GreenLeaf Denver

2011 Farm Stand Now Open!

2011-08-04T17:23:00.001-06:00

We'll be selling fresh veggies beginning August 6th:
25th and Arapahoe, 10 a.m. to Noon
Every Saturday August 6th through October 22nd
Name your own price for produce! Help GreenLeaf Grow and thrive! Take home fresh organically grown veggies!

This week we'll have lots of lettuce, basil, zucchini and summer squash, kohlrabi, beans, peppers, and more!

Re(posting): Re(doing) Food Justice

2011-03-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Tomas, Andrew, and Mohamed weighing produce in Summer '10

I love this piece by Leticia Garcia, about (re)defining Food Justice in terms that celebrate the complexity of urban life and communities, and acknowledge the vital leadership coming from communities of people who are most impacted by poverty, racism, and food injustice.

Garcia challenges us to move beyond the "framework that defines 'healthy food' in proximity to euro-centric food values. Such race and class-blind projects encourage dependency on the dominant culture, rather than revolutionizing food access for communities on their own cultural terms."

It's an applied project, and requires more than just thinking about food and food access from the dominant perspective. In fact, as so often, operating from the dominant perspective won't result in the kinds of action or make the kinds of changes that are needed, because of the inherent bias and blindness that reinforces dominance. So working on Food Justice must be a community project:

"Changing how we perceive poverty can revolutionize how we approach food justice. It can change how activists (re)do food justice as a form of social justice. This (re)doing of food justice emphasizes two things: first, that food justice is an action or a form of social activism rather than just an idea; second, that being critical activists affords us an opportunity to call for a “redo” and change how food justice is done."

Check it out!

And let us know how YOU are (re)thinking and (re)doing food justice.

http://beyondthefarm.org/exploring/redoing-food-justice/

Wanna help GreenLeaf? Start the new year with a donation!

2011-01-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year, everyone!

We're excited to make 2011 a very GreenLeaf-y year, and need your help to do it. Youth Agri/Cultural intern and GreenLeaf board member Grecia Saenz wrote this letter, asking for your support:

Dear friend,

I come from a family of cultivators. My mom started working the fields at age 8. She planted corn, beans and pumpkins. Over the course of her teenage years, her family depended on her and her smaller sisters to work in harsh fields with no shoes or tools.

While my mom grew up in an environment with little but organic food, I was raised in a fast food metropolis. The meals were made fast and cost so little. My mother wasn’t accustomed to that food so she avoided going to restaurants. She was, however, animated about so much food available anytime of the year and for so little.

In 10^th grade, I watched Food Inc. Learning where my food came from and who made it angered me. The produce is genetically engineered and the farm animals are raised in their own waste. But what hurt me the most was to see how the undocumented immigrants were treated. My mother worked in a farm where pesticides were used. The company would spray them while the immigrants worked. Many of the workers (including my mom) got sick. That this abuse was being practiced in the United States was wicked.

I wanted to fight this injustice but didn’t know how. In early weeks of June 2010 I was told that GreenLeaf was accepting new people. I was thrilled at the opportunity to join and spent a few days volunteering at GreenLeaf. I was an official employee a week later. Since then I have made new friends and learned more about food justice. I changed my eating habits and started educating my family about where the food we eat comes from.

I am ecstatic that GreenLeaf is expanding and creating a relationship with the communities around it. Being an important element in its success gives me something to be proud of. I hope that it grows into something much bigger escalating to different states and eventually to different countries. GreenLeaf reaches out to the youth in low-income neighborhoods. We educate people about the food they are eating and what they can do to eat healthier. We have participated with other organizations like Seed to Seed and taught them about the farm.

Building a relationship with our community and others allows us to expand. Our goal is to help people have access to healthy and organic food. To keep our little organization up and running we need donations. Please contribute to our farm and the youth in it and become a fighter against food injustice.

Sincerely,

Grecia Saenz

Please donate to GreenLeaf today! We don't have web contributions set up yet, so please contact us at GreenLeafDenver@gmail.com to learn how.

GreenLeaf - Growing Strong!

2010-11-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

I hope this snowy November morning finds everyone well - winter feels like it's been a long time coming, and we need the frozen water!

Just a quick note to let you know what GreenLeaf is up to:

The GreenLeaf youth crew (now up to 16 awesome high school students) recently made a group consensus decision on our their top priorities for learning about food justice and taking action for food justice. These priorities will guide GreenLeaf's work in the coming year, and we're building curriculum for our after school and summer program around them:

Learn:
1) About basic food justice by watching Food, Inc. and using other useful resources
2) About nutrition, healthy eating, and cooking
3) About obstacles people face in accessing healthy, fresh, food
4) About the food system and how to become better farmers
5) About other sustainable technologies

Take Action:
1) Hold events to inform others about food justice, sustainability, and GreenLeaf's work. Collaborate with other organizations like Seed to Seed to do this!
2) Teach others farming skills and about nutrition and food justice, especially other young people and kids
3) Help more low-income people get access to healthy fresh food and sustainable technologies
4) Expand the farm and GreenLeaf's organic veggie distribution
5) Make a music video on youtube all about food justice

We're also in the process of expanding to our second farm site in Denver: at 25th and Arapahoe. The Denver Housing Authority is developing about a third of a vacant block for GreenLeaf, Produce Denver, and Granata Farms to grow food and house our programming. This truly amazing opportunity is well under way - we hope to have the final structures (sheds, a bathroom, and a market stand) on site by December 13th! Just imagine what this vacant lot will look like as a beautiful, vibrant farm:

The new site will expand GreenLeaf's farming capacity to nearly 10,000 square feet under cultivation. We're excited for the challenge and all the fresh food we'll be growing for people in the neighborhood!

Our summer 2011 season will also include an exciting collaboration with the Seed to Seed program (via the GrowHaus). We’ll be bringing the youth from both programs together for collaborative learning, building a strong network of urban youth taking action for food justice in their communities.

Finally (for your moment of zen?) here's an article about a great city program in NE Portland, putting vacant land to use growing food!

2010-10-05T17:31:00.002-06:00

Hey folks!

GreenLeaf is part of an exciting partnership called the Urban Farmers Collaborative with Produce Denver and Granata Farms. And Denver Housing Authority is developing part of a vacant block as an urban farm for the three organizations. The project is truly amazing. Here's a chance to help out:

Young Leaders Group Community Outreach
Join us to build the state's largest urban garden @ DHA's Sustainability Park (2501 Arapahoe Street, Denver, CO)

Join your fellow ULI Young Leaders on Thursday, October 21 for a great community outreach project – help plant perennials at Denver’s new Sustainability Park.

Denver Housing Authority (DHA) is using 2.4 acres it owns in the Curtis Park neighborhood to demonstrate today’s most cutting edge sustainability practices in an urban setting. The focus of Sustainability Park is on renewable energy, energy efficiency, local food production, water management, and developing quantifiable metrics for these new cutting edge sustainability products/practices.

DHA has offered ULI the opportunity to work alongside the Curtis Park community to transplant perennials from DHA's Westwood Homes rehab project. So bring your work clothes and get ready to get your hands dirty! 50 volunteers are needed - so bring a friend!

The event will kick off with a presentation where you will have the opportunity to learn about the work of the Denver Housing Authority (DHA), the Urban Farmers Collaborative and Colorado Renewable Energy Society.

After the community service project is complete, attendees will walk to GreenSpaces for a complimentary social where donations may be accepted to benefit GreenLeaf. If you register to participate in the community service project, you will automatically be registered for the reception.

Register online by Monday, October 18. The event is free to attend, but you must register. Please invite colleagues and anyone else you think may be interested.

Questions? Contact Judd Robertson (jrobertson@frederickross.com) or Chris Spelke (cspelk@denverhousing.org.)

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Summer with greenleaf

2010-09-14T16:37:00.002-06:00

Hola,im Indira and im a part of greenleaf.This summer i spent Two months on a farm planting and harvesting vegetable.It was really fun and i learned a lot about how to plant watermelon,basil, sunflowers, tomatoes, and many other veggies,also i learned about health,and many other things. :D

Announcing our Farmer's Market!

2010-08-12T17:12:00.004-06:00

GreenLeaf is proud to announce our new farm stand!

Opening Saturday, August 14th the farm stand will operate every Saturday morning from 9 - 11 a.m. at our farm, Mini Eden/Many Eatin', located at 38th and Williams St. in Denver.

You asked for it and we now have it. Our very own farm stand is NOW OPEN!! Come and check out what we hope will be on your dinner plates. Fresh, healthy, organic vegetables for you and your family. Unique prices and unique savings.

Ustedes lo pidieron y ahora lo tenemos. Nuestra propia verduleria ya esta abierta!! Vengan a ver lo que esperamos ven en sus platillos. Verduras frescas, saludables, y organicos para usted y su familia. Precios unicos y ahorros unicos.

Here's what the farm looks like, about to explode into full bloom:

Hope and Health

2010-07-19T15:24:00.007-06:00

We are past the halfway mark of our summer program, and it is a bittersweet time. The farm looks beautiful! The plants are all flourishing: our squash and tomatillos have flowered, signaling they are almost ready to produce fruit, and our tomatoes have already produced little green tomatoes. We worked hard this week staking the tomatoes with scavenged lumber for stakes and colorful yarn for supports, and hay has been spread as mulch over the beds. We have also scavenged some new installations for Mini Eden, including an empty media center stand for storing large items like tools and buckets and a beautiful old dresser for storing smaller things like hand shovels and gloves. The space is now looking very neat and tidy! Canʻt believe we only have two weeks left...

Amadou standing by his creation: tomato stakes with yarn supports

GreenLeaf has also had time to discuss fascinating and inspiring ideas about the themes of the week. The theme for week five was hope, and the following quote by an anonymous source led to great thoughts: “Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.” Amadou provided some excellent insight into this quote, by reflecting that, “As you work towards a goal, the closer you get to achieving that goal the more tired and discouraged you will get. But if you keep going you will achieve a great accomplishment.” Andrew added his thoughts, “When you lose hope, you become a shadow of your former self. That is why you must always keep hope.” This week we have been discussing health, how we define health, and how GreenLeaf can help make our communities and ourselves healthy. We are also tracking all of the food we eat this week by keeping a food journal.

Tomas staying healthy and enjoying some fresh-picked greens from our very own Mini Eden!

Interns also had the opportunity to visit students in the Seed-to-Seed program, an organization run out of GrowHaus that works with youth to promote food justice awareness. They gave GreenLeaf a tour of the GrowHaus greenhouse, taught us about vermaculture, and showed us how to make seed bombs! We also invited Seed-to-Seed to come to Mini Eden to see how we transformed a vacant lot into a food-producing urban garden. GreenLeaf interns Andrew, Tomas and Jorge led the group in games, a tour of the farm, and great discussion about urban farming. It was a great experience, and GreenLeaf is grateful to have this great community connection with amazing youth and an awesome organization dedicated to food justice!

Goofing around with Seed-to-Seed

And after all of this hard work, it was time to play hard in the waters of Platt River! Jason led GreenLeaf on an outdoor adventure to go rafting in the shallow rapids of the Platt on Friday for an exciting break from farm work. As you can tell, we had a great time.

Emanuel enjoying paddling in the duckie!

A bunch of us on the raft, guided by Jason

Justice!

2010-06-29T19:36:00.009-06:00

Our finished sign, painted by GreenLeaf!

The third week of the summer program focused on the theme of justice. In-between weeding, watering, and fertilizing the farm, the GreenLeaf crew discussed how to address justice issues, especially food justice. The excellent facilitators of the week Amadou and Andrew led us in discussion of GreenLeafʻs role in creating more just and equitable access to fresh produce, and how the philosophy of the organization is shaped by our commitment to justice.

We also had an opportunity to share new insights and stories in a special activity: a mini hunger banquet during snack time. GreenLeaf interns and staff became symbols of global food and income distribution, with most of the crew only receiving rice for snack, few receiving rice and nuts, and one lucky person receiving a deli sandwich and strawberries. Each group represented a slice of the world: rice eaters were low-income, rice and nuts eaters were middle-income, and the sandwich eater was high income. As the snack was passed out and the meaning of the different groups explained, students shared their experiences and knowledge of global and local hunger and need. It was incredible to hear the backgrounds and histories of GreenLeaf individuals and their families, many of whom have endured great struggles that include hunger. In sharing the group became stronger, as we now understand each other a little more than before. Many thanks to all the brave GreenLeaf interns and staff who took a risk and willingly participated in this experience.

Working on the farm as Bryant Terry arrives!

Thanks to all of the exploration and reflection on food justice, GreenLeaf was ready to welcome some very special guests to Mini Eden this past Friday. Denver YouthBiz and vegan chef Bryant Terry came to visit our farm to learn what we do and how we do it! We welcomed about 20 YouthBiz interns to learn and have fun with us, and the GreenLeaf interns led the entire group through a quote discussion, two games, and a tour of the farm. The YouthBiz students asked insightful questions about how the farm operated, and were great participants in all the awesome activities the GreenLeaf interns led. Bryant Terry also participated in the games and tour, and had some inspiring words for all the youth about the importance of taking lead and fighting for food justice everywhere. It was truly an amazing event with opportunities for GreenLeaf to grow (and show off a bit!) together.

YouthBiz, GreenLeaf and Bryant Terry

Sustainability week

2010-06-21T21:41:00.009-06:00

The theme for week two at GreenLeaf was sustainability, and students and staff discussed defining sustainability, how we can make our organization sustainable, and how we as individuals can live in a sustainable way. One of the sustainability-themed daily quotes by Ghandi generated an interesting debate about need versus greed: “Our world has enough for each persons need, but not for his greed”. What do we each truly need, and at what point does a person become greedy? Some fascinating and thought-provoking points were raised, and I was impressed with how deeply and critically the GreenLeaf interns analyzed the quote and its connection to sustainability. Interns recognized that sustainability is not just about environment, but it’s also about how society functions, health of people, and how well we treat one another.

Keeping the theme of the week in mind, we worked hard to keep our plants happy and thriving! Lots of weeding and watering happened at GreenLeaf this week as our plants continue to grow and sprout (we saw new cucumber and sunflower sprouts this week!). We scavenged for supplies including lots of wood to build compost receptacles for waste recycling and wash stations for future harvests. One of the most exciting developments this week was completing a design for the official GreenLeaf sign to be placed outside of Mini Eden! Although still a work in progress, the sign already looks beautiful and truly captures the philosophy and essence of GreenLeaf. Images of the sign to come!

GreenLeaf also had the privilege of accepting a $2,000 grant from the Chinook Fund! Three GreenLeaf interns and one volunteer attended the Chinook Spring 2010 Grantee Awards ceremony to accept the grant and speak about their experiences at GreenLeaf. Each spoke just a sentence or two, but made a big impact on the crowd! We are so grateful and proud to accept the grant, which will help the organization sustainable itself this year!

Interns Emmanuel, Jorge and Indira, and volunteer Angie at Chinook Spring 2010 Grantee Awards

Finally, GreenLeaf had the pleasure of hiring three new enthusiastic interns for the summer program! Mohammad, Grace, and Tomas have joined the crew after volunteering for two full days on the farm and going through an application and interview process. We are so glad to have them aboard; they will certainly help shape and solidify GreenLeaf as a strong and flourishing organization. Congratulations, you three!

2010-06-13T19:35:00.017-06:00

Phew! We have just completed our first week of GreenLeaf’s summer internship, and it feels good to have made it this far! We spent the past week double-digging beds, shoveling compost, planting seeds and seedlings, and watering. The garden has gone from empty lot to a 15-bed farm all thanks to the hard work and dedication of GreenLeaf interns and staff. Tomatoes, peas, bush beans and basil seedlings have all gone into the ground, and a great variety of seeds have also been sown into Greenleaf earth. We should have a great harvest for our first year!

Besides all of the physical labor of love going on at Mini Eden, lots of great discussion, decision-making, and games have happened this past week. We discussed the week’s theme of courage every morning, and reflected upon how much courage it took to break ground on a brand-new farm and keep working throughout the hot and sometimes difficult workdays. GreenLeaf made some tough decisions about community goals, how to sell or give away future produce, and how to navigate a system for new applicants to the summer internship program. The group was also introduced to a new aspect of the program called Straight Talk, which allows every GreenLeaf member to receive and give constructive feedback about their participation at GreenLeaf. On a lighter note, some great team-building and get-to-know-you games helped us all become a stronger and more cohesive group. We passed hula-hoops, shared our “glums and glows” from the day, and compared our musical tastes with a new boom box. The week finished off with a much-deserved break: a trip to the park and swimming pool for some Frisbee and fun!

The week has been an incredible experience. I learn something new and interesting about GreenLeaf interns and staff every day, and it’s easy to see that every young person at GreenLeaf provides an essential contribution to the organization. We have worked together very well for a very successful first week, and I cannot wait to see the things we will accomplish together this summer.

we've got LAND!

2010-06-01T16:49:00.003-06:00

Hey folks!

Sorry about the *ahem* blog silence over the past month or so. GreenLeaf has been BUSY. So busy that we haven't been blogging about our business.

The biggest news is this: We have land! We'll be growing loads o' food at 38th and Williams in Denver's Cole neighborhood. The youth have decided to name the land Mini Eden/Many Eatin'. That's right, folks: we're punny at GreenLeaf!
Here it is, a "before" shot. Please note the ENORMOUS weeds. Lots of 'em!

And here's the land after a long day's hard work, clearing those nasty weeds, lots of trash, and compost.

It's a gorgeous spot and we've spent the past few weeks getting it ready to plant. We're almost there, but we need your help. We're doing a volunteer day this Saturday, June 5th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and would love to have you there with us. Can you make it for some plantin' and diggin'?

Thanks!!

Leah

Sustainable Infrastructure and Diversity of Ideas

2010-04-19T11:35:00.007-06:00

Sustainable Infrastructure - a tenuous term open to interpretation, struggling for meaning yet necessary by definition. Articles and conversations revolving around sustainable infrastructure are often centered around walkable communities, bike lanes, the colored past and bright future for electric cars, renewable energy, increased efficiency and locally grown food. The individuals who work with Greenleaf could be overheard talking about these topics with some regularity. However, these articles and conversations miss a key component for truly sustainable infrastructure, our knowledge infrastructure. I define knowledge infrastructure as the knowledge that we can easily access - the knowledge capital of our friends, family and community, our access to quality primary, secondary and post secondary education, and our ability to read and interpret information from outside sources including newspapers, books, the internet, etc.

Which is why I was excited to see an article in the NY Times Education section that highlighted the wealth of information made available, without cost, by some of the finest thinkers and institutions we have in the US. In order for us to create sustainable infrastructure and healthy communities we must continue to find solutions to the problems which we face. We must increase our diversity of ideas in order to find solutions unique to our problems, we must continue to learn and we must have the hard conversations. As individuals and as a country we need to invest in our Knowledge Infrastructure.

At Greenleaf we are concerned with food systems and healthy communities. If you are too check out this course from YALE, offered on mp3 in 60 minute sessions completely free. The Psychology, Biology and Politics of Food.

STUDENT INSIGHTS

2010-04-07T11:27:00.003-06:00

Each Tuesday at Greenleaf is an adventure. Each individual - students, volunteers, guest experts and staff - brings their unique experiences, interests, personalities, emotions and excitement. The whole would not be meaningful without the sum of its parts.

What has made Greenleaf special to me is the investment in students and the reciprocal output from each student. The conversations delve deeply into food systems, farming techniques, cash crops and ancient seeds. Each student challenging the beliefs they brought with them our first day, in turn, altering their vision of what they hope our urban farm will look like. These visions include selling vegetables to local markets and growing foods we may have never eaten before, but they also include art and poetry.

Today Greenleaf student intern, Markesha Dews, penned and shared a poem formed through her unique experiences and inspired by the work she plans to participate in through Greenleaf.

LOVING THE EARTH

DIRT IS THE SYSTEM
THAT WE USE,ENRICHING THE
EARTH WITH WHAT WE DO

GROWING AND SPREADING
LOVE ALONG THE WAY GIVING
LIGHT TO THOSE WHO NEED
A BRIGHTER DAY

IN HOPES THAT WE
BETTER THIS EARTH
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT
MOTHER NATURE IS WORTH !

Tuesdays at Greenleaf - STUDENT INSIGHTS

2010-03-16T11:39:00.004-06:00

Each Greenleaf meeting begins with a quote which is discussed by students. Tuesday was no different and the quote that we discussed is written below.

All people are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

An undeniably powerful quote which the Denver Venture School students digested with ease. I am continually impressed with the insight of these students and the new and wonderful ideas that they bring to the table. There is nothing more exciting then seeing the youth of today and the leaders of tomorrow exceed my wildest expectations. -- Back to the quote.

The students unpacked the quote and quickly related it to the food system. One student related our indirect impacts on each other to that of the predator - prey relationship seen within nature; how removing an animal or plant can wreak havoc on an ecosystem and the need to find a new homeostatic balance. Another student followed up by talking about how the the potential perils of the monoculture/industrial agriculture system (albeit unknowingly) have a magnified impact on our population because the scale is so big. I believe the recent Salmonella and E. Coli outbreaks and Irish Potato famine were mentioned. More discussion followed.

In the end we decided that we all need to work to fulfill our full potential while having a positive impact on the earth as students, neighbors and businesses. For some that might mean working harder in class and for others that may mean working to change farming practices so that our necessity to feed the worlds population does not have a negative impact on laborers, our land and our health.

What America's Most Obese Metro Areas Have in Common

2010-03-03T17:01:00.002-07:00

Today an article authored by Elizabeth Mendes discussed the results of a recent poll administered by Gallup and Healthways. The Gallup and Healthways survey, administered in 2008, looked at 187 large metroplitian areas and their rates of obesity. After conducting the survey they whittled down the information to look at the ten metropolitan areas with the highest obesity rates and looked for commonalities within the data. What is driving obesity in these areas?

The findings are not surprising - "Gallup and Healthways measure healthy behaviors in the United States by combining four metrics measuring Americans' eating, exercise, and smoking habits into the Healthy Behaviors Index. ...all of the 10 most obese metro areas fall within the bottom two-thirds of all areas surveyed for frequent exercise. In terms of eating habits, of the 10 most obese places, seven are in the bottom two-thirds among all metro areas for reporting eating healthy "yesterday" and for fruit and vegetable consumption."

However they are kind enough to unpack the data, if only slightly, for us. "Eight of the 10 most obese areas rank in the bottom two-thirds of all places measured in terms of easy access to fruits and vegetables and nine rank in the bottom two-thirds for having a safe place to exercise. Seven of the 10 most obese metro areas are among the bottom 25 places where residents say that there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food for themselves or their family."

The article leads to the logical conclusion that obese people (each of these 10 cities has obesity rates greater than 33%) do not eat the prescribed (USDA) amount of fruits and vegetables, do not make healthy eating choices, and they are excercising at far lower rates than the average American. However, according to the survey, they have less access to healthy food, a real or percieved inability to access safe places for excercise, and often lack the money to purchase healthy food on a regular basis.

Hard to access healthy foods + Lack of money to purchase food for basic nutrition + Lack of access to safe excercise locations = Less excercise + Poor Nutrition = OBESITY

I can say with confidence that these problems are not unique to our ten most obese metropolian areas, rather, these figures could be found by surveying many of the low income neighborhoods within healthier cities. Obesity and lack of access to healthy foods have huge costs and will need many solutions. I'm excited to work with GREENLEAF students at the Denver Venture School to discuss these issues, the impacts in their communities and to brainstorm, advocate, and participate with students to create solutions. It is time to tap our youths knowledge and insight as we move forward in addressing these problems.

Dirt in Denver!

2010-02-27T13:07:00.004-07:00

Hey folks!

Looks like DIRT the movie is coming to DENVER!! On Sunday, March 7th at 3 and 6:30 p.m. at the Bug Theatre. Tix are $10 and the fund$ go to support the awesome work at the Growhaus in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood in Denver.

...aaaaand I'll be talkin' about GreenLeaf on the panel after the 6:30 p.m. showing, hopefully with a GreenLeaf intern. Come out and support the Growhaus, watch this fabulous film, and hear about GreenLeaf in action. Good times for all ages.

See you there?

Leah

Don't treat your soil like dirt!

2010-02-04T09:38:00.005-07:00

Check out this trailer for a new film, "Dirt! The Movie"

This film "takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth's most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility--from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation."

I can't wait to see it!

Leah

Help GreenLeaf?

2010-01-28T23:35:00.001-07:00

UPDATE as of 1/28/2010: We've heard from the wonderful folks at DUG that the seedling program is well underway but has had some funding cuts this year. The priority of the program is to serve low-income families: so please do participate if you are income eligible and get some free seeds and seedlings for your own garden!

But to make sure there are enough veggies to go around please hold off on participating on GreenLeaf's behalf. DUG has very generously offered to donate any seeds and seedlings left over from the program to us. And of course, we are always happy to accept monetary donations, or donations of seeds, seedlings, or tools of your own. Please contact me at GreenLeafDenver@gmail.com if you would like to make a donation.

Thank you all so much!

Leah

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Friend!

Even as it's snowing and frigid outside, spring is in the air and on my mind. "Why!?" you may ask?

Because Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) is giving away free seeds and seedlings! As you may know, I've been working for the past year to start an organization called GreenLeaf, to grow healthy food on urban land with Denver youth. We will be planting our first farm this summer, with the assistance of talented youth interns from Denver Venture School. So, we're looking for all the free seeds and seedlings we can get!

I'm writing with a last minute request for you, if you live in the Denver area: Check out DUG's free seeds and seedlings program, and sign up. Get as many seeds and seedlings as you need for your garden this summer, and donate the rest to GreenLeaf!

But you'll need to act fast---the deadline is Monday, February 1st! You can sign up at your local rec center, or call DUG at 303-292-9900 to find the location nearest to you. It's easy: all you have to do is list your name and address, and pick what you want to grow! We're looking for any veggies and herbs, especially tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, broccoli, cabbage, and squashes.

Will you visit your local rec center to sign up for free seedlings for your garden and for GreenLeaf? Email me and let me know!

It's free for you, and free for us, and think of all the delicious food we'll grow!

Thank you!

Growing together,

Leah

Announcing GreenLeaf's 2010 Spring Internship Program

2010-01-11T20:59:00.005-07:00

GreenLeaf is proud to announce our 2010 Spring Internship Program!

We are recruiting 8 students from the Denver Venture School to participate in this exciting and brand-new program. Interns will:

Attend and participate in weekly meetings, including some Saturday workshops.

Participate in developing GreenLeaf as a new non-profit organization.
Plan GreenLeaf's farming season for 2010 including crop planning and marketing.
Develop GreenLeaf's 2010 summer program including curriculum, games, and activities.
Interns will earn a $tipend for full participation. There is also a chance that interns may transition to paid employment with GreenLeaf for summer 2010 or after.

The Denver Venture School (DVS) is a new, innovative charter school engaging students in a project-based curriculum focusing on entrepreneurship and business. GreenLeaf's Spring 2010 internship program is open ONLY to DVS students: since we are a startup, we are particularly excited to have the opportunity to engage the talent, knowledge, and skills of DVS students to build our organization collaboratively.

DVS students will have a unique and powerful influence on how GreenLeaf starts and develops, with real responsibility and decision-making power. Students can get involved in GreenLeaf from the beginning and will have significant influence on how we do what we do.

We are encouraging students to apply if they:

Like to garden or do work outside
Are interested in starting and developing an organization
Want a fun and challenging intern experience
Can commit to participating fully and doing their best
Are interested in food, social justice, or sustainability

We’ll be spending some time inside but more and more time outside as the weather gets warmer. Together we will try new things, learn new things and do some hard things: it’s guaranteed to be an adventure. We will play a lot of games and everything we do will be participatory and hands-on.

Students who are interested in applying should know:

This is a job: we will be colleagues
You will have real responsibilities and support to fulfill them
We value and expect collaboration, communication, and accountability

These are the major learning goals we will achieve as part of the internship:

· Nonprofit basics

o What is a nonprofit organization?

o Why is GreenLeaf a nonprofit, and how does it operate?

o What are the different roles within a nonprofit?

· The Business of Farming

o The Food System

o Ecology

o Farm Planning

§ Crop Planning

§ Budgeting

§ Seed starting and planting

· Planning for GreenLeaf's Summer Program 2010

o Logistics

o Content

These are the foundational ideas that GreenLeaf and the internship program are based on:

o Positioning young people to assume leadership in the organization and expand their understanding of quality of life issues affecting them, through:

§ Supporting and challenging youth to do their best and be their best selves

§ Sharing ownership of the learning process with youth

§ Creating a safe and engaging group environment to foster collaboration, exploration, risk-taking, problem solving, and self-management

§ Giving students real responsibilities that impact individual and group achievement

o Situating learning in its natural context. We recognize that learning occurs "at the intersection of community, shared practice, identity, and meaning."[1]

o Enabling youth to act in intentional and strategic ways to ensure current and ongoing quality of life for themselves and their community

o Creating and nurturing vital community networking and partnerships that support the organization and its participants in the long term

o Intentionally building in a process for ongoing planning and evaluation

Thanks to The Food Project for the lovely picture!

[1] Morrell, E. (2005). Becoming Critical Researchers: Literacy and empowerment for urban youth. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

You Are What You Eat

2009-11-25T14:00:00.006-07:00

BY: Sylvia DeLay

You are what you eat. So the saying goes reminding us that our food choices can make or break our health. But is this really the whole story?

Studies like this and this clearly demonstrate that the choices we make every day have a huge impact on our health. Will it be Whole Foods and a jog tonight or a whole lot of fatty food and some video games?

But what many of these studies do not touch upon is the context in which we make choices. As much as we like to believe we have complete control of our lives, our choices aren’t dictated simply by personal desires. We are affected by a whole host of factors such as our individual resources (education, income and wealth), neighborhood resources (housing, access to healthy food, and transportation options), opportunity structures (job availability and school systems) and systems of power (how our entire culture is structured).

Where we grow up, the level of education we have access to, the amount of money we earn—all have effects on our health. Furthermore, race and ethnicity –independent of socioeconomic status—have a significant effect on health.

The infant mortality rate in Colorado’s Black population is 16.9 percent versus 4.9 percent in the White population. The rate of childhood obesity among Colorado’s Latino population is more than twice that of the White population.

So although it will definitely improve our health if we each put down our greasy food and get off our collective bum, it’s also critical to fight for social and policy changes that offer more people the choice to be healthy.

To Know for Real

2009-11-15T23:34:00.004-07:00

What is learning? Where does it happen, and how? Who is a learner, and who a teacher?

Who decides what must be learned? Who should?

Sometimes I think that as a society we've skipped over these questions and jumped right to certain conclusions--however untested or disproven they may be. Witness the failures of our school system to accommodate the learning styles and needs of diverse student bodies, struggling to prepare even the privileged students for a college system entirely divorced from the lived realities of the vast majority of people in this country, let alone to live as critically and flexibly thinking members of a democratic society. We ask students to regurgitate facts and perform skills on command--regardless of whether they have to do with that young person's life or not. We stifle students' natural inquisitiveness and personal passions in the quest for improved standardized test results. But what if our failure to engage students as full and capable human beings is what defeats their performance?

I've been reading "To Know for Real" by Ann Giles Benson and Frank Adams. It's about Royce Pitkin, one of the founders of Goddard College, where I am currently a student.

Goddard has a fascinating history as one of the first and few institutions in the US committed to enacting a living model of progressive education. In short, progressive education puts the student in charge of her own education: "since the material of education is living, you can't escape building any kind of educational program around the lives of persons…you do not educate other persons; persons educate themselves."

Imagine, for a moment, that "the purpose of schools, and the function of a teacher, is to create the conditions of learning, the kind of learning that enables one to increase one's own abilities." Does it change how you think about my initial questions?

What is learning? Where does it happen, and how? Who is a learner, and who a teacher?

Who decides what must be learned? Who should?

Royce Pitkin proposes "an 'assignment' in living," asking that we "organize our lives so as to hold firm convictions and yet tolerate dissent; to behave with becoming humility toward others; to recognize the probability of imperfection in all plans for a new social order; and to put our time and energy into work calculated to make better our community, our society, our world."

What do YOU think?

And finally, because to me Goddard College is one of the most beautiful places on earth, I'll leave you with a photo taken by Ann Driscoll, program director for the Master's Degree in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities. It's the Manor House on Goddard's campus; a beautiful building that has housed the untold brilliance of thousands of students throughout the college's history.

Here's your moment of Zen:

a call to ACTION

2009-10-26T14:17:00.002-06:00

Truth and Rights.org never ceases to produce interesting and evocative pieces. Below is a link to a food related post by Amanda Misiak at Truth and Rights. While her article fails to mention food deserts and the lack of access to healthy foods in some urban areas, that Greenleaf hopes to combat, it is still a great read and a great reminder that we are all culpable in our current food system. It serves as a reminder, for those of us who have access to healthy food on a regular basis, to vote with your dollar. Each purchase of fast food, processed food, subsidized food, GMO food is a sign of support and more than likely a dollar that will not stay in Colorado's economy.

Below is an excerpt from her witty, well crafted article meant to entice you to click on the link below and read the whole thing.

"We already know that the mass consumption of sugar in the form of soda, candy, and simple carbohydrates is bad, bad, bad. Let’s save the erudite explanation. This is no arcane secret. Sugar, when not monitored, whether it be sugar in its natural form, or sugar cooked up in a laboratory and sneaked into our food in the form of high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, sucralose or aspartame, catches up to the human body in the form of diabetes, osteoporosis, and huge asses. Thank you, Big Gulp for giving us, in one seemingly innocuous container, more sugar than we should be consuming in several days. Yet, herein lies the rub: the 7-11 convenience store chain does not station gun-pointing sales associates next to the fountain pop machine, demanding that you fill up the 24 oz. cup; you do that all by your lonesome."

http://truthandrights.org/volume/features/the-chicken-or-the-egg/

Please feel free to post a comment in favor of or against the post in the hopes of creating a meaningful dialogue.

Negative Health Impacts From Inaccessibility to Healthy Food

2009-10-22T10:11:00.002-06:00

I just heard about a presentation that has the potential be ground breaking, or at the least, address important issues that are often ignored - food deserts and health disparities, Let's hope that they make the connection to how access to healthy food impacts not only health, but also education, safety of neighborhoods and more.

Please join the Colorado Health Foundation for breakfast and an informative presentation and discussion about how the inaccessibility of healthy, fresh and affordable food negatively impacts health.

Allison Karpyn, PhD, of the Pennsylvania-based Food Trust will release the results of a new study that finds many Colorado communities that have poor access to supermarkets also have high incidences of diet-related diseases. Richard J. Jackson, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA School of Public Health and author of Urban Sprawl and Public Health, will discuss how where we live plays an important role in how healthy we are.

I'm intrigued to see what kind of policy or funding recommendations are encouraged at the talk. We must wait to see. Below is a link with more information and steps to sign up. ITS FREE.

http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=192051

Food Fight the movie

2009-10-19T12:21:00.002-06:00

I recently had the pleasure of watching yet another food documentary. Food Fight educates and makes you salivate. The movie begins by describing the change in food consumption and creation over the past century. It then moves on to interview long time slow food, local food and organic food activists, revolutionaries and cooks - Michael Pollan, Wolfgang Puck, Dan Barber and Alice Waters. Their (or maybe the producers) thesis: most of what is sold in groceries stores today is processed foods and homogenous, tasteless fruits and vegetables cultivated with the sole purpose of shipping them to far off locations that end up making us sick and fat.

The blame is placed primarily on Earl Butz, Secretarys of Agriculture under Richard Nixon. Earl Butz was given the responsibility of providing the American people with a cheap, reliable source of food. He succeeded. Pushing small scale farmers out and replacing them with large, subsidized monoculture farms which grow the food industries new vilian, CORN. While the attack on corn falls far short of that shown in one of the other new food documentaries - KING CORN it is still vilified for its presence in everything we eat.

As far as I'm concerned the movie begins to shine when recent MacArthur Award Winner Will Allen is brought into the movie. Will Allen is a central character in the local food movement, however, Will Allen is not concerned with supplying high end restaurants with locally produced foods for seasonal menus. Will Allen is concerned with providing low income people with: access to healthy food, the knowledge of how to cook with it and the education about how to combat national epidemics of diabetes and obesity. Will Allen represented a high point in the movie for me. A man who understands that healthy food doesn't have to be a luxury and participates in making that a reality.

The movie continues to skim the surface of what Will Allen's non profit GROWING POWER provides to communities when Alice Waters talks about the value of farm to school programs and farming at school programs. Alice points to the value added when students get their hands dirty gardening at school, cooking, eating and reaping the rewards of eating what you grow. Students look interested, excited about learning, engaged and healthy.

Food Fight is a great primer for those who are not as familiar with the origins of the local food movement and I hope it serves as a gateway for people to learn more about how we can provide healthy food for everyone in our neighborhoods. It has certainly motivated me as Greenleaf moves forward with plans for our work in Denver communities

Turnips and raspberries and purple cauliflower, oh my!

2009-08-09T19:19:00.019-06:00

"Courage is doing something even if you are afraid to do it. Hope is believing that you can." --Alexis and John, GreenLeaf and CityWILD Summer '09 participants

Last week we officially concluded the GreenLeaf 2009 Summer Pilot program with a feast cooked…er…heated…er…warmed up in our first attempt at making solar ovens. The young people came up with brilliant designs for the ovens, but because we were lacking any plexiglass to cover them, we weren't able to achieve the all-important greenhouse effect and the ovens didn’t get too hot. Good try, though, and the Colorado Peach Cobbler was still yummy!

GreenLeaf's Summer 2009 Pilot Program was six volunteer days at a local farm in Aurora, working with young people ages 12-15 who live from neighborhoods in North East Denver like Globeville, Swansea, and Curtis Park.

It was a collaborative effort with CityWILD, who brought youth participants out to the DeLaney Community Farm in Aurora where GreenLeaf had planned and prepped the day's activities, including games, farm work, a quote and theme of the day. We could not have done this without Nicole and Jason from

CityWILD, whose energy, enthusiasm, and silliness are delightful. Thanks, CityWILD!

DeLaney Community Farm is a project of Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), and the farm staff, Deb, Faatma, Meg, Chad, and Heather, taught the young people all about what it takes to run a working farm. They are all amazing and wonderful people, who generously hosted our program and gave their time, attention, knowledge and precious veggies to make it fun and delicious. Thanks DUG! And Meg--special thanks for the bee dance.

We learned a ton from the six days in June, July, and August we spent on the farm. Here are some of my personal highlights:

• Without exception, everyone conquered the veggie challenge: to at least try every vegetable offered, many of which we harvested ourselves. The Hakurei turnips, carrots, onions, raspberries, and purple cauliflower were particular hits. We also made a different salad each day we were at the farm--a couple of our youth volunteers would decide what was ripe and yummy, harvest it and feed it to the crew!

• It was amazing to be with the youth as they experienced the farm and learn about it together. For many it was their first time on a farm, and every aspect was fascinating. Others already knew a lot and shared their knowledge with the rest of us. We got to see tomato and squash plants grow from being tiny to huge , got to see the Delaney bees make progress building their hive, did some planting, harvesting, and mulching, and lots and lots of weeding. We've got lots of great photos of the young people, but are holding off posting them till we've got signed releases.

• We saw lots of wildlife: deer, snakes, rabbits, bees, and lots and lots of bugs. The snake that hangs out in the greenhouse was definitely everyone's favorite. Not to mention the butterflies on Faatma's hands!

• We played lots of games. My absolute favorite was the "Meet My Weed" competition, in which each young person saved the biggest weed they'd pulled that day. They came up with a name for their weed, and presented a short skit about why their weed was the best. We had weeds named Barack Obama and Michael Jackson among other things, and one crafty participant wisely named his weeds after the judges. It was hilarious, and a great opportunity to let the young folks show off their brilliance and creativity.

• The youth participants did amazing drawings to help us come up with a t-shirt design for GreenLeaf. Each drawing was amazing in its own way, and we are working to bring elements of all of them together for our final design. Here's Sarah's "Food Nerd" themed drawing.

It's been a wonderful summer, and we are looking forward to GreenLeaf's growth--stay tuned for more. And, don't forget to subscribe to the blog.

Happy Harvests,

Leah

Diggin' up my privilege

2009-07-19T21:38:00.009-06:00

I come to the project of GreenLeaf with 27 years worth of life experiences. Not a whole lot by many standards, but a nice chunk of time in my opinion. In thinking about my social identities (as a white woman, Jewish, straight identified, raised with a lot of class and educational privilege, temporarily able-bodied) in the context of food, social justice, and the process of starting GreenLeaf, and inspired by reading Closing the Food Gap by Mark Winne, I have decided to compile a list of my privileges, akin to the list in "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntos h.

The process of thinking through my privilege has been exciting, uncomfortable, and very challenging. I imagine that it will be an ongoing project--and I hope that making and keeping this privilege visible in my own awareness will be a transformative project.

When I say privilege I mean, as McIntosh writes, "An invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious." She writes about how remaining oblivious to these assets, these advantages, helps keep them in place--from the ones that are positive and that everyone should have access to, to the ones that are negative, and serve to keep systems of oppression in line: people with privilege dominant over those without.

I see making this list of my privilege around the work of starting GreenLeaf, food, health, and education as part of my work to own, work on, and interrupt my own privilege. I hope that thinking about these things, and reminding myself of them will help stop me from taking my advantages for granted--and inspire me to keep working to make sure that every person has access to healthy, affordable food, healthy, safe, supportive and loving communities, economic freedom, a good education, and all the things we all need to survive and thrive.

• I have easy access to any number of good grocery stores, because I have a car and because there is a grocery store within one mile of my home.
• I do not have to plan my grocery shopping around public transportation.
• I can save money by purchasing food and other items in bulk because I can easily drive to stores where they are available, and take them home in my car.
• I can save money and time by buying and storing frozen food items, because I can easily and quickly take them home in my car.
• I can afford to buy as many fruits and vegetables as I want to eat.
• I can afford to buy organic and local food items as often as I choose.
• I can afford to buy healthy prepared foods if I do not have the time or inclination to cook at home.
• I can afford to waste the food I buy.
• I never have to feel hunger.
• I am never food insecure.
• If I invest money and time in growing food and my crops fail, I will still be able to buy food to feed myself.
• I own land where I can grow food to feed myself, if I chose to.
• I do not have to grow food to feed myself.
• The land I own is less likely to be contaminated than other neighborhoods in the city.
• It is easy for me to find other people who are interested in urban agriculture, local and organic food, and issues of sustainability. Most of them are white, and it is comfortable and safe for me to be around other white people.
• It is easy for me to find and buy foods that reflect my cultural heritages.
• Because of my class privilege, I feel a sense of security that my basic needs are and will be met.
• I have the privilege of being unaware of my white privilege.
• When I tell people that I am working to start an organization, they are more likely to believe me and believe in me because I am white.
• I have more credibility when I am networking because I am white.
• People are likely to assume that I am intelligent, capable, and skilled because I am white.
• It is more acceptable for me to be dressed unprofessionally, even in professional contexts, because I am white.
• If and when I fundraise for my projects, people are more likely to see me as noble and worthy and are less likely to question my motives because I am white.
• I am confident of more personal safety walking, eating in a restaurant, canvassing door to door, and farming in any neighborhood in the city because I am white.
• I am unlikely to be stopped or harassed by the police for going about my daily business because I am white.
• I am likely to be surrounded by people who speak my first language, English.
• I am not afraid of being taken into custody and deported.
• I can afford to spend my time working to start GreenLeaf without pay.
• I know a lot of people who can advise me with regard to finances, fundraising, and other aspects of organizational development.
• I have family members who can support me financially in the event of a crisis.
• I have easy access to many resources I need to start GreenLeaf, such as a computer, internet access, work space, car, books, etc.
• I have good health insurance through my job, even though it is part time.
• I can afford to pay my portion of the deductible and out-of-pocket costs, even on my part-time salary.
• I have always had access to whatever health care and medication I needed, regardless of cost.
• I have never postponed care for fear of the cost.
• I have always had access to good preventive health care.
• I am very healthy and temporarily able-bodied.
• It is easy for me to physically access almost any site in the city, including farms and gardens.
• I do not need any special tools or accommodations to work on a farm or garden.
• I have access to information, guidance, and support regarding healthy habits and nutrition.
• I live within walking distance of an affordable place to exercise.
• I feel safe and comfortable walking, running, or biking around my neighborhood.
• I can afford to pay for exercise classes and equipment.
• I can afford to take the time to exercise regularly.
• When I go to exercise classes, most of the people there are white and it is comfortable and safe for me to be around other white people.
• Because of my education, I know how to seek out resources that will be useful to me in starting GreenLeaf.
• Because of my education, I have a solid understanding of the economy, finance, and budgeting.
• Because of my education, I can write well and can express my ideas and vision in ways that are accessible and appealing to people who are likely to fund my projects.
• I have access to higher education, and am currently a graduate student.
• I have access to an academic community that can support, challenge, and provide resources and connections to me and help me develop my projects.

What do you think about this list? What have I missed? What are some of the ways you are privileged? What are some of the ways you are not privileged?

I also wanted to add something about my previous blog posting: regarding one of the questions posed by the folks at Earthworks:

"Question how it is possible to have 'racism' in our society without having 'racists'"

I don't mean to say that there are no longer racists in our society--there certainly are. I take this question to be referring to many of us who do not identify ourselves as racists, but through a lack of knowledge and understanding, perpetuate racism without meaning to. One term to describe this is "aversive racists," white people who "recognize that prejudice is bad, but...do not recognize that they are prejudiced."

What do you think about aversive racism? How have you seen it in your life?

As always, I'd love to read your thoughts and ideas--please post them!

My best,

Leah

Hot and Dirty: Fun on the Farm

2009-06-28T15:16:00.003-06:00

It's late June all of a sudden and gardens all over Denver are happy: we've been blessed with the beautiful Colorado afternoon rainstorms that I remember from my childhood but haven't experienced too much since then. I was out of the country in Israel for a couple of weeks there, but have heard that this afternoon rain has been fairly consistent…and the plants in my garden are loving it. The tomato plants are showing their first flowers and everything's getting big and bushy. What's growing in your garden?

And, GreenLeaf has had its first two farm days with young people from CityWILD! (www.cityWILD.org) The youth are ages 12 to 15 and very enthusiastic about getting to know and work the farm. On our first day at Delaney Farm in Aurora (www.dug.org/farm) we met up with fourteen youth:

We started the day with two challenges: Number one was the veggie challenge - meaning that everyone was asked to at least try a bit of every vegetable that we offered. Everyone took the challenge and ate at least a tiny bit of what we picked and dug up, from spinach to turnips to chives…and those chive flowers were HOT and oniony!

Challenge number two was all about participation: we offered every young person who comes out to the farm at least 5 out of 7 of our farm days this summer a GreenLeaf t-shirt on our last day. We're also hoping to engage the young people in designing the shirts. Stay tuned for pics!

We spent most of Day 1 touring the farm, tasting the veggies, learning about the bees, and talking about what's growing at Delaney--an incredible variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers including lots of heirloom varieties (varieties of plants that have been around for many years--some have been grown by people every year for more than a hundred years!)

Our favorite veggie of the day was definitely the Hakurei turnip, which we nicknamed 'turnip of heaven.' It comes out of the ground cool, milky white, and surprisingly moist, sweet, and mild. It almost tastes like a persimmon or some kind of exotic fruit.

The theme of the first day was Community, and we talked about what community means to us, and how we've experienced it in our lives. A number of the youth talked about their community rec centers and CityWILD as places embodying what they think of as community.

The second day included two shifts of weeding in the hot sun--hard work on a steamy hot day. Working so hard definitely required a way to cool off…and Faatma obliged by soaking everyone with the hose! Next time we'll definitely play some water games…maybe even a slip and slide? We had strawberries, blueberries, and honeydew melon for a snack--and it was the first time a lot of the young people had ever tried blueberries or honeydew.

The theme of our second day was Responsibility--Laura shared a quote that we talked about:

“One thing in particular that I remember made me feel grateful toward my mother was that one day I went and asked her for my own garden, and she did let me have my own little plot. I loved it and took care of it well. I loved especially to grow peas—I was proud when we had them on our table. I would patrol the rows on my hands and knees for any worms and bugs, and I would kill and bury them. And sometimes when I had everything straight and clean for my things to grow, I would lie down on my back between two rows, and I would gaze up into the blue sky at the clouds moving and think of all kinds of things.” –Malcolm X

Our third day--Wednesday, July 1--will continue the new GreenLeaf/CityWILD traditions of a morning meeting featuring a quick review of why we're on the farm, our ground rules for creating a safe and respectful space, and of course a game. We're going to try giving each young person a role to keep our farm work shifts focused and productive. And, our theme of the third day will be Pay It Forward. Go team! As always, if you'd like to get involved or volunteer please contact us at GreenLeafDenver@gmail.com

Lastly, I want to circle back from the fun, hot, and dirty details (farm work is always gloriously dirty, yes?) of our day to day activities to a bigger vision of what GreenLeaf can be: we talk a lot about this idea of food justice. But what does it really mean? How do we make food justice a reality?

I've been learning about an organization in Detroit called Earthworks (http://www.cskdetroit.org/EWG/) that combines a soup kitchen with an urban farm, and runs programs that get young people involved in growing and distributing organic veggies in their community. They've got some interesting ideas about how to talk about what food justice is, and I really love these four questions. So I'm putting them out here to spark YOUR interest, and ask for YOUR input:

• Question why there is enough food in the world to feed all people yet many experience hunger. What systems are in place that create this dynamic?
• Question how racism has played a role in determining who has access to healthy food and who does not.
• Question how it is possible to have "racism" in our society without having "racists".
• Ask where your food comes from and how the people, the land, and all the creatures were treated in its production. Buy food that respects and values all people, creatures, and features of the world. Farm work is some of the most dangerous work due to exposure to pesticides and demanding schedules. Buying local and sustainable whenever possible can help to ensure that your food and food workers were treated carefully.

What do YOU think? Post a response and let us know.

Fun on the Farm,

Leah

Good News!

2009-06-08T23:22:00.002-06:00

First, good news: GreenLeaf has received its first grant--from the Chinook Fund! We are honored and excited at this tremendous opportunity!

Chinook supports organizations which are challenging the root causes of oppression, rather than treating the symptoms, committed to the transformation of society into one that promotes social justice and freedom from oppression, including but not limited to: racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, ageism, and ableism.
(www.chinookfund.org)

Something else I've been thinking about lately: I'm interested in working with the idea that the future of our planet is made or broken based on how we live in cities. Even as the world's cities are densely populated and densely built, they are also ripe with resources and potential.

There was a time, and not very long ago in this country, when the majority of people lived on farms or were involved in growing food. They grew it organically, not because of a fad or a philosophy, but because the technology to "fix" nitrogen and mix it into soil as fertilizer had not yet been invented. Methods of crop rotation, use and re-use of resources had been practiced and developed for centuries all the way back to the first people to intentionally save a seed, to care for a plant and harvest its bounty. It's not--it's never--too late for people to reclaim and teach each other innovations of agriculture developed by our common ancestors and practiced to this day by indigenous peoples all over the world.

So why can't we do it in Denver?

Imagine a city where medians, right of ways, front and back yards, rooftops, even window boxes grow food.

What if every house, apartment, and building captured even a little bit of energy with a few solar panels or a small wind turbine? Massive amounts of renewable energy could be harnessed to offset use.

What if everyone harvested a few barrels of rainwater to grow food and care for their yards? Even Denver's desert climate could become more sustainably productive.

What if each family grew what food they could in whatever space they had at home or in a community garden?

What if urban farmers grew crops in vacant lots, making a good living selling produce to their neighbors?

How would Denver look, smell, feel, and sound different?
How would the lives of urban residents change?
What's your vision of how Denver can be a more sustainable city?

One last thought, from Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots by Kevin Danaher, Shannon Biggs, and Jason Mark:

"At the core of urban farming is the desire to put the culture back into agriculture. It’s an effort that goes beyond organic to place communities at the center of our food system."

Summer Fun and Food

2009-05-17T21:00:00.003-06:00

Do you love spring in Denver? I do. I can't get enough of the smell of flowers (especially the lilacs!), the new leaves on all the trees: that fresh, beautiful green color everywhere you look. I love watching people come out of their houses and apartments, spending time talking with neighbors on their porches and sidewalks, and riding bicycles around town.

Folks are starting to plant: tomatoes and flowers, peppers, corn, beans, collards, and all kinds of good veggies at gardens all over town. My new baby peach tree even has some teeny green peaches!

I especially want to give a shout-out to the EastSide Growers Collective, starting up a brand new community garden at 35th and Elm with all POC (People Of Color) gardeners. Y'all are awesome!

And this summer, the lovely and wonderful GreenLeaf folks are launching our first three projects:

1. Farm Days: We will be spending 6 days this summer at Delaney Farm in Aurora, working with youth volunteers from CityWILD and other programs to help the Delaney farmers grow food. We'll be doing a mix of farm work and other fun stuff--workshops, games, community lunches, hopefully even a Family Feast at the end of the summer!

2. Garden2Garden Organizing: Together with young people and community members, the wonderful and amazing GreenLeaf community advisory board (CAB) will be canvassing neighborhoods in NE Denver (including Cole, Whittier, Five Points, and Skyland). We'll be going from Garden to Garden, talking to neighbors about the food they grow, what they like to eat, and inviting folks to get involved with GreenLeaf, especially our delicious dinners…

3. Supper Clubbin' GreenLeafers will be hosting Supper Clubs all over town at our homes, parks, and gardens. We'll be serving delicious and nutritious homegrown foods, having fun, maybe even watching some movies. It'll be a great chance for folks to come together, get involved and invested in GreenLeaf, and of course: eat and enjoy. Stay tuned for more details.

Finally, lately I've been reading The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones, and I'm inspired. He writes about real solutions for what he calls our country's two biggest problems: radical socioeconomic inequality and rampant environmental destruction.

Building a green collar economy by transforming our economy, cities, and lives in simple and fundamental ways can resolve these problems--If we do it in a way that recognizes shared herstories of oppression and privilege, and by creating a movement that truly belongs to everyone. Jones writes, "The fact is, if we do wind up with some version of eco-apartheid in the United States and the industrial countries, it will be because good people who knew better simply failed to do better."

But we can do better, and we are working on it every day. It's fundamental to what we're doing at GreenLeaf. By mobilizing the tremendous assets of our city--the energy, intelligence and power of young people, and the vacant land and open spaces, to name only two--we are revitalizing our communities at the same time that we repair and protect our planet.

Van Jones reminds us of our own power to create solutions: "If we stand for change, we can spark a popular movement with power, influence, magic, and genius. We won't just have the movement we have always wanted. We will have the country we have always wanted--and the world for which our hearts have longed."

Of course, each of us is already powerful on our own--and we are exponentially more powerful when we get together. Post a response or send an e-mail, and get involved!

Resistance is fertile,

Leah

GreenLeaf is...

2009-05-17T20:57:00.005-06:00

Creating social change through urban agriculture and sustainable infrastructure.

Urban agriculture and sustainable infrastructure can provide many benefits to urban communities, by providing safe, healthy, and green environments in neighborhoods, by involving city dwellers in healthy, active, and fun work, and because the more experience people have growing food, the more likely they are to eat it. As energy and food prices continue to rise, communities, particularly in urban centers, are struggling and health is declining. The current food system is not sustainable in any aspect from production to distribution. Industrial agriculture is heavily dependent on oil and is ecologically devastating to our land, lakes, rivers, and oceans. Many people lack adequate access to healthy, affordable, fresh food. However, there is a unique opportunity to build sustainable infrastructure in Denver by paying youth a fair wage to grow healthy food locally and organically, and provide it to city residents at affordable prices.

Imagine:
Vacant lots turned into green, growing urban farms. Young people cultivating land in the city, working hard and getting paid to grow food for neighborhood residents. Youth taking leadership roles in their communities, working together to build a just society.

GreenLeaf is seeking to:

• Create a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds to build sustainable food systems and infrastructure

• Engage youth with leadership and employment opportunities

• Inspire and support others to create change in urban communities

• Produce and distribute affordable, healthy food for residents of cities and suburbs

• Build, expand, and increase access to sustainable infrastructure

Sustainable Infrastructure: In addition to learning skills in urban farming, youth crews will participate in leadership, diversity, nutrition, and social justice workshops to cultivate the confidence and knowledge to create change within their communities. Youth will have the opportunity to connect with local green-focused businesses to learn skills in installing solar panels and other energy technologies, green roofs, composting, resource conservation, and water use. Youth will be supported in providing trainings to community members on how to employ these skills at home.

Values:

• Justice, equity, diversity

• Care for people and the environment

• Conserve and reuse resources

GreenLeaf is committed to social justice as the driving force of this project. This includes employing a non-hierarchical organizational structure in order to breakdown oppressive power dynamics and building into our operations meaningful methods of communication and accountability.

Contact:
Leah Bry at leah.bry@gmail.com
or
Lisa Knoblauch at lmknoblauch@care2.com

you ARE what you EAT
EAT what you GROW
GROW your COMMUNITY

2009-03-19T19:06:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the GreenLeaf blog!

GreenLeaf is: a new organization in Denver, Colorado dedicated to creating social change through urban agriculture and sustainable infrastructure. Our plan is to hire young people in Denver to become farmers, growing vegetables for their communities on vacant lots in the city.

To learn more please contact Leah Bry at leah.bry@gmail.com

thanks!