Author Archive

Title: Free Seed Exchange
Location: UCSC Farm, UC Santa Cruz
Description: On Saturday, May 26, from 12 noon to 3 pm at the UCSC Farm, the UCSC Demeter Seed Library invites community members from all over Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay region to our second seed exchange of 2012. Come join the seed project and gain access to our collection of locally adapted heirloom seeds for free. A seed library is a means by which a community can store and protect its rare heirloom vairities of plants. The event is free to the public and the only stipulation for borrowing seeds is to return 20X the amount of seeds you borrow for at least two varities. This may sound difficult but it really is not, especially when one considers one seed has the potential to produce hundreds of seeds.

We have been working with local farmers and gardeners to preserve and encourage local food biodiversity. Heirloom species of plants go extinct every day. By growing seeds from the Demeter Seed Library you are directly participating in the preservation of rare varieties of delicious vegetables! Plus they look great and usually aren’t available at markets! Come sow the seeds of revolution. Living organisms should not be commodified!

We are working to create an open sourced seed encyclopedia and eventually would like to see living seed libraries at universities all over the nation. We are breaking ground on this project and would love for you to join us!

Contact Andrew Whitman at awhitman@ucsc.edu, (760) 214-3301 for more information. Or visit www.demeterseedsproject.org.

Start Time: 12:00
Date: 2012-05-26
End Time: 15:00

Engaging presentations by leaders in the sustainable food systems movement, a Strawberry and Justice Festival at the UCSC Farm, Farm Friday at Crown/Merrill Dining Hall, and a Garden Work Day at PICA! They’re all part of Spring Food Week at UCSC. Check out the details.

If you or your group is interested in volunteering or tabling at the Strawberry and Justice Festival taking place at the UCSC Farm on Thursday, May 17 from 4 pm to 7 pm, please fill out the online application.

Have questions about Spring Food Week? Contact the Food Systems Working Group, 831.459-3675 or email ucscfswg@gmail.com. Food Week events are free and accessible to all.

Cosponsors for Spring Food Week: CASFS, ESLP, Food Systems Working Group, PICA, Science and Justice Working Group, UCSC Dining, UCSC Sustainability Office. Food Week activities are supported by UCSC’s Measure 43 funding.

Strawberry photo by Alex Villegas

Title: Strawberry and Justice Festival
Location: UCSC Farm, UC Santa Cruz
Description: Join us on Thursday, May 17 from 4 pm – 7 pm at the UCSC Farm and celebrate the start of strawberry season! Learn about social justice and sustainable agriculture through a discussion panel, art and mural expression zone, interactive tabling, and more! Sample many berry dishes for free. Live musical guests include Wooster.
Start Time: 16:00
Date: 2012-05-17
End Time: 19:00

Title: American Wasteland: An evening discussion with Jonathan Bloom
Location: Social Sciences 1, Room 110, UC Santa Cruz
Description: Have you ever wondered how much food goes to waste in our world every day, month or year? An estimate is that 25% of food we bring into our homes becomes waste Join us for an evening dialogue with Jonathon Bloom, to learn about why America wastes so much food, and what we can do about it.

Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2012-05-17
End Time: 21:30

Title: Anim Steel, Real Food Challenge — ESLP Lecture Series
Location: Kresge Town Hall, Kresge College
Link out: Click here
Description: Anim Steel is the Director of National Programs at The Food Project in Boston, MA, founded twenty years ago to create personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. It currently employs over 100 Boston-area teenagers from diverse backgrounds who annually grow, sell, and donate over 250,000 pounds of organic produce. Nationally, the Food Project is helping to build a strong youth movement for just and sustainable food systems. Since 2003, Anim has provided leadership training for over 700 young people and forged a network of 5,000+ young activists and farmers. In 2008, he co-founded the Real Food Challenge, a campaign to re-direct $1 billion of college food purchases away from industrial agriculture towards local, fair, sustainable, and humane sources.
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2012-05-14
End Time: 22:00

CASFS is sponsoring a “Promising Practices Exchange” with the Monterey County Health Department,  The Nutrition and Fitness Collaborative of the Central Coast, Central Coast School Food Alliance, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and other partners at the Monterey Conference Center in Monterey, on Thursday, April 26 from 8:30 – 3 pm.

Representatives from several dozen agencies and organizations across the three counties of the Central Coast will gather to exchange ideas and resources to support population-based approaches to implementing nutrition education and physical activity promotion, and to maximize interventions, reduce duplication and address key nutrition (including healthy beverages), food security and physical activity issues in the region.  District 4 Supervisor Jane Parker will convene and welcome attendees and the day will conclude with “Champions” awards for individuals and agencies making a significant difference in the health of our Central Coast residents.

For more information, contact Tim Galarneau at 831.459-3248 or solseeker@gmail.com.

Title: Gendering Food Justice Panel Discussion, with Patricia Allen
Location: 370 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley
Link out: Click here
Start Time: 16:00
Date: 2012-04-17
End Time: 17:30

CASFS is offering on-farm and campus student food research and education positions to UCSC undergraduates through UCSC’s Campus Sustainability Internship program for 2012-2013. The application deadline is Friday, April 13. During the internship, students attend weekly classes and are paired with a staff or faculty member to work on campus sustainability projects or research. You will internship credit for the fall, winter and spring quarters and a $1,500 scholarship upon completion of the program in spring quarter. For details and to apply, see the CSI website.

This spring, immerse yourself in the nuts and bolts of what you need to know to create and maintain a healthy, productive organic garden in a new 3-day “Garden Cruz” community course at UC Santa Cruz (see a flyer about the workshop here). The 3-day course will be offered Friday through Sunday, May 18–20.

This intensive class will provide a solid foundation to further your lifelong study, enjoyment, and practice of organic gardening as you hone your food and flower-growing skills. Class instructors include Orin Martin, manager of the Alan Chadwick Garden, and local organic farmers Sky DeMuro and Zoe Hitchner, graduates of the renowned CASFS Farm & Garden Apprenticeship training program.

Classes will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. A second session will be offered July 20–22.

The course will cover the basic suite of skills involved in developing a successful organic garden, including soil analysis and bed preparation, composting, planting, irrigation, crop care, and harvest. Each day will include both lectures and hand-on practice, giving participants a chance to get their hands dirty while they learn. This course is ideal for community members and students involved in campus and community gardens, or looking to enhance their urban homesteading skills.

Classes and hands-on activities will take place at the Alan Chadwick Garden on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Cost of the course is $300, with a $25 discount for Friends of the Farm & Garden members. UCSC students can register for $200. Pre-registration by May 4 (for the May session) or July 6 (for the July session) is requested and class size is limited.

To register, send a check made payable to “UC Regents” to: Amy Bolton, CASFS/UCSC Farm, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA  95064, attn: Garden Cruz. Please indicate whether you are signing up for the May or July session. For additional details, contact Amy Bolton at 831.459-3240, or casfs@ucsc.edu. Student participation is supported by UCSC’s Measure 43.