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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.
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| | | | YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT |
| Our Fall Youth Program is here! And while the to-do's in the garden are winding down, our community engagement events and partnerships are going strong, so there is lots for our youth to do. We welcomed 9 young people to our 6 week Fall Program, where they'll be engaging in our second installment of the Mapping NL Project! Two years ago, our fall youth program created maps that reflected their food and cultural experiences in NL–some chose to focus on memories made over food in New London, some focused on safe spaces or green areas around the city. All used creative techniques and mixed media to tell the story of their New London–and we'll get to see that again this year! Join us at our office/conference space, 26 Broad St, at 12:00 on November 2, to see the project exhibition!
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| | FRESH New London's Youth Program
FRESH New London's 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. |
| | | Preserving Your Harvest Fall is here and the farms and gardens are slowing down as the days grow shorter. After the bounty of summer, it is hard to think of going back to having little to no harvests in winter. In the fall, we hold extra appreciation for the foods that will stay with us. Maybe you have some jam jars stashed away from the spring or canned tomato sauce from the summer harvest. Maybe you are planning on coming to our Preservation Workshop on the 14th to learn about pickling, or sofrito and other ways to store your garden’s riches.
However, there are some crops that store well without any special extra steps. Your carrots will be happy in your garden bed until you are ready to eat them, or they can last months topped and stored in a plastic bag with a few holes in your fridge. Just get them out before the ground freezes, which will damage the roots! Your potato harvest will also keep for a long time in a cool dark place in your house as long as they have been well cured. To cure your potatoes and sweet potatoes, they should be stored for about 10 days in 55-70F and high humidity. This helps the skins toughen up for long term storage.
Winter squashes, such as our butternuts, need dryer warmer weather (70-80F) to cure. Once cut from the vine, the squash will harden its skin and even heal over smaller wounds which would be susceptible to rot. Then, it should be stored in a cool place with good ventilation like a crate in a shed.
Finding ways to store our garden's harvest to be enjoyed in winter is fun and satisfying. It is a simple thing, but a crucial one that people in every culture and for thousands of years have had to do with a variety of resources and technology. This article talks about more methods that were developed by indigenous people to preserve vegetables and other foods:
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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 through the end of October, is an integral agricultural and learning program for our summer college interns and our Youth Crew program participants. |
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The People's Budget Coalition is revived after having had our first community meeting on September 21st; there was food, political education, storytelling, and voter registration! FRESH & HYV's young people not only helped set up the event and the free produce table, but engaged community members in a short political pop quiz to test how much we really know about our local government & politics. After reviewing the results as a group and grabbing plates of delicious Haitian food, the young people led tables of attendees through a storytelling exercise where folks could share how they connected to certain areas of the platform. These opportunities are fruitful for multiple reasons–New London community members and beyond are coming together to do important work that keeps us informed on how to make change in our city, and there is intergenerational connection and storytelling that makes for great passive leadership development for our young people. See you at the next Community Meeting! Nov. 9th, 3-5PM! |
| | | | BIPOC Farming and the Pigford Lawsuit The legacy of the Pigford lawsuit is the theft of Black farms. Black farmers were left with crushing debt, USDA foreclosures, and no legal recourse to save their land. It is particularly devastating because the Pigford lawsuit is often referred to as reparations or couched in terms of being a “historic win.” It is not.
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| | | A LETTER FROM A LEADER, JULIE GARAY |
| Well my FRESH people, let me start off by saying please don't hate me (lol but seriously). It is with the world's weight on my heart I say goodbye to FRESH New London staff. Now, I want to say that you are all my family. In the most loving of ways, since I was 14 years old, I have been a part of this revolutionary, magical and beautifully chaotic organization and I wouldn't have had it any other way! 13 years growing and developing this org in partnership with some truly inspiring people is the highlight of my life.
Maybe one day I will write a book about all of the memories, lessons, obstacles and growth edges that FRESH has brought me, but one thing that I want to say is the organization wouldn't be a thing if it wasn't for all of you. The mentors and lifelong friends I have gained have helped me learn and grow as a leader such as Alicia McAvay, Arthur and Emily Lerner, Maya Sheppard, Regina Mosley, Nicolo Festa, Casey Moran, Seanice Austin and Chloë Nuñez (They're like a million more people so I promise I’ll add you to my book).
I am proud to have played a role in the pathways for development of this organization and I wholeheartedly trust the direction the next leaders take it. The Food Justice movement in New London is stronger because we are united through the intersectionalities of our identities and that is something that will exist in me wherever I go. I believe in solidarity, uplifting of others and the recognition that we all play a role in the revolution that is changing the fabric of New London. My blood, sweat and tears (literally) are in every inch of this city's soil; whether it was planting an elderberry with youth and singing happy birthday to it in McDonald Park, burning my fingertips on the mower at Mercer (I didn't have fingerprints for a week, I could have done some crimes teehee), or crying at a workshop while telling my food story with youth in some random church basement.
I want to wrap up by saying I love you FRESH, I love you New London and I love my weird, quirky, silly people that make New London home. I moved to New London from Puerto Rico when I was about 4 years old, and I promise y’all aren’t gonna get rid of me that easily *insert evil laugh*!
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| | | | | Open to the public!
- "Pay-What-You-Can" Market - EVERY SATURDAY 10am - 12pm, Mercer St.
- Oct 7 - Wesleyan University Food justice Workshop - Wesleyan U, 12pm-1pm
- Oct 12 - Work Day (Volunteers Welcomed) - Mercer St. Garden, 10am - 12pm
- Oct 14 - Preservation Workshop - Mercer St Garden, 10am-12:30 pm
- Oct 19 - Work Day (Volunteers Welcomed) - Cottage St Garden, 10am - 12pm
- Oct 26 - Garlic Planting Party - Mercer St Garden, 10am-12pm
Around Town Events! |
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| 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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