Enviornmental Justice Conference in Flint

 I am so excited that Flint will be hosting Majora Carter on Saturday March 13^th at the Social Justice Now conference at University of Michigan Flint. Majora was the Director of Sustainable South Bronx in New York City which pioneered green collar job training and built green spaces in the Bronx. Check out Majora her powerful speech at Ted http://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html  Also featured is Donele Wilkins from Detroiters working for Environmental Justice. There will be several breakout sessions that will address food issues. Registration is FREE at http://umflint.edu /eoi/sjn.htm

Spring Break

I interrupt this blog for the brief reminder that spring is possible and actually inevitable.

What does good food mean?

Last week I was really excited to attend the Michigan Good Food Summit in Lansing.  It is always inspiring to connect with others doing good work and it was great to be in the room with 300 other ‘foodies’.  I liked the description that good food is healthy (it provides nurishment), green (produced in an enviornmentally sustainable way) fair (no one is exploited in the production) and affordable (all people have access to it). One fun fact that has stuck with me is that it is easier to transport a vegetable around the world then to the school down the street. We need to as communities reinvent the local food infrastructure. As I’ve come to expect Flint was  well represented, from farmers to nutrition educators, youth training programs and resource providers I was once again convinced we are on the cutting edge of what is happening around the state. Check out www.michiganfood.org for more information!

Beautification Conference

2009 Keep Genesee County Beautiful Conference

One of my favorite events of the year is the Keep Genesee Beautiful Conference on March 6th at UM Flint.  Not only does it take place at the pivotal moment where I am yearning for spring inspiration but also that I am missing all my community gardener friends. This years workshops sound inspiring!’ Yes, You Can Can’ will teach you the basics of canning and preserving vegetables. ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’ features Adam Montri from MSU sharing how to schedule our veggie garden for the best production. Skilled professionals Roxanne Adair and Shaun Smakal will join me for the workshop on ‘How to Transform a Vacant Lot’.  For registration and more info email camonk@umflint.edu or call 810-767-5484.

Building Neighborhood Power

Community Playground Build at Memorial Park

Getting to know your neighbors can seem like a challenge. Simple events like a neighborhood potluck can bring out people that might not attend a traditional block club meeting. How do we create more ways to get to know people who live down the street but we don’t know how to approach?  Block parties, neighborhood gardens and outdoor concerts are just a few ideas. Up coming workshops like ‘Working Together’ on Feb 27th from 10am- 2pm at the YWCA of Greater Flint is one tool that can help you develop ideas. This workshop is part of a series called Building Neighborhood Power and is part of a collective of organizations that is focusing on neighborhoods in our community. To register or for more information contact rspeed@co.genesee.mi.us

Eating local can be an adventure…….

So after a lovely meal of Peking duck at a trendy Beijing restaurant, I headed with several friends to what tourists call “snack alley.” This narrow street is lined with small booths offering adventures in gastrointestinal delights… for some. Scorpions, cicadas, cocoons, centipedes, caterpillars, starfish and the like await the daring.

 I thought I would try anything. I love bugs. The fried scorpions we sampled first had a lovely seasoning and were really quite good. The cicada nymphs provided my first indication that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this. Oh, I choked it down… I wasn’t going to be considered a chicken, but it was a toughie.

 We met some fun young people from New York who offered a bite of starfish. Nope…I found my line in the sand. It smelled awful. And the young men confirmed that it tasted awful, too.

 There is a term for this practice of eating insects – entomophagy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy. It was pretty cool. But I’ll steer away from the juicy things next time.

A Winter Blanket

While in a taxi in Beijing, I was reminded that some of our Michigan plants need a little winter protection too. Some boxwood varieties are especially susceptible to winter injury from snow.

 After a particularly big and heavy snow, it is always a good idea to shake branches that may be looking a little saggy from the weight. This can prevent breakage. Rhododendrons and azaleas benefit from a burlap cover to block the wind. This is about as close as we can get to a snuggie for plants.

Food access

How do 20 million people here get their food? Anywhere and every where – from street vendors to fruit carts, kiwis on bikes and little grocery stores on every block. 

How do Flint residents get their food? On non-Farmers Market days, that trip could require at least two bus transfers to the nearest supermarket, likely outside the city limits.

Not that I want to buy a swordfish hanging from a kiosk like I see here in China…ok, maybe I do. But it does make me stop and think about how we take for granted going to a large box store for our food. 

Creating places for family

I was visiting Yu Yuan Gardens today in Shanghai and was quite taken by the beauty of the Chinese style of landscape design.  One of the great aspects of this style of design is the many rooms that are created.  Entering one such room I observed a sweet scene-a man and his daughter “fishing” for Koi with a willow branch.  The Yu Yuan Gardens were created in 1559, and I bet the landscape designer never anticipated this use!

Today’s public gardens are sometimes over-designed to direct ways that families will interact.  If we just yield to our imagination-and children do that so easliy-gardens can inspire all sorts of fun family activities.

Eating Shanghai