Blog with a special focus on Digital Divide, the Politics of Food, and Community Media in the Kansas City area.
Harvesters Food Bank Connects On Urban Farm Tour
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Noreen's Harvesters crew (left to right): Carlos, Maegan,
James, Josh, Noreen, Doug, and Matt
Harvesters employees took time out of their workday to learn about cooperative urban farms on Kansas City's east side. A light rain fell as Sasteh Mosley started the tour Wednesday, September 22 on the drive to the "Garden of Eden" farm just north of 27th and Prospect Avenue. Frequently we miss out on learning about alternative ventures like the farms on the tour because of our busy schedule working in the warehouse and offices at Harvesters. Today we got a good breakdown of the variety of urban farms on the tour.
I'm amazed at all the connections Mosley's group East Meets West of Troost bringing youth to jobs on the urban farms, meeting with neighborhood associations, engaging government agencies, as well as larger nonprofits with organizational depth and funding.
Mosley reflects on his family's connection and legacy to the neighborhood, adding that he still works as a US Navy veteran with the nearby American Legion post. "We don't have a bar; we've got a garden," suggesting the extent his community efforts have reached.
Sasteh Mosley (left) describes Sunflower seed plants to
James Worley and Noreen Zahner.
During a stop at the City Fresh farm operated by the Washington-Wheatley neighborhood association, Mosley talked about how East Meets West is working with at-risk youth, and he answered questions from the Harvesters workers. The low-income, well-established neighborhood association farm is organized such that multiple garden plots are established in the 120 foot by 120 foot space. Mosley shared how neighbors on the block look out for each other, preventing damage or theft in the garden. He joked how people might criticize someone for taking a melon before it was ripe, but suggesting that women in the 50's were more likely to take vegetables because they know the proper time to harvest.
Most importantly, Mosley pointed out that people and organizations developing the urban farms are much better served by being close to the neighbors and farms. Sasteh Mosley is not only a champion of the economic potential from farms for Eastsiders, but makes a deeply human connection between his neighbors and recovering the land where they reside.
Community media outlets like KKFI 90.1 FM in Kansas City have thrived for decades, maintaining a well-established broadcast model: high-quality studio sound broadcast to a wide geographic area serving the "community." Non-profit community radio station like KKFI, along with college radio and small commercial radio stations keep costs low by renting small studios and operating with few paid employees. These stations attract small audiences but differentiate themselves by focusing on community issues, music and culture. This focus is what defines community media, along with -- in the case of community radio -- maintaining cooperative ownership, not corporate ownership. Community radio operators always knew that "community" was more than a geographic region; it was the various cultural, ethnic, social and artistic communities for which locally-produced radio shows target. KKFI has local radio shows by or directed to African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and immigrant
During a workshop at a food bank conference held October 3-5, 2011 in Chicago, David Lee, Director of Government Relations and Advocacy with Feeding America , acknowledged a “perfect storm” is brewing that could have a devastating impact on poor and working families. He was referring to the combination of continued, high unemployment, a significant increase in the need for food assistance, and proposed cuts in Federal support for food assistance programs. David Lee (photo: Feeding America) The proposed cuts to TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) in the agriculture appropriations bill for FY2012, which starts October 1, represent a 43% reduction from the previous year. “This is terrifying stuff,” mentioned Lee . The proposed House of Representatives version of the 2012 Farm Bill “slashed nutrition” by 20%, he said, adding that this includes a “terrible, terrible cut to WIC,” the popular program available to lower-income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and child
Finally! The city of Lee's Summit, Missouri took a responsible approach to trash service by replacing an all-you-can-dump-with-no-free-recycling-option to a "volume-based" approach similar to the successful service used in Kansas City, Missouri. After the service is changed, then those residents who have paid $2.50 per month to trash companies like Deffenbaugh can rely on the new service for free recycling, plus get the satisfaction that waste will be reduced and recycling increased. ...the City Council directed city staff to issue the state-required two-year notice to all solid waste haulers providing services in the City that the City is considering implementation of a comprehensive, citywide, solid waste program. The program currently proposed by city staff includes volume-based pricing for residential trash service with unlimited, curbside recycling at no additional fee . Under this proposed program, residents would only pay for the amount of trash they discard ;
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