TBECC: Reclaiming the Domestic, in Action!
Posted: April 15, 2011 Filed under: Art & Craft, Farm Women Fancy, Finger Foods, Recipes | Tags: craft, domesticity, feminism, NYC, women, women farmers 2 Comments »
I couldn’t be more excited for the weekend coming up! On Saturday, Slow Food NYC is having their first volunteer workday. They’re gearing up for their summer program at Ujima Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and they need volunteers to help plant and build in the garden, and to prep the classroom. This year they’re adding chickens to their repertoire of urban farming, so naturally we have to build a chicken coop. The coop building is scheduled for the second workday, April 30th. I’m most excited to help build the coop as Noah and I are beginning to think about the potential of our own Brooklyn chicken coop! But more on that some other time…
This Sunday, I’m hosting a wee-little event called TBECC: talk, bake, eat, cook, and craft (not the best acronym, but whatever, it serves its purpose for now). What is TBECC? Well, this semester, I’ve made great connections with some amazing girls at NYU. We’ve exchanged recipes, cooking/baking tips, crafting tips, and in general just had really empowering conversations. I found myself making promises to hang out with everybody in getting together to cook, bake, eat, talk, drink tea/coffee/mircrobrews, knit, craft, etc. all on different occasions. But then I realized, in these different conversations with different girls, that we all had the same ideas in mind: eating locally, sustainability, feminism, crafting, enjoying food, baking/cooking, and all that jazz.
Obviously it would be wonderful to hang out with everyone individually, but I figured, in light of some recent ideas I’ve had about communality and the sharing of domestic knowledge, why don’t I get all these great, intellectual, feminine minds together in one place and just talk, bake, eat, craft and cook? So, we have TBECC this Sunday at my humble apartment! My yarn has been collecting dust under a folding table in my bedroom so I’m especially excited to dust-off my knitting needles and put them to work. And, since we will be cooking, eating, and baking, I have two recipes in mind: Cinnamon Swirl Buns and Grapefruit Honey Yogurt Scones. Reclaiming the domestic, in action!
{image courtesy of Boston Public Library flickr}
Reclaiming the Domestic: tonight! at the TEDxGallatinSeniorSymposium
Posted: April 13, 2011 Filed under: Farm Women Fancy, Finger Foods | Tags: agriculture, domesticity, NYC, NYU, self-sufficiency, women, women farmers 1 Comment »
{image courtesy of TEDxGallatin.com; words courtesy of me *note my awkwardly large hand…21 years and I still haven’t figured them out}
Tonight is the TEDxGallatinSeniorSymposium (wow, that’s a mouthful) where I and some other amazing fellow seniors are giving presentations on topics related to our concentrations at Gallatin. My talk is called “Reclaiming the Domestic: farm women’s invisible feminism and sustainability.”
If you’ve never met a Gallatin student, then let me explain a little something about ourselves; we’re nerds. HUGE nerds. (Obviously that can’t be said for all Gallatin students, but I think it’s a safe assumption having spent the past two years immersed in Gallatin student culture.) Because Gallatin students create their own concentrations and curricula, Gallatin students are incredibly passionate about what they study, and they’re also really interesting people. Unfortunately there is an assumption around NYU that Gallatin students are the overly-ideal, hippie-dippies who have no sense of reality or structure; we’re the Hufflepuffs of NYU. Outsiders think we’re just floating around NYU, taking courses in jewelry making or “women’s textiles” (yes, I’ve taken both) and wasting a $200,000 degree. I’ve even over-heard NYU student ambassadors telling prospective students on tours as they point to the Gallatin building, “You can major in anything you want, like Bob the Builder.” Of course, parents and students scoff at so obviously a stupid choice of schooling. Well, let me tell you something Mr. Know-It-All NYU Student Ambassador, that kid majoring in “Bob the Builder” was probably looking into the cultural significance of a children’s cartoon character, questioning our assumptions of masculinity, how they relate to child psychology and neuroscience, and what ‘Bob the Builder’ implies about blue-collar professions within a white collar society. What now, Classics major!
For the record, I don’t know anyone majoring in Bob the Builder, and I have nothing against Classics majors. But if you find yourself among this incredulous cohort, then attend tonight’s TEDxGallatinSeniorSymposium and witness first-hand the genius of Gallatin students. Don’t forget to check out the TEDxGallatin site to read about the other awesome seniors presenting at tonight’s event. See you there!
Our Food System: Sustainability and Taste
Posted: March 31, 2011 Filed under: Farm Women Fancy | Tags: agriculture, ethical eats, fast food, feminism, food culture, food justice, globalization, GM foods, industrial food system, local food, NYU, vegetarianism, women farmers 2 Comments »
And now for something completely different…academics!
My internet presence has been stunted as of late, but I have a good excuse. I didn’t want to talk about it until it was over and I officially secured my spot in the graduation march, but now that I have, I’m extremely proud to say that I’ve passed my colloquium as of yesterday at 12:30PM! The past week has been fraught with books, notes, more books and admittedly a few tears in preparation for the big day.
In order to graduate, Gallatin seniors must complete a colloquium, which is a 2-hour oral exam of sorts but officially dubbed a ‘conversation’ between the student and a panel of three professors. The semester prior to the colloquium, students have to submit a 3-5 page rationale that outlines their concentration along with a booklist of 20-25 books that inspire their concentrations. For most Gallatin folk, this is an exciting time where you can nerd-out over your passion without the threat of your friends rolling their eyes over your polemical remarks (that happens to you too, right?).
My concentration is “Our Food System: Sustainability and Taste.” For any other food system nerds, you can check out my rationale and booklist.
“Women are Crucial for Agricultural Security” – Happy International Women’s Day!
Posted: March 8, 2011 Filed under: Farm Women Fancy, Finger Foods | Tags: agriculture, biodynamic agriculture, carbon footprint, community supported agriculture, domesticity, feminism, food culture, food justice, food policy, hunger and nutrition, industrial food system, news, women, women farmers Leave a comment »
{photo cred: http://www.homesweethomefront.co.uk/}
Today is International Women’s Day, but really every day should be international women’s day. Anyone familiar with me or this blog knows how much I value women farmers and feminism/femininity through agriculture. I usually feel like a black sheep among my peers, haranguing-on long after everybody has stopped listening to my pro-feminist, pro-food polemic. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating just a bit, but considering all that’s been going-on as of late here in the U.S., it’s hard NOT to feel argumentative.
Recent articles and attention to women farmers have made me feel less absurd. In light of International Women’s Day, the focus on women in agriculture moves into a broader, more global context. An article today on FastCompany.com highlights the newest addition of The State of Food and Agriculture, 2010-2011 (SOFA) from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The 160-page report, subtitled “WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE: Closing the gender gap for development” emphasizes the role of women farmers worldwide in reducing poverty and hunger. You can read a 4-page summary/flier of the report OR, for you tried-and-true women-in-ag nerds like myself, you can read the entire report here.
The most important take-away message from the report from the FAO media center page:
If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, agricultural production could be increased and the number of hungry people reduced by 100-150 million.
And:
“The report shows the hard economic numbers behind a message we’ve known for a long time, which is that women are crucial for agricultural security.” - SOFA editor Terri Raney, via FastCompany.com.
So there you have it: invest in women farmers, solve world hunger (well, sorta). Happy International Women’s Day!
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International Women’s Day and the Oxfam Hunger Banquet
Posted: March 4, 2011 Filed under: Farm Women Fancy, Finger Foods | Tags: agriculture, domesticity, feminism, food culture, food justice, globalization, hunger and nutrition, industrial food system, NYC, NYU, self-sufficiency, women, women farmers Leave a comment »
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Oxfam New York City, in partnership with a few other important NYC and NYU-based organizations, is hosting a Hunger Banquet this Tuesday, March 8th at 7:00 PM at the Mercy Corps Action Center to End World Hunger. From the Oxfam NYC blog:
We are hosting an event to focus on the courage of women worldwide who are struggling to feed their families while also confronting climate change and other threats to agriculture. We are convening to focus attention on the courageous role of women – as an example to us all, men and women – to be able to come together, stand up for our rights, and work together to create a better future.
Along with providing meals that represent various socio-economic demographics, they’ll also be screening Sisters on the Planet, a film about four U.S. women who are confronting hunger and food sovereignty. Speakers for the event include Majorca Carter, a wonderful, inspiring speaker who is also the founder and executive director of Sustainable South Bronx. Check out her powerful TED talk on “Greening the Ghetto.” See you there!
