Vegetable farming makes me appreciate winter more.  I don’t relish the dark and cold, but it is very satisfying to have a point in the year where we can say “we did it!” There is a satisfaction in putting away the last of the tools and bins and parking the tractors inside the barn and heading indoors to seed catalogs and survey results and a chance to figure out how to make next year even better. 

Of course, we also sadly say goodbye to our apprentices who we have worked with for many months (sometimes years), giving so much to the PFP and engaging themselves fully in learning how to run a community farm – Dart and Nicole left at the beginning of November, and Angela left this week.  It will be interesting to hear where they end up next year.  Interns from the past are spread across the country, and have been doing all kinds of interesting work such as community food work (Nora); working for an agricultural nonprofit (Hannah, Juliana, Patrick), and farming in Detroit (Sarah),  Tennessee (Megan), more rural Michigan (Rachelle), and in Maine (Kate). 

Meanwhile, we are starting to get applications for next year’s apprentices and interns.  The interest in community food work and farming has exploded over the last few years.  We used to just get a few applications each year for these positions and primarily from young men and women casually looking for an interesting job for a while but in the last few years we have been getting dozens of applications for each position and many of them looking to do community food work for their careers.  Reading all of the amazing applications, it is clear that there are many thoughtful, committed, smart, hard-working people who see this work (whether it be farming, education or outreach) as exciting, meaningful work. 

Our mission at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project is to work towards a just and sustainable food system and it is so heartening to know that so many share this vision and are ready to dedicate their lives to this work.  It means there is a lot of work to be done, not only on their part, but on the part of the communities that they are preparing to work with.  Unfortunately, it is not easy for new farmers to get started these days – although access to information for new farmers is increasing, long term access to land and to credit are huge issues, particularly in the Northeast and in urban and suburban areas where community farms are most effective.  The price of land in urban areas is increasingly out of reach for farmers who plan to make their living farming.  

Here are a couple ways to support new and existing farmers:

1. Get to know the farmers in your area and hear what support they need
2. Get to know the apprentices at the PFP (and other farms in the region) and learn more about their hopes and dreams
3. Buy local – CSAs, farmers markets, winter markets, farm stands, Christmas trees, local apples, local milk, local cheese, local grain, restaurants that support local farms
4. Join local efforts to preserve farmland that not only protects the land from development but ensure that farmers will have secure access to the land into the future
5. Support and advocate for farm policy that gives farmers the assistance they need to get started and support they need to continue

Yours in the field, Wendy

What if Poughkeepsie was known as a food city?

Think about the example of Beacon that has worked intentionally to make their City vibrant through the arts.  What if we built on Poughkeepsie’s strengths to become a vibrant food city? 

What would this vision look like? 

• As a food city, Poughkeepsie’s children are nourished as they learn and develop.
• As a food city, Poughkeepsie’s people feel good and stay well.
• We have opportunities to learn more about nutrition. 
• In our food city, Poughkeepsie’s environment is healthy.
• Poughkeepsie’s youth have opportunities.
• Poughkeepsie’s economy is diverse and strong. 
• In Poughkeepsie, people of all income levels can get healthy food. 
• No one goes hungry. 
• As a food city, we enjoy and celebrate life with food.

Who is thinking about this vision?

Prompted by the purpose of our organization – to build just and sustainable food system that nourishes all people by providing healthy food, building a strong community and stewarding the environment – the Poughkeepsie Farm Project recruited several partners to start the Poughkeepsie Plenty project. 

Poughkeepsie Plenty is thinking about a people-centered vision for our food system, with a goal of ensuring that all residents of the City of Poughkeepsie can secure nutritious food. 

What is a food system? 

These two words are used to describe how people eat.  Through this system, food is produced, distributed and accessed for consumption through retail, cooperative or emergency food outlets.  The kind of food system we envision puts people at the center to make sure that all of us can have a nutritious diet.

Poughkeepsie Plenty is asking – What changes can we make to our food system to ensure good food for all?

Too many people in our city are at risk of going hungry.  We’re finding that 1 out of 5 City of Poughkeepsie households are skipping or cutting the size of meals.  The food that is easiest to get is not making us healthier.  Almost half of the students in the Poughkeepsie City School District are overweight or obese, placing them at risk for developing serious illnesses.

The real problem is poverty

The name Poughkeepsie Plenty refers to the widespread myth that says there is not enough food to go around. In reality, abundance, not scarcity, best describes our nation’s food supply.  The real problem is poverty.  Hunger is sometimes a hidden problem in the US, because it may look different here than the images we see on TV in other countries. Hunger in the US may manifest as a choice to eat cheaper, less nutritious food; to choose between spending money on food, medicine or heat; or to turn to stigmatized sources of emergency food. Poughkeepsie Plenty would like to get beyond food handouts as a solution to hunger, as this doesn’t solve the fundamental issues that prevent people from eating well.

Poughkeepsie Plenty is advancing a collective approach based on the belief that food should be distributed fairly, and with dignity, and that no one should live without enough nutritious food because of economic constraints or social inequalities. We envision a city where everyone has the ensured ability to obtain, in socially acceptable ways, enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life, through a system that maximizes community self-reliance, social justice and environmental well-being.

We need you! 

We are planning to facilitate forums with groups all over the city to envision ways we can change our food system.  These Community Food Forums will culminate in an all-City planning meeting that will be held in 2012 to draft a Poughkeepsie food system plan.  We would like YOU to participate in one of these gatherings to help us generate ideas.

Is this even possible?

There is some good news to share – there is so much going on to eradicate hunger in sustainable ways.  Many people are doing good work to build food systems that ensure access to nutritious food for all people at all times.  They are using their community strengths and assets to build up their food resources to meet their own needs.  At Community Food Forums, we share many inspiring examples from all across the US to help us envision possibilities for Poughkeepsie.

I’d like to share one example of a food city in Brazil that has achieved amazing results by bringing many efforts together. In the early 1990s, Belo Horizonte, Brazil decided to act on the idea that food is a basic right and redefine urban hunger as a problem not of food supply, but of access.  

Sixteen years ago, the first "people’s restaurant" opened in Belo Horizonte.  Today, more than 15 thousand people get meals at the city's 4 "people's restaurants" every day.  Anyone, rich or poor, can eat there.  Municipal workers, who consider themselves defenders of the right to eat, serve fresh and healthy meals costing the equivalent of 85 US cents. Financed by property taxes, these meals cost each of the city's 4 million inhabitants about five cents a week in public money. 

Belo Horizonte’s anti-hunger plan goes beyond affordable meals to the production and distribution of food.  The government helps to sustain more than 100 community gardens, providing access to water and fertilizer. In low income areas throughout the city, neighbors can get organic fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs grown literally around the corner.

The city of Belo Horizonte gives away land plots in impoverished areas to entrepreneurs who agree to build markets. They must offer at least twenty items of produce at a subsidized rate of no more than 38 cents per kilo. The low cost markets have flourished, earning profits on high volumes despite low mark-ups. 

Belo Horizonte's food security policies have had real results. Since 1993, the city has had a 60 percent drop in infant mortality and a 75 percent decrease in children hospitalized for malnutrition. 

If a city in Brazil can achieve amazing results, I believe we can work together to accomplish similar outcomes here.  Our vision for Poughkeepsie can unfold over a period of years.  We have the opportunity to plan and lay the groundwork for it now, and you can be directly involved in generating ideas for changes we can make for Poughkeepsie to become a vibrant food city.

For more information on Poughkeepsie Plenty:

Participate in a Community Food Forum

Overview and Background

For more information about Belo Horizonte:

Article written by Frances Moore Lappe

Short video by Craig Mauro

By Barbara Lindsey*

I am a fortunate volunteer this fall with PFP’s City Seeds project, led by PFP Educator, Jamie Levato, and assisted by Vassar PFP intern, Hillary Lyons.  Students who sign up for City Seeds are from Poughkeepsie Middle and High Schools (mostly grades 6 – 10).

Shatia, a student notes that  working for City Seeds “gives you a nice peaceful environment to work in and have fun.”   

Students planted an organic vegetable garden in the High School courtyard last Spring. This Fall, for six weeks, they harvested on Monday and cooked on Wednesday. 

As student Jessica C. says, “It’s the most fun and awesome time I had.”

Kale, collards, scallions, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, garlic, oregano, - you know what great food you can make from these ingredients, and Jamie has some awesome recipes!  (Though Ian says, “Vegetarian – meh.”)  The students have made pizza, crustless quiche, chili, soup, kale biscuits, sautéed greens, corn muffins with peppers, fried green tomatoes, carrot soup, minestrone, and roasted potatoes.  They do the food preparation (some gourmet choppers in the group!), follow the recipes, and clean up while the food cooks for a late afternoon meal to share around the tables in the Middle School Home Economics room.

Last week, the PFP group had a field trip to meet with the Beacon Green Teens at the farm for a tour led by Vassar intern Robin – tasting raspberries, identifying the growing greens, learning about cover crops, crop rotation, and insects.

Jessica S. exclaims:  “I have met new people and made new friends.  I have also learned new things about gardening and harvesting.” 

The group also saw and discussed a film about farmworker justice, followed by, of course, cooking and eating:  carrot muffins and tossed salad with homemade dressing!  (Are you drooling yet?)

Jamie works on positive group process during the afternoons, always including a time for each to share something about him/herself, and ending with appreciations.  You can be sure that I appreciate Jamie’s leadership, what each student so enthusiastically gives to the project, and what wonderful results they have shared with me – both their knowledge and the delicious meals they prepared.  Claneice concludes “It’s cool; I want to do it again next year.”         

*Written 10/30/11

A Community Food Forum is a facilitated group process designed to identify community assets and to generate ideas for how we can build on our resources to ensure plenty of nourishing food for all residents. Forums are positive, engaging and fun. And food is provided!  Please read the  details, and register today.

By Susan Grove

As we reflect on the past season, with its unpredictable weather and ever-changing financial climate, we are grateful for the most steadfast element of our environment – you!  Each year we are amazed at how PFP members and friends increasingly support our mission – by volunteering countless hours in the fields and educational gardens, organizing fun and heartfelt events that generate funds to support our educational and food justice programs, teaching young people from the City of Poughkeepsie about nutritious vegetables and cooking, and many other ways.  

The relationships you build with each other, with our farmers and other staff, with food pantries in Poughkeepsie and the broader community, and with our food, are essential to creating a food system that is empowering, meaningful, and fair. Thank you for all that you give to the PFP – our mission is alive because of your time, talent, and financial support.  If you find yourself reflecting on the PFP and are inclined in this season of giving to express your thanks, we invite you to consider making a year-end tax deductible donation by mail or online.  We look forward to sharing the next season with you!  Wishing you very happy holidays.

About the photo and another opportunity to support the PFP's work:

This is the photo of a food market in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, which has an anti-hunger plan that goes beyond affordable meals to the production and distribution of food.  The city of Belo Horizonte has achieved amazing and inspiring results.  This is one of many examples we will share at a series of forums with groups all over the city to envision ways we can change our local food system to ensure access to nutritious food for all.  These Community Food Forums will culminate in an all-City planning meeting that will be held in 2012 to draft a Poughkeepsie food system plan.  We would like YOU to participate in one of these gatherings to help us generate ideas.

More information on the Poughkeepsie Plenty project 

More information on the issue

More information on participating in a Community Food Forum

It's not too late to share your input on the 2011 season - please take a few minutes to complete our member survey online!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEJiX1MyMzlNRFA4STNFcVhOSTU3blE6MA

This Fall, the PFP was featured in two magazines, the Vassar Quarterly Alumnae Magazine and the Edible Hudson Valley.  Both articles tie in nicely with the current issue of the newsletter.  

The Vassar Quarterly features three companion articles about Vassar Alumni who've made farming a part of their lives in everyday ways.  Digging Deeper features former PFP Assistant Grower, Miriam Latzer '97  and a former PFP Intern, Pablo Elliott '00.  Both have run their own CSAs and remain committed to growing sustainable food.  The second article features Young Women Farmers  The third article The Poughkeepsie Farm Project calls the PFP a "incubator of sorts, a profound and transformative experience that has compelled many a Vassar grad to use his or her liberal arts education to go back to the land, to build community, and to help drive a shift toward local, sustainable farms and food systems." The articles are all complemented by many great photos of the former staff and interns and tie in well with our own newslettter article this month, "Apprentices Past and Future"  where you can read for more about our excellent interning program.    

Read about these former PFP'ers!

• Miriam Latzer ’97
• Pablo Elliott ’00
• Caroline Fanning ’04
• Jessica Clark ’02
• Carlos Ignacio Hernandez ’14

The Edible Hudson Valley article features an overview of the PFP's education and food justice programs with a focus on Poughkeepsie Plenty along with photos.  This article is not available online so please pick up a copy of Edible Hudson Valley at one of these locations.

The PFP’s Farming for the City program provides participants with hands on experience growing food and providing education and outreach to the community; weekly trainings and field trips; and meaningful employment which makes a real difference in the community. We seek four apprentices and three summer interns to work with PFP staff and members to grow mixed vegetables on 14 acres, operate a CSA and farmers market, teach others about food and farming, and increase food access.  Read more about PFP Intern opportunities.   Please also read this month's Grower's Row "Apprentices Past and Future" for more about our excellent apprentice program.  

...or if you were there and want to be reminded of the good company, delicious food and welcoming atmosphere, here are some photos to enjoy!

Board member Carlie Graves and Farm Manager Asher Burkhart-Spiegel set up PFP merchandise.

Many delicious dishes to choose from...

...and good company to enjoy!

Staff shared highlights of the season, and their appreciation for all the ways members support the PFP...

...and a special birthday song and cake were shared in honor of Asher.

As seen from the Aula, November 13, 2011 had a beautiful sunset!