Foodlust
  • Home
  • The Food Chronicles
  • About
  • Contact

The Eagle Has Landed

1/9/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
Lisa's Organics' slogan
I've been back in Tahoe two months now. In the absence of snow, I've been hard at work shaping what will hopefully be a bountiful career in food activism. It is only the beginning but I can feel the momentum gaining.

First up is a philanthropic campaign for Lisa's Organics. Lisa's is based in Lake Tahoe and are producers of organic, frozen vegetables. They are taking their "Eat Your Veggies" slogan and helping schools and hospitals improve their meal programs.

School gardens are sprouting up all over the country,  lunch programs are becoming healthier and more hospitals are sourcing sustainably grown food. Lisa's Organics' "Gardens to Hospitals," hopes to keep that momentum going.
The program’s goal is to bring awareness to the role of nutritious food in raising and nurturing healthy children. The children themselves will help lead the effort advocating for healthier meals both in their schools and in hospitals. Students with a school garden will grow food for children in a hospital. They will come together in a food and information sharing event at the hospital snacking on the food grown. Together, all the kids will gain a better connection to their food and healthy eating habits. In the process, the food buyers at both the school and the hospital will be forced to look into the eyes of the children they are feeding and answer to the choices they are making. 

Institutional food, like at schools and hospitals, represents a significant percentage of the food consumed in the United States. Harnessing the collective buying power of institutions to  purchase more nutritious and ecologically grown food could dramatically alter the US food economy. Their critical mass could provide the organic market the weight necessary to tip the scales away from conventional agriculture.

Picture
The grow dome at what hopes to be Truckee's community farm
Next up, is a farming project in Tahoe. Yes, Tahoe! I will be helping to launch a program to explore mountain farming techniques in a 1000 sq. ft grow dome (geodesic greenhouse). The practices utilized are those perfected by the 4-season, hoop-house, guru, Eliot Coleman. This is my first step in helping my high-elevation community achieve food security. If successful, more grow domes will be built and perhaps even a grants program developed to help citizens acquire smaller, 350 sq. ft. domes for their backyards. My goal...20% of Tahoe using grow domes by 2020.

The grow dome hopes to be an extension of the community garden in Truckee Regional Park. In a demonstration setting, people can get acquainted with agriculture and learn about the growing methods used at the dome. The grow dome(s) would be the community farm growing food not only for schools, hospitals and a CSA program but more importantly the local hunger relief program, Project Mana. The grow dome and the possibility of feeding Tahoe with food grown on its own soil, is the vision and inspiration of local entrepreneurs, Bill and Kevin Kelly.

1 Comment
Maggie link
1/30/2012 05:06:41 am

Love this idea! Can't wait to visit!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Follow SusieSutphin on Twitter

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    4 Season Growing
    Agrarianism
    Agritourism
    Agroecology
    Agtivist
    Animals
    Aquaponics
    Biodiversity
    Book Blog Vol. 2
    Book Blog Vol. 3
    Book Blog Vol. 4
    Book Blog Vol. 5
    Book Blog Vol. I
    Climate Change
    Coffee
    Community
    Compost
    Conventional Farming
    Cost Of Food
    Crafts
    Crop Rotation
    Csas4713f5b38e
    Dairy
    Education
    Energy
    Equity
    Fair Trade
    Farm Bill
    Farm Incubator
    Farming
    Farm Stories
    Feed The World
    Food Access
    Food Hub
    Food Labels
    Food Miles
    Food Policy
    Food Security
    Foodshed
    Food Sovereignty
    Food Stories
    Food Waste
    Forestry
    Fracking
    Gardens To Hospitals
    Gmo
    Green Jobs
    Growing Dome
    Happy Cows
    History
    Kids
    Land Use
    Localized Economies
    Markets
    Nutrition
    Occupy Movement
    Organic
    Permaculture
    Pest Management
    Recipes
    Regional Food Systems
    Reruns: The Best Of
    Restaurants
    Rodale Articles
    Seasonality
    Slow Food
    Social Movement
    Soil
    Strawberries
    Sustainability
    This I Believe
    Vegetables
    Vermiculture
    Volunteering

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.