Communtiy Food Lab x Enloe Food Ark (Book Creation!)

July 22nd, 2014, brought a new collaboration for The Food Ark (my club at Enloe) with the Community Food Lab. The purpose of such a meeting/workshop was to gather thoughts and ideas about a new booklet that the company is publishing soon in their Open Food Booklet Series. Before we get into the details, I would just like to thank everyone who was involved in this collaboration, from start to finish, for creating and providing us this opportunity to come out and share our ideas. Hopefully, being students and parents, we were able to help The Community Food Lab drive their content in the favored and imminent direction of success with sharing our perspectives. I believe that attacking the problem tactfully will benefit everyone in the long-run, and I hope every single participant was able to help give beneficial insight.

Now... excuse me, Ching? What problem are we attacking here?

The answer to that question is: the profligacy of unhealthy foods in schools.

And the simple solution to the problem is.... well... there isn't one; for "The road is not paved" (phrase that came up in a previous meeting with the Community Food Lab and Mr. Small).

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Following my friend and fellow Food Ark adherent, Celia, I stepped through the entrance of the door and into the creative compound (as described in article 1, and 2) where the Community Food Lab lives and grows. Already, I see that two of my other Food Ark members, Sabrina and Daniel, are here chatting and laughing with the others who were there. I sighed in relief and shock, both of which quickly subsided; who am I to think that Sabrina and Daniel, of all people, would be apprehensive about mingling? As soon as I greeted Mr. Maurice Small, Mr. Erin White, Ms. Laura Miller, and the others who were already there, including Ms. Jamison and her son (I will publish a post about <-- very very soon!), the last member, Justin, of that night's group representing my club entered. Another sigh of relief. FYI, this is the second official "Event" that my club has participated in - the first was the cucumber gleaning - so I was still getting the hang of how to actually go about opening up the "Food" community. One step at a time!

That is exactly what Erin did with the workshop. After everyone had arrived, we walked over to the meeting area and each person occupied a comfy little chair. Erin introduced himself, what grade he was going into (his response was very clever: "I sometimes feel super knowledgeable like a graduate student, but other times, I feel like I'm still trying to figure it out, like I'm in kindergarten."), and his favorite fruit (mango; about 4 people said that their favorite fruit was mango). Everyone followed his lead, revealing deep and dark secrets. Of course my father was the one to innovate by misunderstanding "fruit" for "food" so he said that he used to love fanta and twinkies, but after being enlightened with healthy food, he now loves freshly baked bread and watermelon. His response was what the whole booklet is supposed to be about: how to show people that unhealthy foods are bad and healthy foods are the right way to go (in all different aspects from physical benefits to financial benefits) and how to make sure those people stay on the healthy train for the long-run.

The students hard at work!

We were given these long sheets of paper after our introduction and we were asked to write down where we can find "food" in terms of learning about food and health, to where "food" should be. I wrote down everything from textbooks, to posters, and from school gardens to trashcans. Textbooks because students, the next generation, should know how to eat and what to eat to live a successful and healthy life. Posters because if textbooks fail to attract the eye of a busy and/or lazy student, posters are concise and appealing enough to give that student a lesson within 10 seconds of looking at it. School gardens because I know people who believe that cucumbers are not grown but made and that, my friend, needs to be changed; and what better way of doing it than to let everyone experience the cycle of food first-hand? Trashcans because everywhere ranging from school cafeterias to home kitchens, perfectly edible and good food is wasted. That food can go to feed those who do not have the luxury of throwing away our precious resources (That should be everyone because everyone should be aware of the fact that wasting anything will come back to "haunt" them in all sorts of ways - economically, physically, environmentally. It is, on a rudimentary level, karma.). We were then asked to partner with the person sitting next to us to go over what each other has - comparing and contrasting. I was surprised that I forgot all about where we actually BUY the food that fuels our bodily mechanisms! Supermarkets, farmer's markets, convenience stores! What they have and how they place their food influences the buyer! Erin brought up the good point that that is why most stores stack their checkout counters with the junkiest things out there. Convenience + tastefulness. What more do people want??

Parents engaging in activities

Students hard at work 2.0

Pictured: Celia, Daniel, Justin (me in the background ;))

Collaboration!

Collaboration 2.0

Collaboration 3.0

What do we have??

Connecting all the food-related places to one another!

After the short exercise, it was time for sharing. The students automatically went to the idiosyncrasies of cafeteria food: how bad it is for your health, how easily accessible it is, how processed it is, how weird it tastes (3 notes: salty, sweet or oily), etc. They also brought up the need for schools to implement organic foods, no GMOs, and health classes that actually enforce health rather than have you blindly memorize boring facts for tests, as well as school gardens. The adults, on the other hand, focused more on healthy foods vs. unhealthy foods and how to get everyone to switch from a soda a meal to fruits and veggies three times a day. All in all, we must all remember that each and every person has their own perspectives that are shaped from their own experiences and backgrounds.

Giving our inputs on the booklet so far

Sabrina trying to explain why the character has a head of broccoli for his/her nose (it was amusing)

Just a bit of what we came up with in terms of our perspectives

I won't go into too much detail about the booklet, because it comes out soon (early fall!) however, I will tell you what it is aimed to do.

We have seen in everywhere from reality to movies that people have this weakness when it comes to junk food. How can we, as people who believe that healthy food should be more highly prioritized, "convert" others to adopt the ways of the future? Well, we cannot, because the decision of conversion is ultimately up to that person. But what we can do is to try to persuade them using sturdy facts supporting that converting to a healthier lifestyle permanently benefits THEM in every aspect of life: physicality, mentality, financially, socially, etc. The booklet will appeal to people of all ages and will be a game-changer if put into the hands of the administration. This way, students and parents can see the merit of living healthily in school and at home. Let's change the game.

Longview High School's Horticulture Program

It was that time of year, when time was catching up with the speed of the full bloom of fruits in all aspects from food to schools. Students world-wide were getting cases of "senioritis", the lack of motivation to perform with vigor in school, final exams were in their braking distance (alluding to driving because I just finished Driver's Ed), and of course, the fruits on our trees and the vegetables in our gardens were in full ripeness. Longview High School had the perfect gallery of such beauty; too bad Enloe doesn't have one...yet.

The man behind the horticulture program is Mr. Patrick Faulkner. Through a decade of research and trial and error, he has gotten Longview's garden to look like this:

The classroom was filled with a bunch of neat tools. In the far right, you can see a big machine that is used to grow the plants and prepare them for outside conditions (like plant daycare!).

Whoops, that isn't a garden, it's Mr. Faulkner's classroom. This is where the preparation for magic happens. We started out tour here.

Longview is an alternative high school, a program that is essential, that basically, provides students with the "second chance" that they deserve. What stood out to me first when meeting Mr. Faulkner was his perpetual passion for his teaching, the students, and horticulture. He said that through his class, students were able to get "down to earth" and really connect with a part of them that they never knew was there. Some of his former students went on to attend colleges and some even went to create and run their own businesses with the skills they learned from his horticulture classes and teachings. That's quite amazing, especially due to the fact that these students, who once needed correction, overcame their situations and succeeded! Now that, I call, is pure dedication and perseverance. Think about how the world would be if everyone could do that: step back and analyze the situation at hand and then change it to suit their aspirations and their potential. Unfortunately, I believe that the only thing stopping anyone from achieving their dreams is their ignorance - not knowing their own potential.

Pictured: Mr. Faulkner tending his plants!

 We walked outside, passing huge piles of soil and mulch to reach this lovely greenhouse.

 

Mr. Faulkner showed us around the greenhouse, which was absolutely beautiful!

The tilapia feeds the plants and the plants feed the tilapia.

I have never seen this technique, aqua-tonics, done before. I have known of the science behind it, the about 20 tilapia in the bottom tank producing waste that is then circulated to the plants above as fertilizer, but have never seen it done so fluently before! The plants, that I believe consists of mint and other herbs, flourish under these conditions, as you can tell.

 These plants, that the class grows, are soon going to go out for sale in yard sales. Perfect way for anyone to get a feel of the business-side of gardening.

This is a composting technique that uses mushroom grains.

Around the other side of the greenhouse starts the outdoor gardening space.

Scarecrow!

 I've never thought of using marigolds and flower beds around the garden to ward off predators by producing flowers that attract bees... Thanks Mr. Faulkner for the tips!

Raised beds really aid the plants to grow healthily.

Plant a Row for the Hungry is a program that IFFS does. Longview has turned into an outreach hotspot for local organizations!

Veggies for days

Communication is key! Look how much space they have and look at how well they utilize the sun and the space!

Strawberries + irrigation system

Strawberries get their own little space :)

When in doubt, grow vertically! Pictured: muscadines

Bond-fire place where the anyone can rest under the shade when tending the gardens. So clever.

Compost area!

Raised beds, again!

To top it off... the season's harvest!

It goes to say that passion and resources produce great results. Thank you, Mr. Faulkner, for showing us around your wonderful garden. Keep changing lives!

Community Food Lab

It's been a busy summer so far. I know you are like, "Whatttt? Summer? Busy? That doesn't make sense!" Well, it is the known truth. Anyway, I will not delay this post any longer.

The same day that I went to go talk to CompostNow's Justin, I also met with Community Food Lab's Erin. That was a very efficient day due to the fact that both of their headquarters shared the same creative environment/building. No wonder these two companies are making such an impact! They are neighbors and are supporting one another.

The talk with Erin, the master behind the Community Food Lab, started simply with defining the term "community garden". Community gardens = social connection + substance. Now the social connection comes into play when people help during times of disasters, or even just to "bring everyone up". The spectrum for the social connection is as vast as can be, like an infinite number line.

The Raleigh Food Corridor is a new food system that Erin is working on! It is the aimed at getting everyone involved. So think of this: you are taking a stroll downtown and then suddenly, the chef of a restaurant walks out of his restaurant and across the street to the urban garden to talk to the farmer and get fresh ingredients. Wouldn't that be super cool?

One of the most interesting things, and believe me that the whole conversation was extremely captivating, that Erin talked about is Community Food Lab's specialty in "design thinking". In his background, Erin was/is an architect and teaches at NC State when he is not handling the food system. The focus of the company is to engage in this design thinking (testing new ideas, working in ambiguous situations, etc) with local food systems to create healthier communities. Examples of projects that have been completed or are undergoing progress include the Morrisville farmers market on Main Street, the Durham food hub, and healthy corner stores (especially in the food desert of Wake County) The healthy corner stores are basically transformed convenient stores that sell healthier foods.

The newest edition in their book mini-series that they are working on! I was blessed to be gifted a copy! Thank you, Erin!

Now, the Lab doesn't just go out and change people's lives doing these projects, they also publish different books that focus on topics like community gardens, food distribution, etc. Their goal is to change the WHOLE system! And I believe that they can.

You can download a PDF form of this on their website!

Erin finished off the talk with expressing a very game-changing point-of-view: linking everyone together (organizations, stores, groups, companies, etc) so that all do not lose steam and all can support one another to create a better food system for our community.

CompostNOW

Some might say that there is too much buildup and residue at a cycle's last step. I believe that every cycle is unbalanced. Take the carbon cycle, for instance. Our autotrophs convert CO2 into O2, then through the respiration of almost every living organism, that O2 turns back into CO2. There probably was a happy balance in the system ages ago, but that balance is simply unprecedented in our times due to industrialization. The industrialization has been added to one side of the reaction, creating a lopsided equation (however, it wouldn't even be an equation anymore because the components on either side do not equal each other). Factors like these are the determining factors of whether cycles stay circular or whether cycles become increasingly partial, resulting in an ellipse or glob. But I am not here to talk about the amorphousness that our cycles have distorted into, rather I am here to emphasize on the solution and the need to direct our efforts, as a society, to correct this equation.  CompostNOW is here to do just that.

The home of CompostNow.

The immediate vibe given off by the building in which the CompostNOW headquarters are in is rustic and creative. Walking through the door, you could see a lounging area to your left, the workspace choc full of computers and notes in the back left corner, a meeting area separated by a wall to the right of the workspace, and tables and booths on your immediate right. It felt very eclectic but at the same time, motivational and inspirational.

We sat down with Justin Senkbeil in one of the booths to learn more about what his company does. First line that came out of his mouth was: "We deal with the last bit of the food cycle - putting the nutrients back into the soil." 50% of trash is organic but that can be reduced by adding a third container, next to your recycling and trash bins, dealing with composting. Now wouldn't that container become smelly? Well once a week, CompostNOW's team comes to your home/business/the like to pick up the container that is designed to keep the bugs out and the odor in (however you, yourself, can also play a role in the aroma for knowing the meats and protein tend to be more smelly than veggies).

Restaurant waste... :(

It's not only homes that need to hop on the bandwagon of composting, but restaurants too. Restaurants produce the most waste in terms of food. However, the toughest part of converting people, especially in a lagging community is the cultural aspect of it all. Look at San Fransisco, Seattle, Vancouver, etc. They all have laws that make composting mandatory for all people, homeowners to restaurants alike. We must all continue to strive for movement and change that result in benefits for all.

Ok, but why compost?

From this........

Think of a time when you hated eating a vegetable but the next time you tried that loathsome veggie, all of a sudden, it wasn't so bad anymore? Well, that change in heart was probably caused by more nutrients in the soil of which the "tastier" veggie came out of. So how could we increase the nutrients in our soil? There are a lot of options and methods but the 2 most salient of them all is either adding artificial-cancer-causing fertilizers or naturally composting with organics. Which option sounds better? Composting, of course. Now think of every time you plant a seed, in order to reap harvests, in the same soil you used the time before. In doing this, you deplete the soil of its nutrients more and more in every use. Composting produces healthier soil by giving back to the soil what it was deprived of when the food was grown there in the first place.

To this!!!

Win-win, eh?

Thank you Justin for informing us so much about what you do and what there is to be done!

The YMCA of the Triangle Youth Gardens

Everyone is hard at work.

Walking out onto the grass along the side of the road, the first thing that came to sight was a large burly man who was in blue. As we walked up the hill and peered around some more, I could see that many others were in the same royal blue uniform; some seemed to be of college-aged but most seemed to be very youthful and vibrant, passionate in their work. All of the counselors were accompanying a group of children who were engaging in hands-on projects. Some of the children were building long and wide, but not deep, wooden boxes (devoid of the top and bottom bases) that seemed to be used for sectioning off area for gardening and composting (raised beds), some were wheel-barrowing dirt and mulch, from mountainous piles, others were then scattering the delivered dirt/mulch in between and into the wooden “pseudo-boxes”. Although there were, of course, some kids who were playing around (they are all children!), however, the system in which they worked seemed to create a self-sustaining community with each person specializing in tasks and with the adults supervising and aiding.

Raised beds is the efficient way to garden. Mulch retains moisture, increasing the life of these plants.

This is the YMCA of the Triangle Youth Gardens, a program that Maurice, my mentor, is creating and expanding.

As you look around past the garden, however, you could see that you are standing in possibly the only “green” land in an eyesight’s radius. This garden is an urban garden. Urban gardens are extremely beneficial to all, for they raise the surrounding property values, they provide a sanctuary for those in need of an environment change, they allow for young-lings to engage in projects that are guaranteed to improve their characters, and of equal significance, they allow for everyone to learn more about the importance of this field and ever-growing industry all the while sparking inspiration and keeping everyone occupied with more favorable outlets than is the norm in urban areas. Urban gardens could only mean good.

Composting from banana peels and coffee curds! The only work involved in this process is done by the worms. Efficient, huh? The leaves are nature's insulator and moisture retainer. (All was learned from Maurice)

The garden was the backyard of a little home that had been renovated to become the YMCA house. Now, once you step into this building, you are filled with a home-y feeling. There are inspirational and motivational quotes on each wall that exude great vibes that every environment should have. In the kitchen, Maurice told us that the kids eat what they harvest, hence, they eat healthily which in return correctly stimulates their minds and bodies.

Yum. Growing food using compost as soil helps enhance flavor and nutrition. The kids love it!

This place really left an imprint on me and on my goals. How can we change the lives of those around us for the better? How can we, bring more fortunate than others, use our guaranteed comfort and tools to help those surrounding us, people and matter? I believe that all problems and issues stem from lack of awareness, lack of empathy, lack of reaction, and an unbalanced equation. Now, how can we mitigate the severity of those things?

Enloe's Food Pantry

One evening, in April of this year, when my family was gathered around the kitchen table eating our healthy Oriental-styled dinner, we received a phone call. Turns out, it was one of my school's principal's informative phone calls, aimed at engaging the parents of our school. To my surprise, Mr. Lyons, the principal, fervidly informed us that the IFFS has partnered with our school to create Enloe's Food Pantry. I was, in result, filled with emotions that span from excitement, admiration, jealousy, and confusion. At the time, the negative emotions that had came out of hearing such good news were caused by my own wanting to start a school food pantry. So within that ephemeral cloud of feeling as if I was stabbed in the gut all the while having my compass spinning out of control, I was lost. Lost and seeking direction. But as I began to push that evil selfishness out of my brain's cockpit, I began to realize that this was indeed extremely good news for my school, the community, and most importantly, the people that will be helped. This is when the admiration kicked in. I admired the actions that IFFS took to make this happen. And I especially admire their ability to find a growing problem and begin to fix it; as many people just find the problem but don't put in the effort to work out the solution for it, leaving the issue the way it was - exacerbating. I will revert to my last post, in which I said (more like asked) "Many people are already making their footprint, so how can we expand that footprint and utilize the infrastructure that they created for us through blood and sweat? That is the question." In that moment, I met a curved road (reference back to the last paragraph of my previous post on May 20th) but that bump had a much bigger opportunity for growth just around the corner. Using this method of thinking (the quote/question) I started brainstorming ways to improve the wonderful infrastructure. I knew that I wanted to learn much more about the system, but how could I contribute my own part? This is when I knew that I needed to start a club at my school. This is how the idea of The Food Ark (club version; not blog version) was born.

When I went back to school after Spring Break, the first thing I saw on the walls were posters advertising the Food Pantry's services. I was intrigued and even more enthusiastic about the Food Pantry because now I knew that more and more people are caring and acknowledging these omnipresent issues. This is the picture I took of the flyer. Currently, there are replicates in many classrooms and hallways, although, some disrespectful people tear them and other posters down.

You see, after taking this picture, I didn't know what to do next. But after meeting with my very passionate mentor, I gained inspiration, direction, and from that meeting, I knew what I had to do next. The very next day, I payed Student Services a visit during my lunch period. I have only gone to Student Services once or twice due to the fact that I do not have any classrooms in that building, so the first thing I noticed when I pulled open the heavy door was that the lady behind the reception desk was bilingual, English and Spanish, and was helping out some students. As I waited for my turn, I started observing my surroundings. SAT and AP books and flyers were lied down on the bookshelf that lined the underside of the wall of windows, which was right across from the door. There were several kids at the computers working (how I know? They were on Word, Powerpoint, etc), a couple were lunch-less, and only one had a perfunctory white Styrofoam tray on them. They were all quiet and reserved. The air was very silent save the Spanish that was being spoken by the receptionist and the students that she was aiding. There was a hallway that contained the rest of the counselor's offices and meeting rooms around the receptionist's desk. 

(Photo of Ms. Brandy Lyons - the amazing woman in charge of the Food Pantry at Enloe)

When it was my turn, I gently approached the receptionist but she was so amiable that talking seemed like a breeze with her, so I opened up my curiosity about the Food Pantry to her. She told me everything she knew about it from the counselor who manages it (whom I later meet and work with) with her heart and soul, to the different foods that are brought, to the types of people who are positively affected. I was excited. However, I sensed something was wrong, because human psychology has proven that people have pride and some, but not all, people are uncomfortable receiving much needed help. Then I asked her probably the most significant question within the conversation; I asked her how many people SHE thinks really need the service. She answered with one of her own experiences since helping out the Food Pantry.

"There was one girl, who came in to see me. I could tell she really needed it so I sat her down to talk to her about the program but she kept refusing. However, there was a hesitation within the girl's rejection. And in my gut, I knew she felt bad about her situation, as if she was embarrassed. There are so many more kids and families out there that are in the same position as she is in right now; they are in a tough place but need to realize that there are people who want to help. That is the hardest part, getting the people to come in. Some parents come in as well, and some people who don't have an affiliation with the school also come..."

We continued to talk and I continued to learn and pitch ideas. Near the end of our conversation, she let me leave a note for the counselor who is in charge of the Food Pantry about my interest in the service. I left feeling like the fog in my view lightened up a teeny bit because I gained more connections and I was one step closer, but at the same time, another wave of fog blocked my view even more because it occurred to me that I am just on the surface of a massive ball of complexity. Sigh. Oh well, one step at a time.

We all take necessities that become commodities for granted. We must be humble and use our own resources and comfort to bring others the same resources and comfort. For hope is light in everyone's eyes. One person could change the life of another and that affected person could change the life of another and so on and so forth. Let's make a ripple.

Photos found on IFFS website. Check out the article on the Enloe Food Pantry on the IFFS website!

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle

Google Images

It was 1/21/14. I've delayed my journey because of mid-terms, which is a lousy excuse.

To pick things up, my father and I drove to the local farmer's market in the RTP area to explore and just learn more about the already present system withholding our local farmers and fresh food. We entered into the fresh-produce section where individually licensed farmers and their workers were hard at work luring consumers over for the best round of the pot. Remember, this was my first time speaking, in person, on this project other than with the assistant principal. To say the least, I was at a loss of words and direction, the idea of talking to these strangers who would probably be hostile with information was nerve-wrecking to me. But you have to start somewhere, correct? I started with an amiable-looking man who was behind a counter choc full of apples that were arranged in groups in baskets and bags with his logo on them.

I remember the first question I asked him was,"Do you usually have any left over apples?" I got a confusing answer, so it took me 3-5 more times of rephrasing to get my question across. Started from the bottom.

After speaking briefly with most of the farmers, we stopped my a lady who was selling almost all the vegetables you could think of. Her stand was a whole corner of the market. We chatted for a while about how tough it was to be a farmer - the seasons were rough, the marginal price was tough to optimize before everything rotted, the consumers were picky, the waste was too much, etc - then we got on the subject of utilizing the foods that become "waste". She referred us to the office building in the plaza to learn more about the shuttle that came around everyday after selling time to pick up the scraps. The best places to glean would not be small farms because after talking to many of them, most, if not all said that they are extremely frugal with their food; if a head of lettuce were to go bad in a crate, they would use that to feed back to their pigs, cows, etc, or compost it.

We followed her lead and met with the coordinator of the shuttle. She advised us to maybe contact larger producers that link to large stores, such as farms that grow food for Walmart. She also referred us to IFFS (Inter-faith Food Shuttle). They are the ones who make the daily rounds to pick up leftovers. Found out that IFFS is very similar to Be Healthy Tulare, which is great, because that means that there are organizations and passionate people out there working on this cause.

We went to the IFFS headquarters immediately following and met a very amicable woman who was EXTREMELY passionate about what she does. She informed us about all the current programs that IFFS offers and is advocating. Down the hall from IFFS, there are other organizations that include Meals on Wheels, and Backpack Buddies. From talking to the wonderful lady, I gained 2 important contacts, of the two, one who would be my mentor in my project, Maurice Smalls. I value the concepts that they value; one in particular is teaching people how to sustain themselves. A quote that I heard floating around the building was "Give a man a fish. Teach the man to fish. Stock the pond for all."

IFFS

This experience taught me that roads are never straight, but rather, they are curvy, sharp, some take you back where you started, and some take you up and down hills, some lead to dead ends, and some lead to new roads that you can only see in a different light and perspective. We all need to learn as much as possible about the world around us, simultaneously, we need to not be discouraged when the road isn't straight (100% of the time). We can change the world. Many people are already making their footprint, so how can we expand that footprint and utilize the infrastructure that they created for us through blood and sweat? That is the question.