Monster Beet

This beet, as a tiny seed, was planted on March 4, 2010 and was just left it to it's own devices for 8 months and this is what became of it. Unfortunately, it had somewhat of an identity crisis and thought it may have been a radish...looks like a beet, but tastes like a radish.

Creative Composting

Urban agriculture requires much attention to soil building and composting. Our compost bin gets just as much TLC as our plants do, in fact. Anyone on campus or in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood is more than welcome to bring their food scraps to our compost bin. If you are interested in do this keep a few things in mind:
-no meat or bones
-no grease or oil
-try for mostly raw kitchen waste
-we also take any paper waste, tissues, paper towels, newspaper, notebook paper, etc. Make sure to rip it up

Erin and I had a catch-up session with our friendly compost the other day and visiting our bin bearing gifts! We brought a bag full of beer mash from our stellar friend Farmer John from the the Farm at Walker Jones Elementary. Beer mash is the hulls of the hops before they are processed into beer. They are more or less pure nitrogen, which rocks for soil building.



If you have any questions about composting or bringing your compost to the garden, feel free to email Food Justice at foodjusticealliance@gmail.com.

Fall time in the Honey Bee World

I'm not going to lie, GW has some pretty incredible photographers. Lucky for Food Justice, these two wonderful photographers, Jessica and William, LOVE our honey bees and just can't get enough. For the second time, the kiddos came out with their massive cameras to don bee suits and make like a photo shoot. The never neglect to tell me that projects like shooting the bees is what makes their jobs so awesome. Go Food Justice! for providing entertainment for GW's dedicated photographers and Thank You Jessica and William for making us look so legit. Much love, guys.
Anyway...here are the rest of the goods!

Smoker

Yours Truly.

She took a liking to my glove.

All the baby brood has emerged! The hive is full of nurse bees.

Interested in getting involved with GW's honey bees? Join the Colonial Swarm this Winter while we build a bunch more boxes and introduce brand new colonies to the Mount Vernon Campus.

*Photos courtesy of Jessica McConnell (Burt). We <3 you.

Film Screening and Discussion: The Dark Side of Chocolate

Tonight 7pm

1957 E Street (Elliott), Room 113

This short documentary (40 min) takes a critical look at the global supply chain that feeds into the world's largest confectionery brands. We will use this film to jumpstart a discussion about consumer responsibility on GW's campus.

Thanks to the consortium of clubs sponsoring this campaign, Fair Trade certified chocolate will be available in the Marvin Center beginning this week. Should we stop there, or push for additional Fair Trade and Sustainably Farmed products at the University? Help us decide at 7:00 pm on Thursday.

Leading figures from the Fair Trade and Labor Solidarity movements will attend this event to field questions from the audience.

Sponsoring organizations:
Progressive Student Union
Food Justice Alliance
Trafficking-Free GW
GW Students for Fair Trade

Setting A Food Intention: FRESH Director Ana Sophia Jones Inspires Students and Faculty

 Mary Ellen, Ana, Melissa, Nancy & Ellie

As part of the Eye on Food Film Series hosted by the Urban Food Task Force students and faculty gathered on October 26th for a screening and discussion about the documentary FRESH. 

FRESH celebrates the people across American who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Establishing healthier, sustainable alternatives, our farmers, thinkers and business people offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Ana Sophia Jones discussed the daily practice of food and how food is the foundation of our life. She spoke on it's value and our need for honesty, trust, opportunity, and respect.

To find out more about the movie
go to: www.freshthemovie.com

Keep an eye open for FJA’s
screening of FRESH in the
coming weeks.

FJA Retreat @ SweetVA

FJA Leaders at Sweet Virginia

Food Justice Alliance's leaders, Melissa, Jenny, Jess, Sarah, Erin & Ellie went to Sweet Virginia Oct. 23rd for some much needed time outside the city! We painted bee boxes, picked flowers, grilled, had lively conversation, and enjoyed the refreshment and cleansing that comes with a visit to Sweet Virginia. It is such a beautiful and inspiring place!

Erin, Melissa, Jess & Jenny

 Erin is our grill master

 Lunch time!

 Melissa and her bee mentor Dan

 Miss Sarah painting bee boxes

Melissa, we're waiting for you! Getting silly on the porch swing.

More painting

Jenny got paint in her hair

A Recipe for Reluctant Cooks: Baked Eggplant Slices

Happy Monday!

Mary Ellen here with a quick post for all your reluctant cooks (such as myself). While I love eating any sort of fresh, healthy and innovative meals, I have mostly stuck with raw foods because a) raw food rocks b) biting raw fruit or veggies is a lot like biting into a magical package of health and crunch and c) I am an anxious cook.

Determined to conquer my anxiety and delve into the enigmatic world of stoves and spatulas, I whipped up a quick and easy snack with an eggplant from the GroW Community Garden awhile back. Some people have told me that eggplants are hard to deal with, but I've always enjoyed eating spongy purple vegetables - and they have been growing so well in the garden!

I used a recipe from The Starving Students' Vegetarian Cookbook by Dede Hall for baked eggplant slices.

You will need:

• 1 eggplant peeled and cut into slices
• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon grated onion

Directions:

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• mix butter, oil, lemon juice, and onion.
• put eggplant slices on aluminum covered cookie sheet
• spread mixture over both sides of the slices
• bake 6 minutes, flip over, bake 6 more (or until it is tender)

I'm not really sure what I'm doing in this photo...cleaning the grater? Such an anxious cook...

What's with the grater, Mary Ellen?

Success! Baked eggplant! The cookbook recommended to dip it in catsup or chili sauce. I put a dollop of hummus on it, then ate about five slices and rather forcefully fed the rest to my roommates. I promise, they liked it!

This was a quick and easy recipe, and a great first step for new cooks (if I do say so myself...)

Give it a try! And I highly recommend the cookbook by Hall!

Have a wonderful week!