Slow Food USA has announced that its 90,000 members and advocates are rallying the public to tell Congress to get serious about ending child obesity when legislators begin updating the Child Nutrition Act. Last week, President Obama proposed adding $1 billion per year to the bill, which the organization
commends as “a good start.”
“President Obama’s proposal to add $1 billion per year to the Child Nutrition Act is an important step forward,” stated Josh Viertel, president, Slow Food USA. “But, it’s not enough to give America’s kids a healthy future, especially when nearly one third of our children are overweight or obese and when Congress spends at least $13 billion per year subsidizing the production of unhealthy processed foods. The public needs to speak up and tell Congress to make real improvements to school lunch.”
Right now, Congress gives schools $2.68 for each lunch served, of which only about $1 goes towards ingredients. President Obama has proposed adding $1 billion per year to the Child Nutrition Act, but the money will need to be split up between many critical programs. At most, schools would receive an
additional 20 cents per meal, which falls short of what they need to serve a healthful lunch with sufficient fruits, vegetables and whole grains. School nutrition directors and advocates agree that this would cost $1 more per lunch. Hence Slow Food USA is asking Americans to tell their legislators to add at least $1 billion to the Child Nutrition Act, and strengthen nutrition standards and help schools start farm-to-school programs.
“The math speaks for itself,” continued Viertel. “Obesity and diabetes costs our nation $263 billion per year. And school lunch is so under-funded that most schools can only afford to serve the cheap processed foods that fuel obesity and diabetes. Investing at least $1 billion in child nutrition programs is the smart thing to do. Otherwise, we’re continuing to put our kids, our economy, our health care system and our quality of life at risk.”
Time for Lunch makes it quick and easy for anyone to send emails to their legislators. Slow Food USA has set a goal of sending 100,000 emails to Congress.
Architects and designers have come up with innovative ways to deal with our impending food crisis. As the world’s population moves toward urban centers and density causes green space to diminish, cities are contemplating how they will feed themselves. The trend toward urban farming is inevitable but anticipating limited amounts of land, designers are focused on vertical possibilities. Here are 26 innovative designs that address the concept of vertical farming. Designs 1-9 Designs 10-18 Designs 19-26
Planting has begun at Great Park in Irvine, CA located at the old El Toro airbase, which occupied the land from 1942 through 1999. Prior to the base opening in 1942, farmers grew lima beans and grain crops on the fertile land. Now as part of a $65 million construction plan, this $1.4 million project will return the land to its roots. The park will include a 100 acre working farm designed to provide fresh, locally grown organic produce to the public and to area food banks. A community garden and farmers market are also planned.
A glimmer of Great Park emerged last year, when a 2 acre parcel was dedicated to a farm and food lab project which was welcomed by the community. Master farmers from the University of California hosted workshops and created themed gardens. Now as the former military base is undergoing its large scale “reawakening”, the fields are being planted with barley to strengthen the soil in preparation for future crops and the farmers market should be operating within a year. read more
Little City Gardens in San Francisco, CA is hoping to expand their operation. For the past year, Caitlyn Galloway and Brooke Budner have been growing artisinal salad mix, braising mix and culinary herbs on a 1/16-acre backyard plot in the Mission District, which they sell to individual subscribers and local restaurants. They also hold workshops to teach the local community about farming in the city, and somehow have managed to maintain paid jobs off the farm the entire time. Now they’d like to expand to a 1/2-acre plot, dedicate themselves to farming full time and continue “the local, national, and global dialogue about growing food in cities”.
Brooke and Caitlyn have built a business worth investing in, and in addition to that they have created a model useful to anyone interested in starting or expanding their own urban farm. They have put together a business plan and stated their goals clearly. You can see from their Kickstarter page that their hard work is paying off. They are getting a terrific response from their community and we wish them the best in reaching their fundraising goals by May 4th, 2010!
Don’t miss the Little City Gardens video, just click on the Kickstarter image above.
Warning: this is an advertisement, but an interesting one. It’s an example of another method of sustainable local farming. There has been a lot of talk about vertical farming in the city, but mostly in terms of large scale production. Home Town Farms is promoting an individual produce shop that actually grows their food on-site using a vertical farm at the back of the store. As with most vertical farms, the produce would be grown hydroponically, which reduces water usage. HTF states that consumers would be able to buy vegetables and berries that have been picked fresh on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see if this concept gains momentum and competitors begin to surface. The demand for locally grown organic produce is rapidly gaining momentum, so companies like Home Town Farms will likely be popping up in towns across the country, all competing for our dollars. It’s the perfect time for consumers to demand affordable healthy food.
On the heels of la Tomatina, the hugely popular annual tomato fight in Spain, comes Batalla Verde or Green Battle. Batalla Verde is a form of guerrilla gardening where organizers first locate a site in need of greening. Any large field will do, whether it’s a vacant lot, rooftop or abandoned construction site. Players show up armed with green mud balls filled with seeds and begin pelting each other, paintball style, until they and the field are covered in the green mud. It’s good fun, costs virtually nothing and in 2-3 weeks the once unsightly battlefield becomes a beautiful garden. read more
The new $1 billion Olympic Village in Vancouver features 22 rooftop gardens in total, designed to absorb heat in the summer “reducing the heat-island effect buildings can have in a city, adding to pollution and climate change”. The LEED Gold certified facility is considered one of “the most lavishly landscaped, environmentally-friendly developments in Canada”. A large area will be planted with sedum which is known for absorbing heat and CO2, and is drought tolerant. The sedums were grown on mats and then rolled out on the rooftop over roof soil. Other roofs will feature herbs and vegetables grown in concrete beds. The gardens were also designed as social spaces and feature patios, decks and courtyard gardens to accomodate visitors. read more
Seattle has launched a new campaign to promote local and regional food sustainability and security. Their goal is to make healthy food available in all neighborhoods by finding innovative ways to encourage local and regional food production. The Seattle City Council will partner with other NE Seattle organizations to launch a number of programs, including developing additional community gardens, creating a new urban food bank farm and looking at the potential for new land use codes that support urban agriculture. read more see upcoming events
Edwardsville primary intends to become one of the greenest schools in Wales by opening three outdoor classrooms. Grant funding has paid for the outdoor classrooms, environment and development projects and the garden’s permaculture design as well as a gardener. The children will not only learn to grow, harvest and prepare their own food, but the garden will be used as a basis for learning other subjects such as math, science and history. School administrators feel that outdoor learning not only addresses poor eating habits and obesity issues, but also helps raise children’s self esteem and confidence. There are even plans to invite the surrounding community to grow food on a portion of the school’s land in the future. read more
Residents of Hayes Valley in San Francisco, CA descended on an abandoned lot this past weekend and transformed it into an urban farm. The lot had been sitting unused for about 15 years, when as part of the city’s interim use agreement, it was handed over to locals for temporary farming. For the next 2-5 years, until the city moves forward with development plans, the neighborhood can enjoy classes, workshops, work parties and site tours on a beautiful urban farm. read more
