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Support FRESH New London: Empowering Youth, Growing Food and Building Stronger CommunitiesDear Friends and Supporters, FRESH New London is a small but mighty food justice non-profit. Our mission is to build momentum for food system change. We grow food in the city, develop youth leaders, and connect with our community to build lasting and local change. Right now, we’re running our 144 Envelopes fundraising campaign to expand our reach and increase our support for local youth. Every donation helps us provide critical services, create safe spaces for learning, and open doors to a brighter future. |
| | Join us in this mission! Your support helps us:
Empower our youth with impactful year-round programming. We help youth find and develop their voice in order to create a more sustainable and just food system.
Reclaim urban spaces as farms, gardens, and community green spaces. Growing food in the city gives us power and control over our food and land.
Bring our community together to connect, grow our collective power, and make systemic change.
Together, we can build a stronger, more vibrant New London. Donate today and be part of the change.
Thank you for your generosity (every amount helps) and commitment to helping us continue our work!
In Solidarity,
The FRESH New London Team |
| | | Join us for “Embrace Your Roots” – an inspiring evening of art, culture, and community to support FRESH New London! This fundraising event will celebrate and uplift the rich cultural tapestry of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous communities through a diverse collection of artwork created by talented local artists. Dive into the powerful expressions of identity, heritage, and connection as each piece tells a unique story rooted in tradition and resilience.
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| | YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT |
| | FRESH's seasonal youth programs are the place where young people can engage with political education, movement building, and social justice, using urban agriculture as a vehicle. This Fall, our youth harvested, processed, and distributed hundreds of pounds of food to the community at several events and at our pay-what-you-can table each Saturday. They told each other stories about their personal Food Havens in New London, and then created maps that depict their lived experiences in New London--the good, the frustrating, and their proposed solutions to it all. This was the second installment of the Mapping New London project (the first one was run in 2022), which culminated in a beautiful showcase where youth had the opportunity to present their maps to the New London community. |
| | | | On the Saturday before Halloween, FRESH youth and community members gathered at Mercer for work and celebration. We cleaned up the garden and planted garlic while dressed as cartoon characters, dead pirates, rappers, ghostface, and more.
Garlic is planted in the fall and needs to go in before the ground starts freezing. So if you have been thinking of planting at home, you still have plenty of time.
Our work was over quickly, and we spent most of the day eating good food and enjoying the beautiful weather. We were glad to have Ery there collecting stories about food and life from anyone willing to share, and we also welcomed Connecticut Sea Grant to our event to talk about their work in protecting our coastal communities.
Our pay what you can table was filled with food from our final harvest of the season, and we brought in pumpkins to send our guests off with a little extra festive cheer.
Thank you to everyone who came out for this party and showed up throughout this season to help us grow and enjoy food! |
| | | On Friday, September 27th, representatives of the Onondaga Nation signed legal documents with Honeywell International for the return of 1,000 acres of land at the headwaters of Onondaga Creek which sits within the original treaty footprint set aside for the Onondaga under the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua.
The following is a statement released by Tadodaho (Chief) Sid Hill of the Onondaga and Keeper of the Fire for the Six-Nation Haudenosaunee Confederacy, marking the transfer of land.
“The headwaters of Onondaga Creek in the Tully Valley are part of the system of waterways leading into Onondaga Lake that have sustained our Nation for millennia, and we are grateful that the Department of the Interior and New York State have worked with us to return to our stewardship the first 1,000 acres of the 2.5 million acres of treaty-guaranteed land taken from us over the centuries,” said Onondaga Tadodaho Sid Hill “This is a small but important step for us, and for the Indigenous land back movement across the United States.” |
| The little over 1000 acres of Onondaga Nation ancestral lands was returned to the Nation is the largest example of “land back”—the growing movement across Turtle Island to return Indigenous lands and waters back to the original peoples who stewarded them for centuries prior to colonization.
These acres include the headwaters of Onondaga Creek and will provide a source of clean trout and other fish for the Onondaga people—to partially compensate for the loss of fishing access resulting from the illegal taking of 99 % of their homelands. |
| | | | The housing market crisis in New London is real! One of the challenges, particularly in our city for development projects, is the soil contamination. To address this issue, FRESH New London hosted a meeting with the CT Dept of Energy and Environmental Protection.
At the free two-hour workshop, we discussed the community and environmental health of New London, and explored advocating for funds to clean-up of sites, especially for housing. The goal is that this will begin to directly impact how our city negotiates with developers and the type of housing units that are created.
Remember - Your lived experience is important and sharing it can influence solutions to improve the quality of life for you, your family, and the New London community.
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| | | Open to the public!
- Nov 23 - Frozen turkey/chicken giveaway - Mercer St. Garden, 10am-12pm
- Dec 5 - Art Expo - 26 Broad St., 6pm-9pm
Around Town Events! - Nov 17 - Community Listening Circle, addressing violence against women - The Place, 74 Garfield Ave, 2pm-5pm
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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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