Tree planting on Saturday and other announcements

Last year Vancouver experienced one of its hottest summers on record. Long, rainless stretches combined with ongoing construction at the Slocan Park Field House (no running water!) resulted in some badly damaged fruit saplings...not to mention some vandalism. This Saturday we will be replacing a few of the trees and doing a bit of landscaping.

All interested tree planting volunteers are welcome! We will get started at 9:15am next to the Slocan Park Field House (the building a short walk west of 29th Avenue Skytrain Station) and work until around 11:30. Please dress for the weather and bring a small snack to share.

I hope you can make it!

Here are a few other announcements about local food security events. Enjoy!

Lawns to Loaves

Know a 100 square foot place where we can plant some wheat in the City?

Want to get involved in planting and harvesting?

May 1st information workshop and participatory planting
Strathcona Community Gardens
10AM-12PM.
Contact Hartley for registration details.

The goals of Lawns to Loaves are ambitious yet simple:

1) to successfully cultivate a hundred pounds of organic spring wheat within the city of Vancouver

2) to engage our progressive city in a thought experiment regarding what defines a farm and to symbolically challenge the dominant scale of grain production

3) to overlook traditional notions of efficiency and productivity for a moment in favor of the power of symbolism

3) to teach, engage, and excite all those who encounter this project at any and every stage

In April and May 2011, the lawns to loaves collective will plant seeds in the ground. Where there was grass, there will be wheat. Infect your lawn with Demeter’s gift to humankind.

Our vision is to create an urban wheat farm from an intricate patchwork of micro-fields located alongside alleyways and in backyards, in front yards and on boulevards. Churchs, schools, parks, parking lots...

Food Justice with lauren Ornelas

Vancouver Public Library, Main Branch
350 West Georgia Street Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level
May 21, 2011 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

lauren Ornelas, Founder and Director of the Food Empowerment Project, will be discussing how we can use our food choices to create a more just world.

Your food choices can have impacts beyond your own kitchen. Food deserts, exploitation of workers and animals, environmental racism – learn about how what you eat and drink might not necessarily be connected to animal exploitation but might indeed have direct connections to human exploitation! And learn what you can do to help create a more just and equitable food system.

lauren Ornelas is the Food Empowerment Project's founder and serves as the group's volunteer executive director. She is also the former executive director of Viva!USA, a national nonprofit vegan advocacy organization. lauren has been active in the animal rights movement for over 20 years. After spending four years as National Campaign Coordinator for In Defense of Animals, lauren was asked by Viva!UK to start and run Viva!USA in 1999. In cooperation with activists across the country, she worked and achieved corporate changes within Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, and Pier 1 Imports, among others. She currently serves as Campaign Director with the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.

This event is free & open to the public.
No pre-registration is required.

Growing Soil: Mid-Scale Composting in the City

Tuesday, May 31, 7-9pm
SFU Harbour Centre
515 West Hastings Street, Room 1900
This lecture is free, however pre-registration is required. Click here to register.

With residential food scraps banned from the landfills in 2012 and all organics banned by 2015, Metro Van municipalities need to find a new home for 250,000 tonnes of organic waste in the next few years. Meanwhile, growing numbers of urban, near-urban and rural food producers are looking for supplies of affordable, uncontaminated, quality compost. Rising fuel costs will reward close-to-home solutions, but composting is challenged by odour and pest problems. Who has the best solution for economically growing high-quality soil from food scraps close to sources and end users?

Keynote speaker Dr. Sally Brown, a soil scientist and organic residual specialist from the University of Washington, will speak followed by ten presenters with five-minute explanations of what they offer. Watch for a followup notice with names and descriptions of presenters.