Want to help organize our annual Ice Cream Social?

I'm looking for a friendly volunteer that would like to help plan our annual "Ice Cream to the People" fundraiser, scheduled for June 30, 2011 at El Rio. No event planning experience required. You should be outgoing and feel comfortable talking to local businesses about Produce to the People, and asking for donations. Time commitment is flexible- minimal (1-2 hours a week) through March and April, and will increase (up to 3-5 hours a week) in May and June as we start picking up donations, publicizing the event, organizing volunteers, creating signage, etc.

Responsibilities include:

--Chatting up local businesses and makers via email, phone, and in person, for gift certificates for our raffle and items for our silent auction. Items and gift certificates have typically been focused on the local food movement in San Francisco.

--Picking up donations for raffle and silent auction, ice cream and toppings!

--Event publicity, posting event details on listservs and local event listings, posting and dropping flyers off around town

--Creating any signage and displays for the event

--Organizing volunteers for the event

--Helping out at the event (this will be minimal work, and mostly fun!)

If you're interested, please contact Lauren at producetothepeople@gmail.com, with a brief description of your interests in Produce to the People, helping with the event, any relevant experience, and your availability. Formal resumes are not necessary.

Thank you!

Support Letter for the Urban Agriculture Zoning Proposal

The hearing for the Urban Agriculture Zoning Proposal is today, at 1:30pm at City Hall Room 400. More information about the proposal can be found on the SFUAA website. I strongly urge anyone invested in community and market gardens in San Francisco to go show your support (supporters are wearing green). Below is the letter I wrote and sent to the members of the planning commission in support of the proposal.

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Dear Members of the Planning Commission:

I am the director of a small non-profit, Produce to the People, a project of the San Francisco Parks Trust. I am also a founding and organizing member of the Free Farm, a 1/3 acre community garden in the Western Addition/Tenderloin that grows and distributes fresh produce for free. Through both of these projects, I have played a part in the distribution of over 9,000 lbs of locally grown fruits and vegetables to people in need in our community, provided meaningful summer employment to 9 youth, and aided in the garden education of over 60 youth, all in the last year and a half.

I urge you to support the urban agriculture zoning proposal introduced in December (Ordinance 101537), along with a few important amendments detailed below. I strongly believe community gardens act as sites that foster not only the growth of nourishing produce, but also the connection between city dwellers and our environment, our food system, and each other. I believe in the preventative care that nutritious food affords our more vulnerable populations, who may not financially have access to it, and the benefits to our community as a whole when we are healthier. I have seen firsthand the joy and strength that comes from offering people the chance to connect with the earth, to be involved in team work, and to cultivate life in the often harsh environment of a city.

San Francisco is at the forefront of the urban agriculture movement and that we have the potential to make simple policy changes that will act as a model for other cities and towns. I support this zoning proposal for both the inception of new gardens, as well as the ability for existing gardens to sell their goods, and in turn support their projects and the hard-working people who cultivate them. This proposal supports a local food system and in turn, a local economy, both lending greatly to the vibrancy and sustainability of San Francisco as a whole.

I would urge you to support the following changes to the proposal, all of which would have hindered projects I have been a part of at one point:

1) Remove or waive the “change of use” permit fees for urban agriculture projects.

Many garden projects, including two I have been a part of in the last year, the Free Farm and the Mission High School garden, begin and continue to operate with little to no funding, supported by volunteer efforts and in-kind donations. If these currently thriving projects had faced an initial fee of $300, they may never have gotten off the ground.

2) Remove any fencing requirement.

As with the “change of use” permit fees, fencing requirements are an additional expense that many gardens may not be able to afford.

3)Allow sales of value-added products and pooled produce on site.

Value-added products and pooled produce creates the potential for increased revenue for small market garden businesses and fund raising opportunities for non-profit projects, strengthening our local economy and allowing a greater possibility for self-sustaining non-profits and CBO’s.

I appreciate your consideration and sincerely hope that you will support the proposal with the amendments outlined above.

Best regards,

Lauren Anderson

Director

Produce to the People