(Pre) (Re) (Up) Cycling

I was just telling Emily, (author of the excellent blog emilyrosedowney.blogspot.com) that I really like these four terms: "precycle", "recycle", "upcycle", and "cycle".

Precycle: consider the packaging of every product you buy- is there a version or size that you could purchase that would produce less waste? (Ex: don't buy plastic water bottles)

... I interrupt this blog post to say that I was just interrupted by a sweet faced white tailed deer staring at my typing away on my computer. I'm at Messiah's campus right now taking advantage of wireless internet...

Recycle: once you've finished something, rinse out the container, throw the cap away, and put the plastic or glass or aluminum in the recycling bin. It's simple!

Upcycle: be creative- turn something into a great piece of art- how about turning old cd's into jewelry? For lots of great ideas check out- http://toponlineengineeringdegree.com/?page_id=116

And last, but not least-

Cycle- take a bike for a spin, leave your car on the garage. Yesterday I traveled a meager 6 miles, but got to visit my brother's family (leaving with a load of asparagus), dropped off a thank-you note at a neighbor's, visited with 2 women in my community that I respect a lot (building social capital!), and ran into my aunt, uncle, cousin, and cousin-to-be (his fiance). Biking creates more opportunities for building relationships, saves gas, and gives great exercise as well! My parents blessed me with a new-for-me bike with a sweet saddlebag as a graduation present.

I don't have internet very often right now, but look for a future post with a few pictures about being an urban farm girl :)

The Blessing of Friends

Last night I had a few friends over, girls who have been a part of my life for a long time. Now, we came together as young women, ready to talk and share and laugh together. To facilitate this gathering, I provided the venue and food. I love to bring people together around a table.
My menu was based entirely on the "Simply in Season" Cookbook, with a fresh green salad with "Raspberry Vinaigrette" dressing, a quiche (modified from the "Spring Quiche Trio"), and "Rhubarb Pie". A simple and delicious meal when shared with friends.
Alas, I didn't take any pictures of the fruits of my labor- so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was good. I would definitely recommend the rhubarb pie- I made it with the shortbread crust, and my friends (who aren't always the most adventurous in culinary matters) were quite smitten.

On another note, I look forward to deepening another set of friendship this summer as I live in Harrisburg, and work at the Joshua Farm (http://joshuafarm.wordpress.com/), an urban farm that provides employment opportunities to youth and deliciously fresh veggies to the surrounding community. I had my first two days of work last week, and I'm off to the farm again tomorrow morning. The rain has put us a bit behind where we'd like to be, but we'll manage :)

Be on the lookout for some fun pictures of what's going on at Harrisburg's urban farm!

$222.59

That's how much my roommate and I spent on food this semester. Split two ways, that was $111.29 for each of us. Granted, we had spent $500.61 last semester, and some of those staples were still in our kitchen. But for 2 girls to spend only $723.20 for 8 months of food, I think we did pretty well. This was a definite money saver for us- since meal plans (per person) range from $1,400-1,900 for the same amount of time. 1/4 the cost. Plus, we had a lot of fun cooking for ourselves.
I must add a few disclaimers. I spent quite a bit of time last summer canning peaches, applesauce, pears, and freezing berries. I helped my brother to dig potatoes for an afternoon in exchange for a basket of my own. I froze sweet corn, braided onions, grew garlic, and froze green beans. In addition, my parents and brother generously provided my roomie and I with meat and eggs. We didn't eat a lot of meat, but a sufficient amount.
My roomie also worked in the dining hall, I worked in college catering, so she ate a few meals a week there, and I was able to eat at work every once in a while.
Oh, and I can't forget about Panera bread. My church gets day-old bread, so I get creative in incorporating that into our diet.
But, we know how to cook- curry, tacos, tabouleh salad, quesadillas, soups, and lots more. We didn't buy cereal, but simply ate rolled oats and yogurt with frozen berries, or made omelets for breakfast. We were even members of a CSA for the fall- receiving fresh vegetables from a local farmer. We wanted to support Spiral Path Farms, and to not have to make weekly trips to the grocery store for fresh veggies.
Tomorrow I graduate. It is so hard to believe that these four years are over. It's hard to say goodbye, but I'm looking forward to the next steps. It feels so good to have achieved this milestone, and I am doing my best to celebrate it well. This week has been full of sweet times with friends- I have gone tubing down the creek, had multiple picnics with different people, slept out in a hammock (twice), played a few rounds of banana grams, drove to my house for lawn games and a campfire, and lots of other little sweet blessings.
My apartment is nearly packed up- I made one last batch of granola since I had just a bit of honey and oil left in their containers, and a big bag of rolled oats. I really like granola- a little too much- so I try to ration how often I make it! We'll see how long I can make this batch last.

Writer's Block

I have writer's block, senioritis and various other academic ailments.
The dreary day doesn't help much at all. All I really want to do is sit on the ground and work on my braided rug, or watch the sprouts grow in the little sprout-growing contraption that my mom gave to me.
For those of you who haven't seen my rug, here's the latest portrait of my "baby". She grows slowly but surely. Right now, she's nearly 7 feet long and 5 feet wide, and that's probably about where she'll stop.


I have to plug away at some reading, reports, and an executive summary that is frustrating my non-business minded brain. I'd rather just do something, not talk about doing it!
At least I get to go to the Joshua Farm this afternoon :) The plethora of little seedlings is always a huge boost to my spirits. Well, I ought to get back to that executive summary...

My Fridge is Starting to Look like Spring!

My dear mother brought me a bag of fresh lettuce and some spring onions today, and I had a delicious salad for lunch. What a blessing! My fridge is still full of jars from the bounty of last year's harvest, but there begins to be a small influx of new spring delicacies.

I thought it might be fun to give you a quick peek into my fridge.

I also opened the lid of my grab-and-go food for the week: cooked bulgur with peas and pesto :) A fun and easy spin on tabouleh salad!

A life of significance?

I hear two voices- one telling me that I ought to be accomplishing things for God, that I should be striving very hard to care for the poor and oppressed. And so I pursue that. I am working to improve food access in underserved communities. And so I take classes, read lots of dietetics journal articles, talk with friends, attend workshops, and apply to graduate school for nutrition.

And then I'm hit with this thought-provoking quote by Henry Nouwen about the importance of the ministry of presence, "My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them."

I pray that God will continue to give me grace and understanding to know how to integrate action with the ability to simply "be".

PS. Have you ever heard of a "Veggie Mobile"? This is my current project of action.

Definitions

So, just to give you a heads up, I am going to begin posting some information from my current independent study course.
I have not blogged for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking.
It just means that I've been thinking too much, and didn't know how to express it.
As a basic intro to what is to come, I'm going to give you 3 definitions that you might find helpful, for "Food Security", "Food Deserts", and "Urban Agriculture".

These aren't just terms created for no reason. These are actual realities, and I am in the process of learning about them, and considering how to implement change.

Food security is defined by Boyle and Holben as “access by all people at all times to sufficient food for an active and healthy life” (Boyle & Holben, 2006). “Sufficient food” can be further clarified by pointing out that nutritionally adequate and safe foods are readily available, and can be acquired in socially acceptable ways. Food insecurity is in contrast with food security, and entails limited ability to acquire nutritionally adequate and safe foods in a socially acceptable way. Individuals with food insecurity may also present with hunger or without hunger. Hunger is “the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of food, which can lead to malnutrition over time”. While food insecurity with hunger is prevalent in many societies, in the United States, it is more common to find food insecurity without hunger. Here, individuals are concerned about having enough resources to purchase food and cannot afford to eat balanced meals. They tend to purchase calorie dense foods with little nutritional value, often times resulting malnourishment presenting in overweight and obesity.

Food deserts are described by Thomas Christian, in the department of Economics in Georgia State University, as poorer neighborhoods where “food options are often limited to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or grocery stores more poorly stocked- both in quantity and quality- than suburban groceries”. These areas are characterized by a lack of opportunities to purchase adequate nutrition, often leading to the insecurity-obesity paradox.

Urban agriculture, is well defined by Charles W. Lesher, Jr. in his literature review on Urban Agriculture: Differing Phenomena in Differing Regions of the World. He defines it as “any processes that produce traditional subsistence, nutritional or commercially profitable food or other grown or raised products, removed from rural domains, and instead cultivate them in special intensive conditions within the urban context or in its surrounding buffer, peri-urban, regions”. In order to appreciate the extent of this phenomenon, it is interesting to note that according to the website of the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center of the USDA National Agricultural Library, around 15 percent of the world's food supply is now grown in urban areas.

Sources:

Boyle, M. A., & Holben, D. H. (2006). Community Nutrition in Action: An Entrepreneurial Approach (4th ed.). USA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Christian, Thomas J. 'Grocery Store Access and the Food Insecurity–Obesity Paradox', Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 5:3, 360 - 369

Lesher, Charles W. ‘Urban Agriculture: Differing Phenomena in Differing Regions of the World’. Accessed 15 Feb 2011.

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center Website:

http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=2&tax_level=2&tax_subject=301&level3_id=0&level4_id=0&level5_id=0&topic_id=2719&&placement_default=0.

Accessed 15 Feb 2011.