Happy New Year from all of us at DC Field to Fork! As we ring in 2011, we are celebrating DC Honeybees, the newest member of DC Field to Fork.
DC Honeybees are dedicated to the growth of beekeeping and bee colonies in our urban environment. Our hives are based in the District of Columbia and benefit from the long and diverse growing season here to build strong and productive honeybee colonies. In the United States the honeybee population has been severely reduced due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Although not completely understood, CCD is suspected to be caused by a variety of parasites and diseases that have become resistant to chemical treatments used by commercial bee growers. For additional information on CCD,watch this story done by 60 Minutes.
DC Honeybees works with boutique bee breeders from around the country that focus upon hardy strains of bees that are naturally resistant to many of the maladies that have historically required chemical treatment. The hope is that we can help propagate hardy bee colonies using natural methods.
You can follow the progress DC Honeybees is making here and learn about sponsoring a colony on your roof here!
Check out this new video about the legal questions surrounding the evolution of urban agriculture. If you know the answers to some of the questions they raise, then you can share your knowledge through the Sustainable Economies Law Center. Based in Oakland, California, they are developing a wiki-based resource library about legal issues surrounding urban food growing. They are looking for people to contribute to their library. Contact them if you can help out!
Head out to the Green Festival this weekend to learn about sustainable solutions that you can apply to your everyday life. There will be 125 speakers over the course of the weekend as well as workshops, yoga classes, green films, and live music. You can also sample organic beers and wines, fair trade coffee and chocolate, and check out more than 350 eco-friendly businesses. The event will be at the Convention Center on Saturday from 10AM – 7PM and Sunday 11AM – 6PM. Tickets are $15. There are discounts for students, seniors, cyclists, and public transit riders. Volunteers get in for free!
Hey Urban Gardening Enthusiasts! Do you remember your first garden? Beet Street is going to bring first gardens to four organizations working with marginalized communities–a shelter for homeless teen mothers, a domestic violence shelter, a harm reduction organization working with sex workers, and (if funding allows) a shelter working to end homelessness for people living with psychiatric disabilities.
Our Inspiration: Beet Street is inspired by the model of many a community garden: get a community together and build a garden—a safe, healthy and transformative space–with a focus on learning (skills, sustainability, food science, and nutrition) and growing (soil, food, urban sanctuary, identity, community, economic opportunity). With this model, many community gardens in low-income neighborhoods are addressing very real economic and social divisions that are often associated with limited access to nutritious food, safe outdoor space, and recreational and skill-building opportunities.
Expanding Community: Among the hardest to reach people and families are those dealing with crises such as homelessness, domestic violence, drug use, and poverty. For many, there are several barriers to participating in existing community gardens. Perhaps most important to witness is the barrier of real and perceived discrimination and stigma while engaging in an unknown community space.
Taking it to the (Beet) Street: Beet Street Gardens will strive to address these barriers by building gardens on-site at social service organizations that are already known as a safe space for their participants. From March to October of 2010, Beet Street demonstration project will plant, maintain, and harvest—through teaching and collaboration—sustainable food-producing gardens at three organizations in DC. Workshops and information sharing sessions will be facilitated on the topics of gardening, food, health, nutrition, and cooking. The organizations–a harm reduction agency working with sex workers (HIPS, yay!), a shelter for homeless teen mothers, and a harm reduction based domestic violence shelter–were chosen based on need, their reputation with marginalized communities and commitment to harm reduction principles.
Goals: In this demonstration phase, the goal of Beet Street is simply to cultivate community and improve quality of life through gardening and information sharing. As these gardens and our relationship with organizations and individuals take root, we will expand services with the vision of providing economic opportunities and job training. The program will build bridges to the larger urban gardening community and green economy in a constant pursuit of positive change.
We are raising funds on Kickstarter and have raised our minimum goal of $5,500. Yay!! This goal was set when we were planning three gardens. Additional funding will help us bring a garden to this fourth organization and help to increase the capacity of all our gardens. Also, the more funding we receive, the more we will be able to pursue entrepreneurial activities to move people and the future of the organization toward self-sustainability!!
