Tag Archives: food justice

Dirty Girls – Meet the Urban Women Farmers of New York City

Posted on October 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

Women farmers have hit the big time – the BUSTy, feminist, big time. I can barely believe it, but if you pick-up the Ocotober/November issue of BUST magazine you’ll see my humble name in the table of contents! “Dirty Girls: Resourceful urban farmers are giving new meaning to the term asphalt jungle. By Stephanie Fisher” Over the summer I spent a month running around Brooklyn interviewing women farmers – from bees to sub-irrigated planters to organic vegetables, all of these seven women are doing their part to bring a little bit of nature into this hectic gotham. The women also gave us some farm-centric projects that you can do at home, like a low tunnel cold frame and beet infused vodka. Check out the issue (it’s the eco issue, so there’s tons of good stuff) and meet a few of the beautiful women farmers of New York City.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Farm Women Fancy, Finger Foods

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Real Food Challenge – Gearing Up for The Year Ahead

Posted on September 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Have you heard about Real Food Challenge? It’s a non-profit supported by a network of student leaders across the country who are working toward shifting 1 billion dollars in campus dining money to “real food” by 2020. Isn’t that amazing? I’ve been working with them since July on a few projects, and I am perpetually impressed by the enthusiasm and passion of this network. As we’re gearing up for an uber-busy year ahead, I wrote a piece for the Real Food Challenge blog in reaction to the USDA’s bail-out of the chicken industry to remind us of why we work.

{Originally posted on the Real Food Challenge blog on August 31, 2011.}

Throughout August and September, the Real Food Challenge is hosting regional summer trainings for student leaders all across the country. Student leaders will be participating in intensive, four-day trainings as they prepare for a jam-packed year ahead of them. Come September, they’ll embark on a year filled with campaigning and strategizing on their campuses. The leaders are working towards the Real Food Challenge’s long term goal of shifting $1 billion of campus dining funds away from industrial food and agriculture to more sustainable, community-oriented farms and processors – or ‘real food’ – by 2020.

These regional trainings couldn’t come at a more relevant time. Last Monday, the USDA purchased $40 million in chicken products in a move to bail out the chicken industry. (Thankfully, they’ve pledged to donate the food to soup kitchens and families in need.) The chicken industry (read: industrial agricultural conglomerates) cited the rising cost of production and the apparent struggle to turn a profit as reasons for the bail out. We can’t help but wonder where these funds are actually going to end up, and something tells us that it won’t be in the farmers’ wallets. Some argue that the bail out was necessary, but this is just another example of the government supporting the industrial producers who are “too big to fail” as the smaller, real food farmers are left in the dust.

This is why we need passionate student leaders and people like you – because real food farmers, those who are farming for our environment, our animals, and our communities, don’t have the USDA to bail them out when times get tough. They instead depend on a network of people who believe in shifting power away from the industrial conglomerates that abuse the environment, laborers, and animals, and into the hands of real food farmers.

The USDA transferred $40 million into the chicken industry, but Real Food Challenge hopes to shift $1 billion of campus dining funds to real food farmers and processors over the next nine years. Imagine what kind of change $1 billion affords: increased access to markets, higher wages for laborers, improved farm infrastructure, just to name a few. The prospect of that change is exciting, and should empower our student leaders, grassroots leaders, field organizers, and anyone passionate about transforming our food system as we continue working toward our goal.

Don’t forget to check out this inspiring video of the 2011 Northeast Regional Summit! It captures the importance and influence of the Real Food Challenge’s radical regional student summits:

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Finger Foods, Food Systems Satire

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Greenhorns Movie Comes to Brooklyn! This Sunday Only!

Posted on July 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Have you heard about the Greenhorns? You haven’t? Then it’s about time you got to know this awesome organization! Its mission is to recruit, promote, and support young farmers across America. How cool is that? The average age of the American farmer in 2002 (the last available ag census data we have) was 55 – and the number continues to climb as the farming generation gets older, and less young people name “agriculture” as a preferred profession. But the Greenhorns is here to change that! As an aspiring farmer (who qualifies as young for now…), I can’t help but nerd-out over the Greenhorns’ commitment to encouraging more young people to go into farming.

As part of its non-profit venture, the folks over at the Greenhorns have produced a film that explores the lives of young, American farmers. Their hopes is that the film will inspire and entice more young people to chose farming. The film has been highly anticipated for the past three years in the sustainable agriculture community, so I’m super pumped to announce that the film is coming to Brooklyn this Sunday at the Bell House! Tickets are dirt cheap (mind the pun) at $5 in advance, $7 at the door. Music, snacks, and agricultural inspiration are guaranteed to be had by all!

Don’t forget to check out the Greenhorns website, blog, and radio show hosted by the Heritage Foods Radio Network!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Food Systems Satire

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

A Moveable Feast: Photographs of the NYC Green Cart Program at MCNY

Posted on July 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

{Gabriele Stabile, Untitled, 2009}

If you live in New York City, then you’re probably familiar with those ubiquitous sidewalk green carts. Fruits and produce for a reasonable price, on the go, anywhere, anytime. They’re not usually organic, nor do they typically boast any sustainable practices, but these carts serve an arguably even more important purpose: to bring fresh fruits and veggies to under-served communities, where the closest thing to “vegetables” are often the french fries at the local McDonald’s. But with a head full of organic sensibility and quests for the most sustainable kale, it’s easy to ignore the cultural and social significance of these humble green carts.

“Moveable Feast: Fresh Produce and the NYC Green Cart Program,” a photo-journalism exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, aims to highlight this oft-invisible part of city life. Five photographers spent a year exploring the lives of the independent green cart owners, their customers, and the neighborhoods they serve. The result is a stunning collection of photos and a bit of history. Most of the green cart photos were taken over the past few years throughout the five boroughs, but the exhibit also features a number of pictures, taken from various museum archives, from as early as 1895.

{Empty Vegetable Stand On Valentines Day, Looking East From 3rd Avenue & 110th Street, Will Steacy, New York, 2010}

The exhibit runs through August 22, and is absolutely worth a visit. Launched in 2008 by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the green cart program was designed to bring accessible fresh fruits and vegetables to communities where 12 percent of adults reported to not have eaten a fruit or vegetable the previous day, according to a DoHMH study.

The images remind us of the families that depend on the green carts for their health, and livelihoods. One collection of photos by photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier includes snapshots into the life of a green cart vendor who operated his cart 24 hours a day until he was beaten and robbed late one evening. Now, he depends on his brother and other family members to man the cart with him at all times. Another interesting anecdote includes the cut throat, but often unacknowledged competition between green cart operators and other food carts, like the Sabrett hot dog vendor. (In this case, the police favored the Sabrett vendor and the green cart operator in question was forced to move his cart onto a less busy block.)




{Will Steacy, McDonalds Drive-Thru Adjacent To Dominos Pizza, Looking Northeast From Jerome Avenue, Bronx, 2010}

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Food & Culture Conundrum, Food Systems Satire

Tagged , , , , ,

Farmarazzi! Action Alert: Take Photos of Farms While You Still Can

Posted on May 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

{photo taken by moi as part of my senior project at Cross Island Farms}

“A well managed farm has nothing to hide.” – Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA. But if Daniel Imhoff’s book CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories tells us anything, it’s that most farms do have something to hide.

{image courtesy of www.cafothebook.com}

So it’s no wonder that certain states are now considering a law that would make taking pictures of farms a criminal act. Yup, you read correctly: Legislators in Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota have proposed laws that claim unapproved photos of farms (i.e. the images in whistle-blowing outlets such as CAFO) misrepresent the industry and prove detrimental to the public’s perception of food production.

This is just plain horse manure. As Mark Bittman pointed out in an opinion piece for the Times, if farms were well-managed and humane in the first place, there wouldn’t be a need for such a reactive piece of legislation, “Videotaping at factory farms wouldn’t be necessary if the industry were properly regulated. But it isn’t.” The sad fact is that many of the farms that supply our supermarkets participate in the horrific abuses seen in CAFO.

On a wholesome farm, farmers revel in photographs of their healthy, happy animals and crops. Such were the reactions of the women farmers I interviewed and photographed last semester for my senior project. All the women happily agreed to not only having me and Noah snoop around their farms, but also allowing us to take photos. You can check out all my farm photos here.

In order to fight back against the pending legislation, Slow Food USA has started the tongue-in-cheek campaign “Farmarazzi.” They’re encouraging individuals to get out to a farm, take a photo and then submit the photos to the Slow Food USA facebook page. From their blog:

Step 1: Sign the petition. Even if you’re you don’t live in Florida, Minnesota, or Iowa, your voice matters. These state laws would set a dangerous precedent that other states may choose to follow.

2. Join the farmarazzi! Head out to a farm, take a photo, and if the farmer is available, spend a few minutes getting her perspective on the impact this legislation would have if passed. Then upload your picture to our Facebook wall (or email it to campaigns@slowfoodusa.org) and take a look at what other people have posted there. You can also encourage your friends to “like” your photo—we’re working on a prize for the most popular shots.

So sign the petition, and get out and take some photos of farms!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Food Systems Satire

Tagged , , , , , , , ,