FoodShare Enews July 8, 2011
Strawberries from Heaven
We are thrilled to share the following kind and inspiring words from one of our Good Food Box coordinators just this week - a perfect tribute to the fresh local strawberries we sourced direct from Berry Fresh Farms:
"The strawberries in our boxes today are so good!
Everyone loves them.
Julia said they reminded her of the strawberries in her grandmother's garden when she was little, and she just couldn't stop smelling them. She said, "This must be what taking drugs is like:
these smell so good I could just smell them for hours -- I just can't stop!"
She had to open her box at once to try them and she licked off all the strawberry juice that ran down her arm.
And she's only one person!
Everyone else was just the same!"
top
Community Food Project Victory!
Great news from FoodShare's Community Food Animators: We have been in a 6 year conversation with City Parks and Recreation Staff about Good Food Markets in which we have been asking for permit fees to be waived or reduced for these important community-building food access points. Fees have ranged from $500 to $1000. For a food access not-for-profit initiative grounded in each local community, this has proven to be a hardship to each local group in making a vibrant public space with food access as its priority!
But there is now a victory!
For the FIRST time, Thorncliffe Community Market, located in RV Burgess Park, has not only received a reduced fee, they have their fee waived - its free!
For all of the markets that are currently struggling with their permits costs in Toronto Parks, this is wonderful news. This is due to the hard work of each partner community group who has sent letters to the City, FoodShare's support (many phonecalls, discussions with Toronto Public Health, Toronto Parks and Recreation, and letters), and the clincher has been the advocacy of the Toronto Food Strategy staff who advocated at the top level of Parks and Recreation.
Congratulations to all on this important Community Food Project Victory!
top
Looking for one of FoodShare's Good Food Markets or a Farmers' Market?
You'll find a newly updated list of locations and times on our website, here!
top
Photos of FoodShare's AGM, Open House and Volunteer Appreciation
Thanks to all who joined us for our AGM, Open House and Volunteer Appreciation event on June 18! It was delicious and exciting as always, and so lovely to share a meal and many wonderful conversations with our volunteers and supporters. Thanks as well to the Big Carrot and Bernardin, our generous sponsors of the day. Please take a look at the great photo album here.
top
International Pollinators Week - a Buzzing Success!
It was a bee-autiful day out at the Evergreen Brickworks last weekend when FoodShare's Field to Table Schools team participated in the International Pollinators Festival.
The team facilitated a range of fun, interactive pollination activities for children of all ages (and the young-at-heart). Busy bees tasted delicious local honey and apples, collected hidden pollen in a scavenger hunt and made decorative buzzing bees to wear (which led to pollination all day long!). The team would like to thank the organizers of the festival, Evergreen Brickworks for hosting and to all of the enthusiastic volunteers to helped make the day so much fun.
top
Composter Building Bonanza - a Soil-Supporting Success!
On Saturday June 25, with the help of amazing volunteers, FoodShare built 17 big beautiful composters that will go to community gardens across the city allowing communities to enrich their soil for even more bountiful delicious results. The event went smoothly and we were finished ahead of schedule. Thank you so much to those who helped and organized, it was a great day of team work, skill-building, good food and laughs.
top
Join FoodShare's Field to Table Schools Program Coordinator Brooke Ziebell at the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council's Last Meeting of the Year & Panel Discussion, Monday, July 11, 6-8pm at Metro Hall
FoodShare's Brooke Ziebell will speak on Food Literacy, joining Don Mills from Local Food Plus and the National Farmers' Union, James Kunz from CRC Toronto, Barbara Emanuel from Toronto Food Strategy within Toronto Public Health in addressing questions based on the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council's Youth Position Papers on farmland preservation, urban agriculture, hunger and poverty and Food Literacy. Join in and participate in North America's first youth food policy council on July 11th at Metro Hall (Room 308).
To find out more about the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council, visit their website: http://tyfpc.ca/ or facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=224792080883049.
top
Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture Training Course, Monday, July 11, 1-5pm at the Carrot Common
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities presents the Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture training course, the first of its kind in North America! Learn about multiple approaches to growing food on rooftops through design and maintenance principles, and case studies drawn from across United States and Canada. This course will help you identify strategies for overcoming common challenges with urban agriculture/rooftop farming and help lead you to a successful project.
What: Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture training course
When: Monday, July 11, 2011, 1pm-5pm
Where: Carrot Common, 348 Danforth Ave., Toronto, ON
To register or for more info: www.cvent.com/d/bdqhy0
top
FoodShare Vermicompost Tea Bags Available For Sale
FoodShare's Vermicompost Tea Bags are great for making rich tea for your plants. Each tea bag contains a few tablespoons of our amazing vermicompost, is made on-site by our industrious red wiggler worms. Purchase one for $2 or three for $5 in our Admin Office. Please contact Katie Willoughby for information: KatieW@foodshare.net or 416.363.6441 ext 273.
top
FoodShare In The News!
Visit the In the News page on FoodShare's website to see recent coverage of our work. Right now you'll find a Readers Digest profile of a Student Nutrition Program we support (which also accesses its fresh produce through our Bulk Produce Program for Schools!), an article from Sustain Ontario on the 2011 election featuring FoodShare's priorities, and all the fantastic coverage of our Recipe for Change event, plus much more.
top |
