Become a Bloom Collective patron today and matching gift will double your donation

Feb16

The Bloom Collective is a Grand Rapids infoshop and lending library located in Grand Rapids offering a wide variety materials aimed at promoting radical social change. For the past several years, The Bloom has supported OKT by sharing its space and helping promote its events. For the past two years, OKT has located its office space within The Bloom Collective at Steepletown Center and, with help from the Kellogg grant money, contributed towards The Bloom’s monthly rent.

OKT is continuing that arrangement through Ocotber 2013 as The Bloom moves to its new location at 8 Jefferson SE in downtown Grand Rapids. The new space will give The Bloom and OKT higher visibility and be more convenient for both organizations’ constituents.

The rent at 8 Jefferson is triple what was being paid at Steepletown (although that location was in the process of raising the rent). So, The Bloom has mounted a very successful fund raising drive to help pay rent and remodeling costs. One anonymous donor has pledged a $2,000 matching gift–donations have not yet reached the $2,000 mark.. The offer will only be in effect for three more days.

If you can, please support The Bloom and OKT by donating or paying for an annual membership to The Bloom Collective today. Simply click here to make your payment through WePay.

Urban Roots film about Detroit’s food gardeners an example for our neighborhoods

Feb4

Urban Roots:When Everything Collapses Plant Your Field of Dreams

6:30 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 5
Grand Rapids Public Museum.
Tickets cost $5.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is one facet of Our Kitchen Table’s Food Diversity Project. Another is supporting urban neighbors as they grow food in containers, raised bed gardens and community gardens. OKT often confers with Detroit’s urban gardeners as they are so good at what they do. According to our sources there, Detroit’s urban neighborhoods are food self-sufficient. The neighbors living there are growing enough food to feed themselves. This is OKT’s goal for Grand Rapids.

Would you like to learn how Detroiters are making this happen? Come see the West Michigan Environmental Council’s screening of Urban Roots, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 5 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Tickets cost $5. The film takes a look at Detroit’s urban farms—and features farmer Cornelius Williams, a former OKT collaborative partner. A panel discussion following the film includes OKT’s Lisa Oliver King and LINC’s Darrel Ross.

OKT takes a different stance than those who approach urban farming as an agricultural business. True food self-sufficiency entails neighbors growing food, sharing food and foraging native fruits, nuts and greens as well as managing their own farmers’ market alternatives—alternatives without profits as the overarching goal.

Detroit’s gardens have flourished because they are grown by community for community. Recent developments, such as the Hantz Farm are a direct threat to these gardeners. The Detroit Food Justice Task Force sees the Hantz Farms as a land grab that will negatively impact food security there. Hopefully the voice of the people will prevail and their gardens will continue to provide nutritious food for their families.

Anti-Racist author Tim Wise to speak at GVSU this Thursday

Jan28

Reposted from GRIID.org

Tim Wise Lecture

Thursday, January 31 at Noon
GVSU – Allendale Campus, Kirkhof Center – Room 2250 Grand River
This event is free and open to the public.

Anti-racist activist and author of numerous books that challenge White Supremacy, most recently, Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority.

His lecture for this Thursday is entitled, Beyond Diversity: Challenging Racism in an Age of Blacklash, where he will critique “diversity” efforts on campuses and in corporate America.

Unlike conservative criticisms, which claim diversity and multiculturalism have gone too far, thispresentation focuses on how most “tolerance” training amounts to little more than a feel-good approach which fails to address the fundamental structures of racism and inequality.

Since it is these institutional realities that cause a lack of “diversity” in the first place, failure to discuss strategies for changing the current distribution of power will doom diversity efforts to failure. Focusing on personal prejudice rather than institutional bias is shown to be inadequate for building an anti-racist movement. The negative impact on all Americans that results from failing to address structural racism will be discussed in detail.

Sponsored by the GVSU LGBT Resource Center.

7 p.m. Tuesday: Natasha Bowens, Brown Girl Farming

Jan15

Natasha Bowens, a farmer of color, will be speaking on the intersect between race and sustainability at Calvin College Fine Arts building Recital Hall 7 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 15.

She writes about her journey as a farmer of color on her blog: browngirlfarming.com She has also started a photo documentary to share the story of farmers of color all across the country.

Co-sponsored by Calvin College’s Residence Life, MSDO, Biology Department, Multicultural Affairs, Community Engagement, and the Service-Learning Center.

School partnerships grow the work of Southeast Area Farmers’ market

Dec18

The Gerald R Ford Middle School market site became a fun community gathering place.

The Our Kitchen Table (OKT) farmers’ market management team truly appreciates the partnership that has developed with two Grand Rapids Public Schools, Gerald R Ford Middle School and Martin Luther King Leadership Academy.

GR Ford has not only served as a site for the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market for the past two years, it has also served as an OKT food garden demonstration site. You can see the raised beds just south of the school building. In addition, OKT’s Yvonne Woodard has led food gardening classes with students at the school.

On Friday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m., Ms. Woodard facilitates a healthy community get together featuring nutritious foods, dance exercise and pick-up basketball. All community members are invited to join this free activity that takes place during the school year (holiday weeks excluded).

Last year, OKT and students from Mr. Andrew Ippel’s class planted a rooftop food garden in abandoned raised garden beds at Martin Luther King school. “Students in my classroom learn so well through real-world experiences! Typing meaningless sentences isn’t the same as formulating real ideas about the vegetables they hope to see growing in their very own garden,” said Mr. Ippel. “Students are learning how to work, the value of getting their hands a little dirty now and then. They have a chance to be recognized by adults and peers in their school as valuable, contributing members in the MLK community.”

Next market season, OKT hopes to host a monthly satellite farmers’ market at MLK.

March planned this Saturday in Grand Rapids to fight GRPS plan

Dec12

Reposted from GRIID.org

March of the Stakeholders

Saturday, December 15
Noon – 3PM
Beginning at Rosa Parks Circle in Downtown Grand Rapids

Local people are angry and organized. With the continued dismantling of Grand Rapids Public Schools and the partnerships with the private sector to build places like the Van Andel funded University Prep Academy on Division.

Here is what the Facebook event page says about what is planned this Saturday:

Bring the REAL stakeholders (our children!) to lead us parents as well as teachers and community supporters in a march this Saturday at 12 noon from Rosa Parks Circle toAmway Grand Plaza.

The purpose of our march is to oppose GRPS’s “Transformation Plan” to shutter 10 more of our public schools in the coming year and to bring our complaint to those financially and ideologically responsible for the plan.

The “Cambridge Report”, upon which the GRPS Transformation Plan is based, was paid for with nearly 1/4 $ million from the DeVos family, a family that has been working for over ten years to privatize and dismantle public schools not only in Grand Rapids but also nationwide. As Dick Devos put it in his 2002 speech on the topic to theHeritage Foundation, “Because we know how the government schools perpetuate themselves, we can design a plan to dismantle them”.

Is it any surprise then, that the DeVos family-sponsored study recommended shuttering 10 more of our public schools? It is not a surprise, but it is a surprise that GRPS administrators would simply fall in line!

25 schools have already been shuttered in recent years: closing 10 more leaves our city with a dwindling public education base and just clears the way for more private and charter schools to take their place.

This is one “philanthropic” donation GRPS adminstrators should steadfastly refuse: they should instead be working to expand our public school base, while providing wraparound services and diverse learning opportunities at every school!

Join us and let’s work to save our public school system locally and nationally at the same time. If GRPS won’t do it, we will.

Sponsored by Save Our Schools Grand Rapids (SOSGR)

LadyfestGR 2013 selects OKT as beneficiary

Nov14

By Georgia Taylor (painted live at LadyfestGR 2012)

Our Kitchen is supremely happy to announce that LadyfestGR 2013 has selected our organization to receive the funds raised by this year’s event. In a Facebook post, the group announced, “Our Kitchen Table will receive the proceeds from the event to help support their efforts to bring gardening and fresh produce to low income neighborhoods in Grand Rapids. We’re excited to partner with Our Kitchen Table!”

Taking place on Friday March 22 and Saturday 23, the event offers free workshops, a variety show, vendors and a concert featuring local, regional and national performers. While all performers and presenters must self-identify as female, everyone is welcome to attend.

The Pyramid Scheme Bar will serve as the concert venue for the event. Organizers are currently developing the musical line-up, which will most likely include concerts for both all-ages and 21 & over audiences.

They are securing two additional spaces for the free workshops. Our Kitchen Table will present workshops during the event and be on hand to provide information throughout.

The Bloom Collective will hold its 5th Annual Womyn’s Empowered Health Workshop as part of Ladyfest, as well.

For more information or to get involved, email LadyfestGR@gmail.com.

Go healthy with greens, fresh or frozen

Nov8

Our contest winner, Donna King (right), braved the elements to share her delicious “Donna’s Greens and Cornbread.”

Cold, rainy weather put a damper on the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market October 13 Greens Cook-off and Green Tomato Festival. Our contest winner, Donna King, braved the elements to share her delicious “Donna’s Greens and Cornbread.”

Don’t let the weather fool you. Now is the perfect time of year for cooking greens. Greens like collards and kale can keep on growing and producing into December. Greens are easy to preserve in your freezer, too.

Here’s how. For collards, cut of the stalks and cut out the thick center stem. Fold the leaves and cut into bite size pieces. Heat a large pot of water on the stove to boiling. Blanche a couple big handfuls of greens in the boiling water for two minutes. Scoop out with a large slotted spoon or colander with a handle. Let drain and cool in another colander. Press out excess water (or spin it out with a salad spinner). Freeze in freezer bags.

While fresh always tastes best, the frozen greens sure taste good during those long winter months when locally grown produce is less available. Plus, your frozen greens provide you with lots of nutritional benefits. Research shows frozen vegetables have almost as much nutritional value as fresh—especially if you are buying them from a local source.

November-December Events

Nov1

Our Kitchen Table

Growing Justice

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