I found this website while on one of my Internet tangents. Their mission:

Food Systems Network NYC is a membership-based organization designed to foster communication and cultivate community amongst various stake holders and professionals working across the food system. Members gather monthly for Open Networking meetings to encourage collaboration; share information; discuss public policy; and promote opportunities for individuals to partner on specific projects.

Their website has a lot of different resources (including food-policy/security-related jobs) and is a way to connect food advocates together.

Check them out at www.foodsystemsnyc.org.

(From Just Foods)

Food irradiation, a process that became of interest in the 1950s, came mostly in response to much of our food supply being lost to spoilage and insects.  Food irradiation exposes food to ionizing radiation to destroy microorganisms that cause spoilage and decomposition and thus the shelf life of the food is extended.  Strawberries, for example, that have been irradiated will last two to three weeks longer in the refrigerator.  Food irradiation is also used to sterilize food for hospital patients that have severely impaired immune systems.  This process can also be used as an alternative to chemical pesticides for controlling insect damage and to control ripening and foodborne illnesses such as Salmonella.  Currently, the foods that are approved for irradiation by the U.S. FDA includes meat and poultry, eggs, fruits and vegetables, juices, herbs, spices and flour.
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New York CIty once boasted several wholesale farmers markets enabling local farmers to directly supply food stores with locally grown produce. In 2007, the New Fulton Fish Market Cooperative and the Bronx Terminal Market Growers, with assistance from the Governor of New York along with the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets, established a new Wholesale Farmers Market in the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center in the Bronx. Now to be managed and developed by CENYC, this market will provide small retailers, food service professionals and the public with opportunities to buy fresh, healthy, local produce directly from the farmer at wholesale prices. Read the rest of this entry »

On all four Sundays this September from 11am to 7pm, Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn will be closed off from Clinton Ave to Emerson Avenue.  This busy street will transform into an active, interactive, pedestrian-friendly public space perfect for walking, cycling, dancing, and people-watching.

Partnering up with with DOT’s Weekend Walks initiative to create Move About Myrtle, this event will bring together residents, merchants and visitors in celebration of community and public space. Read the rest of this entry »

I was sent this interesting article from the New York Times about an organic farm upstate that works with recovering addicts. These patients live at a nearby rehab center and work as farmhands on the 2-acre farm that was donated to them by two local country clubs. They sell the produce back to the country clubs and at their thrift store. An interesting model for sustainable agriculture in more ways than one!

We have a subscription to The Sun magazine. It’s an ad-free literary magazine with an interview with a (usually) political or spiritual “expert,” fiction, memoirs and essays and a themed section of short anecdotes submitted by numerous readers. As someone who doesn’t read a lot, this magazine is much to my liking and pacing.

This is where we discovered the magic of mushroom growing. Read the rest of this entry »

This week, feel the love with our first featured COUPLE, Darren and Dara.

Who are you?
I am Darren, who are you? I am Dara (yes, we have similar names).

What do you do?
Darren: I’m still clinging to ‘recent graduate’ as a title; I got my BA in Metropolitan Studies at NYU.  I’ve got a job in the city, but my life in Brooklyn is what matters; I’m the Outreach Coordinator on the PLGCSA Board.  I also serve on the Board of Directors for PLG Neighborhood Association (PLGNA).  Recently, I started tutoring Hasidic people in Williamsburg as a freelance gig.
Dara: I’m about to begin work on my PhD in Sociology of the Body at the University of Kent in England. Until then, I will continue working at NYU School of Law, helping law students get jobs.

Where do you live?
We live on Sterling Street between Bedford and Washington in a beautiful apartment owned by members Carlos and Clare.

Where did you grow up?
Darren: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, yes in the actual shrinking city.
Dara: I grew up in South Florida with strong ties to Philadelphia.

How long have you been a member?
Since the beginning!  Darren moved to PLG the year it started and it just sort of happened.  We were students at NYU and we got subsidized because we were legitimately broke; it was amazing to be able to benefit in that way, which is a big reason Darren is happy to serve on the Board and give back.

When you do your pickup where are you coming from?
Darren: Actually, Dara has done 99% of the picking up this year; she comes from work in the city.  But she is moving to England in September, so I’ll have to pull it together! Read the rest of this entry »

Brooklyn Rescue Mission (BRM), located in Bed-Stuy is one of the few food justice organizations in Brooklyn committed to community health, food and economic challenges in daily life. In addition to East New York Farms and Added Value, the BRM farm is one of the few community urban food agriculture projects in the city.

In addition to running a food pantry and a farmer’s market, BRM runs a farm in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant. In 2005, BRM created partnerships with the New York City environmental and food justice organizations to break ground on an abandoned lot behind the Mission in order to grow fruits and vegetables for pantry recipients. The site, once a neighborhood garbage dump, was transformed into an urban oasis that has served several hundred people since its creation. The farm has become a community gathering space and a classroom to teach neighborhood youth about food growing and community service.

Now, due to real estate development pressures, the farm is under threat of eviction. No longer a vacant lot and a dumping ground, it has become desirable to others. It is in danger of being sold by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to developers to repay a debt incurred by Neighborhood Partnership Housing Development/Direct Building Management.

Sign the petition and help save the farm!

The Time for Lunch Campaign is a project of Slow Food USA, an educational non-profit with the goal of creating a world in which everyone can enjoy food that is good, clean and fair.

This year, they are asking parents, teachers and every responsible citizen to speak up and tell our nation’s leaders that change can’t wait: It’s time to provide our children with REAL FOOD at school. Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday, July 21st is FoodprintNYC Call-In Day to your City Council representative!

So far 11 City Council members have signed on as co-sponsors. Make sure your representative shows their support!

Tomorrow, take action to support FoodprintNYC!

Calling your representative is fast, easy, and effective. You can call on your way to the subway, while walking your dog or on your way home from the office. Every call that you make in support of or against a policy issue gets recorded.

Click here for more information

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