Comunity Food Security Project

By Mark Winne

I’m worried about the coming month. Not because I have any dark premonition, but because this is the time when we slip into that autumnal haze marked by pumpkins, turkeys and cornucopias.

These harvest-time icons signal the arrival of World Food Day (Oct. 16), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual hunger and food insecurity report (early November), and of course our Thanksgiving bacchanal (Nov. 26). Taken as singular moments in time, these events appear celebratory or simply benign. Looked at over the course of 80 years, however, they remind us of our failure to end hunger because of our inability to address its cause, namely poverty.

On World Food Day, hunger, which now inflicts its wrath on 1 billion human beings, will again be decried by global institutions for the villain it is. Fresh vows to eliminate this scourge with more money (seldom fulfilled) and the latest agricultural technology (courtesy of Monsanto) will be placed on the world’s altar.

As this painful recession continues, the USDA will probably announce that America’s levels of food insecurity and hunger (measured as “very low food security” by USDA) are at an all-time high. In 2007, the numbers were at 12.1 percent of all Americans, about 36 million people. We can safely anticipate that the new figures will be higher and most likely mirror the growth in the U.S. poverty rate, now at a 10-year high of 13.2 percent.

These figures will prompt government agencies to tout the safety net virtues of the food stamp program. Now giving more than 35 million Americans (yes, also a record) a not terribly generous $1.30 per meal, food stamps will again be revealed for what they are and are not: a pretty good way to manage poverty but by no means a way to end it.

All of this, however, will be trumped by the Thanksgiving symphony orchestrated by the nation’s 205 private food banks. Their mailed, emailed, radioed and televised pleas for assistance will tell us that demand is up, the shelves are bare, and their warehouses are too small. They need turkeys, cans and bucks, the latter to complete yet another expansion of their already humongous warehouses.

Having devoted 35 years of my professional life to community-based food programs, including the development of a food bank and advocacy for more food stamp spending, I have come to believe that the continuous growth in these efforts are dramatic and expensive failures. Not only do they not end hunger, they operate in illogical defiance of the principles of American individualism and self-reliance.

As if asking the victims of our failed national and global food systems to accept their fate — to be poor, to be hungry — isn’t enough, we also ask them to forgo their innate human desire to challenge that fate. “Don’t worry,” say the agencies and the charities, “Do as we say; fill out the forms, stand in line, and you shall be fed.”

Whatever their virtues — these programs do prevent food riots — they do not lift their clients out of poverty. Nor do they help them find their democratic voice, build confidence and wealth, or otherwise erase the stigma of poverty. Instead, most food programs implicitly encourage people “to shun the rugged battle of fate,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson admonished us not to do 150 years ago.

When I want to imagine a different path, I think of Maurice Small, a middle-aged African-American who grew up in Cleveland’s housing projects. For a while he succumbed to the urban hustler’s life but grew tired of seeing the same vacant lots as an adult that he saw as a kid. He would eventually redirect his hustler’s energy to lead the charge for what is now a bourgeoning urban agriculture movement. With assistance from city hall, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Food Policy Council, the nonprofit City Fresh, Oberlin College, Case Western University and the Cleveland Clinic, Small has mobilized people and land to produce more than $2 million of food annually. As he put it himself, “I’m a kid from the projects who’s now selling organic vegetables to white-tablecloth restaurants.”

I also think of Dorothy Washington who lives in the housing projects of Austin, Texas. A 35-year-old African-American who is overweight and has five children, Washington could be mistaken for the archetypical welfare mom. But instead of taking canned food from the food bank, she got involved with a program called The Happy Kitchen that is run by the nonprofit Sustainable Food Center. Through this peer-led food education program, she learned how use herbs to flavor her food instead of fat and how to interest her children in vegetables. Washington and her children have lost weight. She has more confidence in herself and is making a greater commitment to serving her community. About her new diet she notes, wryly, “God didn’t make nachos.”

And then there’s Cynthia Torres, a second-generation Mexican-American who grew up in South Texas. She co-founded the Boulder County Food and Agriculture Policy Council to empower that community in Colorado to make sustainably produced food available to all. Under her leadership the council recently stopped a plan to take over thousands of acres of publicly owned farm land for genetically modified sugar beets. Monsanto and other biotech seed companies had forced sugar beet growers into a box by producing only genetically modified seed. Torres and the community found their voice — the voice of democracy — and have temporarily defeated the attempt. They are now working with farmers and county officials to promote less risky and more sustainable agricultural practices on public land.

These are not poster children for right-wing, up-by-the-bootstraps dogma. To the contrary, that was the philosophical foundation for today’s food assistance programs. “We’ll give them enough food so they don’t starve,” the thinking went, “but we won’t help them out of poverty. That’s their job.” Maurice, Dorothy and Cynthia have been given the support and assistance they need to resolve their dilemmas and without shunning “the rugged battle of fate.”

Feeding America’s hungry and impoverished is now close to a $100-billion-a-year enterprise. For the most part, these efforts do not empower their recipients, and in some cases they infantilize them. As the community activist and former White House adviser Van Jones once said, “We are servicing poor communities to death.”

As our common day of grace approaches, and as we learn more about the dire circumstances of those left out of the American dream, let’s ponder again the ways we might end hunger by ending poverty, and the ways that the voiceless among us can be heard.

http://www.markwinne.com/the-season-of-our-discontent/

Thanks to the hard work of Linda King, resident of Elliot Towers, and the other folks involved in the project at Elliot Towers, there were at least 32 new containers full of potting soil growing on 15 balconies. They were able to grow a variety of plants on their balconies, including tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, beans, summer quash, and herbs.



Initially we met as a group to see who was interested in what. I was overwhelmed with the interest and scrambled to put the project together. All together, we distributed 8 five gallon buckets full of soil, 17 self watering containers made from 2 five gallon buckets, and 7 of the larger 'mini-gardens' made from storage totes. Two residents simply wanted to add some fresh soil mix to containers that they already have. 5 gallon buckets are perfect for growing one tomato plant and the larger “mini gardens” can grow a variety of plants.



The design for the self-watering containers came from this free online book. http://www.green-trust.org/freebooks/Earthbox.pdf

The potting soil was a mix containing composted manure, peat moss, vermiculite and ground limestone.



Linda King supported the folks to buy their tomato seedlings from a local farmer at the Brattleboro Area Farmers' Market. Unfortunately, this year wasn't the best tomato season, and not all of the tomatoes thrived. All in all, most plants produced tomatoes and provided a sense of connection to the earth high up on the balconies of the towers.

One woman on the 7th floor, said “It was so nice to have a garden, and to share some food with neighbors and visitors. It has been wonderful. I miss being in the grass and this garden helps.” Her garden included herbs as well as tomatoes.



While getting every participant together to work or talk together is challenging, many residents, especially neighbors have supported each other. Linda said of the project that “ The folks really enjoy the social interaction,” stressing how most residents live particularly solitary lives. In addition, most folks were happy to bring green life to their concrete balconies and have a good reason to sit outside and enjoy the view over Brattleboro.



While the great canning workshops we had for as a way to preserve the bountiful harvest will be missed in this poor tomato year, we can say that this project contributed positively to the quality life of Elliot Towers residents. Most of the participants are excited to try again next season, which will undoubtedly be a better tomato season!



Doesn't that look incredible?!

"Food Inc." director Robert Kenner appeared on the "Daily Show" last night to talk about how cheap food is going to bankrupt us as a country. He told Stewart that government subsidies are causing severe health problems in America and that our production systems are anything but sustainable.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Robert Kenner
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The team members of the Community Food Security Project met with the Southern Vermont AIDS Project to discuss collaboration.  We decided that their clients would enjoy the opportunity to grow some of their own veggies at home, and since most don't have adequate garden space, we developed a self-watering container project.

The problem with traditional containers is that they can dry out quickly, and veggies do best when they have a consistent supply of water. The self-watering containers are designed to do this. The technology is simple and gaining in popularity. Commercial systems cost upwards of 70 dollars.  We found a design to make them ourselves, and with help from a Master Gardener, constructed 10 containers for this collaboration.  The design is available as a free download here: http://www.green-trust.org/freebooks/Earthbox.pdf



And here is a link to a short video on how to construct 5 gallon bucket containers that are great for tomatoes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZUCxBHeq04




Cindy from the AIDS Project organized interested clients and we met at the UVM Extension farm.  Seedlings were donated by Walnut Ridge Farm and were shared among the group.  One woman was so excited about the collard greens, she took the whole six pack before anybody noticed; she was happy to share them and trade for a hot pepper plant when she saw that we were breaking up the six packs to share. 



All in all, we constructed 8 “mini- gardens” and two 5 gallon bucket tomato containers. We had a great time meeting and talking about the plants, containers, and life.

A quote from a client in late June, “Thank you very much for the productive vegetable garden. Today I had my first harvest and enjoyed a delicious vegetable salad for my lunch. Thank you for your kind offer. Thanks be to Post-Oil solutions too for this initiative.”

The Community Food Security Project would like to thank Brown and Roberts Hardware for selling the 18 gallon storage tubs at cost, Sweet Tree Farm in Dummerston for donating some composted manure, Walnut Ridge Farm for donating seedlings, and the Vermont Community Foundation for funding the remainder of the costs through a grant. And thanks to the Youth Horticulture Project at the UVM Extension for allowing us the use of their space!

Since we began our official work with the Food Security Project this past August, the majority of our work has been talking. We seek out people and organizations, farmers and non-profits, small groups and large, and we tell them about our work and our vision. We gauge their interest and the possibilities for collaboration. We make plans and continue building relationships.

Over the past few months, we've begun to develop informal partnerships and collaborative relationships with organizations such as the Drop In Center, the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, the Boys and Girls Club, the Youth Horticulture Project, SIT, ALANA, Morningside Shelter, Brattleboro Housing Authority and the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Initiative. One very exciting and promising formalized partnership has recently also come into being. Through meeting with Theresa Snow of Salvation Farms and the Vermont Food Bank, discussion developed around the formation of a more organized gleaning program here in Southeastern Vermont, based upon what POS has already begun.

As we build support for our work in the community it is important for us to look beyond our likely partners and supporters. As long as we seek out easy targets for support, the longer we will continue to have a well-meaning movement of mostly middle-class white folks. Because the staff and Leadership Council of Post Oil Solutions are by and large white and middle class, we need to look at who we're not reaching and who we're not developing relationships with and ask ourselves why that is. Organizing across differences - race, class, gender, sexuality, faith, nationality, ability, age, etc. - are what will make this movement for more just, sustainable communities a stronger, more meaningful and more cohesive movement. It is for this reason that one of the explicit goals of the Food Security Project is to build community across race and class lines. Most often the local food movement and the organic food movement have addressed those of us with the privilege to access foods at a higher cost or to grow our own food, while ignoring the myriad of oppressive forces that prevents all from having that right. The larger systemic issues of racism, classism and other "isms" are the real force we are fighting against. In all of our organizing efforts and all of our partnership formation we must keep these forces in mind. It is the only way we can move forward as an organization, a community and a people together in this struggle for justice and sustainability.