New Roots Farm to School Group

05/06/2014

Gorgeous day for our Regional Food Systems expedition! Today we planted & mulched some special varieties at the Permaculture Park in the north side of Ithaca & then explored the first Tuesday farmer's market in DeWitt Park. We tasted some freshly dug horseradish & leaned all about fungi, what a fantastic day!

03/10/2014

Neato! Here's the genius innovation of Main Street Farms, the aquaponics & microgreens farm our class just visited last week, on Farm Hack: http://farmhack.net/tools/black-soldier-fly-feed-alternative-aquaculture

Our primary goal is to find out if raising Black Soldier Flies larva (BSFL, Hermetia illucens) is feasible for small farmers during cold upstate NY winters. Our secondary goal is to find out the ratio of pounds of larva to pounds of feed to pounds produced. Larva are fed food waste from on-site farm...

12/28/2013

Do you know any high school-aged community leaders that might be interested in this opportunity? Contact Karim: [email protected]

Youth CEO - Job Description

Youth Community Educator Organizers (CEOs) work as part of a team to support local youth sustainability & social justice initiatives around areas that youth have decided are important to them. Key tasks include organizing youth conferences such as the Youth Power Summit in Spring 2014, setting up communication channels to facilitate information flow among young people in the county; and bringing youth together for collective sharing and action.

The Youth CEOs are a project of Get Your GreenBack Tompkins (GYGB), Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI), and Building Bridges, with money coming from GYGB.

Capacities
Working as a team with shared leadership
related skills: facilitating, note-taking, conflict resolution.
Related qualities: humility, humor, happiness, hopeful, supportiveness
Identifying community issues and coming up with creative solutions
Related skills and qualities: active listening, interest in making a difference in one’s community
Event organizing (working around shared timelines, group goal setting)
Engaging and supporting other young people in civic action (related skills: communication, listening, encouraging, positive coaching)
Reaching diverse networks (diverse in terms of schools, race/ethnicity, gender, grade levels)

Responsibilities
Attend weekly meetings
Engage own networks

Logistics
Youth CEOs are paid $10/hour for up to 10 hours of work a month ($100 total).
CEOs have one or several adult mentors who help them
Youth CEOs work in 3 month cycles; together with their mentors they evaluate their work and how to proceed with the next cycle, if desired

12/11/2013

We just finished our lessons & project in collaboration with the Ithaca Children's Garden on edible forest gardening & perennial foods; Here's a gorgeous example in Holyoke, MA. Eric Toensmeier and Jonathan Bate's suburban home ecosystem. https://vimeo.com/81538941

Vimeo is the home for high-quality videos and the people who love them.

12/05/2013

We're learning all about beneficial plantings for pollinators, check out this beautiful guide: Plant These To Help Save Bees: 21 Bee-Friendly Plants! By Hannah Rosengren 2013

12/05/2013

Join Us: Next Wednesday in support of the New Roots Farm to School program!

11/08/2013

At more than 80 Boston public schools, teachers are moving the classroom outdoors.

11/05/2013

Neato! "Yes, the goalposts still stand where the field once was — but the hashmarks and logos have been replaced by sweet potatoes, kale, cilantro, even a chicken coup."

Paul Quinn College's football field still has its goalposts -- they're just surrounded by kale and tomatoes.

10/18/2013

10/17/2013

“My goal is to capture the beauty in the every day and my style is to show who these women are through subtleties,” says the Iowa-based photographer. It’s an important goal at a time when the number of female farmers is on the rise, women now make up 30 percent of U.S. farmers, and many women are approaching this work in sustainable, creative, and mold-breaking ways."

Marji Guyler-Alaniz has spent the last nine months documenting women farmers for her ongoing photography project, FarmHer. “My goal is to capture the beauty in the every day and my style is to show who these women are through subtleties,” says the Iowa-based photographer. It’s an important goal at a...

09/28/2013

Ooh, an excellent inspirational list of Foodie Films once the weather turns winter! What's your favorite? Cannot wait to see 'A Place at the Table', looks excellent!

http://grist.org/food/26-films-every-food-activist-must-watch/

There are many incredible films about changes being made -- or that need to be made -- in the food system. Here are some of the best.