

Who We Are We Working With:
The FJA is currently working with various GW departments including, University Grounds and Maintenance department, Landscape Design Graduate Program, GW Dining Services, Sodexho, the GW Office of Sustainability, Green GW, and GW Students for Fair Trade. Outside of GW we are creating relationships with the Foggy Bottom Garden Club, Casey Trees, Miriam’s Kitchen, Samaritan Inn, and St. Mary’s Court, Common Good City Farm, and students from American and Georgetown Universities to create a garden that will be both sustainable and maintainable.

Impact:
The FJA will build upon GW’s strong traditions of building community ties, provide service-learning opportunities for students, and creating a more sustainability future for GW. The community garden will place GW in the local food economy, allow students to interact with their food, and reinforce the idea that GW students are responsible global citizens.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Seasons!


Here is a handy guide to knowing which seasons to purchase certain vegetables. This will help to prevent the purchase of food not in season which would mean they were imported from far off places.