LINC Up is hosting a free community dinner and conversation about what’s happening in the city of Grand Rapids and how YOU can get involved and participate in your local government! Dinner is at 5pm at the Linc Gallery At 341 Hall St. SE, followed by a bus ride to City Hall for the City Commission Meeting. For information, contact Samika at samika@lincrev.org or 616.451.9140.
Have you done your part?
Vote today!
Greens Cook-off and Green Tomato Festival Saturday Nov. 3!
Don’t miss the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market’s biggest event!
Meet our celebrity Judge: Chef Trimmel, Forty Acres Soul Kitchen
Grand Rapids Food Co-op Initiative hosting Town Hall at Brown-Hutcherson Ministries
The Grand Rapids Food Co-op is offering a Community Town Hall on Tuesday, October 30 at 6 pm at Brown-Hutcherson Ministries, at 618 Jefferson Ave SE. The Grand Rapids Food Co-op is a committed group of people from all walks of life who have been working together for the past four years to bring a community owned, full-service grocery store to central Grand Rapids, specifically to the part of town that has the least access to fresh, healthy, local and affordable food.
This Town Hall will provide participants with information about the food co-op including:
- how the co-op can help with much better food access,
- how the cooperative business model leads to local empowerment,
- how the co-op allows for business ownership for low and moderate-income people,
- how the co-op can provide a way for people to come together in a time-honored way to meet their needs and build up their community.
The event will also include a discussion session and the choice to join the co-op and become actively involved in creating and bringing this amazing store into being. This is truly a grassroots project to meet a deep need and empower our entire city.
So come on out to the Grand Rapids Food Co-op’s Community Town Hall at Brown-Hutcherson Ministries, at 618 Jefferson, SE. on Tuesday, October 30 at 6 pm. Refreshments will be included and the event is free and open to everyone.
Weigh in on Urban Ag at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Saturday
Southeast Area Farmer’s Market
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 27
MLK Jr. Park, 900 Fuller Ave. SE
Bridge Cards, Double Up Food Bucks and WIC Welcome!
The City of Grand Rapids Urban Agriculture Committee wants to know your thoughts about urban agriculture. Come to the market Saturday and let them know what you think. OKT’s executive director, Lisa Oliver-King is on the committee. Some questions that she and Our Kitchen Table is asking include:
- Should zoning ordinances be changed to support urban farms? If they are, who should operate them? City residents and small, local farmers, or high-powered agricultural industrialists looking for investment opportunities?
- Who should eat the food? Neighborhood residents with little access to healthy whole foods or the clientele of high-end restaurants?
- How will urban ag projects will impact the neighborhoods where they operate? Will they support the existing residential community or hasten gentrification and higher housing costs?
“School gardens, urban farms, [and] composting and educational initiatives have tremendous potential for shaping a city’s fabric,” says Levi Gardner, Urban Ag committee chair. “Through this community engagement process, we hope to better understand how these initiatives and many others like them fit into our growing city. While we are benchmarking against other cities in this process; we are welcoming Grand Rapids residents to voice their ideas, questions, and concerns about this work.”
It’s time to cash in on that family recipe!
LINC Community Revitalization invites you to be a part of L.A.S.T.
LINC Academy for Social Transformation
“LAST is a 3-day course that will be held on October 31, November 1 and November 2 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. We understand this is a significant time commitment, therefore, we offer a stipend of $250 for community residents who register for and attend all 3 sessions.” — Lyonel LaGrone, Jr., LINC Policy Liaison
L.A.S.T. is LINC’s capacity building tool to promote social change and seeks to create mid- and long-term impact through lasting transformational opportunities for residents, families, youth, business owners and nonprofit organizations in our communities.
For LINC, change is more than just the displacement of a condition or issue. It is about experiencing a true transformation, a social transformation. We believe in the idea of transformational leadership and the role it plays in creating better opportunities for all, empowering people through opportunity, and genuinely lifting up the voice of the community. This type of change is much needed to break the cycle of poverty, systemic gaps and social disparities that keep us from bettering our communities. We believe in every individual’s potential to be part of this process of change. A process which demands quality leadership.
In an academy fashion, L.A.S.T. offers a three-day core training titled “Leadership for Social Change” in which participants are equipped with skills and knowledge to help them obtain leadership roles and work to further promote social change and revitalization efforts in their neighborhoods. While trainings are available to organizations for a corporate fee, residents in our community will be offered incentives to attend. The session runs from 8:30am-5:30pm the first two days. On the third day we offer a unique opportunity for participants to attend a Grand Rapids City Commissions meeting, so the class runs from 1:00-5:00pm, after which we have dinner and then bus all participants to and from the meeting.
The curriculum is divided into four parts covering the following topics:
- Community Driven Neighborhood Revitalization
- Leadership Styles/Individual Potential
- Culture of Team and Diversity
- Power Dynamics
- Systems Change/Thinking
- Systems Advocacy
- History of Socio-Economic Structures
- Social Justice
- Community Empowerment
- Community Conflict Management
- LINC Model
- Community Wealth
- How do we fit in?
- Call to action
The training is typically offered quarterly at the LINC UP Gallery, 341 Hall St SE. Lunch and snacks will be provided on the first two class days, with snacks and dinner on the third.
If you are interested in registering call 616.451.9140.
Learn about Planned Parenthood’s resources at Farmers’ Market Saturday
Southeast Area Farmer’s Market
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 20
LINC parking lot,
Madison north of Hall St. SE
Bridge Cards, Double Up Food Bucks and WIC Welcome!
On Saturday Oct. 20, staff from Grand Rapids’ Planned Parenthood Irwin/Martin Health Center will table at the market, providing information about the full range of affordable services that they offer area residents with or without health insurance.
Did you know that in addition to helping with women’s healthcare and contraception, the health center offers general healthcare, HIV testing, LGBT services, men’s healthcare, pregnancy testing and services and more?
In addition, Planned Parenthood’s trained educators offer comprehensive sex education that helps youth and others learn about sex and sexuality, explore values and beliefs about those topics ,and gain the skills that help them make healthy choices despite bullying or peer pressure. Statistics have proventhat comprehensive sex education is more effective than abstinence only programs in reducing teen pregnancies, abortions and STD rates.
OKT is proud to stand with Planned Parenthood!
Have a tasty time at the Greens Cook-off and Green Tomato Festival Nov. 3!
The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is gearing up for its annual Greens Cook-off and Green Tomato Festival.
Chef Nancy LaVoie will honor us as our celebrity chef. Nancy serves as Director of Culinary Events at Thought Design Management Consultants. She has taken part in past our past cook-offs and contributed many delicious recipes to our Green Tomato Cookbook — even a cake! We are in the process of recruiting judges and community partners to take part in the event, as well.
Last year, first prize went to Andy Geelhoed for greens made in ham-bone broth. Andy won a $75 gift certificate to our market cake vendor. He plans on using it for his mother’s upcoming birthday. Alita Kelly won 2nd place prize, a $50 gift certificate for Country Life Natural Foods. Third place winner, Darlene Gibbons, won a gift certificate to LINC UP Soul Food Café for her super-healthy Kale and Collards.
To enter, simply bring your crock pot of greens or green tomato dish to the market by 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 3. We will provide plug-ins to keep crock pots warm. Prizes will be awarded no later than 2 p.m.
5 reasons to shop at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Saturday
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 13 & 20; Nov. 3 and 10
LINC parking lot, Madison Ave.. SE just north of Hall
Saturday Oct. 27 at MLK Jr. Park
Here are five reasons why you might want to shop the market this week!
1. Fresh, local produce tastes better and is better for you. You get more flavor and nutrients when produce is picked when its ripe.
2. The market is helping to build community. And that builds people power.
3. Your purchase supports local growers.
4. Your purchase helps build an alternative to our broken food system.
5. It’s fun! Get outdoors, chat with neighbors, go home with good food.
Our Kitchen Table 