The Hatchet Covers Community Garden Documentary

Today's Hatchet has an article about Tuesday's film showing of "A Community of Gardeners" and they mention the GroW Community Garden!

read it here

You can also join us for a special tour of the GroW Community Garden with Cintia herself at 5pm!

Mount Vernon Garden Planting Session #1

This weekend, a bunch of awesome volunteers hiked up to the vern to help with the official ground breaking of GroW on the Vern. Saturday was National Dig-In Day, sponsored by Slow Food USA, which translates to National Start a Garden Day. We did just that. Students who came to volunteer ranged from the Green Earth Year Living Learning Program, a freshmen writing class called, Food, Sustainability, and Social Change, and of course a smattering of Food Justice Members.
We dug and planted and dug some more, until everything was in the ground. We planted low and high bush blueberries, river oats, wild ginger, nodding onion, false blue indigo, evening primrose, moss phlox, honeysuckle, chicksaw plum trees, and a hazelnut tree. All these plants are native and perennial!

As an added bonus, Mount Vernon RAC bought us Jetties sandwiches for lunch! Thank you MV RAC and many thanks to our volunteers!

Erin comes to see the bees

Actually, Erin did more than just see the bees, she smoked them, inspected frames, and fed them sugar water and Honey Bee Healthy. Sounds like a beekeeper in the making! GW's honey bees are hunkering down for winter, finding the last few bits of nectar around town and the queen is feverishly laying her wintertime brood of babies. These baby bees that will emerge from their cells in a few weeks time will be hearty winter bees prepared for cold nights and windy winter days.

In the photo, Erin is digging the floaters out of the sugar water reservoir that we use to feed the bees with. They get really stuck because when the sugar water runs out, the bees think it's funny to glue the wooden floaters to the reservoir with propolis. Not so funny. Ask Erin, it's tough to get them unstuck.

Reduced Rate Slow Food Membership

From now through October 15, 2010, a donation of $25 or more makes you a member of Slow Food USA. 

 

What is Slow Food?

Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

Their Mission:

"Slow Food USA seeks to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system. We reconnect Americans with the people, traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. We seek to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat."

Good, Clean, Fair

Good:

The word good can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For Slow Food, the idea of good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help to build community and celebrate culture and regional diversity.

Clean:

When we talk about clean food, we are talking about nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity.

Fair:

We believe that food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.

Benefit's to Membership: 

Connect:

Become a part of our active online community 
Meet people who care about slow food in your local community Join your local Slow Food USA chapter Get a Slow Food USA membership card
 
Get Informed:

Access information about important national and international food issues and quick updates with the latest food news Access exclusive online and offline content, including opportunities to communicate with leaders in the food movement



Engage:

Help shape the direction of the slow food movement Receive invitations to attend local, national and international events and enjoy discounts where available Learn about opportunities to volunteer on local and national projects
 Receive email alerts that let you know when to take action


FJA Mentioned in the Tufts Observer

Read about the growing community garden movement in the Tufts Observer. GroW and our Bees are mentioned!

School Lunch Film Premiers in DC Tomorrow 9/21

School lunch reform advocates are hosting a screening of Lunch Line, a documentary on the history of National School Lunch Program. Tomorrow the film is screening at Landmark's E Street Cinema at 7 p.m.; an RSVP is required, RSVP@prcollaborative.com.

see the whole article here