In an earlier post I mentioned how I would like to do something personally to bring fresh, healthy, local foods to residents of food deserts in Chesapeake and the surrounding areas. I'm also looking for ways to share my love of gardening. Recently, I've started donating fresh, local produce to the region's food bank through the Coastal Farms online food co-op. But I've been wanting to do more with my own personal time and energies in this direction. But where, and how?
The beginnings of an answer may have come to me today when I met with Bev Sell, the General Manager of the Five Points Community Farm Market in nearby Norfolk. Five Points has its own CSA program, a local-foods market that sells meat, dairy, seafood, and produce, and a lovely little cafe. It houses several small "incubator businesses," as well, all in the same building on the corner of 26th and Church St.
The market is run by a non-profit. It is close enough to the rather upscale "Ghent" area of Norfolk to attract the kinds of loyal customers that keep it profitable, but it's deliberately on the edge of a low-income district and along a bus route. The market was originally started as an attempt at urban renewal in an area of the city where the crime rate was trending upward.
The atmosphere inside the building is upbeat, energetic, friendly, and pleasant. The selection of organic and local foods is fantastic, and all the food I've tasted has been terrific. Bev has invited 4 Chesapeake Hens to participate in a Sustainable Living Fair at the Webb Center on the Campus of Old Dominion University on February 16 and 17, 2013. We will be happy to take advantage of the opportunity to educate the public about backyard laying hens.
When Bev found out I'm a teacher, her eyes lit up. She is working on a summer program for low-income city youth to attend a day camp on a farm to learn more about where food comes from, how it is grown, and the value of fresh food. The youngsters may even get a little taste of what it's like to work on a farm. She is concerned about the decline of small family farms in Virginia, and she sees this program as not only educational for the children, but hopefully as a way to encourage our youth to consider farming as a career.
I told Bev she could count me in as a volunteer during the summer months when I tend to have more time. I'm looking forward to it!
Showing posts with label food deserts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food deserts. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Why Were Hens Banned in Chesapeake? The Chicken Activist's Response
In my previous post I asked John King, Chesapeake, VA's, Zoning Administrator, when and why laying hens were originally banned from most residents' back yards. He emailed me the "when," but I had to call him to find out the "why." What he told me by telephone, on July 26, 2012, as I explained in my last post, is this:
He said that chickens have been zoned the way they have since the beginning of zoning in Chesapeake. The reason is that chickens are livestock and that there were concerns about livestock in cities due to "urban density." He asserted that at the time the zoning laws were adopted, Chesapeake was becoming denser in population, and he implied the restriction on chickens as livestock was reasonable. He asked me if I could imagine every Chesapeake resident, even apartment dwellers, owning chickens.
My husband later asked me, "What if every Chesapeake resident and apartment-dweller raised a dog?"
Or even rabbits, which are also perfectly legal. It seems to us the objection is the misconception that hens belong in an isolated area on acres of land. Period.
At the time I answered Mr. King that I could indeed see even apartment dwellers owning and managing hens as part of a co-op.
Perhaps Mr. King has never had a chance to learn about Milwaukee's Growing Power, a non-profit urban farm managed by a MacArthur Genius Award recipient, Will Allen. He is the author of a great book, The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities. His 3-acre urban farm in the middle of the city is so intensively managed, he feeds 10,000 people with it.
And, yes, the farm does not produce just vegetables. Growing Power's livestock includes worms, fish, poultry, and even goats, as can be seen in this video. The compost from the livestock, especially the worms, is vital to growing vegetables as sustainably and intensively as this farm does.
Perhaps those who, like Mr. King, cannot imagine chickens in urban areas are unaware that they are raised, legally, even in dense urban areas like Chicago and New York City.
That's right!
Residents, even apartment dwellers, raise chickens in communal gardens in the Bronx and Brooklyn. A non-profit in New York City, called "Just Food," educates city residents and helps them to set up and maintain these kinds of positive, healthy, communal spaces. This video shows the fantastic results of their efforts.
If our local zoning administrators plan to advise against hens due to urban density, they had better think again. If these positive programs can happen in Milwaukee and New York City, certainly they can happen in Chesapeake. Our city is less dense, I am sure, and has fewer residents than these major metropolitan areas.
Chesapeake, Virginia, does, indeed have "food deserts" according to the USDA. It seems to us that local zoning should work with City Council to address this problem, and to study how community gardens and urban hens might work as part of the solution to it. People, even low-income ones, even minorities, even apartment-dwellers, have the right to control their own food supply, and reasonable accommodations should be made to those who want to go about this responsibly. The community, this means the rest of us, should help them.
He said that chickens have been zoned the way they have since the beginning of zoning in Chesapeake. The reason is that chickens are livestock and that there were concerns about livestock in cities due to "urban density." He asserted that at the time the zoning laws were adopted, Chesapeake was becoming denser in population, and he implied the restriction on chickens as livestock was reasonable. He asked me if I could imagine every Chesapeake resident, even apartment dwellers, owning chickens.
My husband later asked me, "What if every Chesapeake resident and apartment-dweller raised a dog?"
Or even rabbits, which are also perfectly legal. It seems to us the objection is the misconception that hens belong in an isolated area on acres of land. Period.
At the time I answered Mr. King that I could indeed see even apartment dwellers owning and managing hens as part of a co-op.
Perhaps Mr. King has never had a chance to learn about Milwaukee's Growing Power, a non-profit urban farm managed by a MacArthur Genius Award recipient, Will Allen. He is the author of a great book, The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities. His 3-acre urban farm in the middle of the city is so intensively managed, he feeds 10,000 people with it.
And, yes, the farm does not produce just vegetables. Growing Power's livestock includes worms, fish, poultry, and even goats, as can be seen in this video. The compost from the livestock, especially the worms, is vital to growing vegetables as sustainably and intensively as this farm does.
Perhaps those who, like Mr. King, cannot imagine chickens in urban areas are unaware that they are raised, legally, even in dense urban areas like Chicago and New York City.
That's right!
Residents, even apartment dwellers, raise chickens in communal gardens in the Bronx and Brooklyn. A non-profit in New York City, called "Just Food," educates city residents and helps them to set up and maintain these kinds of positive, healthy, communal spaces. This video shows the fantastic results of their efforts.
If our local zoning administrators plan to advise against hens due to urban density, they had better think again. If these positive programs can happen in Milwaukee and New York City, certainly they can happen in Chesapeake. Our city is less dense, I am sure, and has fewer residents than these major metropolitan areas.
Chesapeake, Virginia, does, indeed have "food deserts" according to the USDA. It seems to us that local zoning should work with City Council to address this problem, and to study how community gardens and urban hens might work as part of the solution to it. People, even low-income ones, even minorities, even apartment-dwellers, have the right to control their own food supply, and reasonable accommodations should be made to those who want to go about this responsibly. The community, this means the rest of us, should help them.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
How to Grow Gardening: Paying It Forward and Local Foods
"A food desert is any area in the industrialized world where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain" (Wikipedia). I checked the U.S. government's Food Desert Locator, and to my surprise there are food deserts located not far from where Don and I live in Chesapeake, Virginia.
I am a local-foods enthusiast, so I have been wanting to play a role in helping other people grow fresh, local, sustainable food for themselves. If the people I help are in need, so much the better. I very much admire the work that Will Allen and his Growing Power has been doing in major cities, and I wanted to do something similar in some small way here. I also remember when I first moved into my previous house in North Carolina, a divorcee with lots of needs and barely two dollars to rub together in my pocket. I wanted a vegetable garden because gas was $4.00 a gallon and I wanted to avoid driving to Walmart for veggies I could grow at home. At that time members of the Freecycle community there took me under their wing and shared cuttings, seeds, and advice with me.
But how to start here? I am new to Chesapeake, and I know almost nobody in town.
My answer came in the form of a plea on the local Freecycle list. This particular request was for vegetable seeds, flower seeds, cuttings, and anything that could help someone who knew very little about gardening to get started. The request came from South Norfolk, an area of Chesapeake that is needier than other parts of the city.
I exchanged a few emails with the sender of the message. I learned that "Grace," as I'll call her, is disabled and hasn't been able to work in a few years. She wants to garden but has very little money to spend. She has a few pots but nothing over 8".
Today I got to "pay it forward" when I arrived with potting soil, seeds, cuttings of mint and oregano, some tools, a helping hand, pots of various sizes and shapes, gardening magazines, and advice. Grace and her housemate are lovely people, and it felt good to help them in some small way. I finally got the chance to play a role, however tiny, in spreading the local foods movement and to do it in in honor of all the gardeners and Freecylers who have helped me over the years. I also had a chance to clear some unused flower pots and containers out of my yard.
I will be on alert for other opportunities to grow gardening and local foods in my area. The world will be a better place if others will do the same. I'd love to see more towns with the giving, grow-your-own, self-sufficient spirit of the quaint little Todmorden in England.
I am a local-foods enthusiast, so I have been wanting to play a role in helping other people grow fresh, local, sustainable food for themselves. If the people I help are in need, so much the better. I very much admire the work that Will Allen and his Growing Power has been doing in major cities, and I wanted to do something similar in some small way here. I also remember when I first moved into my previous house in North Carolina, a divorcee with lots of needs and barely two dollars to rub together in my pocket. I wanted a vegetable garden because gas was $4.00 a gallon and I wanted to avoid driving to Walmart for veggies I could grow at home. At that time members of the Freecycle community there took me under their wing and shared cuttings, seeds, and advice with me.
But how to start here? I am new to Chesapeake, and I know almost nobody in town.
My answer came in the form of a plea on the local Freecycle list. This particular request was for vegetable seeds, flower seeds, cuttings, and anything that could help someone who knew very little about gardening to get started. The request came from South Norfolk, an area of Chesapeake that is needier than other parts of the city.
I exchanged a few emails with the sender of the message. I learned that "Grace," as I'll call her, is disabled and hasn't been able to work in a few years. She wants to garden but has very little money to spend. She has a few pots but nothing over 8".
Today I got to "pay it forward" when I arrived with potting soil, seeds, cuttings of mint and oregano, some tools, a helping hand, pots of various sizes and shapes, gardening magazines, and advice. Grace and her housemate are lovely people, and it felt good to help them in some small way. I finally got the chance to play a role, however tiny, in spreading the local foods movement and to do it in in honor of all the gardeners and Freecylers who have helped me over the years. I also had a chance to clear some unused flower pots and containers out of my yard.
I will be on alert for other opportunities to grow gardening and local foods in my area. The world will be a better place if others will do the same. I'd love to see more towns with the giving, grow-your-own, self-sufficient spirit of the quaint little Todmorden in England.
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