From the monthly archives:

June 2010

Will Allen on the urban farm revolution

by Cassandra West June 27, 2010 Economic development
Will Allen, Growing Power founder and CEO

CHICAGO — Even if you know only a little about urban agriculture, you’ve probably heard of Will Allen, the nation’s foremost local food movement leader and advocate. Allen, who founded the Milwaukee-based urban farm and education center Growing Power Inc., was in Chicago at Fourth Presbyterian Church Thursday (June 24) evening to talk about his [...]

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USDA seeks public comments on new food guidelines

by Editor June 27, 2010 Agriculture

By Susan Richardson The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking public comments through July 15 on the proposed 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the basis for important policy decisions about the Food Pyramid, school meals, the WIC Program, and other nutrition programs managed by the USDA.  Written by 13 prominent independent experts in nutrition and [...]

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Philadelphia urban farm grows roots in old industrial neighborhood

by Cassandra West June 20, 2010 Economic development
Thumbnail image for Philadelphia urban farm grows roots in old industrial neighborhood

PHILADELPHIA — Farming in the city isn’t always a viable business model, those who attempt it will admit. Sometimes, though, an urban farmer gets it right—growing not only good, fresh food but building strong community ties along the way. That’s what Greensgrow Farm has done since opening a dozen years ago in one of this [...]

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Documentary explores history of the School Lunch Program

by Editor June 19, 2010 Agribusiness

By Susan Richardson Lunch Line, a new documentary about the history of the school lunch program, comes at  an important time. The 64-year-old  program is up for reauthorization by Congress as part of the Child Nutrition Act, bringing attention to what children are eating, where it comes from and the role of the federal government  in ushering food [...]

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Jeremy Nowak urges food funders to learn from practice

by Editor June 16, 2010 Economic development

By Susan Richardson PHILADELPHIA — Funders and philanthropies should be willing to learn from practice in creating models for access to healthy food, said Jeremy Nowak, president and CEO of The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), speaking on the second day of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders conference in Philadelphia. “Look at creating a live [...]

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A visit to Camden NJ’s green soup kitchen

by Cassandra West June 16, 2010 Green movement

CAMDEN, NJ — On Tuesday, a group attending the Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders Forum in Philadelphia visited the Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, N.J., which has provided hot, nutritious meals and other services to residents since 1976. In 2008, Cathedral Kitchen broke the emergency food service mold when it opened a 13,000-square-foot facility that [...]

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Food funders gather in Philadelphia to discuss urban agriculture

by Editor June 15, 2010 Economic development
SAFSF tour to urban farms in Philadelphia

By Susan Richardson PHILADELPHIA — The 8th Annual Forum of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders began with a reminder of how far the food movement has come since the group first met in 2003.  Thirty people attended SAFSF’s inaugural conference in San Francisco; 155 people are attending  this year’s conference in Philadelphia, said [...]

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Chicago food activists stand with Haitian farmers in rejecting Monsanto seeds

by Cassandra West June 1, 2010 Agribusiness

Since the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake, many Haitians came to see agriculture as the most practical and long-term solution to healing the land and the economy. Then in stepped big agribusiness, as always, with its own solution, designed more to help its bottom line than the Haitian population. Monsanto, the St. Louis-based agri-chemical company, announced [...]

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