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Bed-Stuy Farm Share News
Here you'll find the latest news on our CSA and the farm, as well as other community, sustainable agriculture, and healthy eating news items of interest.
In the scope of Food, Inc., America is a place where food is a manufactured and sold as a product like so many other goods available from large corporations – at the cost of workers, consumers, and the environment. The product and, more importantly, its subsequent profit are primary. Food, Inc. tells the economic and social narrative of the metamorphosis of American farming into big business. Skillfully weaving together information such as statistics, nutritional information, personal stories, federal government accountability, environmental concerns, and labor issues, Food, Inc. presents a moving and largely disturbing portrait of how food is produced in the United States and how it came to be so unsavory. The film centers on problems in the mass production of corn, chicken, beef, and pork in order to support fast food chains.
According to the major narrators, Michael Pollan of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation, fast food innovations in the 1950s were the harbingers of changes in food production, from farm to table.
As demands for meat, wheat, and corn increase, technological innovations jeopardize the safety of food products and production. Workers and consumers, even actual consumer demand, become secondary to the intangible need for more product. Though its thesis is strong and clear, with such vast informational ground to cover the film misses opportunities to explore issues deeper and never quite catches its stride. It changes topics so often it’s difficult to remember all that’s been said.
For one who has read any of the narrators’ books or related information about food safety and activism, it’s a bit of a summary of how and why knowing about food production is necessary. The film prioritizes clarity of information over depth and thus there is a lot more to learn after watching. Nonetheless, Food, Inc. is a great film to inspire one to inquire about food’s roots – pun intended. Food, Inc. is full of incredible Americans working to improve food conditions.
Memorable subjects include a farmer espousing the benefits of locally produced food as he slaughters chickens outdoors on his small Southern farm, a man using an antiquated seed-cleaning machine despite threats of lawsuits from monoculture giant Monsanto, and a woman raising chickens for Tyson who refuses to give in to Tyson policies that would cause accumulated debt for her and inhumane conditions for the chickens.
Food, Inc. is full of methods and reasons to care about food activism.
Additionally, Food, Inc. is aesthetically striking in its blend of American farm landscapes and details of animals and corn being processed by complex machinery in large factories. The calm, calculated camerawork manages to avoid a classic propaganda feel. Though watching a pig being turned into bacon
isn’t easy, this feels honest and straightforward rather than exploitative. The sweeping footage of farmland throughout the country lends itself to the film’s patriotic tenor. Food, Inc. is a story told with many voices towards a blunt climax: American food production is in trouble.
Members of the Bed Stuy Farm Share may already be well aware of the issues and concerns raised in Food, Inc., but perhaps this is a great film to recommend to those who may not know the benefits of locally grown, non-GMO, unprocessed foods.
To learn more about Food, Inc., including showtimes and ways to get involved, visit http://www.FoodIncMovie.com.
Annie Reichert lives and works in Brooklyn. She grows tomatoes, answers phones, helps others, and sews costumes. This is her second year as a member and as far as she can tell it's only getting better. Annie's professional and creative work can be seen at www.GuildIsGood.com and www.FluxFactory.org
A Movement Gathers Momentum
The Bed-Stuy Farm Share is part of a movement that took root in the United States in the mid 1980s. Today, at least 1300 community supported farms have been organized throughout North America. How did it all get started?
Many accounts in print and online claim that the CSA movement has its roots in 1960s Japan, where a group of women concerned with pesticides, processed foods and the decrease in local food production initiated a direct, cooperative relationship in which consumers supported local farmers. But more recently, journalist Steven McFadden has written an account linking the origins of the CSA movement to the biodynamic agricultural tradition.
The biodynamic farming movement goes back to ideas formulated by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s and put into practice in Europe beginning in the 1950s.
The first CSA project began at Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, Massachusetts. Indian Line Farm was started in 1985, by Robyn Van En, Jan Vander Tuin and a coalition of local citizens. Vander Tuin had organized a similar project near Zurich, Switzerland using biodynamic principles. Indian Line Farm began with a small apple orchard but soon expanded their offering to include vegetables. Within 4 years, the Indian Line CSA expanded from 30 to 150 members.
As word spread, Robyn found herself becoming the leader of a national CSA movement. Robyn directly helped to pioneer more than 200 CSAs nationwide before her untimely death in 1997 at the age of 49. By that time, the CSA movement was taking root in New York State.
Next in the Series: Read about the beginning of the CSA movement in New York State.
Bed-Stuy Farm occupies two abandoned sun-drenched lots on Decatur St between Malcolm X and Patchen Avenues. In addition to the farm, Brooklyn Rescue Mission operates a seasonal farmer’s market on Malcolm X Boulevard.
Excerpted From http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/save-bed-stuy-farm:
The two Reverends Robert and DeVanie Jackson were running an emergency food program in the neighborhood. They realized the donated foods they were handing out often weren't fresh...which wasn't helping people's health.
Behind their building lay a vacant lot, strewn with trash. The Jacksons got GreenThumb status from the City and went to work. They cleaned the lot up, trucked in good soil and started planting. Now they have a working farm that produces over 7000 pounds of produce per year and feeds 3000 people a month. It's called Bed-Stuy Farm and it's a magnet for the community. This thriving urban farm attracts people from all over the world -- farmers, filmmakers, restaurateurs, food activists, and a busload of delegates to a UN food conference.
For more information about Brooklyn Rescue Mission, please visit www.BrooklynRescueMission.org or call 718 363 3085
Featured Recipe: Aunt Jane's Raspberry Pie
Click here to view this recipe.
July 11, 2009 - Celebrate Life!
Member Spotlight: Toni Lewis
Luella Toni Lewis is a family practice physician and a geriatrician. Currently, Toni is the president of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare. She leads and advocates for the interests and rights of 13,000 physicians in training in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, Washington, D.C., New Mexico, Puerto Rico and California. Toni also serves as board member for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Name: Luella Toni Lewis (goes by Toni)
Farm Share Member Since: 2009
Which block do you live on? Hancock between Bedford and NostrandHow long have you lived in Bed-Stuy? a yearWhat do you love about Bed-Stuy? What don’t I like about Bed-Stuy! I know all my neighbors in my building and most on my block… I like African dance and I like the flavor of the neighborhood.What would you change? I just want to learn about the neighborhood. There’s so much to learn, who’s to say I should change something when I haven’t scratched the surface of what’s already here?Why did you join BSFS? I went to see Naturopathic Physician Sam Schikowitz, ND in New Paltz, NY (incidentally where our food comes from!) who suggested local/organic for optimal healthy happy living on my crazy schedule and just because. (For more information on naturopathic medicine, go to www.trueabundancehealth.com and www.naturopathic.org).What do you like most about the Farm Share? “I like all of it. It’s cool going and hanging out with folks and it is kind of like a game— when you don’t know what you’ll get and then you figure what to do with it. It brings me back to my country roots: a community around healthy food. To be able to recreate a community vibe is awesome.”What's your favorite vegetable? greens (kale, thick greens with garlic scape, onion, and olive oil)When I'm not trying to figure out what to do with my Farm Share, I’m… dancing, taking Afro-Carribean classes at Mark Morris and Afro-Haitian at Embora and belly dance class in Bed Stuy. One of the reasons I moved from DC to Brooklyn is so that I can go upstate and rock climb and go dancing and take yoga classes. I like to move!
The Bed-Stuy Farm Share, now in its 4th year, is honored to have you as a member. We look forward to making your experience fun, healthy, and delicious!
Perhaps you joined because you wanted to buy fresh, quality produce, or you wanted to connect with your neighbors in a way that was meaningful and supportive of your lifestyle.
Whatever the reason, your choice has larger, more powerful consequences than you may be aware of.
Bed-Stuy Farm Share is part of an historic national movement — Community Food Security — catapulted from the fringes to the mainstream as a result of hundreds of individuals like yourself, mobilizing and responding with grassroots solutions to unsafe and unsustainable corporate farm and factory practices as well as policies that make it difficult for communities to access affordable and nutritious food.
Over the course of your farm share experience, we invite and encourage you to learn more about the local, sustainable, and slow food movements happening right here in Bed-Stuy, in other parts of Brooklyn, and beyond.
This newsletter will be presented every other week, with your contributions. Please also visit the member’s website, which will be updated regularly with information, recipes, and resources to guide you. Stay Tuned!
Member Spotlight: Ginger Pardlo
By now, most of you have met Ginger, Bed-Stuy Farm Share’s Volunteer
Coordinator, through e-mail. Make sure to say hi if you see her on Saturdays!
Name: Ginger Romero Pardlo
Farm Share Member Since: the beginning
Which block do you live on? Quincy Street! between Tompkins & Throop
How long have you lived in Bed-Stuy? 4 years
What do you love about Bed-Stuy? Friends live here. AND the friendliness and warmth of our neighbors
What would you change? The cynicism
Why did you join Bed-Stuy Farm Share? to make sure me and the family ate greens
What do you like most about the Farm Share? being part of the community
What's your favorite vegetable? bok choy
When I'm not trying to figure out what to do with my Farm Share, I('m)
studying for my certification in financial planning (CFP)
Education: master's in public policy
Occupation: financial services (with a public twist) or today New York's 529 College Savings rep for "downstate"
Do you have kids - what ages? 2 girls one 1 1/2 and the other 4
Do you have pets? Does the mommy cat and her two kittens that have set up shelter in our front yard count?
Where can we catch you in Brooklyn during your free time? COFFEE SHOPS. You may have seen me too as the shadow voice contacting you regarding your member role...Or you may catch me in the 1st Quincy Street Greenthumb Community Garden doing something kid related.
Your husband is a poet, and Foodtown made an appearance in one of his poems. Any chance we'll see the BSFS in a poem soon? I'll get to work. Right now he (Greg Pardlo) runs away from vegetables...
Featured Recipe: Easy Curry Greens
Click here to view this recipe.
August 8, 2009 - What's On Your Plate?
Movie Review: Food, Inc.
By Annie Reichert, BSFS MemberIn the scope of Food, Inc., America is a place where food is a manufactured and sold as a product like so many other goods available from large corporations – at the cost of workers, consumers, and the environment. The product and, more importantly, its subsequent profit are primary. Food, Inc. tells the economic and social narrative of the metamorphosis of American farming into big business. Skillfully weaving together information such as statistics, nutritional information, personal stories, federal government accountability, environmental concerns, and labor issues, Food, Inc. presents a moving and largely disturbing portrait of how food is produced in the United States and how it came to be so unsavory. The film centers on problems in the mass production of corn, chicken, beef, and pork in order to support fast food chains. According to the major narrators, Michael Pollan of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation, fast food innovations in the 1950s were the harbingers of changes in food production, from farm to table.
As demands for meat, wheat, and corn increase, technological innovations jeopardize the safety of food products and production. Workers and consumers, even actual consumer demand, become secondary to the intangible need for more product. Though its thesis is strong and clear, with such vast informational ground to cover the film misses opportunities to explore issues deeper and never quite catches its stride. It changes topics so often it’s difficult to remember all that’s been said.
For one who has read any of the narrators’ books or related information about food safety and activism, it’s a bit of a summary of how and why knowing about food production is necessary. The film prioritizes clarity of information over depth and thus there is a lot more to learn after watching. Nonetheless, Food, Inc. is a great film to inspire one to inquire about food’s roots – pun intended. Food, Inc. is full of incredible Americans working to improve food conditions.
Memorable subjects include a farmer espousing the benefits of locally produced food as he slaughters chickens outdoors on his small Southern farm, a man using an antiquated seed-cleaning machine despite threats of lawsuits from monoculture giant Monsanto, and a woman raising chickens for Tyson who refuses to give in to Tyson policies that would cause accumulated debt for her and inhumane conditions for the chickens.
Food, Inc. is full of methods and reasons to care about food activism.
Additionally, Food, Inc. is aesthetically striking in its blend of American farm landscapes and details of animals and corn being processed by complex machinery in large factories. The calm, calculated camerawork manages to avoid a classic propaganda feel. Though watching a pig being turned into bacon
isn’t easy, this feels honest and straightforward rather than exploitative. The sweeping footage of farmland throughout the country lends itself to the film’s patriotic tenor. Food, Inc. is a story told with many voices towards a blunt climax: American food production is in trouble.
Members of the Bed Stuy Farm Share may already be well aware of the issues and concerns raised in Food, Inc., but perhaps this is a great film to recommend to those who may not know the benefits of locally grown, non-GMO, unprocessed foods.
To learn more about Food, Inc., including showtimes and ways to get involved, visit http://www.FoodIncMovie.com.
Annie Reichert lives and works in Brooklyn. She grows tomatoes, answers phones, helps others, and sews costumes. This is her second year as a member and as far as she can tell it's only getting better. Annie's professional and creative work can be seen at www.GuildIsGood.com and www.FluxFactory.org
Featured Recipe: Agua Frescas and Basil-Peach Sorbet
Click here to view these recipes.July 25, 2009 - Enjoy Summer!
A Movement Gathers Momentum
Part 1 of an occasional series by Michael Broder, Bed-Stuy Farm Share member since 2007
The Bed-Stuy Farm Share is part of a movement that took root in the United States in the mid 1980s. Today, at least 1300 community supported farms have been organized throughout North America. How did it all get started?Many accounts in print and online claim that the CSA movement has its roots in 1960s Japan, where a group of women concerned with pesticides, processed foods and the decrease in local food production initiated a direct, cooperative relationship in which consumers supported local farmers. But more recently, journalist Steven McFadden has written an account linking the origins of the CSA movement to the biodynamic agricultural tradition.
The biodynamic farming movement goes back to ideas formulated by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s and put into practice in Europe beginning in the 1950s.
The first CSA project began at Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, Massachusetts. Indian Line Farm was started in 1985, by Robyn Van En, Jan Vander Tuin and a coalition of local citizens. Vander Tuin had organized a similar project near Zurich, Switzerland using biodynamic principles. Indian Line Farm began with a small apple orchard but soon expanded their offering to include vegetables. Within 4 years, the Indian Line CSA expanded from 30 to 150 members.
As word spread, Robyn found herself becoming the leader of a national CSA movement. Robyn directly helped to pioneer more than 200 CSAs nationwide before her untimely death in 1997 at the age of 49. By that time, the CSA movement was taking root in New York State.
Next in the Series: Read about the beginning of the CSA movement in New York State.
Save Bed-Stuy Farm
Bed-Stuy Farm occupies two abandoned sun-drenched lots on Decatur St between Malcolm X and Patchen Avenues. In addition to the farm, Brooklyn Rescue Mission operates a seasonal farmer’s market on Malcolm X Boulevard. Excerpted From http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/save-bed-stuy-farm:
The two Reverends Robert and DeVanie Jackson were running an emergency food program in the neighborhood. They realized the donated foods they were handing out often weren't fresh...which wasn't helping people's health.
Behind their building lay a vacant lot, strewn with trash. The Jacksons got GreenThumb status from the City and went to work. They cleaned the lot up, trucked in good soil and started planting. Now they have a working farm that produces over 7000 pounds of produce per year and feeds 3000 people a month. It's called Bed-Stuy Farm and it's a magnet for the community. This thriving urban farm attracts people from all over the world -- farmers, filmmakers, restaurateurs, food activists, and a busload of delegates to a UN food conference.
Why Bed-Stuy Farm Is Being Threatened
No longer a vacant lot and a dumping ground, the farm has become desirable to others. It is in danger of being sold by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to developers to repay a debt incurred by Neighborhood Partnership Housing Development/Direct Building Management.How You Can Help
We want 1200 signatures so our elected officials know this farm is important and shouldn't be destroyed for gentrification. HPD has its choice of many other vacant lots. It would do well to consider them before this lot, which in its current form is contributing to the neighborhood in such a positive and healthy way. Please sign our petition and help us save Bed-Stuy Farm.For more information about Brooklyn Rescue Mission, please visit www.BrooklynRescueMission.org or call 718 363 3085
Featured Recipe: Aunt Jane's Raspberry Pie
Click here to view this recipe.July 11, 2009 - Celebrate Life!
Mint - What it Can (and Will) Do
By Georgia Kral, BSFS Member
What started as simple window-box fun is now Little Shop of Horrors in my kitchen!
I just wanted to be able to make homemade Mojitos, and my favorite thing in the whole world: peas, mint, scallions and butter.
We bought the tiny plants at the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market back in March or early April. We replanted the mint and the chives together, in an 8 x 20 inch terracotta planter. I knew mint liked to grow, but I thought chives did too. (I remember both were always abundant in my youth.)
At first it was just some light squabbling.
“That’s my sun, out of my way,” the delicate mint would politely tell the pungent chive.
The chives fought hard for a month or so but they eventually stopped growing, their thin green bodies fading slightly. They are still alive, but the flavor has weakened, and the chives soon non-existence keeps me from eating it.
Savor the flavor?
And then, one day, the mint really took over. I was watering the basil (safely living in the planter adjacent) and saw a purple-ish green tentacle starting to make its way up the side of the mint planter. I cautiously moved my face in closer, and discovered that the mint roots were not only trying to multiply and grow up the side of the planter, but one had grown underneath the chives! A thick, bulging mint root cut straight through the chive roots, effectively killing it, and were now trying to grow up and out of the planter!
Mint is, in fact, an invasive species. In order to control the spread of mint it’s suggested that care is taken mixing mint or even growing mint outside, near other plants. See here for info on how to plant and control your mint. (http://www.plant-biology.com/Mentha-Mint.php)
What do I do now? Let it happen? Cut the mint back? I’m not sure, but it’s really great having the jungle in my kitchen window.
This is Georgia's first year as a Bed-Stuy Food Share member and she has just entered her 7th month as a Bed-Stuy resident. When not fighting mint, Georgia writes about music and culture for Spinner.com, The NY Press and Brooklyn Based among other outlets.
Read more from Georgia online at http://microphonememoryemotion.wordpress.com
I just wanted to be able to make homemade Mojitos, and my favorite thing in the whole world: peas, mint, scallions and butter.
We bought the tiny plants at the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market back in March or early April. We replanted the mint and the chives together, in an 8 x 20 inch terracotta planter. I knew mint liked to grow, but I thought chives did too. (I remember both were always abundant in my youth.)
At first it was just some light squabbling.
“That’s my sun, out of my way,” the delicate mint would politely tell the pungent chive.
The chives fought hard for a month or so but they eventually stopped growing, their thin green bodies fading slightly. They are still alive, but the flavor has weakened, and the chives soon non-existence keeps me from eating it.
Savor the flavor?
And then, one day, the mint really took over. I was watering the basil (safely living in the planter adjacent) and saw a purple-ish green tentacle starting to make its way up the side of the mint planter. I cautiously moved my face in closer, and discovered that the mint roots were not only trying to multiply and grow up the side of the planter, but one had grown underneath the chives! A thick, bulging mint root cut straight through the chive roots, effectively killing it, and were now trying to grow up and out of the planter!
Mint is, in fact, an invasive species. In order to control the spread of mint it’s suggested that care is taken mixing mint or even growing mint outside, near other plants. See here for info on how to plant and control your mint. (http://www.plant-biology.com/Mentha-Mint.php)
What do I do now? Let it happen? Cut the mint back? I’m not sure, but it’s really great having the jungle in my kitchen window.
This is Georgia's first year as a Bed-Stuy Food Share member and she has just entered her 7th month as a Bed-Stuy resident. When not fighting mint, Georgia writes about music and culture for Spinner.com, The NY Press and Brooklyn Based among other outlets.
Read more from Georgia online at http://microphonememoryemotion.wordpress.com
Member Spotlight: Toni Lewis
Luella Toni Lewis is a family practice physician and a geriatrician. Currently, Toni is the president of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare. She leads and advocates for the interests and rights of 13,000 physicians in training in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, Washington, D.C., New Mexico, Puerto Rico and California. Toni also serves as board member for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Name: Luella Toni Lewis (goes by Toni)
Farm Share Member Since: 2009
Which block do you live on? Hancock between Bedford and NostrandHow long have you lived in Bed-Stuy? a yearWhat do you love about Bed-Stuy? What don’t I like about Bed-Stuy! I know all my neighbors in my building and most on my block… I like African dance and I like the flavor of the neighborhood.What would you change? I just want to learn about the neighborhood. There’s so much to learn, who’s to say I should change something when I haven’t scratched the surface of what’s already here?Why did you join BSFS? I went to see Naturopathic Physician Sam Schikowitz, ND in New Paltz, NY (incidentally where our food comes from!) who suggested local/organic for optimal healthy happy living on my crazy schedule and just because. (For more information on naturopathic medicine, go to www.trueabundancehealth.com and www.naturopathic.org).What do you like most about the Farm Share? “I like all of it. It’s cool going and hanging out with folks and it is kind of like a game— when you don’t know what you’ll get and then you figure what to do with it. It brings me back to my country roots: a community around healthy food. To be able to recreate a community vibe is awesome.”What's your favorite vegetable? greens (kale, thick greens with garlic scape, onion, and olive oil)When I'm not trying to figure out what to do with my Farm Share, I’m… dancing, taking Afro-Carribean classes at Mark Morris and Afro-Haitian at Embora and belly dance class in Bed Stuy. One of the reasons I moved from DC to Brooklyn is so that I can go upstate and rock climb and go dancing and take yoga classes. I like to move!
Featured Recipe: Easy Greens Roman Style
Click here to view this recipe.June 27, 2009 - Welcome to Summer!
The Bed-Stuy Farm Share, now in its 4th year, is honored to have you as a member. We look forward to making your experience fun, healthy, and delicious!Perhaps you joined because you wanted to buy fresh, quality produce, or you wanted to connect with your neighbors in a way that was meaningful and supportive of your lifestyle.
Whatever the reason, your choice has larger, more powerful consequences than you may be aware of.
Bed-Stuy Farm Share is part of an historic national movement — Community Food Security — catapulted from the fringes to the mainstream as a result of hundreds of individuals like yourself, mobilizing and responding with grassroots solutions to unsafe and unsustainable corporate farm and factory practices as well as policies that make it difficult for communities to access affordable and nutritious food.
Over the course of your farm share experience, we invite and encourage you to learn more about the local, sustainable, and slow food movements happening right here in Bed-Stuy, in other parts of Brooklyn, and beyond.
This newsletter will be presented every other week, with your contributions. Please also visit the member’s website, which will be updated regularly with information, recipes, and resources to guide you. Stay Tuned!
Member Spotlight: Ginger Pardlo
By now, most of you have met Ginger, Bed-Stuy Farm Share’s Volunteer Coordinator, through e-mail. Make sure to say hi if you see her on Saturdays!
Name: Ginger Romero Pardlo
Farm Share Member Since: the beginning
Which block do you live on? Quincy Street! between Tompkins & Throop
How long have you lived in Bed-Stuy? 4 years
What do you love about Bed-Stuy? Friends live here. AND the friendliness and warmth of our neighbors
What would you change? The cynicism
Why did you join Bed-Stuy Farm Share? to make sure me and the family ate greens
What do you like most about the Farm Share? being part of the community
What's your favorite vegetable? bok choy
When I'm not trying to figure out what to do with my Farm Share, I('m)
studying for my certification in financial planning (CFP)
Education: master's in public policy
Occupation: financial services (with a public twist) or today New York's 529 College Savings rep for "downstate"
Do you have kids - what ages? 2 girls one 1 1/2 and the other 4
Do you have pets? Does the mommy cat and her two kittens that have set up shelter in our front yard count?
Where can we catch you in Brooklyn during your free time? COFFEE SHOPS. You may have seen me too as the shadow voice contacting you regarding your member role...Or you may catch me in the 1st Quincy Street Greenthumb Community Garden doing something kid related.
Your husband is a poet, and Foodtown made an appearance in one of his poems. Any chance we'll see the BSFS in a poem soon? I'll get to work. Right now he (Greg Pardlo) runs away from vegetables...
Featured Recipe: Easy Curry Greens
Click here to view this recipe.
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