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| | | | GROW FOOD. EMPOWER YOUTH. BUILD COMMUNITY.
FRESH New London is a small but mighty food justice non-profit. Our mission is to build momentum for food system change through local agriculture, community partnerships, and youth leadership training, in order to dismantle systemic oppression and ensure everyone has access to food with dignity.
August 2024 Newsletter |
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| | | Black August is an annual commemoration and prison-based holiday to remember Black political prisoners, Black freedom struggles in the United States and beyond, and to highlight Black resistance against racial, colonial and imperialist oppression. It takes place during the entire calendar month of August and was initiated in 1979.
Dates celebrated or commemorated during Black August
August 1: Emancipation Day in Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Canada
August 7: death of Jonathan P. Jackson (d. August 7, 1970) at San Quentin State Prison
August 11: Watts Rebellion also known as the Watts Riots /Uprising, August 11-16 1965
August 14: Bois Caiman: Vodou ceremony that would lead to the first large scale uprising of the enslaved of Saint Domingue and spark the Haitian Revolution
August 17: birth of pan-africanist leader Marcus Garvey (n. August 17, 1887 - d. June 10, 1940)
August 21: beginning of Nat Turner's Rebellion (August 21-23, 1831)
August 21: death of George Jackson (d. August 21, 1971) at San Quentin State Prison
August 23: Uprising of the enslaved in Saint Domingue, beginning of the Haitian Revolution and commemorated by UNESCO as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
August 30: birth of Fred Hampton, who was a 21 year olddeputy chairman of the Black Panther Party at the time of his assassination by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. |
| | YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT |
| Summer Youth Program FRESH New London's Summer Youth Program is a leadership development & community engagement program for youth aged 14-20. Participants learn about farming, the food system, and food justice while gaining skills in communication, advocacy, and leadership. Our youth are compensated while they learn, either through a FRESH stipend or via our partnership with New London Youth Affairs. |
| | | We are halfway through our Summer Youth Program! You may have seen our team of 11 crew members and 5 Jr. Staff working around town, or doing team-building activities at Ocean Beach! One aspect of our Summer Youth Program that makes us unique is that, while FRESH is technically just one of New London Youth Affairs' worksites, we split our crew up on Wednesdays to rotate between 3 community-oriented sites.
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| | Typically, the three worksites we rotate between are SPROUT Farms at Conn College, one of FRESH's 7 urban gardens, and the former "Food to the People Pantry." This year, LLHD has taken ownership of the pantry and converted it into the BODEGA, which is super exciting! In its stead, this summer we decided to partner with The Mohican Senior Apartments. The Mohican is an affordable senior housing complex on State Street–many of you may have memories of events held in their ballroom on the top floor. |
| | This ballroom became our third site this summer. We cooked culturally relevant meals for the rest of the team to enjoy after the workday, and researched the history of the food that they are not only growing, but eating. We also successfully held our Pay-What -You-Can table in the ballroom on rotation days for residents to enjoy. Some of the meals we shared together included Papas a la Huancaína (Peruvian), Arroz Mamposteao (Puerto Rican fried rice), Collard Greens & Callaloo (American South & Caribbean), and fried Yucca.
The Mohican as a third rotation site just made sense, especially integrated with all the workshops we've been doing about the intersections between culture, food, identity, and revolution. Thank you to the folks at The Mohican! |
| | | Growing Culturally Relevant Crops
Putting Culture Back in Agriculture is a project and mission that we launched in 2017, with the goal of honoring crops that are essential to our cultural meals. A youth in our summer program described cultural dishes as “a love language of different parts of the world, a way of truly feeling, tasting and experiencing our people's history.” This is one of the main reasons why we focus so much on growing crops that are aligned with our people, identities and ancestral stories.
THIS interactive map can help us understand the connection of crops and their places of origin.
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| | Crops that FRESH Grows:
- Recau/ Culantro: Native to Central and South America, used to make Sofrito, a sauce/paste that is the base of many staple dishes in Puerto Rico
- Aji Dulce: Smokey Sweet Pepper from the Caribbean, another ingredient in sofrito
- Callaloo/ Amaranth: Originated from West Africa and now a staple in the Caribbean
- Okra: Originated in Africa, a staple in Southern American and Caribbean dishes
- Calabaza/ Auyama: West Indian Winter Squash, native to the Americans, famously used in stewed beans in Latin America
- Collard Greens: Originated in Ancient Greece; enslaved Africans brought over the seeds, and now this nutritious green is a staple in soul food
- Huacatay (Peruvian Black Mint): Native to South America, specifically the Andes Mountains, an amazing herb used in Peruvian and Bolivian cuisines
- Aji Amarillo: A yellow chili pepper from Peru, was a part of the ‘holy trinity’ of Peruvian Cuisine (along with garlic and red onions)
- Pigeon Peas/ Gandules: Originated in India and is a staple bean in Caribbean food
- Black Eye Peas: Originated in Africa, one of the staple crops brought over during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Has become a staple crop in southern food with a beautiful tradition of helping ring in the the new year
- Red Kidney Beans: Native to South America, it is a staple in Caribbean, southern and Latin dishes
Check out our website and social media to get updates on crops, events, cultural dishes, and all things FRESH!!
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| | PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN MARKET @ MERCER GARDEN
On June 22nd, FRESH opened our summer market to the community. This market is offered in collaboration with Connecticut College's garden club Sprout Garden. We grow a large variety of vegetables and herbs (and a few fruits), including collards, Caribbean peppers, squash, tomatoes, and more. Come shop for what you enjoy, and pay what works for your family. The market, which is open every Saturday from 10am - 12pm during the growing season, is an integral agricultural and learning program for our summer college interns and our Youth Crew program participants. |
| | | | | FOOD JUSTICE / AGRICULTURAL RESISTANCE |
| The Activist Roots of Minnesota’s Food Co-ops
"Research shows that co-op grocery stores can go a long way in revitalizing food deserts. Catherine Brinkley, assistant professor of community and regional development, found that co-ops were most likely to take root and thrive in communities labeled as food deserts when compared with other types of markets."
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| | | "Revolution is about the need to re-evolve political, economic and social justice and power back into the hands of the people, preferably through legislation and policies that make human sense. That's what revolution is about."
~ Bobby Seale, Co-founder Black Panther Party
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| | | Alex Amouyel on Empowering Kids through Food JusticeFood Talk with Dani Nierenberg (by Food Tank)
On "Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg," Dani speaks with Alex Amouyel, the President and CEO of the Newman’s Own Foundation. They discuss the model of the Foundation, which utilizes 100 percent of the profits from the sale of Newman’s Own products to transform the lives of children who face adversity; how the Foundation’s Food Justice for Kids Prize is being used advance Indigenous food justice and improve nutrition education and school food; and the value of peer- to-peer learning. |
| | | Food Pantry News
Our Food to the People food pantry has reopened in its new form - it is now a bodega-style (like a very small grocery store) pantry, where the community can shop for just what they want. It is still free and open to everyone, regardless of age, race, economics, or immigration status. It is open every week, Tuesday 11-1:00, Thursday 12-2:00, and Friday 9-11:00 & 4:30-6:30, at The Place, 74 Garfield Ave, New London (the old American Legion Building) |
| | PEOPLE'S BUDGET UPDATE - Civic Engagement in Action. "Government" is not just a high school graduation course.
Hearing Youth Voices youth and volunteers for the PBC collected over 200 signatures during Sailfest weekend, July 13-14. We're excited to see our youth engaged in understanding how local government works and the importance of community engagement and advocacy.
Boots on the ground! |
| | | What Makes Farming with FRESH Different?
After five seasons working on an organic vegetable and flower farm, coming to FRESH was a shift in perspective as well as location. I had grown used to working long days on the farm where it was very important to work quickly and efficiently. It was satisfying to bring in truck loads of food and send it off to a co-op or farmers market.
But at FRESH, I need to practice doing more than just growing food. I see a big part of my role here as literally putting tools in other people's hands and taking a step back. I don’t care if I can build a bed faster than you. I want to see you build a raised bed. I don’t mind if it takes a long time to teach you a new skill. I want you to be comfortable with it.
FRESH does grow a larger variety of food than I have grown on other farms. However, much of it is grown in smaller amounts than I am used to, and it's spread across 7 locations. It can feel hectic, but when I meet a woman picking collard greens from a snack bed after telling me she has just become a caregiver and another woman tucking vegetables into the bag in her wheelchair, I think that this might be more efficient after all.
Ellen Rice, Farmer
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| | | | | Open to the Community!
- Food to the People food pantry: EVERY Tuesday 11-1:00, Thursday 12-2:00, and Friday 9-11:00 & 4:30-6:30, 74 Garfield Ave.
- "Pay-What-You-Can" Market - EVERY SATURDAY 10am - 12pm, Mercer St.
- August 3 - Saturday Community Work Day - Mercer St Community Gardens
- August 10 - Saturday Community Work Day - Cottage St. Urban Farm
- August 17: BLOCK PARTY! 4:00-7:00 at McDonald Park
Around Town Events! |
| Mission
To build momentum for food system change, through local agriculture and youth empowerment. We use food to connect the community, encourage stewardship, inspire leadership and incite change.
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| Vision
We envision a robust, productive, equitable, healthful and sustainable local food system in New London, that was created with broad and diverse engagement.
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| Values
Anti-racism, Equity, Reallocation of Resources, Environmental Preservation & Sustainability, People Over Profits, Democratic Decision-making, Accountability, No Blame or Shame |
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| - One-time or Monthly tax-deductible donation.
- Annual Giving Campaign (December)
- Employer Matching-Gift Donation Database Search
- 144 Envelopes - "Giving Tuesday" (November)
- In-Kind Gift / FRESH Wish List
- Planned Giving/Endowment
- Partnership / Sponsorship
- Land Gifts / Real Estate
- Lead a Fundraiser
FRESH is fiscally sponsored by Third Sector New England, Inc (TSNE).
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Phone: 860-574-9006
P.O. Box 285 New London, CT 06320 |
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