It’s hard to believe there has not been a post since Worms, but it’s true. They are, by the way, doing fine, thank you.

This Labor Day weekend I took to some Slow Food processes. More likely, I wondered what the wheat would be like that came from the Michigan Farm Amelia Acres, upon which sits Benjamin Barn? Here were these dried stalk tops I had gathered, and a few hours to contemplate.

Husking the wheat kernels should really take place outdoors. But I chose the kitchen. Rubbing and sifting let loose a lot of dusty particles, of which I’ll be sniffling about for some time. But soon I got the rhythm of how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

And so, in this fashion I had gathered enough wheat kernels to grind into about a quarter cup of course ground flour.

I added the ground flour to the waffle batter, along with some near-end blueberries, and a few crunched up cashew pieces.

It may have been my imagination, I think not, but these waffles had a definite “deeper” taste in their core. Even with mixing in regular white flour, I found the waffle to brown evenly and richly. It was a Lestaurant success!

The remainder of the wheat kernels, for which I’ll get a quarter to half cup, will be put toward a fresh pasta. In which the taste of this fresh-grown Michigan wheat will bring forth more taste-sensual flavors.

Until then. Grow. Reap. And Eat.

Spent a Saturday afternoon separating newspapers, one pile for “black and white” and another for “colored inks used. “ I’d read that the colored inks in the newsprint were toxic to worms, the red wrigglers down in the basement storage area. Yes, I’ve started vermi-composting in my new apartment to take care of my kitchen scraps.

In Chicago, recommended worm sources from comments posted on the Advocates for Urban Agriculture blogsite include:

Urban Habitat Chicago had a vermi-composting workshop in April. Check them out to see if they will have more.

Montrose Harbor Bait Shop.

Urban Worm Girl is another source and charges something like $20/lb.

God’s Gang sells worms – Carolyn Thomas is the coordinator – gg60628@aol.com 773/213-6992 You can share a pound – ½ pound will start a bin.

petsmart’s also sell red worms.

You can also get them from Bill Shores and pick them up locally:
Bill Shores, President
Shores Garden Consulting, Inc.
3818 N. Sawyer Ave.
Chicago IL 60618
Home: 773-478-2423
Cell: 773-490-7293
bluegreenedge@yahoo.com

And then this note from Debbie Hillman came across the AUA.

Someone asked about worms recently…..

Debbie Hillman, Co-Coordinator
Illinois Local Food & Farms Coalition
Chairperson, Evanston Food Policy Council
847/328-7175
DLHillman@sbcglobal.net

Pacific Garden Mission also sells red wrigglers and the most
beautiful, recycled wood worm bins.

thank you!
nance klehm
www.spontaneousvegetation.net
www.salvationjane.net

The original intent was to contact all of these sources and give a full report on cost of worms at various locations, but the name nance klehm caught my eye.

nance klehm is a forager, and gave a lecture/demonstration sometime last year on edible plants in and around the gardens of Waters Elementary School. We got in to a brief conversation as nance was offering samples of infused teas and vegetations, and herbal varieties she had concocted. But when my conversation turned to food deserts I felt the outdoor temperature shift. Labeling a community as a desert, conditions that community to be a desert. There is a lot of food and food sources in Englewood and it was, in nance’s opinion, terminology placed upon the community from the outside.

I can see this, and believe it merits further discussion on another blog post.

A few traded e-mails with nance, and arrangements were made to pick up the wormerie at Pacific Garden Mission.

Having recently moved with no more back yard I realized I miss the compost bin most. While on a recent trip to Seattle for my father’s 84th birthday celebration I had a moment when I took a small pan of vegetable trimmings and asked my father how he could throw vegetable matter away, just to have someone pick it up – drive it to a landfill and dump it there, when those nutrients would work great in the wooded ravine behind the house. And with that, I tossed the scraps into the ravine to decompose. Why should someone haul away your food scraps, when they can be used to enrich the soil, your garden and your own house plants?

So, I thought I’d try some worms.

Pacific Garden Mission at 14th and Canal. I’d never been before. Apparently, I entered upon the women’s side as I had to sit with the guard and wait for an escort across the building to the men’s side and the greenhouse. While seated there I got to talking with the security guard who was a month away from graduating from the program. He planned to stay on working at Pacific Garden Mission, and was a great advocate for their work. He invited me to come by Saturday for a 3:00 tour followed by the live taping of the Unshackled radio drama series at 4:30pm. Dinner would be at 5:30 with guests invited to stay for a free meal followed by the 6:30 – 8:00 Praise and Testimony session. I’ll have to get back some Saturday.

Robert came out to take me back to the greenhouse. He explained that usually Jose handled selling the boxes, but that he was doing it today. Robert brought me to the greenhouse and showed me where the boxes were built and which one had been picked out for me. But he then took me for a tour of the green house, the garden beds alongside the building, and the front garden area where he did most of the work reclaiming a corner of the ground complete with fruit trees.

It was amazing. He explained how he had not been interested in gardening the first time but since he has come back a second time to Pacific Gardens he’s become very interested. He showed me the various stages of the wooden bin composting (much larger than the wormerie), and gave pointers on how to vent the wormerie if it got too wet, and to be sure to clean the castings out on a regular basis because it becomes toxic to the worms to stay too long in their own poop.

I learned a lot from Robert. But there’s that word again, toxic. I’d read that the colored ink in newspapers could be toxic to the worms. Which is why I was surprised, a bit, to find colored newspapers in the starter box put together by Pacific Gardens. But as I sat in my apartment on a Saturday afternoon separating paper pages, I realized just how labor intensive that would be. For my worms I’ve decided that future newspaper will be color free, and they can detox with the new bedding.

Robert took me through more of the greenhouse and we talked about the tomato container plant / watering system that had been developed on site, even though Robert himself found it to be a waste of time.

It was remarkable learning at the Pacific Gardens Mission, and Robert was an excellent teacher. I arranged to write the check for $75.00 which included a pound of worms (how many worms are in a pound?) the wooden crate wormerie prepared with its first batch of worms and bedding (moist newspapers). It is solid construction with air holes drilled along the top wall, but the lid, which is 1/4 “ ply has warped already.

When I got the wormerie home, I found a spot in the kitchen next to the back door, being careful not to look in on the worms too many times (I did once or twice) because I’d also heard that they can go into shock if exposed to the light too much. (Or, some other such worm-related mythology.) What I didn’t expect was there to be an immediate heat wave as the kitchen shot up to eighty five degrees the next day.

Robert told me they shouldn’t be kept in temperatures above eighty, and while I knew the wormerie hadn’t heated up to that degree, it would soon bake there if the door were open and the afternoon sun drenched the box. Not a good arrangement.

So to the basement, to the locked storage shed the worms were cast…

Yesterday I made the first packet of food to deliver to the worms. Kitchen scraps, nothing with meat or bone, but coffee grounds and eggshells are good. Worms, too, are a little acidity shy, and I’ve been told to keep the citrus out. Wonder how they feel about garlic or peppers?

In the meantime, I have a friend over in Lincoln Square proper who has a house and some chickens on the back porch over the garage. I’m hoping to get some of their eggs, and bring them a small treat of red wrigglers. (Don’t worry, they’ll be plenty more worms multiplying in the box…)

I hadn’t intended for this to become a worm blog, but I’ve been thinking about what it is, each one of us can do, that will help make this a better place? As our friends sob uncontrollably at the images of pelicans in the gulf, we wonder what could possibly help?

Cut down on the gas lawn mowers. Walk. Ride a bike. What is one thing I can do today to help? Shop local. Don’t go so far to buy stuff. Know your farmer.

Yes, and know your worms.

Neighborhood Nutrition Centers has joined as a Stakeholder with Building a Healthier Chicago.

Building a Healthier Chicago (BHC) is a collaborative of local and national stakeholders working to strengthen efforts to promote the health of Chicago residents and employees.

Through collaboration BHC promotes and tracks the adoption of selected programs, practices, policies, and supportive environments throughout the worksites, schools, health care organizations, faith based organizations, parks and neighborhoods of Chicago. BHC works with community organizations, academics, health care and government to improve the health of all citizens.

We look forward to a healthy collaboration.

NNCenters participated in the Young Leaders Society of Metro Chicago‘s Health & Wellness – Focus on Food Deserts workshop at the K.L.E.O Center in the Washington Park community.

Speakers included:
Pastor Torrey L. Barrett, I
Founder and Executive Director
K.L.E.O. Community Family Life Center

Willie B. Cochran
20th Ward Alderman

Dr. Hsin-Yi Chang
Bariatric Surgeon
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital

James M. Galloway, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A.
Assistant U.S. Surgeon General
Regional Health Administrator
Rear Admiral, United States Public Heath Service
Region V, Chicago, Illinois

Emile Pendarvis
Director of Corporate and External Affairs
Centers for New Horizons, Inc.

The morning presented an in-depth overview into the health-related issues, such as the obesity crisis that is invading our communities. Kudos to United Way for promoting workshops such as these, and we look forward to following up with some of the participants – in particular some interesting UofC students that were in our breakout group.

We are pleased to announce that Neighborhood Nutrition Centers has been selected to advance to second round applications for Echoing Green’s fellowship program.  This is a great achievement – in an incredibly competitive field.

Out of 1,100 applicants in the first round, only 350 were chosen to make a second round of bidding. The fellowship would provide two years of scholarship funds ($30,000/yr), which is needed as seed money for advancing our program.

Deadlines are fast approaching, and in February we will be submitting a comprehensive analysis of our program goals and innovative opportunities we plan to provide.

In other news: NNCenters also made a project presentation at the January meeting of the Good Greens in Illinois Collabortion, sponsored by Congressman Bobby Rush and the USDA. The Committee will be selecting two or three projects to support, and we expect an announcement soon.

While we’ve been quiet in the winter months, the project continues to germinate – as we pull together necessary coalitions, and continue to seek funding opportunities.

Your suggestions and support are welcome.

Back in October, we wrote of a lecture given by Frances Moore Lappe. She invited us to purchase an advance copy of her new book LIBERATION ECOLOGY (only 1,000 being published). Our task, for receiving the early copy, is to read and review the book. Such reviews will be read, and parts may be incorporated into a 2nd writing of the book.

You may need to wait for the release – but we’d love permission to print five paragraphs from her book on “The smart-growth farm community.”

Listening to her voice in the book tell of how “it’s about our well being,” gives great excitement for reading the next chapters.

We’ve been remiss in writing here, but as for excuses there have been meetings and grants, and unfortunately, on a personal note, a cat with a broken knee to attend to.

But, we’re back on track, and very happy to report that the “friends and family” fund raising effort started in September has brought in over $3,500.

That’s a great start for Neighborhood Nutrition Centers, and no better place than here and now to say “thanks for giving.”

For the Holidays, please visit our DONATE page.

The first thing to do after returning from Iowa’s Community Food Security Coalition conference was to read Mark Winne’s book “Closing the Food Gap, Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty” (click here for a link to Amazon). Mr. Winne’s book was a good read and has much to say in the end regarding Race, Class and Privilege.

In this book we were also introduced to Zy Weinberg, and connected the name to the name badge to the face at a workshop on the first floor of the Des Moines convention center. We were attending Mapping Interactions and Discovering Opportunities in Federal Food Programs.

Gray hair, sunken cheeks, and engaging eyes. He took in the room. Zy Weinberg. He and Barbara Vauthier, are the editors of Foodlinks America, a website journal of the TEPAP Alliance. What is TEPAP? Check the link to Foodlinks America above. Zy Weinberg is to be credited with much of where American food policy has been shaped in getting food to people who need food in this country. He is to be thanked.

While perusing the USDA Competitive Grant Program application guidelines, and looking at information on the CFSC website, I came across Zy’s name again, which prompted an e-mail. We look forward to meeting him again when introductions can be made.

Food insecurity is not noticeable by most Americans if the evening party attended this weekend was any indication. Young adults, in the heart of downtown, genuinely oblivious to the fact there are food deserts in the city of Chicago. You would think they would be aware, being Chicagoans themselves.

Everyone has a right to food. Everyone has a right to have access to food. And everyone has a right to have access to food that is healthful. If you don’t, you end up with kids who have diabetes, obesity issues, and potential heart problems. Healthy food is the beginning of the true health care system. By investing in better food in low-income areas we can reduce the strain on the county hospital system and continue to teach healthy preventative measures.

What works? What gets a kid in your neighborhood to eat good food?

United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

Unexpected to the original conference schedule, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an appearance at the breakfast meeting and spoke eloquently about the work of the USDA under the new administration.

Central to the new work is the Know Your Farmer – Know Your Food program (click here for the USDA website).

Key to the address was the “notion of community.” Vilsack spoke of rural communities and the concept of supporting your neighbor. The farmer who loses his barn, or experiences health problems is met with neighbors who raise the barn or put in their neighbor’s crop before their own. As part of the notion of community we must remove the fear of sharing – helping one another.

There was, of course, concerned questioning during the Q&A regarding GMOs. The Secretary posed that there are many sides to this debate, and there are studies that support the opposing side of crop development. Here, a rumble of dissent came from the crowd – and his reception at the end of the Q&A was markedly less enthusiastic than following his prepared remarks.

1995 World Food Prize Laureate Dr. Hans R. Herren

During the Monday evening keynote address Dr. Herren presented a compelling argument to move away from genetically modified seeds for improving our world food supply – to embracing small organic, sustainable farms, moving away from the pesticidal destruction of our soil and improve the health of our growing ability.

The report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) on which Dr. Herren based his comments may be viewed here.

On Tuesday morning, following the address by Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack, Dr. Herren was seen presenting the IAASTD report to Secretary Vilsack.

There’s a moment when you realize why you come to a conference. The personal connections lead to information and the workshops, well, they lead to information too.

Today’s most interesting workshop topics were Reinventing Food Distribution without Reinventing the Wheel and Fresh, Local Food for ALL: Increasing Access to and Diversity Within CSA.

We chose the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) workshop, and with great reward. The concept of Neighborhood Nutrition Centers is based on utilizing CSA growers to provide the food to be distributed from the centers. At this workshop, two CSA-use programs were highlighted.

Laura Dowd of the Local Foods Connection presented her organization, which funds CSA purchases to give to families in need – currently serving 33 families and 10 agencies. This model does not charge the family for their food, and pays full price to the growers for produce and food. Ms. Dowd has some interesting aspects of the program whereby participants can complete certain tasks to earn points, to be used for purchasing kitchen equipment in their store. Most new kitchen items are donated from manufacturers or local stores – with some purchased by Local Food Connections.

The other organization, the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition serves families by providing CSA shares at 50% of the growers cost, while still paying growers full price. A majority of this program is paid for by sales of their cook book From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking farm Fresh, Seasonal Produce, and the annual Bike the Barns fundraiser.

We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from this workshop, and may need to consider a trip to Madison to learn more about MACSAC.

And the personal connections? A special shout-out to Elizabet Humble of the Hometown Harvest SE Iowa. Don’t let the cops get you down. Remember, calm and assertive.

Finally, we received notice that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will be making a Tuesday morning appearance at the conference. This will be the first time that a cabinet-level person from the administration will be speaking at the Community Food Security Coalition. The importance of this movement is snowballing.

(Did I mention that we had snow in Des Moines on our first morning?)