Events

BFC Action Alerts Weekly Digest

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Paula our BFC Policy ambassador sends us the weeks action alerts

No Farms No Food Rally Wednesday
Nofarmsnofood

If you haven’t already, register today for the No Farms No Food Rally and Lobby Day in Albany happening Wednesday!

Bus transportation round-trip from New York City to Albany will be available. Bus departs Union Square at 7 a.m. and returns to Manhattan by 7:30 or 8 p.m. Lunch will be provided.

Register at NewYork.Farmland.org
Budget Cuts Hitting Gardens and Conservation Programs

Proposed federal budget cuts threaten the GreenThumb program and its support of New York City’s Community Gardens!

Right now, Congress has proposed cuts to eliminate funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for the remainder of 2011, and a nearly two-thirds reduction to future CDBG funds. GreenThumb receives 100% of its funding through CDBG and could be eliminated or have its overall budget severely cut if HR1 is passed.

Contact your Representatives in the House and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand on behalf of NYC’s community gardens! Be sure to mention that GreenThumb is an important CDBG funded program, important to your garden and your community.

But wait, there’s more!

Don’t let the Administration gut innovative programs that reward farmers for environmental stewardship and protect fragile wetlands while leaving unscathed the $5 billion dollar a year that is spent on production subsidies in the form of direct payments – payments that go to farmers and landowners without regard to need or even crop price levels.

Tell U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to stand up for the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program. If cuts are to be made then everything has to be on the table –a budget package that singles out conservation is shortsighted and unfair.
Join Millions Against Monsanto
Rally-poster

Love how Europeans have effectively fought against genetically modified foods? Millions against Monsanto is taking a similar approach, targeting both government and food retailers with a grassroots message: Label GMO Foods.

Join them online and sign the petition. They are planning a day of action in NYC on World Food Day in October.
Rally & Lobby Day To Stop Unsafe Gas Drilling

Join us again in Albany for a larger Rally & Lobby Day to stop unsafe gas drilling.

The rally will start on the Capital Lawn at 10:30 AM and be followed by visits with legislators throughout the afternoon. This is the day to get you and everyone you can to Albany and show with sheer numbers and diversity that all of New York; upstate, downstate, environmentalist, capitalist, scientist, mother, farmer, father, teacher, and student do not want this pushed ahead at the expense of our communities, our health, our water and our air!!!!

Register for the lobby day at http://www.citizenscampaign.org/hfrac. For a bus from Brooklyn contact Eric Weltman from Food & Water Watch at (718) 943-9085 or eweltman@fwwatch.org.

Policy Action Alerts from the BFC

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Support the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act

City Council Speaker Quinn will be holding a hearing in April for the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, Int. 0251-2010. Fighting for food justice includes fighting for food workers, which is why we think this legislation is so important.

Please show your support by calling Speaker Quinn with the message below at (212) 788-7210 or email speakerquinn@council.nyc.ny.us using the subject line “Support for hearing for the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act.” Include your zip code!

Dear Speaker Quinn,

I call [or write] you today as a member of the Brooklyn Food Coalition to thank you for your commitment to holding a hearing for the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, Int 0251-2010.

Too often, jobs created with public subsidies pay poverty wages with no benefits. And many, if not most, of those jobs are in the food system. The median hourly wages of restaurant workers in New York is less then $9 an hour and close to 90% have no health insurance provided by their employers. It’s time for the city to stop subsidizing corporations who in turn refuse to pay their workers a
living wage. This results in larger profits for the corporations while the workers must turn to public assistance to just get by, resulting in a double subsidy costing the city even more money. Economic
development must be encouraged but not to the detriment of the very workers it’s intended to help.

We look forward to the upcoming hearing.

Click to email individual Council people.

If you can, please also attend this rally:

Brooklyn Mass Meeting for Living Wages
Date: April 4, 2011
Time: 06:00pm
Location: Bethel Baptist Church
265 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11217

No Farms No Food Rally March 30

Please join Brooklyn Food Coalition, farmers, food advocates, local officials, environmentalists, and others who care about farms and food to lobby New York State legislators at the Capitol. Urge your representatives to support funding and legislation that:

  • Protects farmland for future generations
  • Increases consumer access to nutritious foods grown in New York
  • Helps farmers protect water and the environment
  • Strengthens New York’s farm and food economy

American Farmland Trust will provide transportation and are promising a delicious farm-fresh lunch! Sign up today and see you there.

Help Save Our Bees

Nearly a third of all honeybee colonies in North America are dying every year. ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ is a major contributor to these deaths, and while there is still no scientific consensus as to the cause, keeping pollinators healthy is crucial for the health of our environment and the future of our food.

Honeybees pollinate many of the foods we eat – from apples to chestnuts to raspberries and squash. That’s why I’m asking you today to join Slow Food USA’s campaign to save the bees, and our food chain.

Tell the White House: Put the Breaks on GM Seeds

In the space of just two weeks the USDA has deregulated genetically modified (GM) seeds for beets, alfalfa, and corn produced for ethanol. President Obama needs to hear how YOU feel about GM seeds; his administration is under the impression that supporting Monsanto will make them appear business-friendly even though GM seeds could destroy small family farms, especially organic farms.

Action: Please contact the White House (via Food & Water Watch) or call the White House at (202) 456-1111 to tell them you oppose GM seed deregulation.

Say No to Frankenfish

Genetically engineered salmon is on track to be the first GE animal approved for human consumption. It’s time to stop this Frankenfish for good by passing a bill to ban GE salmon in the U.S.

The FDA is trying to approve GE salmon as a new animal drug, but the truth is, U.S. food agencies don’t have a way to fully evaluate the impacts of GE salmon on human health or the environment. Last fall, we delivered over 90,000 comments from our supporters opposing the approval of GE salmon and so far, the FDA hasn’t approved it.

Please ask Senators Gillibrand and Schumer to co-sponsor the bill (S. 230) to ban GE salmon.

Senator Charles Schumer: (202) 224-6542 or (212) 486-4430
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: (202) 224-4451 or (212) 688-6262

Spring Kick-Off: Our First Volunteer Days!!

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Prospect Farm invites you to the
2011 Spring Kick-Off March 26th, 27th + April 2nd

Volunteer, learn, sign up to grow or be a member in 2011. Spring Cleaning includes: trench composting, turning soil, preparing a new composting site, planting ornamentals, and more.

Three Days
Saturday March 26th, Sunday March 27th & Saturday April 2nd
10 Am – 3 PM (Sunday will probably be a shorter day) at Prospect Farm
1194 Prospect Avenue btw Seeley and Vanderbilt St, Brooklyn
F / G train to Ft Hamilton Station
Bring drinking water, gloves and a shovel if you have one. Children must be supervised by an adult.

Email Questions: prospectfarmbk@gmail.com

Event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=173476679371820#

Upcoming End of March Events

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SpringKickOff_2011_03FT

March 19th – Volunteer to build a compost bins at Sustainable Flatbush’s Church Avenue Communal Garden, East 21st Street at Kenmore Terrace, 11 am – 3 pm. Details here.

March 25th – “Is Local Agriculture Good for the Environment: The Hidden Costs of Food in New York City” event at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street. 6:30 pm, $6 museum members; $8 seniors and students; $12 non-members. Reservations required. Details here.

March 26th – Spring Kick-Off volunteer/learning day at Prospect Farm. 10am – 3 pm. Bring work gloves, water, and a shovel if you have one. Children must be accompanied an adults.

April 2nd – Second Spring Kick-Off volunteer/learning day at Prospect Farm. 10am – 3 pm. Bring work gloves, water, and a shovel if you have one. Children must be accompanied an adults.

Making Brooklyn Bloom free at BBG this Saturday March 12th

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This year’s Making Brooklyn Bloom focuses on the ways gardening can build communities and strengthen relationships among neighbors, schools, service organizations, and beyond. The free event features fifteen workshops—covering topics in urban sustainable horticulture including rooftop farming, citizen science, and caring for street trees—all presented by community leaders in urban greening, members of BBG’s horticulture staff, or experts from other environmental organizations in New York City. First Annual Wilbur A. Levin Keynote Address with workshops all day. Free.

Saturday, March 12 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
Details: http://www.bbg.org/visit/event/mbb_2011/

Dirt Talk Two: Garden Design

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Prospect Farm and Sustainable Flatbush are proud to present Brooklyn Dirt: Monthly Talks on Urban Farming and Gardening.

Talk Two: Garden Design
With Speakers Tom Angotti with Jesse Alter (Hunter ) and Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener)

March 16th, 2011
7 – 9:30 pm
Downstairs @ Sycamore Bar and Flowershop, 21+
1118 Cortelyou RD, BK (Q train to Cortelyou)
$5 suggested donation (proceeds benefit Sustainable Flatbush & Prospect Farm)

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Tom Angotti and Jesse Alter led a group to Cuba in January that studied urban agriculture and organic farming. Tom teaches urban planning at Hunter College and helped start Prospect Farm in Brooklyn. Jesse is a graduate student at Hunter and works at the Center for Cuban Studies in New York.

Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener) is a garden coach with more than 30 years gardening experience in NYC. Chris is also the Director of the Urban Gardens and Farms initiative of Sustainable Flatbush and a community member of the Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities advisory board, a project of the Cornell Waste Management Institute.

http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in their Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.
http://sustainableflatbush.org/

Prospect Farm is a community group in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn that is working together to grow food in a formerly vacant lot, with the mission toward creating a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm that can serve our community. Prospect Farm is the community leader for the Kensington/Windsor Terrace neighborhood group for the Brooklyn Food Coalition.

Help Kensington’s New Youth-Led Farmer’s Market

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The Brooklyn Food Coalition was asked by City Council Member Brad Lander to gather a group of people who would be willing to take turns assisting a youth-led farmers market on Ft. Hamilton Pkwy and E. 4th Street.

The market would run on Saturdays from 11-3. If you have any interest in learning more and/or have suggestions for faith orgs, CSA’s or other groups that might be interested in learning more, please contact Nancy Romer: nancyromer(at)gmail.com. Many thanks.

Note: This market is not being organized by Prospect Farm. Prospect Farm is helping to spread the word.

Greening Flatbush Feb 27th

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Greening Flatbush: Garden Where You Are presented by Sustainable Flatbush

A fun-filled & information-packed afternoon. Meet your neighbors and get your hands dirty. Come out for demonstrations and hands-on workshops on a variety of gardening and urban agriculture topics, including:

* gardening for kids
* starting seedlings
* growing mushrooms in your apartment
* DIY soda bottle planters
* composting with worms indoors
* how to join theFlatbush Farm Share CSA
* how to care for street trees… and much more!

There will be an information table featuring sustainability education opportunities specifically for youth. Snacks and coffee will be available. Bring your own mug (BYOM)!

WHEN:
Sunday, February 27th, 2-5pm
WHERE: Flatbush YMCA
1401 Flatbush Avenue (at Rogers Avenue)
Brooklyn, NY  11210