Brahm’s Blog


Archive for the ‘Urban Agriculture’ Category

Next Level at the Farm

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

We’re now in our second summer season at our farm in Sunol. We’ve learned a lot over the year and are improving and refining our methods. We’ve expanded our farm staff and interns and our Farm Manager, Jason Uribe, is deepening his knowledge and leadership for a larger scale farming effort. It’s an exciting time with lots of folks going out to the farm regularly.

Starting in July we will have a crew of youth from West Oakland who will be employed to work on the farm to grow niche crops to sell to high-end restaurants in the east bay. This is part of our effort to develop a social enterprise that can generate sufficient revenues to support the operation of the project, the youth jobs and an eventual subsidy for a low-income CSA called the SOUL Box that will serve families using the food stamp program.

Three restaurants and one catering company have expressed serious interests to buy produce from us. These are all businesses with commitments to supporting local food systems, sustainable agriculture and Food Justice for urban areas. They want to work with us to not only source local and high quality crops, but to support the opportunity for West Oakland youth to gain meaningful jobs and job training and for West Oakland families to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. These are going to be exciting partnerships and present the opportunity to really bridge between the Food Justice and the Slow Food movements.
harv celeb 018.jpg A photo of the farm from last summer. New photos soon to come!

Posted in Food Systems, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture, West Oakland | No Comments »

Library of Recent Documents

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006

Many people ask me for documents about various subjects related to food justice and People’s Grocery’s work. So I’m starting a library of documents that are related to food justice, food security, sustainable food systems, grocery stores and community health. This library is available to anyone who is conducting research or starting a project of their own. You can submit a comment and upload your own documents as well.

1) Attracting Supermarkets to the Inner City.pdf This is a somewhat academic style document but it provides a lot of good data on inner-city food demand, the challenges to developing inner-city grocery stores and, interestinlgy, the rationale of planners for the absence of grocery stores in inner city areas.

2) Supermarket Access in Low-Income Communities.pdf This paper is part of a series of nutrition policy profiles prepared by Prevention Institute for the
Center for Health Improvement.

3) homeward bound.pdf This study overviews food security strategies with a focus on transportation needs and barriers as key factors.

4) USDA Supermarket study.pdf This study was conducted by the USDA and looks at supermarket characteristics and operating costs in low-income areas.

5) Linking Food and Transportation.doc This Policy Brief looks at the effect of transportation on food security and the food system and highlights case examples of how transportation barriers are being addressed

6) beyond food bank.pdf A white paper that I co-authored with Christine Ahn, formerly of Food First. Looks at the isse of food banks in achieving food sovereignty in low-income neighborhoods.

7) growing food in cities.pdf A report highlighting the benefits of urban agriculture. Written in the UK.
8) hunger and obesity.pdf This document looks at the paradox of simulataneous hunger and obesity in America.

9) Diet interventions for ethnic minority populations.pdf

10) Impacts of public markets on community health.doc A small portion of a study conducted by the Project for Public Spaces, Inc.

11) History of Food Insecurity in West Oakland.pdf

12) Social Compact West Oakland.pdf A “drill down” market study of West Oakland that captures data that other market studies have failed to do.

13) Low Income Consumer study.pdf A sample of a study that looks at marketing to low-income US food consumers in the decade ahead. A pretty corporate document, but it has some valuable information.

14) organic food demand.pdf A focus group study looking at organic food demand that involces caucasian and African-American shoppers.

15) Building Local Bay Area Economy.pdf A report developed by Bay Area Relocalize, The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, the International Forum and Globalization and others.

16) Working, Wages and Inequality In the East Bay.pdf A report conducted by the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy that looks at economic inequality in the East Bay Area.

Posted in Food Justice, Food Systems, Library, Oakland, Organic Food, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | No Comments »

Come to Our Harvest Celebration Day

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

sunol group shot.JPG

Harvest Celebration Day
Saturday, October 7 from 1 - 4 pm

Bring your family and friends and join the People’s Grocery community at our beautiful 2 acre farm in Sunol. Help harvest and celebrate the fruits of the season! Fresh food, games, fun activities, beautiful land, bountiful harvest and great community.

Please RSVP for this event by emailing Brahm Ahmadi at brahm@peoplesgrocery.org or calling (510) 652-7607. We are also coordinating ride sharing, so let us know if you need a ride or have a ride to offer.

For directions to the Sunol Farm please click here.

Volunteer! – We need a couple extra hands to help out at this event. If you’re interested in volunteering please email Brahm Ahmadi at brahm@peoplesgrocery.org or call (510) 652-7607.

water temple.jpg
Water Temple at Sunol Farm

Posted in Food Justice, Food Systems, Oakland, Organic Food, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | No Comments »

Growing Food, Jobs & Justice

Thursday, September 21st, 2006

We have begun to plan for a new project called the Growing Food, Jobs & Justice Program, which will launch in the summer of 2007. This program will develop a social enterprise model that enables low-income residents of West Oakland to have access to local, organic produce at affordable prices and local youth to have meaningful jobs and training opportunities.

There are three primary components to the program:

1) Sunol Ag Park and Farm: In 2007 we plan to expand our acreage in cultivation and increase our food production. With an abundance of food being grown we will be able to expand our activities through an enhanced food distribution strategy that sustains local jobs and achieves financial self-sufficiency

2) Restaurant Supply Business: We will establish partnerships with local restaurants in the East Bay that are seeking to increase the local ingredients in their menus. We will dedicate 50% of the produce we grow at the Sunol Ag Park for sale to restaurants. The profits from this business will be used to subsidize the operating costs of the other 50% of the produce to be distributed to low-income residents in West Oakland.

3) S.O.U.L. Box: This will be a sort of modified CSA program in which the cost of the organic produce will be subsidized by the profits garnered through the restaurant supply business. The S.O.U.L. Box, which stands for Seasonal, Organic, Unrefined, and Local, will feature fresh local produce from our farm at the Sunol Ag Park. The program will especially target residents who are enrolled in the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Card food stamp program.

Posted in Food Justice, Food Systems, Nutrition, Oakland, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture, West Oakland | 2 Comments »

GOOD FOOD in the HOOD

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006

On Monday July 31 People’s Grocery and other Bay Area food Justice organizations will be holding an event called GOOD FOOD in the HOOD a from 12-1pm at Oakland’s City Hall.

This event is being held as part of the 2nd Annual Eat In, Act Out Week (July 31 - August 6), which is a national week of action to encourage communities to eat locally and think critically about their food choices. Over 30 organizations across the US will be participating in Eat In, Act Out Week this year. To learn more visit: http://www.thefoodproject.org/blast/internal1.asp?ID=226

People’s Grocery’s annual Food & Justice Camp is being held July 27-31 at the Marin Headlands Institute. The camp will culminate with this action at City Hall to provide young people with a platform to advocate for healthy food in Oakland and for a local, sustainable and socially just food system. There will be arts-based performance, a rally, produce giveaways, games, and information tables.

This event will also voice support for a proposal that was presented to the Oakland City Council on July 11 that called for the creation of an Oakland Food Policy Council and a Department of Food. To learn more visit http://peoplesgrocery.org/speaks/eat-in-act-out-week.

Please join us and give your support to local youth standing up for healthy food and a sustainable Oakland.

Posted in Food Justice, Food Systems, Oakland, Organic Food, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | 1 Comment »

New study links grocery stores and health

Monday, July 24th, 2006

A study conducted in Chicago will be released on Tuesday that concludes that residents of poor areas are more likely to die prematurely. Perhaps the most striking assertion of the study is that people who live in “food deserts” are more likely to die prematurely from diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

The study also concludes that as grocery store access decreases, obesity increases.

While the study is not yet available to the public, there’s a great article in today’s Chicago Tribune about the study’s findings:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0607180077jul18,1,4126177.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Posted in Food Systems, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | No Comments »

First farm workday a success

Monday, June 26th, 2006

We had our first workday at the new farm site in Sunol. We had a crew of 11 people including two staff, 3 interns and 6 volunteers. (Thank you interns and volunteers for all of your help!). We worked on building the irrigation system for watering, including installing the main pipeline as well as laying drip lines on the fields. It was an exciting atmosphere and everyone had a real good time. We tooks lots of breaks and snacked on fruit and talked.

Curious to know what it was like? We took some pictures and put them up on our website. Check them out: Photo Gallery

If you’re feeling inspired by the photos of folks having fun and working together, there’s still a chance to get involved. We will have two workdays this week:

Wednesday, June 28, 8am - 2pm. (Meet at the West Oakland YMCA at 8am)

Sunday, July 2, 8am - 2pm. (Meet at the West Oakland YMCA at 8am)

We’re making the final push to get some crucial elements complete so that we can plant our crops. We need your help. Come volunteer for half of a day. You’ll really enjoy the experience. Our farm is also located right next to the Sunol Water Temple, which is a fantastic site worth seeing. If you want to come on either day please RSVP with our Farm Manager, Jason Uribe, at (510) 504-3664 or jason@peoplesgrocery.org.

Posted in Food Systems, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | No Comments »

We’re launching our farm

Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

After much work to get the green light we’re launching our 2 acre farm in Sunol this week. Peter Rudnick, is a master organic farmer, is working with us to get it all started. Peter was Farm Manager at Green Gulch Farm for over 25 years, an organic farm and garden in Muir Beach. More recently, he was the farm manager at the Garden Project’s farm at San Bruno Jail in San Francisco for three years where he worked with incarcerated men to cultivate 5 acres of land and operate a CSA program. So we’re hyped to have Peter’s knowleagable help in getting the farm started. The deer fence has been built and the main irrigation installed. On wednesday 6/20 a crew will be installing the drip lines for our own 2 acres. And on Sunday 6/25 a crew will be planting our first crops. We’re going to plant Melons, peppers and tomatoes for the summer. We’re also going to plant winter squash to harvest in the late fall. Once the summer crops have been harvested we plan to plant garlic, onions and shallots. Potatoes are also a possibility. We will have five youth from Oakland who will start working at the Sunol farm in mid-July. They will also work at our urban gardens in Oakland.

Want to get involved? Contact our Farm Manager, Jason Uribe, at 510-504-3664 or jason@peoplesgrocery.org

Posted in Food Systems, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | No Comments »

Oakland Food System Assessment now on a Wiki

Sunday, June 11th, 2006

Two grad students recently finished a great document for the Office of Sustainability of Oakland to analyze and assess the food system in Oakland. The document is full of revealing information. People’s Grocery gets good mention in a couple parts of the document.

This food system assessment is now available online through a wiki and I highly recommend that you check it out:

http://oaklandfoodsystem.pbwiki.com/

The report is going to be the subject of a City Council Meeting on Tuesday, July 11th at 6pm. The report is asking the City to support a broad range of strategies such as creating a Food Policy Council, taking inventory of vacant city land that can be used for urban farming and planning for 30% of the city’s food to be grown within the city or come from nearby farms. Please attend the meeting if you can to voice your support for building a local food system in Oakland. If you want to speak during the public comment period you can fill out a speaker card at:

http://www.oaklandnet.com/government/city_clerk/testclerk.cfm

Posted in Food Systems, Oakland, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | 2 Comments »

Help Save the South Central LA Farm!

Monday, May 29th, 2006

A very important struggle is taking place right now in our sister city of LA. The South Central Farm, a 14 acre farm located smack in the middle of one of the lowest income urban areas in LA, has been growing food to feed 350 familes and providing much needed green space to the community. This farm, completely driven by the local community, is the largest urban farm in North America.

Now, after 14 years, the farm is in jeopardy - the city sold the land to a developer who plans bulldoze it and build a warehouse. For the last several months a big struggle has been going on to save the farm. Luckily the issue is gaining more and more attention every day. Julia Butterfly Hill, Joan Baez and Daryl Hannah are fasting atop a walnut tree at the farm and have vowed to remain until the farm is saved.

But it’s not yet certain that the farm will be saved. The police can come in at any time and forcibly remove the farmers from the land to begin bulldozing. Please learn more about the South Central Farm, call and send letters to politicians and spread the word. Go to these websites to learn more, watch video, take action, and donate funds:
http://www.southcentralfarmers.com
http://www.southcentralfarmers.org

Watch an inspiring video about the farm on Darryl Hannah’s website:
http://dhlovelife.com/

and check this short video out too:
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2718434?htv=12&;htv=12&htv=12&htv=12

Posted in Food Systems, People's Grocery, Urban Agriculture | No Comments »