April 5, 2021, Yes! Magazine
https://www.yesmagazine.org/video/portland-mutual-aid-food-insecurity

Gabriel Baron first heard about Crisis Kitchen through a call for support he saw on Facebook. The mutual aid group was providing free meals around Portland, Oregon, to combat food insecurity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m a believer in local communities supporting local communities” Baron says. So he volunteered to deliver meals for the kitchen. As he did so, he started having conversations with folks in the organization.

Baron, a filmmaker, decided to bring his camera to the Crisis Kitchen. He said he was interested in demystifying mutual aid for viewers. It’s not an unwieldy and hierarchical institution. It was as simple as laid-off restaurant employees asking to use the kitchen to prepare food for people in their community. And the effort has snowballed from there. The group now delivers about 1,000 free, restaurant-quality meals around the city every week.

Crisis Kitchen is one of a network of mutual aid groups in Portland working to build a more supportive and just community. In the film, Adrian Garcia Groenendyk, the co-founder of Crisis Kitchen, says mutual aid demonstrates what can be done to meet people’s needs and help them thrive in our society. Long-term, he says this critical work shouldn’t be dependent on community donations. The goal should be to take money out of institutions of violence and put it into institutions of care, like Crisis Kitchen. Baron continues to deliver meals for Crisis Kitchen every week.

With food prices steadily rising over the last several years, by as much as five percent, families are scaling back and going without many staples just to put a meal on the table. Or worse, resorting to ‘bargains’ like fast food specials, subsidized SNAP junk food or just plain instant noodles to fill a hungry belly.

We have reached the point where self-sufficiency is not a luxury any longer, it’s a real necessity. In response, many are carving out a small homestead niche, even in the middle of lively cities. An encouraging example is found with a micro-farm in the heart of Southern California.

The downward spiral of dwindling food supplies

It isn’t much of a stretch to see our food dollars are shrinking. A combination of droughts, erratic weather patterns and astronomical fuel costs have all contributed to an inflated food bill. The use of GMO seeds isn’t helping the matter either with horrible crop yields. Couple this with a nose dive of world economies and we have a recipe for wide spread shortages of quality, nutritious food. Individuals are waking up to these realities and taking matters into their own hands — not only growing their own food, but removing themselves from the grid as much as possible, even within the bounds of a bustling city. A shining model of exceptional self-sufficiency, survival and ecological action is the  Urban Homestead.

You can read the whole inspiring story here: https://wakeup-world.com/2013/03/13/inspiring-urban-farm-grows-an-astonishing-three-tons-of-produce-a-year-on-a-mere-110-of-an-acre/

David Claughton and Olivia Ralph; abc.net.au; 10 Mar 2019

Boorowa farmer Charlie Arnott has experienced the immense toll of drought on his cattle, his business and his wellbeing, but he has found a way through it all. Fifteen years ago, reeling from the effects of the Millennium drought, he attended a workshop on regenerative agriculture that radically changed the way he farmed and, he believes, saved his life. "I was doing a really good job of killing a lot of stuff to try and grow food, which is kind of crazy," Mr Arnott said.

He had been farming conventionally using pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, but the course taught him how to partner with nature instead of trying to control it. It has turned around his farm's capacity to deal with drought and he currently has plenty of water and grass for his livestock even as the drought in NSW intensifies.

"We haven't fed for 15 years [because] we measure how much grass we have, we know how many animals we have to eat that grass and a very simple calculation gives us the amount of time that that grass is available before it runs out," Mr Arnott said.

From a desert to a paradise

Another farmer in Boorowa, David Marsh, began his journey into regenerative agriculture in the 1980s, after a drought brought him to the edge of ruin. "In 1982 we reduced our numbers far too late, like so many ... and we turned this place into a desert," Mr Marsh said.

"In that time you couldn't give sheep away and I promised I wouldn't do that again."

He began adopting regenerative practices in 1999, increasing the amount of native vegetation and tree coverage on his property from just 3 per cent to 20 per cent.

The rest of this article can be read here: https://www.sott.net/article/409672-From-a-desert-to-a-paradise-Regenerative-agriculture-finds-solid-backing-as-decades-of-success-show-renewal

Allie Nicodemo ; psy.org ; 09 Sep 2017

To feed a growing population, our global food system relies on sufficient farmland. But over the past 40 years, one-third of arable land has been lost to erosion or sullied by pollution.

Man-made chemicals and fertilizers used to improve crop yields can persist in soil for years, making it less fertile over time. Antibiotics in animal manure seep out and also cause degradation. Oil spills and environmental disasters can impact large parcels of land. And all this is compounded by the sluggish pace at which new topsoil is formed-about 2.5 centimeters every 500 years.

Currently, cleaning up soil is possible, but cumbersome. One method requires the dirt to be dug up, removed, and transferred to a treatment plant for decontamination. A better option would be to clean soil where it lies, but traditional techniques use water and chemical solvents that may dilute the toxins without truly getting rid of them.

Ming Su, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Northeastern, has developed a less costly and less labor-intensive way to decontaminate dirt. In a paper published this month in the Journal of Applied Physics, Ming describes his discovery-blasting soil with an infrared laser can quickly break down and eradicate a type of pervasive pollutant.

This research came about because Su wanted to focus his lab on tackling an environmental problem. He had the idea to develop a new method for chemical decontamination, and noticed the price of an industrial laser system had dropped significantly in recent years, making it feasible for large-scale use. He purchased a benchtop laser with his startup fund from Northeastern and tested it out on soil that had been sullied by the chemical Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, or DDE.

A derivative of the notorious cancer-causing pesticide Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, DDE was ideal for this study because it glows when exposed to ultraviolet light, making it easy to spot, Su said. He found that when he used the infrared laser to blast DDE-contaminated soil, and then scanned the soil with ultraviolet light, there was no glowing residue. The toxin disappeared.

The whole article can be read here:

The new Russian law on impounding unused agricultural land could be amended with a clause allowing such plots to be given free to families with three or more children, the head of State Duma Committee for Agriculture has said.

"It is possible that we will write in this bill that land not used today could be used by families with many children. Plots of land confiscated because of improper use could be handed over to families of Russian citizens with three or more children who permanently reside in rural areas. Such families could then use the land for family farms of up to 50 hectares (123.5 acres)," MP Nikolai Pankov (United Russia) said in an interview with Izvestia daily.

The existing draft of the bill also stipulates that businessmen willing to launch their own agricultural enterprises can buy land from the state at prices fixed in state land registries. They would then be under an obligation to use it. If regional supervising bodies discover that the purchased land remains unused for a year, the owner would be fined (the proposed fines vary from 0.3 to 1.5 percent of the plot's registry price). If the situation continues for a second year, the land would be confiscated and passed to different owners either through an auction or by some other scheme.

"The essence of our proposal is not in confiscating and selling this land, but in developing mechanisms that would stimulate people into cultivating this land. We will hold auctions inviting as many people as possible, prioritizing those who already owns land and successfully cultivates it," MP Pankov told reporters.

The deadline for submitting amendments to the draft law on impounding non-used agricultural lands expires on May 15. Sources in the State Duma have told Izvestia that the second reading of the bill will be held before the end of June.

Currently Russia has about 198 million hectares of agricultural land and at least 28 million of these are state owned and unused.

The State Duma is also discussing a bill on free handover of land to Russians and foreigners who want to build homes or develop agriculture or tourism in the region. The scheme will only be applicable in the Far East Federal Region. Foreigners will only be allowed to use the land and enjoy full property rights after becoming naturalized citizens

A video was submitted to the Free Thought Project this week that is sure to infuriate all who see it.  In the video, which was originally posted on the Facebook page of Gary Schlesinger of Brooklyn, New York City trash collectors are being ordered around by an NYPD cop. They are picking up dozens of cases of fruits and vegetables — and throwing them into the back of a trash truck.

According to Schlesinger, "NYC [is] cracking down on fruit stores that put out merchandise more than 4 feet from store."  The food was allegedly blocking a sidewalk, so, instead of asking the owner move it, or merely confiscating it from a non-compliant owner and giving it to a food shelter, the government's decision was to put it in a landfill.  The Free Thought Project contacted the New York Police Department and the City of New York on Saturday for a statement on why they are throwing away the food, but we've yet to hear back.

According to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, in the 2012-2014 time frame, over 1.4 million New Yorkers - including nearly one in four of the city's children - lived in households that lacked sufficient food. In the Coalition's latest annual survey of hunger in New York City - the most comprehensive of its kind - New York City's emergency food providers (food pantries, soup kitchens, and brown bag programs) reported a 5 percent increase in need for their services, on top of a 7 percent increase in 2014, 10 percent in 2013, 5 percent in 2012, 12 percent in 2011, 7 percent in 2010, and 20 percent in 2009.

In spite of starving children, quite literally within blocks of this video, the NYPD is carrying out its tyrannical enforcement of city codes.  This is what 'just doing your job' has become.

Please share this article so this downright despotic practice of throwing away perfectly good food will be exposed.

Every activist has read the increasing number of stories where homelessness is being criminalized, as if simply being homeless isn't punishment enough. However, there is a rising tide among all walks of life that is beginning to view homelessness in a very different light.

As a sinking economy and the criminal actions of the banking elite are leading many middle class, stable families into abject poverty, it is becoming much easier to identify with the less fortunate the closer their plight appears to be. Defenders of the homeless are becoming much more vocal now. We have seen some amazing examples recently of people moved to help those in need through programs such as an artist who paints and sells portraits of the homeless and gives them the profits; a former homeless man who gives back to the homeless by selling book reviews and buying food to share; or the inspiring story of a community organizer who used his own faith to connect with those from other faiths in a common cause of feeding those in need.

We are even seeing people of conscience openly defying oppressive laws to draw a line in the sand that says: if it becomes illegal to help one another on our own terms, we simply have no freedom left to celebrate.

Feeding the homeless has also gone from the concept of a "handout" of money to allow people to buy whatever meager sustenance they can find, to realizing that if people are going to have any chance of turning their financial situation around, they must be physically and mentally fit to do so. A key cornerstone to building oneself back up again is nutrition ... and if it's "free" nutrition, then all the better!

An organization in Atlanta is calling themselves Task Force For the Homeless and should be highlighted for their message and their tactics to restore dignity and prosperity to those who have fallen on hard times. They have chosen to combine two essential approaches to reverse the conditions which afflict the homeless the most: not having access to healthy food, and not being able to connect with others who are working in structured way to engage in practical solutions.
Enter the organic community rooftop garden.

The rest of this article can be read here.

Are you aware that in the United States, nearly 40% of the food produced is tossed into the trash? As it makes its way to the landfill, 795 million people in the world wonder where their next meal will come from.

It’s ridiculous – as well as disheartening - which is why activists around the planet are doing their part to help reduce food waste and feed others with the discarded scraps.  This is exactly what Adam Smith, founder of The Real Junk Food Project, is doing in Armley, Leeds.  The social entrepreneur has created an empire of ‘social cafes’ through which to cook up stews, casseroles, soups and cakes with the unwanted products from supermarkets, independent grocers, and food banks.

The most unique aspect of the business model is that it has a “pay as you feel” rule. This policy encourages patrons to pay what they feel they can pay. If that amounts to nothing, then they can work for their meal.The Independent reports that in only 10 months, Smith has helped feed 10,000 people on 20 tons of unwanted food. In addition, he’s raised over 30,000 pounds (UK).

Since its success, forty-seven other similar style cafes have popped up in Manchester, Bristol, Saltaire, Los Angeles, Brazil, Warsaw, and Zurich.  In the United States, a similar grocery store called The Daily Table transforms unwanted or ‘expired’ leftovers into perfectly nourishing and tasty food for customers. The founder of that endeavor is Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s.

It’s difficult for entrepreneurs inspired to repurpose food to carry out their vision, as in many areas of the world, retailers can be prosecuted if they sell food after the use-by date. The ‘best-before’ date is allowed, which is why Smith’s organization wants the law to be changed to prevent supermarkets from disposing of so much food at the fear of prosecution.

Thankfully, progress is being made. Earlier this year, France made it illegal for supermarkets to purposely waste food. Stores must now donate unsold food to charity, for animal feed, or for farming compost.

Unfortunately, groups like Smith’s are often looked down upon because they seek food others deem not optimal for consumption. With a change of perspective, however, everyone might come to understand that a good share of food thrown into dumpsters is perfectly edible. Recognizing this sooner rather than later would benefit everyone on the planet.

In Britain, food prices have risen 47% since 2003, which is quite high compared to the United States’ 30.4%, reports The Independent. Germany’s food inflation is 22.1% and France’s is 16.7%.  When people struggle to afford the basic necessities in life, you can be certain there’s a fault – if not many – with ‘the system’. The Real Junk Food Project is an amazing concept and business model which will, hopefully, inspire other social cafes to sprout and blossom, as well.

This article (In 10 Months, This Cafe Has Fed 10,000 People With 20 Tons Of Unwanted Food ) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com

For one month in Lexington County, Kentucky, individuals who forgot to feed their parking meter or drove too fast and got a ticket can pay off their fines with canned good donations.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that during the month-long "Food for Fines" program (November 16 - December 18), the city's parking authority will accept cans for citations.

Those who donate 10 canned food items will receive a $15 credit on citations. Customers with multiple citations are only allowed to bring in 10 cans per citation to receive the credits.

All the food will be donated to God's Pantry Food Bank, which will use the items to stock the shelves of its four Lexington locations.  Said Marian Guinn, the CEO of God's Pantry: "One expired parking meter ticket could mean two meals for hungry Fayette County families."

LexPark Executive Director Gary Means said that citizens brought in more than 6,200 cans of food as payment during last year's "Food for Fines" program. The wonderful initiative is helping low-income families stay satiated during the cold and long winter months. Its importance, obviously, cannot be overstated.

HuffPost reports that last year, the program was strictly limited to LexPark citations for expired parking meters. This year, any parking citation issued by either LexPark or the police department will be eligible. This means the food pantry is likely to receive even more donations.  "We hope by opening the program up to all types of citations, we'll see the numbers increase," Means said.  No out-of-date, damaged or open canned goods will be accepted. The park authority suggests that those seeking to exchange food for fines bring large cans with vegetables and proteins.

Instead of suggesting surgery or drugs to remedy a patient’s problems, this doctor makes nourishing food the first priority.

Although it was Hippocrates, the father of modern day medicine, who so famously stated “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine thy food,” few conventional doctors take seriously those words or wisdom and make wholesome, nutritious living the foundation of their patient’s treatment plan.  But in Houston, Texas, a progressive doctor has begun prescribing fruits and vegetables instead of pharmaceutical drugs, as he and many others believe nourishing food is an essential requirement for becoming ‘well’.  After years of treating patients’ modern-day ails, such as Diabetes and high blood pressure, Dr. Garth Davis discovered that diet and lifestyle are truly the best tools for helping a body become vibrantly well. 

As the medical director of bariatric surgery at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, Dr. Davis no longer prescribes pharmaceutical drugs but instead dolls out recommendations for fruits and vegetables. And so far, patients have responded very well to the change. 

“As physicians, we perform surgery or prescribe medications to our patients to make them well,” said Davis. “Why not also educate them on healthy eating, and make fresh fruits and vegetables readily available?

You can read the entire article at:  http://www.zengardner.com/doctor-prescribes-fruits-veggies-instead-drugs/

In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone fruit, a former grocery store chain president has opened a new, nonprofit store in Boston, Massachusetts that hopes to tackle both food waste and the unaffordability of healthy food among the working poor.

Daily Table, a not-for-profit grocery store, opened Thursday in Dorchester, a working-class neighborhood in Boston, featuring cheap, yet healthy foods that traditional grocers are unwilling to sell because of arbitrary 'use by' dates. The store is the brainchild of Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe's, after seeing tons of perfectly good food tossed out because the items were close to or had surpassed their listed sell-by dates.

Daily Table's food stock is mostly donated by food wholesalers and markets after it didn't sell or was surplus, NPR reported. Other items are acquired through the Greater Boston Food Bank, and the store is one of that agency's approved organizations, according to the Boston Globe. The food is sold at cost or for a slight mark-up, though customers should expect prices to fluctuate daily based on availability and donations. "As you can see right here we've got a pile of bananas at 29 cents a pound," Rauch told WBUR. "They're Chiquita bananas, there's no little black spots on them. Those probably have another three or four days before you start to go, 'Oh, banana bread!'"

Americans trash 133 billion lbs (60 billion kg) of food ‒ mostly meat (including poultry and fish), vegetables and dairy products ‒ each year, according to a February 2014 report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). About 10 percent of that comes from retail food waste, either by grocery stores or restaurants.

"If just 15 percent less food was wasted, America could actually cut hunger in half," Ben Simon of the Food Recovery Network told RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky in February. Yet, according to Feeding America, a national nonprofit network of food banks, 49 million people in the US ‒ or one in six Americans ‒ live in "food insecure" households, and processed meals and fast food are often much cheaper than fresh produce and other nutritious items.

When UC Berkeley student Komal Ahmad invited a homeless man to lunch three years ago, she was inspired to create an app that would change the lives of hundreds of thousands living on the streets. When the man asked her for money for food, she took him to lunch instead and learned of his time as a soldier in Iraq. "He'd already gone on two deployments and now he's come back, he's 26 and on the side of the road begging for food," Ahmad said. "It just blew my mind."

Shortly after her experience, she began an initiative at Berkeley to donate uneaten food from the university's dining halls to local homeless shelters. The program was so successful that in three years, it has spread to over 140 colleges around the country.

Excess food wastage is a serious problem in the United States. Americans throw out more food than plastic, paper, metal and glass, and in 2012 (the most recent year with available data), Americans threw out over 35 million tons of food. Meanwhile, 1 in 6 Americans goes hungry every year.

As Ahmad said, excess food waste is "literally the world's dumbest problem." She noted that "Hunger is bad - it's terrible everywhere - but in America, in the most prosperous, industrialized country in the world, this just shouldn't exist."

In 2013, Ahmad, now 25, launched a phone app to encourage private companies and event planners to donate extra food. Feeding Forward is a not-for-profit service that allows users to arrange—on-demand— for Feeding Forward drivers to pick up leftover food and deliver it directly to areas and people that need it most. In San Francisco, the app has helped feed over 575,000 homeless people by redistributing nearly 690,000 pounds of excess food.

As Ahmad told the New York Daily News, "We need to figure out how to establish sustainable solutions that can distribute the food we already have faster and get it to people who need it faster and safely."

Ahmad is doing just that. Since her story was featured on CNET recently, she says she has received thousands of messages from people around the world eager to participate. "I didn't expect it to blow up...People as far as Nairobi, Bangalore and Hong Kong have wrote us asking us to expand Feeding Forward to their cities and countries. They're like, 'Tell me what I can do to get it here,'" she said.

Though Ahmad's app is now one of the most successful tools for feeding the homeless, her effort is part of a growing movement to solve hunger and problems of food wastage. As CNET summarized, "On-demand food delivery service Munchery, founded in 2010, donates its excess meals to food banks in the Bay Area. An app called LeftoverSwap, created by a pair of entrepreneurs two years ago, helps people give away their leftovers to strangers. And the Food Cowboy app, founded in 2012, gets surplus food from wholesalers and restaurants and delivers it to soup kitchens."

While homeless people often endure persecution from authorities, increased private and popular efforts are working to change the landscape. It is profoundly impressive that a young woman could foster such tangible effects in her community, but perhaps more inspiring is the global support she has received for her work—showing that in a world filled with greed, hate, and negativity, there is still hope for generosity, compassion, and a brighter future.

To learn more about Ahmad's innovative project and take part or donate, visit FeedingForward.com.

27th May 2015 : By Carolanne Wright :  Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

Positive footprints

“All we need to live a good life surrounds us. Sun, wind, people, buildings, stones, sea, birds, plants. Cooperation with all these things brings harmony. Opposition brings disaster and chaos.” ~ Bill Mollison, co-developer of permaculture.

Unfortunately, instead of cooperating with nature, we’ve been in conflict since the industrial revolution. Scientists and researchers have been sounding the alarm about our path of ecological disaster for years. While the word “sustainability” generally evokes images of deprivation and damage control, permaculture approaches ecological balance from a stance of leaving a positive footprint, instead of no footprint at all.

The idea is beautifully captured by Inhabit, where individuals and groups who are “walking the permaculture talk” are profiled throughout the documentary. Ben Falk is once such person. Founder of Whole System Design Permaculture Research Farm in Vermont, United States and author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead, Falk has created what many consider a small slice of paradise.

The design of the farm is a far cry from traditional agriculture, the former being a type of strip mining more than anything else. Trees, land, plants and animals work together in permaculture, supporting ultimate well-being for everything and everyone involved. Falk helped the process along by creating swales (marshy depressions between ridges) to collect water and revitalize areas of land that were essentially barren. Before long, plant life began to thrive, creating another habitat and food source for animals and humans alike. By working with the natural design and water flow of the property, along with grazing animals and native plants, Falk was able to build a living ecosystem that not only regenerated the land, but also provides exceptional crop yield compared to conventional farming — without the use of harmful pesticides or toxins.  Granted, many of us are not quite at the point where we can move out to the country and create our very own bucolic oasis. Even so, the advantage of permaculture is that it can be applied to any situation — rural, urban or suburban.

Examples like Eric Toensmeier, co-author of Edible Forest Gardens and manager of Paradise Lot, a 1/10th acre permaculture educational garden in the heart of Massachusetts, demonstrate that suburbia is an excellent place for permaculture. Growing over 70 perennial greens and 40 different kinds of fruit, Toensmeier observed the bare backyard lot for a year before planting the garden in order to gain an understanding of the patterns of sun, wind and shade. The house on the property also utilizes a composting toilet, which provides rich soil for the plants and creates a closed-loop cycle of regeneration.

The documentary highlights the fact that in New York City alone, there are one million buildings with 38,256 acres of rooftops, which are ripe for permaculture development. The possibilities are truly endless.

Another solution to the problem of storm water is to construct a rain garden. A teenager involved in the project describes how an old gas station was turned into a lush landscape, simply by diverting water from roadways during storms and structurally altering the land for the most efficient use of the water. The end result is a thriving garden of trees and plants which had previously been a wasteland.

Permaculture can also be taken out into the forest. Faced with an overabundance of cut wood, one man decided to use decomposition in his favor — by starting a shiitake mushroom farm with the logs. He then introduced ducks and geese into the mix to keep the slugs that eat mushrooms at bay. Again, all the elements work seamlessly in natural harmony to support one another.

Inhabit director Emmett Brennan leaves us with this final thought:  “Humanity is more than ever threatened by its own actions; we hear a lot about the need to minimize footprints and to reduce our impact. But what if our footprints were beneficial? What if we could meet human needs while increasing the health and well-being of our planet? This is the premise behind permaculture – a design process based on the replication of patterns found in nature.  Inhabit is on the growing edge of media and cinema, presenting solutions to issues of food, water, medicine, governance, and more, and providing an impressive introduction to the permaculture worldview. The film illuminates the interdependence of all life and it presents an array of projects and people within this growing movement. “

Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective ~ Trailer ‘Inhabit provides an intimate look at permaculture peoples and practices ranging from rural, suburban, and urban landscapes.’

http://wakeup-world.com/2015/05/27/groundbreaking-new-documentary-offers-real-solutions-food-security-environmental-troubles/