Local Food Economies at CounterPulse

Come check out the local food economies talk at CounterPulse tonight at 7:30pm. I'll be there representing the Free Farm, and a bunch of other really great projects will be there as well.

Stanford Glean and Fruit as Resistance!

Photo by Adam Cole

There was an article in the Stanford Daily a day or two ago about Stanford Glean, a really amazing group of fruit pickers that was initially organized by a friend, fellow Free Farmer, Stanford professor, and totally amazing guy, Page Chamberlain, and has really taken off to the point where it is largely student driven at this point. From what I understand, the task was to form a project as an act of civil disobedience, and thus Stanford Glean was born. This semester they are bucking the system by guerilla gardening on campus. It would be quite an understatement to say that I am impressed and inspired by the work that they're doing and the way that they are thinking about it.

I've been asking myself a lot of questions lately about why do this work, what are the benefits of challenging such monolithic problems with such grassroots efforts, what are the pressure points that can open a channel of progress, what do these intangible phrases that we keep using to describe our work, like "food justice" and "systemic change" actually look like? I think more and more that the answers are just in the asking of the questions, that if we keep asking, we will create change by understanding the small steps we take and how those do steadily move us forward as long as we keep at it.

I have always thought of the gleaning and gardening work that Produce to the People does as an act of resistance, resistance against an industrialized, consumptive, unethical, unsustainable (I could go on....) food system, resistance against the crippling lack of consideration for the needs of poor and homeless people, people struggling with disabilities, mental illness and addiction, and an economic system that holds people in a constant state of struggle, resistance against the breakdown of connection by socio-economic status, age, and cultural background, resistance against people living in isolation.

It's a small, subtle, community and home-based resistance, but that is how I see the dismantling of these larger systems that we have created that don't actually care for us or tend to our needs as real cities made of real communities of real people. Individual people, embracing what they love, what they feel capable of, what they feel confident in, and sharing their capabilities as a resource.

Just some thoughts, and I'll leave you with a quote from Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Yes, that's a heart-shaped potato from the Julian Pantry

The making of an Urban Farm

this pic is from the ever awesome Cristina Ibarra

I am consistently amazed by the progress at The Free Farm, the work is moving so fast I think I've almost been taking for granted how much we've been able to accomplish in a few short months. A few weeks ago, Tree put up a really wonderful post on the Free Farmstand site about appreciation, and it really hit home with me. I feel really grateful to be a part of this project, for the partnership and hard work that has created and sustains it, and for the friends I've made and the inspiring new people I've met in the process. A big giant thank you to everyone who has been a part of it and everyone to come along the way!
I thought it seemed like a good time to post some "then" and "now" photos of our progress so far. The "then" photos reflect what the lot looked like before we started work in mid-January (yes of this year! as in 3 months ago!), and the "now" photos are from the workday this past Wednesday. I wish I had pulled off the row cover on all the farm style beds because they are all really starting to pop with vegetables. Next post, I guess! Enjoy and thank you!

The Free Farm is in the headlines!

Check out this great article in the SF Chronicle about The Free Farm!

My favorite quote from Tree: "Doing things for free encourages people to share," Tree said. "It encourages people to be community, to be family. It provides people the chance to be generous with each other."

Spreading the potential of urban gleaning and gardening AND PttP Tasmania!

I have been doing my best to keep up with the small handful of inspiring folks that have been contacting me about starting their own version of Produce to the People in their local community, whether it be a gleaning group, or a community garden, or a youth program, or a combination of any of the above. So far I admittedly mostly just tell the story of how PttP got started since it is still a fledgling project, offer how we currently are doing the things we are, some ideas about what has really been successful and what has really not worked so good, and then do my best to answer questions. It is important to me to be as forthcoming and transparent with way things operate as I can, because while I have no interest in starting other PttP's myself, I do have a great interest in helping other folks start their iteration of this work in a way that is local, grassroots, and in tune with the needs of the community that they live in.

I have been in contact most regularly with a woman named Penelope, who was super excited to start a similar project in Tasmania, and just heard from her recently that they received a government grant and are up and running! Very exciting! They are calling themselves Produce to the People Tasmania (after asking my permission, which I admittedly had some initial reservations about which I am doing my best to break myself of. In thinking through where this discomfort was stemming from and realizing it was largely based in succumbing to creating an identity based in private ownership, I felt a bit yucky, so I agreed to share the name. I might be naive, but really, what's in a name?) Anyway! Check out their blog, they are doing some seriously awesome work!

Another article about gleaning

Just saw this article about gleaning groups in Sacramento, Portland and San Jose! So great! I feel so inspired when I hear that a person or a group of neighbors or an organization is doing this in their local area. It really keeps me going to know that so many folks believe in the importance of this work, of creating access to healthy local food, of sharing, of supporting their community, of working together. I admittedly feel overwhelmed sometimes, like there is so much good work to be done, how will we ever get to it all? But then I hear about other folks, and I know we will get to it all by sharing the load.

Keep fighting the good fight, gleaners!

PttP on Daily Candy + Gleaning info zine with Source Press!

Thanks to Daily Candy for the little blurb about our backyard harvest program! It has created quite a buzz, and reached a lot of folks outside of San Francisco that want to glean fruit and give it away. I had previously talked to a person here and there that wanted to start similar programs either gleaning or gardening in their local area, but a good handful got ahold of me just now, and I am thinking about putting together an info packet to help with the basics of starting such a program. We are really lucky to have such a thriving and generous garden community in the bay area, and I had the help and advice of many brilliant and dedicated folks getting PttP off the ground, so I would be really honored to be able to pass any ideas I've garnered along the way to make it easier for other folks to harness their local fruit and get it to people who can make good use of it.

And the ever-awesome Sorrel of Source Press has offered to help put out the info packet, so it will be zine style, and I'm super excited to work with her on it. She just finished her Mental Health Cookbook, which, of course, is amazing. If you're in the bay area, there's a release party at the Secret Garden on Sunday April 4th from 11-1pm, more info on the Source website. If you've never been to the Secret Garden, you could get a triple whammy that day because you could hang out there, get a zine, and hit the Free Farm Stand around the corner right after.

All very exciting!

Stay tuned about the info zine, or get ahold of me if you'd like to know when it will be available. Also, get ready to be patient because I've got a little too much on my plate right now, so it'll be a minute before I can really devote the energy to that project that it needs. But if you need help with ideas about starting a gleaning group in the meantime, please send an email.