United Way supports GardenShare

GardenShare has partnered with the United Way of Northern New York for the first time this year.  United Way raises money for a variety of great charities in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, and Lewis Counties and we are glad to be on the team.

Yesterday, Bob Gorman, President of United Way of NNY, came to Canton and presented a check for GardenShare to the Treasurer of our Board of Directors, Anneke Larrance.

GardenShare's allocation from the United Way this year is $1,800.

Thank you to everyone who has made a gift to the United Way and helped make this possible.

SNAP WORKS FOR KIDS

SNAP delivers more nutrition assistance to low-income children than any other, making it the nation’s largest child nutrition program.  In 2016, SNAP will help about 20 million children each month — about one in four U.S. children — while providing about $30 billion in nutrition benefits for children over the course of the year. SNAP makes this impact even though it provides only a modest benefit — just $1.35 on average per person per meal for households with children.  SNAP can do this because its (1) funding structure enables a quick and automatic response to changing economic conditions, (2) uniform eligibility rules make benefits available to children in almost all families with little income and few resources, and (3) benefit structure targets assistance to families with the fewest resources available for food.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 9/29/16, SNAP & Kids

October is Farm to School Month

Guest blogger, student intern Julia Callahan shares some information on Farm to School Month.

Welcome, October! A time of reflection on the beauty of nature in the changing of seasons, a time of unpacking the sweaters out of the dark void of your closet, a time for pumpkins, pumpkin spice, root vegetables, and most importantly Farm to school Month. Farm to School is a nation-wide focused effort to connect children to local food through interactive, edible learning.

Farm to school month, created by The National Farm to School Network, was approved by Congress in 2010 and is recognized as month to highlight the importance of child nutrition, local economies, and learning the origin of food. Activities include taste testing in school cafeterias, farm visits, harvest parties, connecting all 50 states and D.C to the power of local food and its positive impacts on communities.

New York State contains within its state line, a diversity of landscapes, populations, and agricultural productivity. Urban gardens in NYC, rich productivity in the Hudson Valley, and mountainous lands in the ADKs produce diverse growing systems. It is the goal through Farm to School month to promote these regional food systems through interactive efforts that allow students to handle their food through all stages of growing. Many school districts in New York State are implementing school garden programs, adding agricultural focused classes into the curriculum, and supporting local food economies. Public groups such as the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, The NYS Department of Health and the Governor’s Ant-Hunger Task Force have collaborated with private groups such as Farm to Institution, Grow NYC, and Cornell Cooperative Extension in order to enhance the local impact.

                 So far, the Far to School Network has engaged 23.6 Million students, 42% of US schools, spent 789 Milliot on local food economies, and engaged 40 states with supportive policies. If you are interested in join the interconnected Network, Check out farmtoschool.org for more information. Join the Movement!

Closing the Food Gap

Having worked in Hartford for many years, I occasionally get asked if I know Mark Winne.  Mark is the former long-time executive director of the Hartford Food System,the founding chair of the board of directors at Foodshare, and the author of "Closing the Food Gap."  Mark was also the board chair who hired me to be the director at Foodshare in August of 1984.  He probably never thought that we would both still be working on food and hunger issues in 2016!

Mark's book is about the "food gap," the gap between how the well-to-do / well-educated eat and the way the lower income people in this country end up eating.  I tend to characterize this gap by saying "the rich get locally-grown, organic, and the poor get the dollar menu at the corner fast food place."  (Now, I know that's a generalization and not always true, but it's more true than untrue - that's the nature of generalizations!)

Although the book was published in 2008, sadly, not much is different today.  We are still struggling to close the food gap, change the system, and ensure that everyone has good food to eat.  The book is still worth a read!

Part of what drew me to GardenShare is the way we are working to ensure that everyone, no matter their income or circumstances in life, has access to good food.

Gloria

National Farm to School Month

October is National Farm to School Month, a time to celebrate the connections happening all over the country between children and local food. From taste tests in the cafeteria and nutrition education activities in the classroom, to farm visits and school garden harvest parties, schools, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations in all 50 states and D.C. join in the celebrations. Start planning your Farm to School Month celebrations with resources available from the National Farm to School Network. Find celebrations happening in your community by visiting the Farm to School Month Events Calendar. If your organization would like to help celebrate National Farm to School Month on its communications channels (social media, newsletter, blog), sign up to be an Outreach Partner here. 

Nature Conservancy Seeks Proposals for School Gardens

The Nature Conservancy is awarding grants to support projects that implement green infrastructure to address local environmental challenges. These include access to healthy food, air quality, heat island effect, climate change, or storm water collection. Young people will work as social innovators to help their communities through project design and implementation. A $2,000 grant will be awarded to 55 schools. Applications must be submitted online by 5 PM ET October 31, 2016. 

Learn more here.

STRENGTHENING FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAMS

USDA is making up to $5 million in grant funds available to help schools create or strengthen farm to school programs this school year. Farm to School Grants fund school districts, state and local agencies, agricultural producers, and nonprofit organizations that seek to increase local foods served through child nutrition programs, teach children about food and agriculture through garden and classroom education, and develop schools’ and farmers’ capacities to participate in farm to school. They can use the funds for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. This year, awards ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 will be distributed in four different grant categories: Planning, Implementation, Support Service, and Training.  Applications are due on grants.gov by December 8, 2016.

Source: USDA, 9/13/16, Farm-to-School