G8 Promises Farm Aid to Make African Countries More Self-Sufficient

In a marked shift, the U.S. and other G8 nations are promising aid to promote local agriculture in food-insecure countries instead of supplying them with surplus commodities from the farms of developed nations (largely the U.S.):

"Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade told Reuters that Barack Obama, who will make his first visit to Africa as U.S. president after the G8, brought a welcome new focus on African farming.

Wade, who has championed efforts to increase agriculture in his West African country, which relies heavily on food imports, said Obama "really has the will to focus on food in Africa."

"The United States produces maize and some crops and sends it to people in famine, but the new conception is to produce these crops in Africa and not in the United States," Wade said."

Garden Updates!

If you haven't been by the garden recently, check it out! It is looking great - there is an abundance of lettuce, peas, radishes and even some raspberries! The herb garden is thriving and there are beautiful sunflowers. We have a great group of volunteers this summer who have been working hard. Right now we have a couple projects going on... first we are working on weeding and creating better paths on our newest plot (the north-east plot). Next, we are starting up the compost again. So please bring your compostable items to the first metal bin as you walk back in the west plot. Make sure to turn the compost. Please click here to check out what can and cannot go in the bin.

WORK DAY TOMORROW - TUESDAY, JULY 7th, 6:30pm
We are hosting a workday July 7th at 6:30pm for some early evening gardening. We will be continuing to weed and clean up the north-east plot. Hopefully we will also get some more mulch on the paths. Please come by and help out!
--If you would like to receive more frequent updates about summer workdays please email Kristina at ksg2116@columbia.edu--

If you are interested in working with kids at the Grant Houses this summer please email Becky at rmd2154@columbia.edu and check out: http://grantgarden.blogspot.com She is working on creating a colaborative summer cirriculum about gardening + farming.

Have a great summer!