Wednesday 17 December 2014

FREE DOCUMENTARY FEB 23 2015

s a v e the d a t e !

FEBRUARY 23 2015

700 PM
@

WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARY

850 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, ON N9A 4M9

DOCUMENTARY NIGHT

FREE!

COME IN OUT OF THE COLD!

LET'S ENJOY A NICE WARM COMMUNITY DOCUMENTARY!

FACEBOOK EVENT HERE

FREE: "Join us for a screening of the 2011 documentary titled “A Community of Gardeners” which looks at the history of community gardens in North America as well as the movement’s current renaissance. The documentary will be followed by a discussion lead by Steve Green, the Windsor Essex County Community Garden Collective's Network Coordinator. Find out how you can join the vibrant community garden movement!"

Monday 1 December 2014

Kitchen Garden Foundation

Kitchen Garden Foundation

OK. I know you are excited about school gardens. This website and its resources are simply going to blow you away.

I challenge any school board any where in Windsor and Essex County to watch this short video and then tell me that School Gardens are a bad idea.

This is simply incredible!

Steve Green

A food philosophy that makes sense.

Stephanie Alexander has a vision that pleasurable food education is accessible to every Australian school with a primary curriculum.The not-for-profit Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation takes a revolutionary approach to food education focusing on pleasure, flavour and fun via the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program.

The recipe for effective food education:

Encourage fun, flavour and texture through experiences that engage all the senses.
Model good food choices without resorting to pyramids or labels of ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’.
Reinforce techniques repeatedly, providing the confidence to plant seeds or cook simple dishes at home.
Plan menus around the fresh, seasonal produce growing in the garden.
Use ingredients at their peak – seasonal herbs, crisp veggies, fresh fruits.
Expand culinary horizons, presenting cultural differences as fascinating rather than strange.
Expand vocabularies for describing foods, flavours, textures, plants and processes.
Food should be delicious and the cooking of fresh fruit and vegetables should be timed with great care.
Come together at the end of the cooking to share our meal around the table.

Stephanie says...
'I believe absolutely in the importance and power of the shared table.
In many cultures, eating together around a table is the centre of family life.
It is the meeting place, where thoughts are shared, ideas challenged,
news is exchanged and where the participants leave the table
restored in many ways.'

Tuesday 25 November 2014

The City We Need...

The City We Need...

1. The city we need is inclusive. It provides spaces and opportunities for all populations to engage in the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of city life.

2. The city we need is well planned, walkable and transit-friendly. It has ample, accessible basic and social services, especially water, sanitation, solid waste disposal and utilities; educational and health care facilities; fire and police protection;efficient, affordable, integrated public transit and non-motorized transportation systems; and public space. It is composed of mixed-use neighborhoods with the majority of these services within walking distance.

3. The city we need is equitable and has affordable housing. Land use,infrastructure, and basic services are planned to facilitate the construction of financially accessible housing. Public services are planned together with the communities they serve and consciously include the needs of women, youth and vulnerable populations.

4. The city we need is a regenerative city. It is energy efficient, low-carbon and increasingly reliant on renewable energy sources, by replenishing the resources it consumes, and by recycling, re-using, and reducing waste. The regenerative city uses water, land and energy in a coordinated manner and in harmony with its surrounding hinterland, contributing to resilience.

5. The city we need is economically vibrant. It encourages and fosters local economic development from the smallest entrepreneur to the largest corporations. It addresses the specific needs of the informal sector of the economy in its economic development policies and strategies.

6. The city we need has a unique identity and sense of place. It recognizes cultural diversity and actively protects cultural heritage as key to human dignity and to sustainability, unlocking the creative potential of all.

7. The city we need is a safe city. The city is welcoming night and day, enabling all people to use the streets, parks and transit without fear. Public officials neighborhood residents, and community groups communicate frequently and
productively.

8. The city we need is a healthy city.. All public and private entities providing public services (water, waste, energy, transport, open space, recreational facilities)work together with the city’s residents to promote public and environmental
health, while protecting biodiversity.

9. The city we need is coherently governed and managed at multiple scales. It coordinates sectoral policies and actions (economy, mobility, biodiversity, energy, water and waste) within a comprehensive and coherent political and administrative framework. Communities are active participants in decision making. Roles and responsibilities among all stakeholders are clearly defined around a shared agenda, with resources allocated strategically and equitably.

10. The city we need is the site of knowledge production and dissemination. It fosters the generation of knowledge through efficient communication and accessible and relevant sources of information.

11. The city we need is made for and by people. It recognizes the centrality of human beings Emphasize that the city we need will require the implementation of good policies based on trans-disciplinary, evidence-based research. Promote the enabling environment that will produce and communicate the necessary research. Emphasize that the city we need will require the implementation of good policies based on trans-disciplinary, evidence-based research.

LINK: http://www.wfsf.org/resources/pedagogical-resources/reports-by-un-and-other-international-organisations/22-un-habitat-2013-the-city-we-need-urban-habitat/file

Thursday 20 November 2014

How Much Does Each Country Spend On Food?

How Much Does Each Country Spend On Food?

SOURCE: http://www.vox.com/2014/7/6/5874499/map-heres-how-much-every-country-spends-on-food

WEBINAR: Nourishing School Communities December 4 2014

Webinar: Nourishing School Communities

By Emily Mann on November 18, 2014

Nourishing School Communities: From School Nutrition Policies to Reality
When public-private partnerships work towards healthier school food.

Nourishing School Communities and the Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC) will be hosting a webinar onThursday, December 4th, 2014, at 12 PM EST. Nourishing School Communities is an initiative organized by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The webinar aims to provide an overview of the current state of school food and nutrition policy across Canada. Discussion will also take place to explore how these policies can take shape in the classrooms and school programs.

Organizers have identified three main learning objectives associated with the webinar:

•Provide an overview of the Nourishing School Communities initiative and current provincial school nutrition policies in Canada.

•Present two case studies of private school lunch providers using the current provincial school nutrition policies in Canada.

•Explore learnings from working with school food providers through public/private partnerships.

Registration can be completed online. Further details about presenters and learning objectives can be found on the NRC’s website.

Have you ever thought about the FOOD you EAT?

REPOSED FROM: http://www.myhealthunit.ca/
Food Security means:

Everyone has enough food to eat
Everyone can access food in ways that maintain human dignity
Everyone can afford and access healthy and culturally acceptable food
Our food system produces food in ways that are sustainable
We can feel confident about the quality and safety of our food

To learn more about food security visit FoodNet Ontario.

The Price of Eating Well

Every year Health Units across Ontario visit grocery stores to determine the cost of healthy eating. The Price of Eating Well 2014reports the results for the North Bay Parry Sound District. Also check out The Price of Eating Well Infographic for a visual picture of our district's results.

Resources

There are people in our district who have a hard time getting healthy food. Food Programs in the Nipissing District and Food Programs in the Parry Sound District list emergency food programs and delivery services available in our community.

Have You Ever Thought About the Food You Eat? Learn more about the effect our food choices have on our health, the environment, the economy, and the communities we live in.

Would you like to learn more about Food Charters? Recently, the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit developed a Food Charter Discussion Paper which helps explain what is a food charter, the benefits have developing a food charter for your community, and examples of food charters that have been developed.

Friday 7 November 2014

Chop Chop Family Cooking Magazine

Good Day Gardeners and Foodies!

Just a light post to tell you about a great magazine

that you might like to know about.

No, I'm not getting any kind of kick back!

I thought they would be good for those of us who do work with kids in our gardens!

Chop Chop

THE CHOPCHOP FOOD PHILOSOPHY

We believe in the simple values of cooking together as family and sharing healthy, delicious meals.
We don’t do calorie counts or post nutrition content, but everything in our publication is reviewed and approved by our medical and nutrition advisers.
We don’t demonize any individual foods.

http://www.chopchopmag.org/

Here are some sample handouts they did.

I have included a download link.

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Nov 5 2014 WEC CGC Meeting

Windsor and Essex County

Community Garden Collective

At tonight's Windsor Essex County Community Garden Collective meeting we will be having a discussion about how Community Gardens can support Schools who are planning to have gardens.

TONIGHT'S MEETING IS AT

530 PM – November 5^th, 2014

Dr. David Suzuki Public School

6320 Raymond Avenue, Windsor, ON N8S 1Z9

Below are some great videos about what is already happening.

NEWS HOUR TORONTO
July 3 2013 6:10pm 03:43
CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO: Chris Hadfield Public School’s community Garden provides more than just tasty food for all.

Wed, Jul 3: The Community Garden is not an extension of the classroom for students and staff members of Chris Hadfield Public School as everyone now tends to the plot of land growing organic veggies! Susan Hay reports.

Thursday 30 October 2014

Nov 5 2014 WECCGC Meeting - Focus: School Gardens.

November 5th, 2014

530 PM - 730 PM

Meetings start at 530 pm sharp.

Meeting end at 730 sharp.

NOVEMBER'S meeting is at

Dr. David Suzuki Public School

Windsor (Riverside Area), Ontario

This Monthly meeting will focus on the Collective's role with supporting School Garden initiatives.

Come for the participation and discussion.

Bring a snack to share if you want.

Interesting Links

Growing Minds

Kids Gardening

School Gardening Resources

Ontario EcoSchools

Seeds For Change - School Food Garden Program

Growing Chefs School Program

GE Foods & Human Health Tour with Dr. Thierry Vrain and Tony Mitra

GE Foods & Human Health Tour

with

Dr. Thierry Vrain and Tony Mitra

November 10th, 2014

Caboto Club, Windsor, Ontario

630 PM

"The GE Foods Tour is coming to Windsor and will feature two speakers Dr.Thierry Vrain, a retired genetic scientist, soil biologist, organic farmer and anti-GE foods activist. Tony Mitra is a photojournalist, videographer, blogger and passionate advocate geared for action. They will promote education on the topics of genetically engineered foods,human health and what actions we can take to promote greater awareness and change."

Wednesday 29 October 2014

About Our History

Our Background

The Windsor & Essex County Community Garden Collective is a network of Community Garden and Urban Agriculture projects in Windsor and Essex County. Most of the community gardens were developed at grass roots level. Two of the gardens were developed by agencies in partnership with the community and received United Way funding to start. Many of our gardens were a direct result of the City of Windsor’s ‘Seed & Feed’ one time program that gave out start up monies for the community gardens to get established. The majority of the community gardens rely on donations of time and labour from the community to continue. These public spaces are managed by teams of dedicated and highly committed members of each community garden. Thousands of pounds of food are shared with the community informally and through food rescue programs. Each community garden can be congratulated for the hard work they put in all year round to maintain, plan, harvest, and share their bounty with children, parents, individuals, community groups and neighbourhoods. The Windsor and Essex County Community Garden Collective is not run by any local organization- but cooperates with many. It is grateful for all those businesses and agencies that partner with the gardens to make this happen. We could not do it without your support. The WECCGC is also grateful for the Ontario Trillium Foundation for supporting the role of a Network Coordinator to assist in the growth of the movement. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the Network Coordinator.