Shakara Taylor to host OKT food justice event Monday

Apr23

sempa1 Diagramming Your Food System
6 to 8 p.m. Monday April 25
Garfield Park Lodge
334 Burton St. SE
Grand Rapids MI 49507

On Monday, OKT’s special guest, Shakara Taylor, will help us to identify how the industrial food system functions in our neighborhoods and, despite its limitations, figure out ways to build a healthier food portfolio for our families and community. Whether you are a parent, grandparent or live alone and want to discover better ways to stretch your food dollar and improve your diet, this workshop is for you. OKT also welcomes those who work on issues of hunger, under-nutrition and food justice.

A mother, returning generation farmer, educator, activist-scholar and PhD student at Michigan State University, Department of Community Sustainability, Shakara explores decolonial pedagogies in the food justice and food sovereignty movements within the communal praxis of black agrarianism. Her personal journey of loving, healing and decolonizing is intimately wedded with working and learning with the land. She is committed to working with communities and using land-based activism to build food sovereign communities.

Spring into Activism: OKT April Events

Apr11

Activist, farmer, mother and MSU PhD candidate, Shakara Taylor will lead “Diagramming Your Food System” on April 25.

APRIL 18 6 – 8 p.m.
Food Justice Primer
OKT’s Stelle Slootmaker will facilitate an introductory dialogue on Food Justice at Garfield Park Lodge. Even if you’ve been to OKT Food Justice classes in the past, we hope you will stop by to share your thoughts and how you are working for food justice locally. At the conclusion of the dialogue, you are invited to stick around for a yoga nidra relaxation exercise. (Bring a blanket to lay on if you wish to practice this lying down.)

APRIL 22 6 to 7:30 p.m. Earth Day Spring Tree Tour

Laura Casaletto will take you on a foraging adventure in Garfield Park that teaches you to identify edible trees and shares information on other edibles growing in our neighborhoods. After the 30-minute walking tour, come to the lodge for snacks and dialogue on other neighborhood edibles. The Earth Day Spring Tree Tour remains one of OKT’s most “poplar” events.

APRIL 25 6 – 8 p.m. Diagramming Your Food System wsg Shakara Taylor

Learn to identify how the industrial food system functions in your neighborhood and, despite its limitations, figure out ways to build a healthier food portfolio for your families and community. A mother, returning generation farmer, educator, activist-scholar and PhD student at Michigan State University Department of Community Sustainability, Shakara explores decolonial pedagogies in the food justice and food sovereignty movements within the communal praxis of black agrarianism.

It’s time to think food gardens!

Mar21

Gloria1 While OKT has been thinking about food gardens all winter — and started growing organic food starter plants in February — now is the time for the rest of us to start planning, plotting and conspiring to grow our own alternative to the industrial food system. For starters, OKT is now recruiting residential food gardeners for the 2016 growing season. OKT has free gardening resources for you if you:

Live within our four target neighborhoods (SECA. Baxter, Eastown or Garfield Park).
Are pregnant or have children eight-grade or younger.
Have challenges that limit your access to healthy food.
Have health challenges that can be addressed by growing your own food.

Gardening Classes start in April!

Baxter Community Center is offering its food gardening series in April:
April 6: Garden Basics 1
April 13: Garden Basics 2
April 20: Soil Health/Composting
April 27: Seed Saving

These classes take place on Wednesdays from 6-7:30 p.m. at Baxter Community Center 935 Baxter St. (entrance on Bemis). They are free (but donations are appreciated). For nformation, email anna, ajohnson@baxtercommunitycenter.org.

Our Kitchen Table will be offering two food justice classes in April.
April 18 : Food Policy for Food Justice Class
April 25 : Diagramming Your Food System Class

And, OKT will begin its free food gardening classes in May:
May 2: How to Plan Your Food Garden 1
May 9: How to Plan Your Food Garden 2
May 16: Composting & Vermiculture
May 23: How to Save Seeds

Order bulk whole foods & pay with your Bridge Card

Jan11

Now you can order bulk whole foods and pay with your Bridge Card!

OKT’s Collective Whole Foods Purchase Group is placing an order with Country Life Natural Foods on Jan. 18. If you’d like to add high quality, whole foods to your meal planning strategy this winter, here is your opportunity. A supplier to food co-ops throughout the Midwest, Country Life offers a wide variety of bulk whole foods, everything from (bean) soup (mix) to nuts – and more. View the catalog here.

Simply make a list of the items you want to order and email it to Christina Flier, our Southeast Area Farmers’ Market manager. You can pay for your order when you pick it up on Jan. 28 at the Garfield Park Lodge, 334 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids 49507.

Here are all of the 2016 order and pick up dates:

order dates

OKT continuing Collective Whole Foods Purchase Group through the winter

Dec23

Market manager, Christina Flier.

Are you looking for a convenient, in-neighborhood, source of whole, healthy, bulk foods? Would you prefer to buy these healthy foods with your Bridge Card (SNAP benefits)? Then OKT’s Collective Whole Foods Purchase Group is for you.

Our Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Manager, Christina Flier, heads up this program which will place orders with Country Life Natural Foods once each month. You can view the catalog here.

Simply make a list of the items you want to order and email it to Christina. You can pay for your order when you pick it up. During the market’s off-season, you can pick up your orders at the Garfield Park Lodge, 334 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids 49507.

Here are the 2016 order and pick up dates:

order dates

Indoor farmers’ market at MLK school Thursday evening

Nov18

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is hosting its first indoor market 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday Nov. 19 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Academy, 645 Logan SE, 49503. The indoor markets will feature bulk whole and organic foods, for example, oatmeal, flours, nuts, honey, coconut oil, popcorn and more. Shoppers can purchase items with Bridge cards, SNAP, cash, credit and checks. They can also place order items from the Country Life Natural Foods catalog with market manager, Christina Flier. OKT does not mark up prices or charge any fees.

The indoor markets, which OKT hopes to sponsor monthly throughout the school year, are part of its commitment to provide access to healthy foods in neighborhood. If you cannot make it to the market and would like to order bulk whole foods email SEAFM@OKTjustice.org or call 616-206-3641. The next orders are due by 5 p.m.Dec. 9 (pick-up Dec 21 at Garfield Park Lodge, 334 Burton St. SE 49507).

OKT bulk foods pilot project off to a great start!

Aug20

As a pilot program of its Food Diversity Project and the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market, Our Kitchen Table began offering market patrons the opportunity to order bulk whole foods from Country Life Natural Foods, a supplier to food co-ops throughout the Midwest. The numbers are in and the first order was a success! “We had a total of seven households order. The families ordered combined total purchases of $650.60,” says Christina Flier, manager of the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market. “Four of them will be utilizing their food subsidies to purchase through the market, partnered with their Double Up Food Bucks. These families have just increased their pantries, will be able to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, and create wholesome meals for their families while supporting their community and maximizing their benefits. It’s a win – win for everyone.”

Flier will be placing Country Life orders on a monthly basis, with the next order being submitted mid-September. Market patrons and OKT constituents can order from paper catalogs available at the market or from the online catalog on Country Life’s website. OKT does not add any mark-ups or fees. After the orders arrive,those making purchases can pick them up at the market. The market will also keep some staples on site for direct purchase.

“Thank you to everyone who participated this time around. I’m beyond excited and feel this will be such a positive addition (to the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market),” Flier says. “We all deserve access to nutritious whole foods!

Help Build an Alternative Food System! Support the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market.

Aug18

Did you know that Our Kitchen Table manages the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market as part of its strategy to build an alternative food system in Grand Rapids’ southeast neighborhoods? These neighborhoods are often labelled “food deserts,” although OKT finds this term misleading. It’s not simply that these neighborhoods don’t have grocery stores. The current corporate controlled food system profits tremendously from selling junk and fast foods here. OKT sees this practice as food apartheid as our food system offers healthy, whole foods in predominantly white, income-secure areas and nutrient-poor foods in income-challenged communities of color.

We all can build a better local food system by growing our own food, buying from local growers and pooling our resources to buy healthy bulk foods from places aligned with a food justice perspective. The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market brings you fresh, local fruits and veggies as well as opportunity to order healthy whole foods from Country Life Natural Foods.

This weekend, both market locations will also host cooking demos to help you find new ways to prepare the fresh produce you buy at the market. The market is open:

Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park, 334 Burton St. SE.
Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Academic Center, 851 Madison SE.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market warmly welcomes Bridge cards (SNAP), Double Up Food Bucks , WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT and debit cards. If you make a purchase with a Bridge Card, you get $1 for every $1 you spend to buy more Michigan produce (up to $20 each visit)!

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market launches Bulk Foods Buying Club

Aug6

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is launching a bulk foods buying Club at this weekend’s markets. Market patrons will have an opportunity to purchase bulk whole foods, e.g. dry beans, whole grain flours, nuts and seeds, pasta, rice and more. Our Kitchen Table (OKT), the organization managing the market, is pilot testing this program. Items will be ordered from Country Life Foods, a supplier to Michigan food co-ops. Orders placed at the market by August 14 will be available for pick-up at the market on August 22. The next order takes place mid- September.

As the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market accepts Bridge card/SNAP/EBT, its patrons using these programs will be able to buy bulk food items at the market along with fresh, local fruits, vegetables and herbs. The market will offer some of the bulk foods for direct purchase (beginning August 22) as well as invite patrons to place their own orders. By ordering together, minimum purchase requirements for free delivery should be able to be met. Food orders will not be marked up from the catalog price. And, OKT is not adding any kind of fee to orders.

For the past five years, OKT’s Food Diversity Project has been addressing food insecurity in Grand Rapids southeast neighborhoods through the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market, its residential food gardening program, educational programming and policy work. Making bulk, staple, whole foods available to neighbors who do not otherwise have access to them furthers OKT’s goal of building a just alternative to the current industrial food system.

“Seeding Fear.” Neil Young’s short film takes on Monsanto

Jul30

Musician Neil Young released this 11-minute film about Monsanto’s campaign to control America’s family farms and just how far this corporation and its GMO agenda will go to make more profit. Please set some time aside to watch and learn…. and read Young’s comments below.

As I write this, the dark act is up for a vote in the House of Representatives; representatives of the people. The dark act takes away the rights of those people to vote for or against things like GMO labeling in their states. It does seem ironic. If the act is passed, it will truly be a dark day for America.

Monsanto is a corporation with great wealth, now controlling over 90% of soybean and corn growth in America. Family farms have been replaced by giant agri corp farms across this great vast country we call home. Farm aid and other organizations have been fighting the losing battle against this for 30 years now.

Dairy and meat farming is done in those white sheds you see from the freeway, no longer on the green pastures of home with the old farmhouses and barns. Those beautiful buildings now stand in ruin across the country. This has happened on our watch while the country slept, distracted by advertising and false information from the corporations. Monsanto and others simply pay the politicians for voting their way. This is because of “Citizens United”, a legislation that has made it possible for corporations to have the same rights as people, while remaining immune to people’s laws.

Both Democratic and Republican front runners are in bed with Monsanto, from Clinton to Bush, as many government branches are and have been for years. This presidential election could further cement the dominance of corporation’s rights over people’s rights in America. If you have a voice you have a choice. Use it.

On the human side, the film I would like you to see tells the story of a farming family in America, but the same thing is happening around the world. It is a story that takes 10 minutes of your time to see. It is a simple human one, telling the heartbreaking story of one man who fought the corporate behemoth Monsanto, and it illustrates why I was moved to write The Monsanto Years.

The film presents a rare opportunity to hear from the source as Mr. White is one of only four farmers who is still legally allowed to speak about his case as all the others have been effectively silenced.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you look at this simple and powerful film, “Seeding Fear”.

Neil Young
The Monsanto Years

Our Kitchen Table

Growing Justice

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