The Food Project blogs

Donate Goods by GivingSomeThing!

Elena — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:43:43 +0000

Are you interested in donating real goods that The Food Project can use to run our youth development, sustainable agriculture, and community food access programs? Now you can! Check out our Wish List on GivingSomeThing.com!

GivingSomeThing is an online platform that connects nonprofit organizations directly to their donors. Through GivingSomeThing, supporters can easily donate real goods to their favorite organizations. Nonprofits create Wish Lists featuring specific items that will help them operate. Supporters can then view the Wish Lists, learn about how the goods will be used, and choose specific items to donate. Donated goods are shipped directly to the organization so they can be put to use immediately!

Please consider sending us goods that we need through our GivingSomeThing Wish List! You can view The Food Project’s Wish List at http://givingsomething.com/The-Food-Project.

And thanks, as always, for your generous support of The Food Project!

Local Gardener Leads Cooking Workshop

Elena — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:53:25 +0000

Local gardener Maria Barros led friends, neighbors, and food enthusiasts in a cooking class about Cape Verdean cooking at The Food Project’s office this Saturday, January 28.

The ten participants included Cape Verdean Bostonians eager to learn about their traditional cuisine, as well as many local gardeners. As they chopped vegetables for the class, the gardeners discussed last year's cabbage crop and their excitement to plant collard greens for the spring.

Barros led participants in preparing two traditional Cape Verdean dishes called Cachupa and Bacalhau. Cachupa is a stew that contains collard greens, beans, and corn. Bacalhau is a stew containing salted cod. After preparing the two dishes, participants dined together to taste their creations.

Saturday's workshop was the first installment in a series called "Cooking with your Neighbor." The next "Cooking with your Neighbor" workshop will be held on Saturday, February 25. Three gardeners from the Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center will be leading us in an interactive class about Somali cooking.

For more information about the "Cooking with your Neighbor" series or the "Grow Well, Eat Well, Be Well" initiative at the Dudley Greenhouse, please email Greenhouse Manager Danielle Andrews.

Thriller Author Partners with TFP

kkim — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:04:42 +0000

The following blog was guest-authored by Michael Palmer, who is partnering with TFP to spread the message about real food to new audiences.

Why TFP Has a Place in This Thriller Author’s Heart

Greetings from Swampscott, Mass. My name is Michael Palmer, I am a NY Times best-selling medical thriller author. A little over two years ago I watched Food, Inc. I know that many of you are familiar with the sobering realities exposed in this documentary: the business of corporate farming, the harmful treatment of animals, and the limited access many people have to healthy food.

The stories of farmers and food policy advocates stayed with me. I could not stop thinking about the negative impact that processed, mass produced, and genetically engineered foods have on our individual and collective well-being. And I knew that I’d found my next book topic. Fast forward a year later – Oath of Office was completed and will be in stores mid-February this year.

It was only natural for me to connect my story with that of The Food Project. This is why I wanted to do my small part and contribute financially to the Food Project's cause – in the form of donating a percentage of the Oath of Office pre-order sales to their efforts.

Oath of Office is my 17th medical and political thriller novel. My hope is that the book reminds readers about the importance of getting educated about what they eat and motivates them to do their part in building a world where “real food” is accessible to all people. At the heart of the novel is corn modified with the genes of the flesh-eating termite Macrotermes bellicosus.

Should you decide to pre-order the book, and help me raise funds for The Food Project, you will also receive a signed bookplate. You can find out more details about how to get involved on my Facebook page.

To the staff, youth, and volunteers at The Food Project: thank you for the work you do in the eastern Massachusetts community and congratulations on celebrating your 20th anniversary. I have no doubt that you will continue to give the world what it needs, “one bite at a time.”

Michael Palmer

www.michaelpalmerbooks.com
www.facebook.com/michaelpalmerthrillers
www.twitter.com/michael_palmer

Dedicated Teachers Make a Difference

Elena — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:45:37 +0000

Since October, six volunteers from the Northeastern University Civic Engagement Program have been volunteering their time each week with The Food Project as part of the Food Literacy Team. Every week, they visit the Dorchester and Gertrude E. Townsend Head Start centers to teach the children where their food comes from and how plants grow, encouraging them to be excited about eating vegetables and fruits. What follows is the first of a series of blogs to be written by members of the Food Literacy Team, by Caitlyn Fischman. She reflects on her experience volunteering at the Gertrude E. Townsend Head Start:

It has been a really long time since I have felt passionate about a cause. I feel it is important to educate kids about safe and healthy food choices when they are young, so I chose to volunteer with The Food Project.

During my time at the Gertrude E. Townsend Head Start center, what’s really struck me are the teachers. Today, one of the classrooms that I teach in had a "full classroom," meaning that all 18 of the three- to five-year-olds were present, supervised by only two teachers. The teachers’ patience and skill in organizing the children and making sure they were learning and having fun amazed me.

I realize that recognizing the commitment that teachers give to their students is nothing new, but it really struck me how well the teachers work with their kids. I know that I would never have the patience or drive to devote myself to taking care of preschoolers, so my heart goes out the teachers who provide such a great environment for these children to learn.

At the start of class today, a little girl told her teacher that when she grows up she wants to be a teacher just like her so that she can take care of her friends like her teacher does. At the end of the day, the devotion of that teacher is what makes me believe kids really are the future, because they have great teachers to prepare them.

New TFP Workshop Series Starting Soon

kathleen — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:29:27 +0000

Coming up soon at The Food Project, we’ll be presenting our new “Grow Well, Eat Well, Be Well” workshop series. In these sessions, we will explore gardening topics, share cultural recipes, connect you with other gardeners from your neighborhood, and more. These workshops are the beginnings of some exciting new opportunities coming up – you won’t want to miss them!

Grow Well: Bringing your gardening skills to a new level
Planning Your Garden
* Saturday, January 21, 10:00 – 11:30 A.M. OR
* Tuesday, January 24, 6:00 – 7:30 P.M.

This is the first workshop in our Grow Well series. Through this interactive workshop on designing your garden, you can get help with everything from planning its layout to ordering seeds. Other topics in this series will include: how to start seeds, planting tips, and how to dealing with pests and diseases.

Download a flyer for more information.

Eat Well: Connecting to gardens through culture and cooking
Cooking with Your Neighbor
* Saturday, January 28, 3 – 4:30 P.M.

Join us for the first workshop in our Eat Well series. Neighbor and friend Maria Barros will teach us how to prepare delicious Cape Verdean food including vegetarian Cachupa and Bacalhau – and of course offer tastings!

Download a flyer for more information.

City Farm Fest: Celebrating a new growing season with us
* Saturday, May 12

Workshop offering: Pests, Diseases, and Harvesting Tips, 10 A.M.
Plant sale, children's activities, food & more, starting at 11 A.M.

Download a flyer for more information.

We’re also planning a workshop series for the North Shore. Please keep visiting this page for updates!

A Project That Became a Movement: 20 Years

michael — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:48:40 +0000

This fall, The Food Project begins commemorating our first 20 years of creating “a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system.” In the coming year, through newsletters, events, and on our website, we’ll be featuring profiles of the people – alumni of youth programs and former staff and board members – who helped make The Food Project what it is today.

We’ll also continue looking at our present and future work . From our origins as a project of Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, Mass., we’ve grown into a national leader, unique in our innovative work to integrate youth development with sustainable farming. With 20 years of learning and growing under our belt, we stand poised to push the movement further to make real food – food that is nourishing to consumers, producers, and the environment – a reality for everyone, in Eastern Massachusetts and beyond.

Scenes from Thanksgiving Farmers' Market

Elena — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:21:12 +0000

The Food Project’s November Market took place in our Dudley Greenhouse in Roxbury on Tuesday, November 22. From 4 to 7 p.m., friends and neighbors came to the greenhouse to buy a variety of root vegetables and greens to enrich their Thanksgiving dinners and to store away for colder days.

Along with the last field vegetables of the year, TFP youth handed out samples of their own Butternut squash soup with croutons, prepared specially for the event. While adults shopped for vegetables, other TFP youth interns led children in special activities around the greenhouse, such as a vegetable scavenger hunt, a potato digging bonanza, herb taste testing, and a lively game of pin the tail feather on the turkey.

Meanwhile, Greenhouse Manager Danielle Andrews hosted tours of the enterprise and community bays of the greenhouse. Guests ogled the spinach and salad greens bound for local restaurants growing in our enterprise bay and admired the diverse array of vegetables grown by our local partners in our community bay.

We are excited to celebrate the end of a bountiful harvest at The Food Project’s farms in Boston, Lincoln, Lynn, and Beverly this fall! Throughout the upcoming winter, we will be working with community partners to host gardening and cooking workshops in the Dudley Greenhouse. For more information about these workshops, please contact Danielle Andrews at dandrews@thefoodproject.org.

Food Literacy Team launched

Elena — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:20:52 +0000

This fall, The Food Project is partnering with Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) and Northeastern University to pilot a new program called the Food Literacy Team. On weekday mornings during the 2011-2012 school year, TFP volunteers will be visiting the classrooms of the Dorchester and Gertrude E. Townsend Head Start centers in Dorchester to engage preschool students in food literacy and nutrition lessons.

The curriculum focuses on hands-on activities that explore where food comes from, how plants grow, and tasting new foods. Spearheading this program are seven volunteers from the Northeastern University Civic Engagement Program. They have chosen to work with The Food Project over the course of their academic year to advance food security in their community by working with some of its youngest members. Over the course of the school year, the Food Literacy Team will encourage Head Start preschoolers to recognize nutritious foods, make healthy food choices, and appreciate food as an essential part of their culture and daily life.

We can't wait to share more updates throughout the year!

Senior staffer named interim executive director

kkim — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:56:24 +0000

The Food Project’s Board of Trustees has named longtime Managing Director Susan MacDougall as interim executive director. Her appointment took effect on October 20, 2011. As interim ED, Susan will lead the organization while TFP conducts its search for a new, permanent executive to succeed former Executive Director Margaret Williams, who left in September.

“We believe that having Susan in the position will help ensure continuity and stability for TFP during this important period of transition, and we are grateful to her for accepting the responsibility,” said Gene Benson, TFP’s board chair.

The announcement may sound familiar to longtime friends of TFP – Susan was asked to serve in the same capacity in 2007, the last time The Food Project underwent a leadership transition. In addition to her work for TFP, Susan brings a wealth of nonprofit management experience to her new role. Prior to joining TFP, Susan served as the managing director of SquashBusters, another Boston area youth development organization.

TFP’s board also announced that an executive director search committee has been established. To be led by Saulo Araújo, the vice chair of TFP’s board, the committee will be composed of members of the Board of Trustees, staff, youth, and community representatives.

“We will be moving thoughtfully and quickly to identify the person who will lead The Food Project as it moves forward into its third decade,” Saulo said. “The food movement is gaining speed, and TFP is poised to deepen its impact locally and more broadly. We are excited about this process, and welcome suggestions about prospective candidates.”

Individuals interested in getting in touch with Saulo are invited to send messages to
edsearch@thefoodproject.org.

Community comes together in Dudley Greenhouse

jennie — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:14:12 +0000

In early October, we started working with nine groups that had submitted proposals when The Food Project solicited suggestions for how the community bay of our Dudley Greenhouse should be used. The greenhouse has been abuzz with activity lately and we're so proud to have partners in this new space.

The Food Project has worked with many of these groups in the past. The Vietnamese American Civic Association (VACA), the Nubian United Benevolent International Association (NUBIA) and the Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center (RIAC) worked with us through the Gardening through Refugee Organizations (GRO) group, which provides refugee and immigrant populations with urban gardening opportunities in Boston.

Another refugee group, the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights, sent refugee volunteers to The Food Project's rooftop garden at the Boston Medical Center this past spring and summer, where they helped grow food for our Dudley farmers' market. Most of these immigrants and refugees have extensive experience growing food, and the Dudley Greenhouse offers them opportunities to grow foods that they can't grow outside or don't have the capacity to grow at their residences.

Other groups in the greenhouse are new partners. Each week, Mother Caroline Academy and Education Center and the Epiphany School send middle school students to learn about growing food and cooking, and to participate in our interns' food justice workshops. Ultimately, we hope to work with these schools to build gardens of their own, and have the students apply what they have learned in the greenhouse to their school gardens. Another youth group we're working with is the Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Project (REEP). Several teens from REEP are growing food to share at community meetings, and they'll eventually start a seedling production project to give transplants to community gardeners in the spring.

Finally, we're working with a group that's growing fresh vegetables for a senior center in Roxbury, where we are also going to help revive their garden. And, Life Symphony is a group of Dudley residents who are bringing community members and groups through the greenhouse to learn about The Food Project, growing food, and eating well.

It has been exciting to see some of our most important hopes for the Dudley Greenhouse come to life! Continued production of vegetables into the cold season, the participation of community members of varying ages and backgrounds, the learning and growing that’s taking place – all this makes it especially satisfying to think about how these vegetables will ultimately benefit so many different people. Most importantly, as we continue to build connections with and amongst all of these groups, we're able to build a community of diverse people coming together around food.