First, a picture of one (of two) table-top herb garden's I completed on Friday for Mary Louise:
Next, a series of links:
From NYT Magazine: "Field Report: A Michigan Teen Farms Her Backyard"
Youth Build -- From their website: "In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, learn job skills and serve their communities by building affordable housing, and transform their own lives and roles in society."
(Put these together and imagine "Youth Grow.")
Urban Farm Magazine
Detroit Black Community Food Security Coalition Recognizing that 85% of Detroit's citizens are African American and the majority of the food movement leadership in the city was euro-american, this group has undertaken to develop black leaders to educate a largely black population in urban farming, community gardening, food security, etc.
Community Garden Start-Up Guides from the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA)
Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) "Food Culture Justice: 14th annual conference in NOLA. Or find the pdf brochure here. These folks are at the forefront of local, state, and national efforts to work on food security policy and in using urban agriculture as a means to achieve food access amidst food deserts. As a matter of fact, they wrote the primer on urban agriculture back in 2002 before it was a buzz-phrase.
The Garden Project is a community and home gardening program of the Greater Lansing (MI) Food Bank. Ample Harvest is a website-tool to connect home food gardeners with extra produce to food banks and pantries that will distribute the food to folks who will eat it.
Science Daily article: "Organic Farms have Better Fruit and Soil, Lower Environmental Impact, Study Finds"
Growing Hope in Ypslanti, MI has provided me with inspiration aplenty in recent weeks. I attended a workshop entiltled "What can grow in a 4x4 square?" in Atlanta at the ACGA anual conference presented by Amanda Edmonds, their executive director.
"Many Faces of Hunger" an NPR story about a photo documentary of hungry folks in the states.
Farm Together Now, a book project. From their website: "Farm Together Now meets with people across the country who are challenging the conventions of industrialized farming and exclusive green economies. This part-travelogue, part-oral history, part-creative exploration of food politics will introduce readers to twenty groups working in agriculture and sustainable food production in the U.S. Throughout 2009 the authors visited twenty farms from coast to coast, talking to farmers about their engagement in sustainable food production, public policy and community organizing efforts."
Urban Agriculture Training at Michigan State University
We could have something like this here in Tallahassee, no? Perhaps through TCC's Workforce Development or another venue? A possible KCCI catylization? How about join the organic ag training with a leadership development institute for community, school, church and neighborhood gardens? Lastly, add on an entrepreneurial program for youth-- called "youth grow"-- and you'd have Tallahassee's very own Center for Urban Agriculture.