So you want to be an ally?

May10

When: May 19, 2017
Where: Inner City Christian Federation (920 Cherry St SE,
Grand Rapids, MI 49506)
Cost: $45 (lunch included)
Click here to register.

Join Partners for a Racism Free Community for its May Learning Lab, “So You Want To Be An Ally” – A Safety Pin Box Workshop.” Join Safety Pin Box Co-Founder Leslie Mac for a workshop digging into what defines allyship in this unique time of Resistance. This session will feature personal reflections from Leslie’s work around the country, critical best practices for creating authentic accountability with marginalized communities, hands on breakout group work and a 4-week Safety Pin Box task to take home.

unnamed Lunch is included.

About Leslie Mac

Leslie Mac is a Brooklyn born & raised activist and a first generation American of Jamaican ancestry. She founded the Ferguson Response tumblr to connect nationwide efforts supporting the important racial justice movement started in Ferguson, MO. She has since expanded the Ferguson Response Network to provide additional support for Black organizers working to create lasting social change.

Projects include the Movement for Black Lives Convening, Women’s Freedom Conference & #MLKSitIn. She attended Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism and is a founding member of the Black Lives of UU Organizing Collective. In 2016 with fellow activist Marissa Jenae Johnson Leslie founded Safety Pin Box, a monthly subscription box for white people striving to be allies in the fight for Black Liberation. She was recently named to Essence Magazine’s list of 100 Woke Women and is BlogHer’s 2017 Impact Voice of the Year. You can follow her on twitter @LeslieMac or visit LeslieMac.com for more information.

Health Strategies from your Garden & Pantry

May9

Detroit food justice and media activist, Lottie Spady will facilitate OKT’s
May 18 convening! Health Strategies from Your Garden & Pantry
6 to 8 p.m. at Sherman Street Church, 1000 Sherman St. SE 49506.
Free! (Donations accepted.)

A media-maker and herbalist who often lends her talent to OKT’s programs, Lottie will speak about the health benefits of foods and medicinal herbs we can grow in our own gardens. This presentation will build on the information learned with Lottie during last year’s May convening and our August convening with Adela Neives. Lottie spent many years working with the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC). She utilizes a framework rooted in popular education, social justice, and social entrepreneurship to help develop relevant 21st century skills that community residents can translate into community and economic development.

May & June Events

Apr29

View the entire OKT 2017 Community Calendar here.

Flyer May 2017

Farm Bill Field Hearing in Michigan

Apr27

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Senators Stabenow, Roberts Announce Farm Bill Field Hearing in Michigan

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today announced the Committee will hold its second Farm Bill field hearing of the 115th Congress in Frankenmuth, Mich. on Saturday, May 6 to begin work on the 2018 Farm Bill. Congress passes a Farm Bill only once every five years. The current Farm Bill was passed with strong bipartisan support in 2014 and expires in September 2018.

“The Farm Bill is critical to Michigan agriculture, which supports one in four jobs across our state,” said Stabenow. “Thanks to input from our farmers and stakeholders, the 2014 Farm Bill has Michigan on every page, and was signed into law here at Michigan State University. We made historic investments to support our small towns, protect our land and water, help our farmers export and sell more products locally, and end unnecessary subsidies and programs – saving taxpayers $80 billion more than we first expected. As we begin our work on the 2018 Farm Bill, I’m committed to making sure Michigan’s voice is heard again so we can continue to support our state’s farmers and families and create new jobs.”

“Listening to producer perspectives from across the country is a critical step in writing the next Farm Bill,” said Roberts. “We had a successful first field hearing in Kansas, and I look forward to continuing the tradition of listening to farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders with Senator Stabenow in Michigan.”

The hearing, entitled “Growing Jobs and Economic Opportunity: Perspectives on the 2018 Farm Bill from Michigan,” will feature testimony from a wide variety of agricultural producers and Farm Bill stakeholders, examining agriculture, as well as conservation, rural economic development, research, forestry, energy, and nutrition policies that affect Michigan. Witnesses will be announced shortly. All stakeholders and the general public are invited to submit testimony or comments in writing for the official Committee record (see below).

What: U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Field Hearing on the 2018 Farm Bill

Date: Saturday, May 6, 2017

Time: 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT

Place: Saginaw Valley Research & Extension Center – Michigan State University, 3775 S Reese Rd, Frankenmuth, MI

RSVP: To attend, email your name and organization (if representing a group) to MIRSVP@ag.senate.gov

Testimony: You are invited to submit testimony or comments for the official record for this field hearing in advance, but no later than May 12, 2017, either online at www.agriculture.senate.gov/farm-bill-input or by mailing it to the Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry, 328A Russell Senate Office Bldg, Washington, D.C. 20510.

Live Broadcast: The hearing will be webcast live on ag.senate.gov.

Free! May food gardening & cooking classes!

Apr25

Deanna 2 Our Kitchen Table invotes you to join us for our four-part food gardening series, taught by farmer Leslie Huffman.

· May 1 & June 5: How to Plan Your Food Garden 1
· May 8 & June 12: How to Plan Your Food Garden 2
· May 15 & June 19: Composting & Vermiculture
· May 22, June 26: How to Save Seeds

These classes take place Mondays 6 – 8 p.m. at Garfield Park Lodge, 334 Burton SE, Grand Rapids. OKT is also partnering with Baxter Community Center to offer these additional May classes at Baxter, 935 Baxter SE 49506 (Bemis entrance):

Wednesday May 3: Cooking with Whole and Bulk Foods. This class will take a look at foods you can order through OKT’s Collective Whole Foods Purchase Group and how to prepare some simple meals and snacks with them, e.g. oatmeal, popcorn, dried beans and quinoa and trail mixes.

Wednesday May 10: Canning Basics. Baxter staff will take us to the kitchen and show us how to preserve foods from our gardens and farm markets.

Baxter Community Center and other area agencies are offering many other gardening and cooking classes, as well. Check them out on the 2017 Healthy Happenings Calendar below..

Earth Day Spring Tree Tour

Apr18

Saturday April 22
10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Garfield Park Pavilion,
334 Burton St. SE 49507

This free tree tour is part of the food justice mission of OKT.

Tree tour guide, Laura Casaletto will lead us through Garfield Park where we will munch leaves and nibble flowers together for Earth Day. The menu includes spruce tips, the nectar inside tulip tree flowers, black locust flowers, Japanese knotweed shoots, redbud blossoms and perhaps entire linden trees!

“We’ll certainly find something nice underfoot –and you’ll get a little booklet to help you recall what you learned.

If it rains, we’ll meet in the Lodge!

Food Justice Primer April 17

Apr14

April 17, 6—8 p.m. at Garfield Park Lodge, 334 Burton St SE 49507

The idea of eating healthier foods in many ways has become mainstream. However, for people experiencing income challenges or living in neighborhoods of color, access to these healthier foods is not a reality. A true food apartheid exists in our community—and that’s where the work of food justice begins.

This food justice class will define what food justice is, explore the roots of the industrial food system and investigate the many facets of food justice. If you want to know more about food justice—or become involved in it yourself—please join us for this free, brief introduction to food justice. OKT will conclude the informal dialogue with group input on how we can practice food justice locally.

Take action to support the “10 Cents a Meal” program

Apr13

Click here to take action!

Michigan’s 10 Cents A Meal pilot program is providing schools with match incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown produce to an estimated 48,000 students in 16 grant-winning school districts.

A mid-pilot report from the Michigan Department of Education shows that many school children are being introduced to new fruits and vegetables as a result of this funding, and the program is investing in Michigan’s economy and jobs at the same time.

Some highlights include:

The top three outcomes achieved for Food Service were: The variety of produce served in school meals has increased. Local produce purchasing can be planned with greater certainty. Purchasing power is enhanced.
Food service directors named 30 new foods that they tried in meals. New foods tried by the largest number of districts were cherries, multicolored carrots, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, asparagus, squash, navy beans, and Romanesco.
Businesses large and small—from 20-acre to 1,800-acre farms, along with processors and distribution companies—reported growing business because of 10 Cents.

“We believe the timing was right for this pilot, and for potential expansion next year, because schools are serving a greater variety of fruits and vegetables and that is exactly what Michigan farmers grow.” – State Superintendent Brian J. Whiston

PILOT PROJECT OVERVIEW

Project Description and Goals: 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms (10 Cents) is a pilot project to: • Provide schools with an incentive match up to 10 cents per meal to purchase Michigan fruits and vegetables. • Improve daily nutrition and eating habits for children through the school setting. • Invest in Michigan agriculture and related local food business economy. • Implement a $250,000 pilot program with $210,000 for school food reimbursements.CONTINUE READING

#hungerwalkgr

Apr11

OKT at the 2016 Access Hunger Walk

The 40^th Annual Access Hunger Walk is happening Sunday, May 7. Registration and kick-off is at 1:30pm; the Walk begins at 2:30pm. This 5K walk starts and ends at Park Church, 10 E Park Pl NE, and winds through downtown Grand Rapids. More than 600 walkers, 20 local and international recipient agencies and dozens of volunteers make the Walk a success.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is one of the Walk recipients. OKT invites you to support the Walk in one of three ways:

Join the Our Kitchen Table Team. Click here to sign up directly on the Access West Michigan website. Or, email media@OKTjustice.org and ask us to register you.
Pledge support to one of our walkers. Simply select the person you wish to support by searching for their name here.
Make a personal donation or ask your place of business to be an OKT corporate supporter. Click here to select team Our Kitchen Table and make your donation. Or, send your check to Our Kitchen Table, 334 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49507.

LINC UP, NAACP Greater Grand Rapids Branch and Micah Center: Police incident with youth must lead to change

Apr6

Reposted from LINC UP

Take action! Click here to send an email to Chief Rahinsky of the Grand Rapids Police Department and Greg Sundstrom, City Manager of Grand Rapids to voice your concern.

On Friday, March 24th, Grand Rapids Police detained 5 innocent and unarmed children at gunpoint. Having viewed the body camera footage with the Grand Rapids Police Department, LINC, NAACP and the Micah Center feel the actions of the police officers involved demonstrate a practice of policing that perpetuates mistrust, instills fear and causes harm to residents that are supposed to be protected and served. Collectively, we are calling for a change in Grand Rapids policing practices to ensure that no other children will unnecessarily go through the traumatic experience that these children did, and that our community as a whole is not subjected to this type of racism. We call on the police to work with the parents to ensure that the issues that are raised about this particular incident are addressed to the families’ satisfaction.

In 2015 the community pushed the city to adopt a 12 point plan to begin improving community and police relations. One key component of the plan was to ensure body cameras were used by every police officer. These cameras have revealed the work of GR police officers in action. Although the tactical use of force deployed by officers was consistent with training and aligned with the policies of the department, it also reveals that such training and policies are not consistent with what the community is stating are acceptable policing practices. In essence, the historically strained relations between community and law enforcement are being perpetuated, and further action is needed to prevent a continuing decline in such relations.

We encourage all community members to attend the April 11 city commission meeting to support these 5 young boys and their families as they seek to get answers from GRPD and to express any other concerns for policing practices in Grand Rapids, particularly as they relate to interaction with the youth of our community.

We also ask the police department to update the community on the implementation of the 12-point plan and other efforts to improve relationships with the community. Specifically, the plan called for the adjustments to the structure of the police department to increase community interactions. We are asking the GRPD to outline how they have implemented those changes and how they are tracking the success of their community relations building efforts. The plan also called for the implementation of implicit bias testing; we are asking GRPD to update the community on the results of such testing, how they are tracking the results of the training and future plans to ensure its effectiveness.

Having viewed the body camera videos, it is the belief of LINC UP, the NAACP and Micah Center that this incident is an example of the systemic problems that contribute to racial disparities in Grand Rapids. The problems do not stem from any moral flaws of the officers involved but from systemic processes that perpetuate mistrust and fear between communities of color and institutions within Grand Rapids. As such we encourage all people to pay attention to this incident, learn from it and above all, change how we are acting to ensure that we can break that cycle of mistrust.

Sincerely,

LINC UP NAACP Greater Grand Rapids Branch Micah Center