CUFSP Meeting Recap 3.2.08

1. Meeting recap
We had a short meeting to check in on where everyone’s at with the garden proposal and purchasing investigations. We will be in good shape if we can aim to have all the components finished by the end of spring break.
Here’s the current task list:
Hannah—garden implementation costs
Maddie—housing for interns
Kari—internship potential
Julia/Liz—contact Joe to meet w/ Sysco on purchasing; ask about brunch status
Rachel—working on garden resource contact list
Eric—working on club contact list
Andrew—working on seasonality/garden plan
Rickie--research potential speakers for Earth Week Panel
Becky--prepare request-for-support letter. working on prof/department contact list

2. Green Guerillas annual meeting

A potential source for good advice and gardener comaraderie

Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2008
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Community Church of NY
40 East 35th Street
New York, NY 10016

Each year we take an evening to come together as a community, tell stories of growth and involvement, and trade ideas that strengthen our collective action.
If you are a GGs member, a community garden supporter, or a gardener yourself - join us on March 11th.
Dinner will be served. Free t-shirts. Free raffle of gift certificates and garden tools.
Admission is free - please RSVP.

RSVP here

3. Chicken Article

Chicken farming in NYC—indoors?!

4. Unassigned tasks
We have lots of ideas but not quite enough people to enact them! If you are interested in getting involved in one of the following projects, please let me know:
--Screening of King Corn, possibly with CoreFoods
--Volunteer farm trip, with Tzedek Va’ad
--Tabling April 11th or 13th at the pre-frosh activities fair, 12:30pm-3pm.

First Draft of Mission Statement for Garden

Living in the dense urban environment of Manhattan, Columbia students are particularly disconnected from the natural environment and the processes that bring food to our tables. The Columbia Food Sustainability Project proposes to reconnect students with the soil by creating a garden on campus. Many of our peer universities, including Brown, Stanford, and Yale, have established successful student-run campus gardens which provide their dining services with delicious seasonal fruit and vegetables. The timing is perfect for Columbia University to follow suit by tapping into broad student and faculty interest in health and sustainability.

A garden will provide a much-needed space for students to gather and work with their hands, to balance out as well as apply the academic learning that takes place in the surrounding buildings. In addition to promoting physical activity, a campus garden will raise awareness of healthy eating habits and the importance of sustainable local produce. In the garden students will collaborate to grow fruit and vegetables for their own consumption, and to sell to campus dining services and perhaps at the farmer’s market.

Finally, by becoming intimately involved in preparing the soil, planting the seeds and growing their own produce, students will better appreciate the processes of food production. This project will be part of a broader program of educating our campus about the importance of local and sustainable agriculture. Students who are interested in the issues raised by the campus garden will have the opportunity to become involved in our organization through farm visits, panels, and the integration of more local food into campus eateries and students’ diets.

Please share your comments!!!!

NY Times Op-Ed & Garden Talk

Read this great NY Times op-ed by a Midwestern vegetable farmer on how government rules and subsidies prevent the development of small farms.

Also, mark your calendars for this community garden dicussion ON CAMPUS this week:

On Wednesday, March 5th at 7pm, join Greenhouse for dinner and discussion about community gardens in New York City. Community gardens in the city do more than provide green space: they are a focal point around which community members unite, and play key roles in the struggle against gentrification and environmental racism. In East Harlem alone, there are currently over 21 community gardens in danger of being bulldozed for development. Come to learn about the history of the community garden movement and the role that these gardens play in city justice. Joining us will be Aresh Javadi of More Gardens!, a local coalition that fights to preserve existing community gardens and to create new greenspace in New York City. More Gardens! also runs summer programs for youth in the Bronx and works with public schools to develop environmental curriculum and school gardens. Anthony Bowman is president of the Nueva Esperanza Community Garden, a decades-old East Harlem community garden that was sold to private developers and taken over last year. The event will be in 628 Kent. Save the date, time and also some room in your stomachs!

Don't forget--WWOOF panel at 8pm tonight in Lerner (see prior post) and FSP meeting at 9pm in Math 520. See you there!