Please join Veggielution for our third annual Fundraiser Dinner, held for the first time at the Veggielution Farm. Tour our two acre community farm and learn about how Veggielution cultivates education, community and social justice through sustainable agriculture. Bid on fabulous prizes in our silent auction. Dine family-style amid the summer bounty of our fields, on farm-fresh fare created by local chef Jess Krause. Finish up your sumptuous dinner as the sun sets, then kick up your heels at the barn dance to stretch the fun into the night.

Saturday, September 10, 2011 4 – 9:30 pm

Here is how the evening will unfold:

4:00 Farm Tours

5:00 Appetizers

5:30 Dinner Begins

7:30 Music and Dancing

Part of your ticket price is tax deductible, all proceeds will benefit Veggielution’s programs.

www.bountyofheartsdelight.org

This year Veggielution sent our first representative to the national Rooted in Community conference.  The organization serves as a network of youth working towards food justice in their local communities.  The regional gatherings and national conferences are unique in that the events and workshops are youth driven and youth led, creating a space for creativity, empowerment, and real change.  The conference this year was hosted by the Urban Nutrition Initiative in Philadelphia, PA with the main objective to create and advocate for the Youth Food Bill of Rights.  This document was created entirely by the youth, with the adults being asked to leave the room until after it has been created.  This summer, the Dig Crew sent youth leader Alyssa Quinonez as out representative, armed with our own ideas and demands collected during the summer program.  Read the working version of the Youth Food Bill of Rights and see below for Alyssa’s personal reflections on the experience.

Throughout my trip in Philadelphia I learn a lot about the food system but beyond that I learned more about myself and other teens around the country that are doing the very same thing I am. Farming for the goodness of earth and others, knowing that farming doesn’t have to be seen as a mean for making profits but can be used as a way to connect with other around you and form a strong community. Rooted in Community, the name itself explains it all.  There are a thousand ways to interpret this title and the one that sticks to me the most is being proud of your culture and where you come from. My community is San Jose, California- a city rich in history and culture but today is know as a city filled with gangs and trouble. None of that is true and with the conference I was able to realize how many other people think it’s cool that I’m from California, I learned how during WWI and WWII California was the main grower in providing food for the men overseas. Throughout the conference I met amazing people who are doing amazing things throughout the country; I will never forget all the friends I made. The Youth Food Bill of Rights really gave a voice to all the youth, we were able to address what we want to change or improve. Through that experience I really learned how to voice my opinion and speak up for what I feel is right. Many of these key events that occurred at the conference related to the Dig Crew where we learn a lot from farming but grow as a family and find our own voice.

August 6th marked the end of our summer youth program and the beginning of a wonderful new tradition on the farm.  Over 30 competitors came out to the farm to support our highschool Dig Crew and participate in the first annual Farm Olympics.   Teams included the Hungy Hungry Hippos, Go Green! , Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity, and the Pumpkins.  Teams were challenged both mentally and physically, weaving a wheelbarrow in and out of obstacles, hand watering thirsty yarrow plants, spitting cherry seeds as far as the eye could see, speed eating corn on the cob, and shot-putting giant vegetables.  Competition was heated, especially in the Cherry Tomato Chubby Bunny competition, with finalists meeting head to head and the winner stuffing over 15 tomatoes in his mouth!  During our final event, the Weed-A-Thon, participants cleared the farm of nasty weeds with our Supreme Champion Daniel Acosta (former youth program participant) pulling 34 lbs.  With our efforts combined, we pulled 382 lbs of weeds in less than an hour.  Maybe we should have a Weed-a-Thon every workday… Thanks to our participants and sponsors, we raised over $600 to support the summer Dig Crew and send youth leader Alyssa Quinonez to the national Rooted in Community conference in Philadelphia!

Sweet Corn

This week’s blog was written by one of our Summer Youth Leaders, Travis Abate.  Travis found the farm through a visit with the Discovery Museum’s “Green Team”, was a Dig Crew member last summer, and has returned to serve as a peer-mentor to our current Dig Crew.

As our fifth week of the Dig Crew comes to a close, we have been able to enjoy several workshops outside of “just farming”, such as our Cooking Matters classes.  We start off each session with a lesson about nutrition. The Dig Crew got to learn how our digestive system is structured—where all our food is going and what happens to it along the way. This week we learned about proteins, and how they can contribute to our system (as well as be detrimental with too much or too little). After each nutritional lesson, we go over to the potluck area where we start off on the actual cooking. A few weeks ago, our wonderful chef Galina taught us how to make simple falafels with veggies from the farm. This week, we made chicken and rice complete with a demo of cutting up a whole chicken, using garlic, onions, and carrots, all with a lovely cucumber salad.

Aside from cooking workshops, we’ve also taken on more mature topics such as food systems and oppression. On Thursday we learned about all kinds of oppression, from racial to religious. It was just about everything that I normally didn’t think about on a daily basis, like ageism for example. However, now that we had that lesson, it’s something I have taken to heart. Now sure, oppression is a heavy topic, so what do we do? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out today, Friday, in a “Resistance” workshop.

Albeit the fact we already do so much in just a week, there is ALWAYS time for field trips. This Saturday we are heading down to a farm in Santa Cruz, for a youth conference hosted by “Food What?!”.  I attended the conference last year, and I remember what a great time it was. With workshops such as candle making or bee keeping, and even flower smelling, it is more than enough to make the weekend about the greatest thing ever. I’m looking forward to going there with the Dig Cre, and meeting other Bay Area youth groups.

To sum up all of this, the Dig Crew has given me a purpose in the summer; I’ve taken away so much about farming and more. This youth program is extremely important to me, and even though I couldn’t see myself working the soil for real two years ago, here I am.