One of my academic interests has always been food and farming: how can we provide enough quality food for everybody without exploiting workers and undermining ecosystems? I often can only see the obstacles – pest resistances, ecological damages, low quality food, wasted food, poor wages for farm workers, poor working conditions, depletion of soil health, food deserts – the list goes on. The question of individual action always comes up: what can we as individuals do to help?
This year’s numbers for our record-breaking growing season are in! In 2015, our farm crew (with some help from our wonderful CSA shareholders) harvested 183,366 lbs of produce, which is not even taking into account the amount gathered from the pick-your-own option of our CSA. This is an incredible increase of 32,000 pounds (or 21%) from last season. With this huge increase in production, we were able to provide 428 lbs of food per full season large share.
Lauren McDonald came to PFP to interview in the fall of 2014, and our decision to hire her was a no brainer; we wanted her on our team. When you meet Lauren, you can sense the speed with which her brain works. She thinks and moves with vigor that is unmatched, and if you get her talking about farming, her passion and devotion are palpable. It is clear in getting to know Lauren that she brings this fervor to every aspect of her life (including contra dancing and fiddle playing!).
Lauren earned a BA in Environmental Science from Williams College, where she was among a small group of undergraduates to devise and establish an organic garden for students. Upon graduating, she was driven to farming as a means to address environmental and social issues in a practical way. Her love of the outdoors, hardworking nature, and desire to be a part of a community made her decision to farm the obvious choice. After apprenticing at Hawthorne Valley Farm for two growing seasons, and Crystal Spring Farm for another, Lauren came to PFP. Lauren’s aptitude for farming is demonstrated in her unwearied determination on even the cruelest heat of summer days. She set the pace for accelerated tasks and efficient transitions this past season. In addition to her impassioned presence on the farm, Lauren demonstrated her sincere dedication to PFP’s mission in her role as Food Share Manager. She formed strong relationships with our emergency food provider partners, and often volunteered with them on her days off. We are honored to share that she will be returning to the farm to work as Crew Leader, a new position that will foster her growth into a management role.
By Ellie Marble, Education Intern
If anyone had asked me a year ago what I was planning on doing after graduating from Vassar College, I would have laughed nervously and changed the subject. After a year of interning with foster care social workers, I felt stuck on a path that did not feel genuine to me. The truth was that I had no idea what I was really passionate about. I hadn’t considered the possibility of changing my mind, not going to grad school for social work, and doing something altogether different…. Then, last semester I saw that there was an opening to be an education intern at Poughkeepsie Farm Project. When I saw this, I realized that I had been itching for the outdoors and to work with kids in more constructive and fun ways than I had been for the past year, and so I jumped at the opportunity. I am so unbelievable grateful that I did.
I have learned so much during my short time with PFP about the Poughkeepsie community; being an educator; the connections between food, community, and justice; and of course, myself. This is what I am passionate about: being a part of a community that works together to nourish each other’s bodies and minds. Working with PFP has deeply influenced how I have decided to finish my time at Vassar. My focus has shifted to taking classes that discuss issues of environmental racism, accessibility and equitable education. I still tremble slightly when the question of post-college life comes up, but I am much more confident today than I have ever been that I am on the right path.
I am currently a senior Educational Studies major and am in the process of writing a thesis that examines food justice in Poughkeepsie City School Districts. What I hope to bring to the discussion of food injustice in America is a case study of how food and education can act together to promote a more community-based and equitable society. Through the framing of just food and education as human rights, I plan to investigate how Poughkeepsie City School Districts and community organizations are working together to promote positive community cooperation, sustainable models of health, and secure and informed relationships to local food. I plan to challenge the history of food politics in the United States to examine the reasons why the food system is enmeshed with the intersections of multiple structural oppressions and how community members and grassroots organizations can work together to reclaim the environmental and food sovereignty that was systematically stripped from them. In looking at Poughkeepsie Farm Project and other local organizations working to promote a just food system for Poughkeepsie, I will assess the tensions that operate to promote and prevent the actualization of just food practices in public schools in order to discover ways to strengthen togetherness in the fight for everyone’s right to nutritious, affordable, and fair food.
Hailing from Syracuse, educated in Ithaca, and previously employed in New York City, Ellie Limpert believes her love affair with New York State has truly blossomed upon discovering the Hudson Valley. After earning a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University, NYC proved to be an incredible atmosphere for Ellie to utilize her Nutrition and Public Health degree, while immersing herself in the farm-to-school and sustainable agriculture movement. She served as a nutritionist for the NYC Department of Health, as well as a garden teacher at Edible Schoolyard NYC, and research assistant for a USDA funded study on school gardens at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Ellie began her work for PFP as a full season farm apprentice in 2014. Inspired by the power that a local farm can bring to a community, it was her goal to learn the trade of farming in order to facilitate the growth of more community based farms and edible gardens throughout the state. What Ellie found in PFP and the community of Poughkeepsie was much more moving than she could have imagined. To put it lightly, she fell in love, and decided to put her graduate school plans on hold to continue contributing her knowledge and enthusiasm to the growth and advancement of PFP’s mission. Ellie embodies what it means to be a passionate leader, go-getter, and dedicated heroine of a healthier Poughkeepsie. This season she brought her refreshing vision and contagious enthusiasm to her management of seven education programs, eight interns, and numerous outreach events. We applaud her dedication and are honored to have her continue on as Education Manager in the 2016 season.
During our Summer Institute: Using Gardens to Teach workshop we often refer to different resources to help teachers and other educators incorporate garden learning into their curriculum. Below are some of our favorite resources.
As we continue to expand our education programs, we are seeking to add a more robust literacy component. For this reason, we have created a wish list on amazon.com that is filled with children’s literature that connects to agriculture, gardening, nutrition, and cooking. Also on the wish list are curricular resources and program materials that will be useful to us as we develop and refine our offerings. Please consider making an end of the year donation to PFP in the form of a wish list gift for our education programs. Below is a selection of beautiful books from the list. You can order them here.
Monday, November 23, 2015
USDA Farm to School Funds Will be Used to Bolster Child Nutrition Programs
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $100,000 in federal funding for the Poughkeepsie Farm Project. The funding allocated through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm to School Grant Program was created to increase local foods served through child nutrition programs, teach children about agriculture, and develop schools’ and farmers’ capacities to participate in farm to school programs. The Poughkeepsie Farm Project will foster Poughkeepsie City School District students’ understanding of the local food system and help develop fresh produce in the region during in-class cooking workshops focused on vegetables, through taste tests in the school cafeterias, and engagement in experiential learning on field trips to its 12-acre urban farm. Poughkeepsie Farm Project will train and support district educators in school gardening through its professional development program.
“It is essential our children learn the value of healthy eating at a young age,” said Senator Schumer. “Not only will this federal funding allow the Poughkeepsie Farm Project help students at the Poughkeepsie City School District access nutritious foods, but the meals will also be locally sourced. This means both our local farmers and our kids benefit – making it a win-win for New York’s agricultural industry and the community as a whole.”
“We need to make access and serving healthy food at our schools a priority,” said Senator Gillibrand, the first New York Senator to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years. “By investing in nutrition initiatives for our schools, we are not only ensuring kids are eating nutritious food, we are also creating opportunities for our local farmers. Through these additional resources the Poughkeepsie Farm Project will be able to expand their ability to reach more schools with local products.”
“We are so honored and thrilled to be recognized for our Farm to School collaborative success and this chance to continue building on that foundation to make local food and agriculture an ongoing and prioritized part of the Poughkeepsie student's experience,” said Lee Anne Albritton, Executive Director, Poughkeepsie Farm Project. “This award will also help us to broaden our impact by continuing to train Poughkeepsie teachers in our Using Gardens to Teach program so that they can teach academic content through school gardens.”
“The Poughkeepsie Farm Project is a model of collaboration in the farm-to-school field through their educational programming and strong partnership with the City of Poughkeepsie School District,” saidBob Dandrew, Director of the Local Economies Project. “They have built a solid foundation in their community with teachers, food service professionals, students, and parents, which has supported a measurable expansion of healthy food access in the district. This USDA grant provides a wonderful opportunity to further root the program throughout the district and community.”
Farm to school programs are one of the many tools and resources USDA offers to help schools successfully serve healthier meals. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 authorized and funded USDA to establish a Farm to School Program in order to strengthen or develop new partnerships, collaboration between eligible schools, nongovernmental and community-based organizations, agricultural producer groups, and other community partners to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools.
You know the farm is in full swing when the first PYO goodies are on offer at Poughkeepsie Farm Project. Available only to shareholders, the Pick Your Own component of the share is a great way to spend time on the farm and feel connected to the crops. Here's some tips, tricks and etiquette when it comes to PYO at PFP
Farmer Anne's Thoughts About That Tough Month
I always advise other farmers to refrain from making big decisions in July. I have told enough friends this piece of advice that it has begun to make its way back to me. “Anne, you know what you say, you should never make big decisions during the month of July.” Why, you ask? July is an interesting time as a farmer. You started sowing seeds in the greenhouse during the end of February. You have been going full force (ish) for five months, and have another five months of steady work ahead of you. Often times the weeds have taken over (though, I must say, Poughkeepsie Farm Project is a miraculously almost weed-free farm, go team!). The heat is making certain crops jump for joy (tomatoes and melons), and other crops hang their head in defeat (lettuce, brassicas, and the sweaty farmers themselves). There has been enough time for a few diseases and insects to do some real damage on certain crops. The true bounty that is the months of August and September hasn’t quite kicked in yet. You are waiting on the tomatoes and peppers to ripen up, as you pick cucurbits all day long, leaving your arms scratched and you palate craving sweet. Farmers can be a little tired, worn out, maybe even a little discouraged in July.
But, here’s the thing about July. It’s a GREAT time to bite into that first watermelon. To taste the first sungold of the season. To make your first bouquet of the year. To “hug it out,” (as I say), with your crew after you finish planting the last bed of brassicas on plastic (which is possibly one of the most frustrating tasks for this farmer). To sit and catch up with a friend in the blueberry bushes, nibbling away as you chat. To take time to jump into cold bodies of water. To sit after work and gaze at your yard for half an hour, doing nothing but watching, being, seeing.
This leads me to one of my favorite quotes, which I feel is one of those saving graces, an important reminder for all of us, especially for farmers during the month of July. The following is an excerpt from Annie Dillard’s book 'Pilgrim at Tinker Creek'.
When I was six or seven years old, growing up in Pittsburgh, I used to take a precious penny of my own and hide it for someone else to find. It was a curious compulsion; sadly, I’ve never been seized by it since. For some reason I always “hid” the penny along the same stretch of sidewalk up the street. I would cradle it at the roots of a sycamore, say, or in a hole left by a chipped-off piece of sidewalk. Then I would take a piece of chalk, and, starting at either end of the block, draw huge arrows leading up to the penny from both directions. After I learned to write I labeled the arrows: SURPRISE AHEAD or MONEY THIS WAY. I was greatly excited, during all this arrow-drawing, at the thought of the first lucky passer-by who would receive in this way, regardless of merit, a free gift from the universe. But I never lurked about. I would go straight home and not give the matter another thought, until, some months later, I would be gripped again by the impulse to hide another penny.
It is still the first week in January, and I’ve got great plans. I’ve been thinking about seeing. There are lots of things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But—and this is the point—who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat kid paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won’t stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get.
May we all recognize the many pennies in our lives. The farm is rich with them these days.
--Anne Eschenroeder (Assistant Farm Manager)
