Boston Day 3- May 25, 2010 Revision Urban Farm

'It is a happy story of all things possible when lives are given the proper environment, sunlight, and time to grow.’- Revision Urban Farm

Since 1990, when a small plot was reclaimed in the heart of the city, revision House has given shelter and hope to pregnant and parenting homeless women –its Urban Farm growing an appreciation of the land and the bounty it can offer.

Today was the AB group’s first day in the field, on an urban farm. We arrived at reVision Urban Farm, eager and ready to get our hands dirty and dirty we got! Gray, the farm manager knew how to use the group efficiently. We worked steadily in the beaming Boston sun for three hours this morning, weeding, digging, shoveling, and transforming the space. In the end, we saw an acre of tilled city dirt, formed into 9 beautiful rows, ready to be planted. It is so wonderful to see the impact that a couple of hours and 14 volunteers can make!
In the past couple of years, it seems that urban agriculture is on the minds of many. It is a simple concept, to have local and fresh foods accessible in all communities, but somehow, our food system has become so hard to navigate that the concept is opaque. It is criminal that people are denied access to healthy, fresh food. I think by empowering others to learn about the issues, to develop a skill set for urban farming and by fostering community support, slowly but surely, word and action are taking hold. Organizations like reVision, work tirelessly to combat food security and food rights issues and I believe that they are on their way to having a real impact on the way food is grown and perceived in our communities.

Boston Blog- Lessley and Lindsey

This morning we embarked upon a quest across the city of Boston. The mission: to find food items, to talk to the local people, and to take some weird pictures. Our group was split into three factions, each with a different territory to scour, and ‘twas rather eventful. Our group, consisting of us (Lessley and Lindsey), Josh, and Christine, was due east on Boylston Street towards the Boston Common.

Over the three hour journey, we met a lot of friendly and welcoming lasses and lads, along with a few that left some qualities to be desired. We were instructed to find someone wearing a New York Yankees hat; unfortunately, while we did find a man sporting a Yankees cap, he was unwilling to have his picture taken. None of our pleading could change his mind, so we continued on our way.

Amongst today’s many interesting experiences, one that was most notable was our discussion with two women in a Borders Books café. We needed to find a list of organic and natural food items, such as chard and free-trade chocolate, but were not permitted to go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Therefore, we figured it was worth asking a local person for some advice or direction. Not only did we get some directions for a grocery store in Beacon Hill, but these two women gave memorable answers to our three questions:

1. Where did the ingredients from your last meal come from?

2. Where is the nearest farm?

3. If you could be any vegetable, which would you be?

They had trouble answering the first two questions, but for the third we received prompt answers: butternut squash (it’s voluptuous and delicious) and rutabaga (has a sweet name). This exercise taught us that while some people know where their food comes from, most do not. Some credited a market, a deli, an elusive “farm”, Chile, pigs, or any number of vague answers, the bottom line is that the American food system leaves people in the dark about the origins of their meals.

In the afternoon, we had the privilege of visiting Green City Growers, a small company that specializes in raised beds and related urban agriculture. Jessie, one of the owners, gave a tour of their operations, materials, and methods. What was most interesting is that this business is just that: a business. It is very different from the nonprofit and collective urban agriculture operations within the city, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Their business targets middle to upper-middle class individuals who are interested in growing their own food as well as able to afford such services. Because GCG is only two years old, they still have room for improvements in sustainable operations, for example use of local compost. Currently, compost is shipped from Vermont, rather than formed on –site. The difficulty of the land acquisition process obviously makes such things all the more difficult, but we found GCG to be a step in the right direction.

For dinner, Ayesha, Jesse, and Ekpa fixed a marvelous meal. Breakfast for dinner was given a whole new heavenly meaning… roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary, whole wheat French toast, eggs with onions and peppers, and soy sausage (soysage?).

We have nothing else to say. Good day.

I definately love food and can't stand bombs

Hello to the Maryland community and all other members of the non-Maryland community. I'm Ekpa Eyoma and I am currently a sophomore at the University Of Maryland and I am writing to you from the lovely city of Boston, Massachusetts. Fourteen other Maryland students and I are embarking on a Summer Alternative Break program that has a main theme of Urban agriculture and it's close relation and ties on how it's intertwined with hunger and homelesness. Our first cause of action this trip was to volunteer at the 30th annual celebration of 'Food not Bombs' festival that was held in the beautiful Boston Common park (yes guys i did think of south campus commons when I first heard it too).
This is an organisation that was founded thirty years ago come tommorrow, and it's sole mission which is to re-direct the pressing issues that the United States face, even though this organisation was founded unconventionally (through civil disobedienece by protesting a nuclear power plant actions thirty years back) it's main purpose as of this fesival and the last three decades has been that of ending the wasteful ways the U.S.A has been using it's resources and ignoring the pressing issue which is the lack of food available to many Americans, spending less money on wars, weapons and directing the funding to feeding those in need should be the priority.
The festival was a fun filled, enlightning, and humbling experience. There was live empowering music, free bazar shop that had clothes and books, free tasty vegan food, information booths on varios economics factors such as farm animals welfare, vegetarian guide stands, etc., and workshops that touched on various topics from Urban agriculture, Capitalism and how it affects our food production and consumption, how to grow your own food, and the most important theme of the day a fish bowl converstion on homlessenss. This dialouge was the most inspiring experience I had during the event thus far, getting the chance to interact and speak to some of the homeless people in Boston, to put a face to the vauge idea and image we all have of the homeless, to hear their first hand stories and realise that 4 out of the 10 homeless people are college educated, graduated and intellectual people, was a humbling perception change. To think that having a college degree is not the be all end all to avoiding the plight and future of being homeless was a good wake up call. I sadly came into this festival with a pre-concieved notion of the homeless and left completely aware that not all homelessness issues are "self-inflicted". It was saddening to hear how little the govenment and system care about this growing situation and is doing even less to help stop and provide assistance to the homeless.
All I can think right now is how grateful that i was given the oppurtunity to get out of my comfort zone, to interact with people shuned and ignored by society, to re-evalute my ideas and beliefs, and to be able to question the government that says to care only about your best interest but it's actions prove otherwise. I am excited to see what else this trip has in store for me, but it's safe to say we are off to a great start.


Ekpa Eyoma
Student of The University Of Maryland, College Park

Ayesha Washington

Upon arriving to Boston, I was so anxious to explore our topic of Urban Agriculture and Hunger. I had that opportunity today when I learned about and organization named Food Not Bombs and attend its festival. This organization was founded 30 years ago with the vision of fighting hunger because they (members) believe that instead of the government spending billions of dollars funding wars and bombing other countries, they should focus on the issues that we are facing here in America (such as hunger). This organization is interesting because they are focused around civil disobedience since technically they are not permitted to hand out meals (but they do so any way). However they believe that food is a right and not a privilege and no person should go without. Many organizations came out to be a part of the festival and I appreciated that because it explicated how urban hunger is related to other issues in society such as homelessness or capitalism. An interesting fact that I learned today was that 40% of all food that goes on to shelves in super markets gets thrown out and not consumed. It angers me to know that this is true yet I hear a homeless person speak about how at times they did not know where their next meal was going to come from. Every thing that I learned today allows me to have a greater appreciation for the food I consume on the daily basis and even the lifestyle I am allotted.

Last minute packing!

The 2010 Summer Alternative Breaks trip to Boston begins..... At 8:45am on a Saturday morning? Well, obviously that's not ideal for most people, but everyone I've talked to seems very excited to learn about Urban Agriculture and Hunger in the historic city of Boston. Finals ended this week, and this trip is a great way to start off a productive summer break! And as one of the trip leaders, I'm only a TINY bit biased.....

But seriously. We have got some great organizations lined up to work with, and all of them utilize urban farming as a holistic tool to solving hunger problems in the city. We're staying at an international youth hostel, which is right in the center of the city. Hopefully everyone remembers their sunscreen, because we're going to get our fair share of exercise and outdoor work in!

One thing I'm excited about: I am a very enthusiastic person, and it's hard for me to pick just one thing. However, one thing that I think will be so instrumental to personal growth on this trip is the diversity of our group. The Boston team includes college students from a variety of different backgrounds, different years in school, different majors, and different levels of experience with the topic. We are going to have some wonderful discussions full of different perspectives with this group!

One thing I'm nervous about: Well, we are driving two 12-passenger vans up to Boston. I used to drive a big Chevy pick-up truck, but these vans are pretty monstrous! :-)

Keep reading throughout the week to hear about our adventures in Boston!

--Whitney Beck
--Environmental Science & Policy