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| volume 2, number 5 |
May 2009 |
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Welcome to the Twelfth issue of The Root of the Matter. Through our monthly electronic communication, Collective Roots will keep you informed about recent successes, new initiatives, upcoming events, and ways you can get involved with our work for food system change in East Palo Alto. One way in which you can support us is to volunteer as a writer for The Root of the Matter. Please contact CRNews@collectiveroots.org if this is of interest to you.
SUPPORT COLLECTIVE ROOTS
 Seeking Donations For New Urban Agriculture Center
Last month we announced that a generous in-kind contribution from PageMill Properties will enable us to develop a new center for urban agriculture in East Palo Alto. The new location will be on the West side of the 101, adjacent to the San Francisquito creek.
We are looking forward to relocating our offices in June, and our expansion doesn’t come a moment too soon, as we are expecting a number of interns to join us for the summer, in addition to our full-time staff. We will continue to maintain an office space at EPACS.
We are looking for additional support for this ambitious endeavor—cash and in-kind donations are appreciated (office chairs, bookshelves, meeting table, kitchen supplies, etc.) If you can contribute, please click here to read our wish list, or feel free to contact us at 650-324-2769 for more information. You can make a secure online donation here. We are grateful for any gift, great or small.
Funding Announcements
Collective Roots is one of six nonprofit organizations in California recently awarded a $250,000 grant from the California Department of Public Health. The funding, to be distributed over 3 years, will help us bring our Food System Change Road Show to more schools and community settings. The Road Show presents a high quality, science-based program to institutions that are unable to invest in a complete garden and garden-based learning curriculum. The traveling show features a mobile mini-garden, a bicycle blender, a live worm composting bin, RootsNFruits (a matching game similar to Bingo), and activities such as a salad making relay race, and cooking demos.
We are also pleased to report our new grant for $7500 from the Palo Alto Community Fund to support our programs.
In addition, Collective Roots has received a certificate of recognition from the US Congress, which was awarded at the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund event on April 23rd. View the certificate on our website here. |
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EAST PALO ALTO 101 |
Congratulations to Keisha Evans, who was the first person to submit a correct response to last month’s East Palo Alto quiz! For her award Keisha received the 2009 Green Zebra coupon book. The answers to last month’s quiz are:
1. Runnymeade, Nairobi, Weeks Poultry Colony, Cooley's Landing
2. Ruben Abrica
3. Mrs. Barbara Mouton
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PROGRAMS |
GARDEN-BASED LEARNING: K-5 PROGRAM
The fourth graders had their last garden class this month, and we celebrated by playing a game of Garden Jeopardy. The winning team got to ride the bicycle blender to create delicious smoothies to serve their fellow students. It was a tight competition in both classes, and it was incredible how knowledgeable the students were about organic gardening, environmental awareness, decomposition and food webs!
First grade students created colorful “plates” of nutritious, balanced meals using pictures of healthy foods cut from magazines, as well as their own drawings. The students learned that eating a rainbow of colors and a variety of foods from different food groups will provide them with the nutrients they need for good health. First graders also planted squash, sunflower seeds and peppers in the garden. We can’t wait to taste them!
Kindergarteners went on a scavenger hunt in the garden last month and searched for vegetables and fruits that represented different parts of a plant (leaves, seeds, roots, etc.) When they found a particular plant, they had to determine which part of the plant it represented before moving to the next station. While thinking about the plants parts that we eat for good health, we all snacked on strawberries.
 Garden Club
Last week in Garden Club we had an amazing trip to Hidden Villa to revisit our friends and the beautiful garden. Claire gave us an amazing tour of the garden, and we visited at a perfect time because there were baby pigs and goats!! Many of the students quickly named their favorites and it was so difficult to say goodbye to the adorable animals. We also did a wilderness walk and since it was a very hot day, the kids rolled up their pants and played in the creek. They rubbed creek rocks together for some creative face painting adventures. We were also presented with a very special surprise: banana slugs! Many brave students kissed the banana slug (and we have pictures to prove it!) As always, we had an incredible time at Hidden Villa, and Claire was a wonderful host.
Girls to Women
The girls have been busy transplanting many new plants into their garden bed; heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and marigolds have been planted in the last month. Inspired by Earth Day, the girls drew beautiful pictures of ways they could help the earth. The pictures were laminated and are now hanging on the fence as a lovely backdrop to the garden.
Volunteers for Girls to Women recently built a new garden bed right next to the current one which we are planning to use to grow some more summer vegetables. Four tomato plants are already thriving in the garden and we have plans to add watermelon, cucumbers and summer squash. The strawberries are now growing abundantly, and each day before our lesson, each of us picks a strawberry and enjoys the rewards of our garden. The girls also made popcorn from dried husks purchased from Pie Ranch. They loved picking off each kernel and then popping it on the stove with butter and salt--delicious!
GARDEN-BASED LEARNING: MIDDLE SCHOOL ELECTIVE
Sixth grade students from EPACS have been enjoying salads made from lettuce they planted themselves! Many thanks to Gamble Gardens for donating lettuce starts, which have now grown into large, tasty and colorful heads of lettuce! Students harvest and prepare salads with greens, peas and edible flowers from the garden. The students have also been busy in the garden planting climbing beans and squash to cover the new willow tunnel. They also hung trellises to beautify our cargo storage containers. They are looking forward to a field trip to Hidden Villa next week!
College Track
College Track took a field trip to Palo Alto City Hall for the opening of the City Hall Farmers Market on April 22nd (Earth Day.) Students completed an informational scavenger hunt to learn about healthy cooking, what food is in season, where their food comes from, and the Global Warming Diet.
49ers Academy
Students at the 49ers Academy have enjoyed watching their Earth Boxes flourish! Each week students have been harvesting salad for meals and to bring home. A favorite is strawberry salad with maple-glazed walnuts (a variation of last month’s arugula salad!).
Find the recipe here.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Food Justice Leaders Update
We received over 40 applications for the inaugural summer of the Food Justice Leaders youth internship program. From this pool of highly motivated and talented youth, four leaders will be selected to work with Collective Roots and the EPA Community Farmers’ Market this summer. Two interns will assist with community outreach and daily operations of the Market, and the other two will work primarily in the Collective Roots garden. They will also sell the produce that they grow at the Market.
All four leaders will participate in leadership development activities, and field trips to local food and environmental justice organizations. This project is made possible through a generous collaboration with JobTrain. Stay tuned for updates during the summer!
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| MONTHLY GARDEN WORKDAYS |
Upcoming Workday: May 23rd
The next workday will be held Saturday, May 23rd, from 9AM – noon at the EPACS Garden (click here for directions.) We will be preparing beds for planting, mulching, weeding, building compost containers, and other spring tasks!
We look forward to having volunteers from the Mid Peninsula Housing Services Corporation, the International Student Volunteers Club from DeAnza College, Fremont High School, the EPACS community, as well as other community members who learned about the event on Volunteer Match. To sign up to be a team leader, call 650.324.2769 or email volunteer@collectiveroots.org.
Past Workdays & Events
April’s EPACS Garden Workday was a great success! With the help of EPACS parents and volunteers from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, we were able to clear the monster weeds from inside and around the greenhouse and garden utility areas, trench and lay piping for irrigation for the new fruit trees donated by Castilleja School, and prepare beds for planting summer crops! Also, a big thank you to Neilie Fletcher for bringing her truck out to the work day and coordinating the removal of the huge pile of invasive weeds!
Palo Alto 2009 Earth Day Event
The Livin’ Local Palo Alto Earth Day was a great success! The Collective Roots table was a popular place to make a newspaper pot and plant a sunflower seed, and to see and smell fresh herbs growing in an Earth Box. Passers-by also learned about the Backyard Gardeners Network and talked with Collective Roots board members Laurie Bauer, Arnie Teste and Saree Mading, and with Garden Manager/Educator Eron Sandler. The event was packed with local non-profit environmental organizations, music, arts & crafts, workshops and talks, and local veggies and food.
Corporate Workdays
Life Technologies: The Life Technologies event on May 13th was a huge success! Over 100 volunteers showed up throughout the day and transformed the ¼ acre 49ers site from a bare, unused plot into an area ready for garden action! Students from 49ers Academy joined employees from Life Technologies to remove mulch, trash and rocks, and were excited to start imagining the area as a garden. Many thanks to Heather Virdo from Life Technologies for all the time and energy she put into coordinating and pulling off this big event. We are grateful for the donation of $2500 from Life Technologies, which covered costs for the entire project. We hope our volunteers will return to see the garden as it develops!
Hewlett Packard: Thanks to Hewlett Packard volunteers and EPACS 4th and 6th graders, the garden has been freshly planted with over a dozen types of heirloom tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers and squash! The HP Earth Day event was a wonderful opportunity to get our summer garden started. Many thanks to our volunteers and to Camilla Nelson for coordinating the workday.
Intuit and Stanford ACT (Achieving Change Together):
On May 15th, Intuit volunteers began work on the new Collective Roots chicken yard, and successfully cleared the bounty of summer weeds from a number of garden beds. Intuit’s generous $5000 donation allowed us to purchase tools for several hundred people and rent equipment for the project—we appreciate their support!
On May 16th, nearly 200 volunteers from Stanford worked in the hot sun to clean and improve the EPACS garden, playfield and outdoor kitchen. It was a voluntary student collaboration lead by Sigma Phi Epsilon, Alpha Phi Omega, and TriDelt. Numerous other groups showed up such as AKPsi, KappaSig, Stanford Students for Sustainability and multitude of various students who came of their own free will.
In the garden, the students removed debris and some massive weeds, cleared invasive species along the entrance to the Baylands, and mulched. Volunteers from Mural Music and Arts also painted a cheery mural in the kitchen garden, which is a wonderful addition! On the playfield, they filled potholes, repaired the soccer nets and volleyball court, removed graffiti, and created a border around the field for running. Many thanks to Marty Casey at Stanford and Erin at Intuit for their work to coordinate these super-productive days!
 School Group Volunteers
On May 1st Collective Roots hosted a group of Menlo School 7th graders for a service workday in the EPACS garden and around the school. Despite the rainy day, students were positive and brought lots of good energy. They planted seeds in the greenhouse, turned and weeded beds, and organized the first grade library. After a day of hard work, they celebrated with bicycle blender smoothies! Many thanks to the teachers and chaperones who coordinated this day and to the students for their bake sale efforts to support the work of Collective Roots
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| FARMERS MARKET |
 EPA Community Farmers’ Market – Grand Re-Opening: Saturday, June 13th
The East Palo Alto Community Farmers’ Market is preparing to reopen on Saturday afternoons from 2-5 PM at East Palo Alto City Hall & Library, starting June 13th. The Market will feature fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as a number of other improvements. We will now accept EBT, so that families receiving food stamps can use their benefits to buy healthy produce at the Market. We’ll also accept both WIC and senior farmers’ market nutrition program checks.
And in a new program designed to make the produce more affordable, individuals using food stamps, WIC and/or senior farmers’ market nutrition program checks are eligible to receive EPA Fresh Checks, which provide an extra $5 to spend at the Market. Supported through a generous donation from the Brin Family Foundation, the EPA Fresh Checks will also be available through select community organizations in East Palo Alto. Check back soon for more details about where to obtain EPA Fresh Checks.
Please join us on Saturday, June 13th from 2-5 PM at City Hall (2415 University Avenue) as we celebrate community, delicious food, and the return of the Market in East Palo Alto. Visit our new website (http://www.epafarmersmarket.org) for all the details.
Also, if you use Twitter, you can follow our “tweets” at: https://twitter.com/epamarket.
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| FEATURED PARTNER |
East Palo Alto Charter School
This month we want to recognize our long-standing partnership with East Palo Alto Charter School (EPACS). The school, which opened in 1997, is a remarkable institution. Although it can be extremely difficult for schools (and students) to excel in communities where resources are not abundant, EPACS has found a way to shine. The school has the highest test scores in the Ravenswood School District, and it serves as a statewide model for what can be replicated in similar communities. Read more at http://www.epacs.org.
The school has been a stellar partner for Collective Roots, and we have flourished and benefited under its “wing.” Unlike many schools that regard garden-based education as an extracurricular activity on the periphery, EPACS sees the work of Collective Roots as central to its mission and school culture. They have generously provided us with a one-acre garden to develop, teach, and experiment in, and the space has evolved into a thriving focus at the school. Thank you to EPACS for opening a world of possibilities for us, and for your students
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| WHAT'S GROWING |
Summer Vegetables are Seeding; Wow, Wisteria!
Tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers have been planted and we are eagerly waiting to enjoy their delicious fruits. The garden is transitioning from a spring to a summer garden, which is very exciting! Many of the beds have been turned over and are awaiting seeds and transplants to nourish. The wisteria is climbing our beautiful dome and creates a beautiful outdoor classroom and a peaceful spot for visitors.
For a delicious grilled summer squash salad recipe, click here.
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THE BOOKSHELF |
 Are you currently reading a great book on a topic related to the work of Collective Roots? We welcome your recommendations and would be happy to feature your book in a future column. Please click here to email us.
This month, Enews subscriber Starli McLemore Hampton recommends an award-winning book published by the National Gardening Association called Nourishing Choices, by Eve Pranis. The book offers teachers, educators, parents, and health professionals a road map to successful implementation of food education and awareness programs with kids. It profiles winning schools and youth programs across the country that excite kids about healthy eating. It also has extensive resources on how to get started in your community. To learn more about Nourishing Choices, or to purchase a copy, visit http://www.gardeningwithkids.org/11-3410.html.
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| FOOD SYSTEM NEWS |
 Connecting the Global with the Local
In this section, we report on local and international news headlines that reflect our work with food system change, gardening and community health and nutrition.
Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI) Shows California Cities Lack Healthy Food Choices
A new study released in January suggests that the food landscape of California’s larger cities encourages obesity. The study creates a local Retail Food Environment Index by comparing the number of supermarkets and other retail outlets that are likely to offer healthy foods, with the number of fast food restaurants and convenience stores, Click here to read the complete article. Collective Roots is currently working with San Mateo County Health Department to apply this tool to East Palo Alto so we can gather data to inform our work.
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NOTE: This newsletter employs hyperlinks that act as shortcuts to related documents or web pages. Click on the green underlined words in the articles above to find out more information.
If someone forwarded you this newsletter, please click here to add your name to our mailing list.
To read past newsletters, go to http://collectiveroots.org/news/newsletters
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