Veggielution is a nonprofit seeking to create a sustainable food system in San Jose. We currently farm about 1 acre at Emma Prusch Farm Park in East San Jose. Our open workdays on Wednesdays and Sundays are a chance for people to come and get their hands dirty, while learning about agriculture and building community.
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KTVU Channel 2 did a news spot on us, and the Mercury News posted an audio slideshow. Check it out below. Audio slideshow from the Mercury News Photos on Flickr - we are still adding more The Aztec Dancers of Calpulli Tonalequeh started us off with a beautiful blessing of the farm. Next we heard remarks from Councilmember Nora Campos, me, and Parks and Recreation Commission and Executive Director of the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, Leslee Hamilton. After that we had an amazing work session where around 100 people helped plant a half acre of crops including corn, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, squash, carrots, potatoes, okra, beans, cucumbers, melons, and more! It was quite an amazing sight to see. For many it was their first time planting something in the ground. In the background of that we had a team of draft horses discing and plowing the other half of our acre. Thanks Cheryl and friends for bringing your georgous horses. And thanks to all the volunteers who helped the morning of and during the event to make everything go so smoothly. There were many volunteers who put in a lot of time during the week before the event to get the field ready - making paths, laying irrigation, and getting the fence posts in. Thanks to all those who came out for those long hours of work. I still can’t belive that we got all that done in just one week. There are so many more thank yous to give. Thanks to the park staff who put in so many hours to prepare the land - ripping, discing, and tilling with tractors, and helping to get the irrigation running. Thanks to Brian Clampitt and his staff from Parks and Rec who helped to put the whole event together, and thank you Sal and Whole Foods Campbell for providing the delicious lunch. If you haven’t been to the farm yet or in a while, now is a great time to come out! Our workdays are on Wednesdays at 2:30, and Sundays at 10a followed by a potluck lunch. Click here for details and directions. I’m looking forward to an amazing summer with all of you! Amie Frisch We are on the 6p and 10p news tonight! Click below to watch it. There will be no workday on Sunday June 21st due to Fathers Day. Say hi to your dad for us. We hope to see you at the Groundbreaking on Saturday June 20th.
Veggielution Groundbreaking Event Saturday, June 20 at Prusch Farm Park We invite all of you to join us on at 11am on Saturday, June 20 to celebrate the beginning of our new 1-acre farm at Prusch Farm Park. And what better day to celebrate summer planting than the day before summer solstice! Councilmember Nora Campos will be with us to give a speech and honor us by participating in the ceremonial groundbreaking, along with representatives of San Jose Parks and Recreation and other community partners. We will ask community members to help us plant corn and beans, and join us in a big free lunch. There will be live music, a resource fair, and other fun activities. Keep posted for details of the event, but for now, save the date! If you have participated in Veggielution or contributed to the farm in any way, this event is for you. We really hope that everyone can join us in celebrating this historic moment for Veggielution. If you have never been to the farm, now’s your chance to see our plot and join in the growing farm community. Councilmember Campos commits $25,000 to Veggielution
We are very excited to make this announcement, and it marks the beginning of a new phase for Veggielution, a time where we will be reaching out to the community more than ever while expanding our current programs and structure. We are one step closer to realizing our vision for a large-scale educational community farm in San Jose. As mentioned before, we’d like to thank all the people in the Park’s Department who made this possible, including Park Supervisor Alex Pearson, Park Manager Branden Casper, and Parks Director Alberto Balagso. A very big thank you to Councilmember Nora Campos and her Chief of Staff Ryan Ford. In addition to helping us navigate through the process of creating this agreement, Nora Campos has committed $25,000 dollars for supplies and infrastructure. The money will be used to build an water-efficient drip irrigation system and outfit us with supplies for community workdays and our new high school youth program starting this Fall. Veggielution is a sponsored project of The William James Association, which promotes work service in the arts, environment, education, and community development. Thank you to Laurie Brooks for helping with the nuts and bolts of the agreement (liability insurance, etc.) WJA is providing much needed organizational services as we move towards creating our own 501(c)3 nonprofit. Here, it’s also important to mention our original sponsor, The Prusch Farm Park Foundation. Their unwavering support has kept us going through our first year at Prusch Farm Park and our friendship will continue into the future. We just finished potting up around 200 tomato plants that board member Dot Maley has donated to the cause. A whole team of Veggielutionaries has worked to make this possible, including writing the 30-page proposal for the East Side Community Farm, a blueprint of the organization we are currently building. This document will be made public in coming weeks to open up a larger community dialogue about what a larger farm can look like in the future. Let’s Get to Work!
Calling all Veggielutionaries! We are looking for a few (more) good people who are ready to really take part in making this farm happen. Our interns will work on a team of dedicated volunteers, learn a lot, and make a difference in the community. We are now accepting applications for the following internship positions:
These are unpaid positions for 10 hrs per week through the summer.
Recently, Michael Fallon suggested Veggielution join another contest. There were 60 applicants entering a ten-thousand dollar Silicon Valley Business Plan Contest of which only 16 passed into the semi-finals. 14 showed up that day and presented their business plan. I would like to thank Monica Lisa Benavides for presenting as well as working on the presentation with me. 8 moved onto the final presentation and Veggielution came second! I was not able to go, but I know that Dennis worked on the presentation and Lisa kicked ass presenting. Michael Fallon was in a meeting and was not able to attend, however he is very delighted to hear about all of our success. Some comments made in an e-mail: “…We are all delighted.” “The award could not be more needed and more timely.” I look forward to seeing bigger and greater things from Veggielution. Here is the breakdown of the results [below]: SVBPC Finals The Silicon Valley Business Plan Competition went off very well today. All the eight teams showed up on time, as did all the judges! The judges - Larry Boucher, Dan Doles, John Hall, and Chester Wang - were impressed by all the presentations and presenters, and gave them incredibly helpful feedback. You might be interested to know the results: Winner of the First Prize, Wanda Ginner Award ($10,000): Rate the test.com - Ryan Guerrettaz Winner of the Second Prize, Larry Boucher Award ($5,000): Veggielution - Monica Lisa Benavides & others Winner of the Third Prize, Dan Doles Award ($2,500): CRO Connect - Aditya Raghwa, Chandini Kalsy, Vidya Ramesh Winner of the Best Business Plan Award ($500): DoCause - Ahmed Mahmoud, Yasir Ali -Mike Duong |
Upcoming Events
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Copyright © 2009 Veggielution Urban Farming Project - All Rights Reserved |
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The Veggielution Groundbreaking on Saturday was an immense success! We did it! It was inspiring to feel the excitement from everyone who attended.
We are proud to announce that Veggielution has just signed an agreement with San Jose Department of Parks and Recreation for use of an additional acre of land at Emma Prusch Park! This deal has been in the works for a long time and required a huge effort from volunteers, City staff, the office of City Councilmember Nora Campos and the Prusch Farm Park Foundation. The agreement will allow us to create a 1-year pilot of the East Side Community Farm, which will provide low cost food to the community and teach San Jose’s youth about food, agriculture, and other social and environmental issues.
