How’s it going blog readers? Things are going well here at ecoShuttle, we are definitely staying busy getting ready for our big GrowingGardens Fundraiser (www.growing-gardens.org/) this Sunday at our headquarters, 2420 NE Columbia Blvd, here in P-town. Our goal is to help get people in low income families up and gardening so they can have some fresh fruits and veggies throughout the year. I told my mum about this and she really liked the idea, and I think she put it best when she busted out this age-old adage; if you give someone fish they will have food for a day, if you teach someone to fish they will have food for a lifetime (–but if they are like me and don’t eat seafood, they will just have a lifetime supply of fish with no place to put them).
One thing about Portland that I love is the schools that have gardens. My old neighborhood in Sunnyside had the famous Sunnyside Elementary, whose gardens were the envy of the neighborhood. They even had little chickens stalking the grounds (http://www.sesptsa.com/) . Another fun thing about urban agriculture is that if you learn it at a young age like the children at local the elementary schools, you can use that knowledge for the rest of your life to produce food. One organization focused on this self-sustenance is Community Supported Agriculture.
Community Supported Agriculture focuses on healthy, sustainable agriculture that takes into account all related environments. You know what? I think their website states it best: “Biodynamics Is an impulse for deep social change rooted in the practice of farming. Biodynamics calls for new thinking in every aspect of the food system, from how land is owned to how farms are capitalized to how food is produced, distributed and prepared. A type of organic farming that incorporates an understanding of ‘dynamic’ forces in nature not yet fully understood by science. By working creatively with these subtle energies, farmers are able to significantly enhance the health of their farms and the quality and flavor of food. A recognition that the whole earth is a single, self-regulating, multi-dimensional ecosystem. Biodynamic farmers seek to fashion their farms likewise as self-regulating, bio-diverse ecosystems in order to bring health to the land and to their local communities.” (http://www.biodynamics.com/biodynamics) So if you are going to start an urban garden of your own, the principles held by Community Supported Agriculture seem pretty virtuous and worthy of serious consideration. Also, they have some terrific programs to get you going, so check them out here: http://www.biodynamics.com/csa.html Get farming and we hope to see you Sunday!
-Mark