Urban Farming: Coming to a City Near You

By Jason Mark, E Magazine
Posted on March 26, 2007, Printed on March 30, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/49000/

It's a chilly December day in Oakland, California -- overcast and gray -- and most folks are staying indoors. But outside a modest bungalow on the city's impoverished West Side, three young women volunteers are busy building a backyard garden for a local resident. They dump loads of dark, rich soil into a three-foot by eight-foot planter bed. Fruit and vegetable shoots sitting on the ground offer a glimpse of harvests to come -- strawberries and chard, lettuce, herbs and shelling peas.

The backyard garden construction is a project of City Slicker Farms, a local nonprofit that provides fresh food to a neighborhood better known for its railyards and warehouses than for its green spaces. In just seven years, City Slicker has become a vital part of the West Oakland landscape. Its six market gardens grow a range of organic fruit and vegetables, eggs and honey for sale at a neighborhood produce stand. Judging by the reception from neighborhood residents, the program is a success. "I buy all my vegetables here, and so does my wife," says Tony Lejones, a local truck driver, as he perused the offerings at the City Slicker stand. "The whole neighborhood comes here -- black, white and brown," he says. "They do a fine job."

 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-sperm28mar28,1,6123909.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Mom's beef puts son's sperm count at stake
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Times Staff Writer

March 28, 2007

Men whose mothers ate a lot of beef during their pregnancy have a sperm count about 25% below normal and three times the normal risk of fertility problems, researchers reported Tuesday.

The problem may be due to anabolic steroids used in the United States to fatten the cattle, Dr. Shanna H. Swan of the University of Rochester Medical Center reported in the journal Human Reproduction. It could also be due to pesticides and other environmental contaminants, she added.

South Central Farmers Health and Education

1702 E. 41^st St. Los Angeles, CA 90058

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   

March 27, 2007                                                                                 

Photos and interviews available upon request

South Central Farmers Tianguis

 CELEBRATING EARTH DAY

WHAT:           1) Bringing Food to the ‘Hood

2) Featured Workshop by Melissa: Using worms in your garden (3pm)

3) Music and Entertainment

WHEN:           Date -- Sunday, April 1, 2007 

Time -- 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

WHERE:        On 41^st Street (between Long Beach and Alameda)

The SCFHEF Community Center & Gallery

1702 E. 41^st Street

Los Angeles, CA 90058

(Metro: Exit Blue Line Vernon Station and walk four blocks North)

WHY:              SCFHEF celebrates the depth and power of our earth and her resources to give and to teach. In a community and city surrounded by concrete and pollution the SCFHEF seeks to continue their work of connecting the care and stewardship of the earth with the struggle for justice and equality to all.

WHO: The eclectic line-up of artists, speakers, and musicians will feature:

 Music by --

 ~ Son Jarocho
~ Mezklah,
~ Aztlan Unearthed ,
~ Farm Life,
~ EarthStonez (tentative)

 Traditional Danza Azteca-Chichimeca & Music

 Children’s Workshops and Stories

 Holistic Care & Products

 South Central Farmers Cooking Demo

 And More!

As part of their commitment to keep Bringing Food to the ‘Hood, the SCFHEF hosts a monthly Tianguis marketplace in collaboration with various community-based organizations, artisans, and local merchants.  Every first Sunday of the month, the Tianguis transforms public space surrounding the original 14-acre farm into a site for healthy eating, healthy economics, and healthy relationships.

 

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