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| In the season of giving, our supporters never fail to amaze us with their generosity and commitment to our mission. We're coming off the high of a successful open house and conclusion of the fall youth program right now, but we're already looking ahead, with excitement, to 2014. Enjoy the holidays and we'll see you in 2014! |
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In this issue:
- 2013: Year in Review
- Welcoming friends to our new home
- Interns look back on the season
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| From left, FRESH spring youth crew member Malik, junior staff member Carlos and intern Julia plant lettuce seeds at the end of the FRESH spring youth crew program in June. |
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| | Looking back on our 2013 successes |
| FRESH has experienced remarkable growth this year. We employed more youth, harvested more produce and brought it to more neighborhoods than ever before. We even moved to a new, larger space shared with the New London Youth Organization, opening up partnership opportunities around youth programming within the inner city. Next year, we'll be even stronger as we bring on an assistant director to help us focus on sustainable fundraising, and hire a farm-to-school coordinator (based at FRESH!) who will serve all of New London County. Thank you for helping us accomplish so much this year. Here's a sample of what you have helped us achieve: |
| - …engaged 35 New London youth for over 5,000 hours in stipended seasonal community food security projects and training.
- …employed five New London-area youth year-round as junior staff -- professional agents of food system change.
- …expanded our New London-focused mobile market program to include subsidized and senior housing in Groton and Norwich.
- …sold about 5,000 lbs. of locally-grown food through the mobile market this year, most at half price.
- …hosted hundreds of community gardeners, including at the new Riverside Park Garden.
- …delivered 75 farm shares each week for 20 weeks throughout the city, with participation cost based on a sliding income scale.
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| | From left, FRESH junior staff members Aziza, Carlos and Julie, with Farm Manager MaryKate, brought the mobile market to the harvest fair at the South Lyme Congregational Church in October to help spread the word about healthy, local food. |
| | Looking ahead to 2014, we plan to: |
| - …hire an assistant director to focus on implementing our new community-based sustainable fundraising program.
- …reap the benefits of a two-year, $100,000 federal grant won by the Ledge Light Health District, which will place a part-time countywide farm-to-school coordinator at FRESH to focus on increasing the amount of local food used in school meals.
- …add more mobile market stops throughout New London County.
- …open a new garden at Jennings Elementary School in New London
- …create community gardens at additional mobile market sites
- …employ more youth at our five-acre farm and community gardens.
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Don't forget! There's still time to make a tax deductible donation to FRESH before the end of the year! Donations can be made through our website, or you can send checks to: F.R.E.S.H., 90 Garfield Ave., Box 285, New London, CT, 06320 Thanks for your support! |
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FRESH youth crew member Karen presents a poster she made at the open house on Dec. 14. She said the program helped her be more open, positive and confident in her ability to make change. |
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| Introducing the new FRESH! |
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Our open house on Dec. 14 was a great success!
We hosted over 50 FRESH friends, supporters and our youth and their families. It's always a great treat to see -- and show off! -- how our youth grow during the weeks we have them, and how confident they become in their ability to create change in the food system.Our youth had unique ways of showing their growth, including songs and visuals. We've put up much of the presentation portion online, where you can watch our youth speak, sing and shine. |
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| | Interns look back on an eventful fall semester |
| Three Connecticut College interns learned about our farm and garden this fall. Interns Emily, Allie and Azul worked closely with staff to learn and experience farm planning and our youth curriculum. They also worked with youth to grow food. All said they’re eager to return next spring and see a full year’s growing cycle.
Emily said the farm work was demanding and difficult, but she was excited to get involved and learn so many new skills, including planting garlic and cover-cropping.
“It has been exciting for me to see how the hard work that we put into the field in the spring comes back around -- sometimes in the form of vegetable soup, and sometimes in the form of kale chips,” Emily said.
Allie said she had previously taken her food for granted, but has a new appreciation for |
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| how it gets to her plate.
“Whether it was all-things farming, from weeding, to planting, to harvesting, or helping to raise and ethically slaughter chickens, I have truly developed an understanding of what ‘farm to table’ really means,” she said.
Similar to the experiences of our crew, all three of our interns agreed that raising chickens, then butchering them and processing their meat into stew was a transformative experience.
“The stew, along with the giant salad and roasted vegetables we prepared using produce from the farm, made up a truly empowering meal,” Azul said. “The sense of control that comes from knowing your food’s story is a goal that I will chase from here on out.”
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