If you spend time with the Food Shuttle, you'll hear us talk about the Food Shuttle Family. It's not a cliche, some very special bonds form when you take part in the amazing process of feeding people. An incredible thing about the Food Shuttle is that everyone who gets involved brings someone else. Today two of our staff bought some special guests to help out in the fight against hunger.
Crop Mob, Steven Horton and IFFS
Have you seen this article in the Independent Weekly about the Crop Mob? Great stuff as usual from the folks at the Indy. We've been working with the Crop Mob for the past few months. In fact, the first Crop Mob in Wake County took place at the Food Shuttle Farm in September. They helped us plant our fall garden. The article talks to Steven Horton about his involvement with the Crop Mob. Steven helps with our community gardens and at the Food Shuttle farm. Watch Steven talk about what he does at the Food Shuttle, the Crop Mob and more in the video below. And if you want to lend a hand with our gardens and farm, check out our Crew Call here.
Crew Call!
If you’re interested in helping out with our Farms and Community Gardens Project, the Crew Call is just for you. Once a week we send out a list of what work is going on, what kind of help we need and other fun farm and garden activity. You can sign-up for the Crew Call by emailing Janet at rgsjrs@aol.com. We'll also post them here. See you in the garden or on the farm!
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Farm and Garden
Crew-Call
This is the last weekend to plant most fall greens so we are going to be working on getting several more beds into production. We will have plenty to do this fall harvesting the last of the summer crops and ensuring a steady supply of garden greens and lettuce into January.
The Crop Mob is this Sunday – Come out and learn to Build a Greenhouse!
VOLUNTEER TIME:
- Garden Crew will meet this Saturday October 24th from 9:00–12:00 PM at Food Shuttle Farm (see map below). We will be mulching and weeding as always and if it rains we will plant the winter garden inside the season extension greenhouse.
- Our Nutrition Coordinator, Amanda, and volunteer, Melissa, will be leading the charge at the Community Gardens this year and would love your help in the garden and working with community members. Please email Amanda at NutritionCoord@foodshuttle.org if you want to join and for directions. Schedule Below:
- Tuesdays 4:00-6:00pm - Neighbor to Neighbor
- Wednesdays & Fridays 3:30-5:30pm - Mayview
- Farm Manager Sun Butler can meet you on the Farm any day during the week from 8:30-12 PM and 3-6PM. If possible, please call Sun ahead to let him know when you are coming or give him a heads up on your way out there (919.559.2391). Sun’s number is also posted on the bulletin board at Food Shuttle Farm if you get there and cannot find him.
FARMS & GARDEN BLOG
Keep up with what’s going on with our Farms & Gardens and PAR programs through the IFFS blog. This is a great place to check out weekly ripe recipes, find yourself in photos of weekly crew calls, hear from other volunteers, and stay up to date with activities at IFFS. Let us know if you’re interested in contributing to the blog!
WEEKLY LOCAL AG Discussion
Crop Circle - a weekly Student Local Ag. Discussion group mediated by Steve Horton and Sun Butler meets every Thursday from 4-6 PM at the Farm House Restaurant at 3011 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh at the corner of Friendly Dr. and Hillsborough St. Outside agitators are welcome. Contact Steve for details steven.p.horton@gmail.com
CROP MOB Comes To Raleigh – Learn How To Build a Greenhouse!
The next Crop Mob has been set for Sunday Oct. 25th from 12-5 PM at S&L Farm in Louisburg. We will be putting up a hoop greenhouse. An evening meal will be served. Crop Mob is a group of young farmers and gardeners who meet once a month to help out local farmers with special projects. If you are interested in becoming a Crop Mobber, check out their website at http://cropmob.org/ and contact Steve Horton, Raleigh Crop Mob coordinator steven.p.horton@gmail.com.
GARDEN SUPPLIES:
We are still in need of hand-tool donations as well as gardening gloves for some of our senior participants. We gladly accept new and/or lightly used equipment. Thanks to all who have responded.
GROW VEGGIES AT HOME?
Our new Plant a Row (PAR) program has kicked off… We are hoping anyone with home grown vegetables will consider planting extra or just giving any excess harvest to our community members in need. Check out the attachment, spread the word, and/or get in touch with Katherine if you are interested in finding out more.
New Volunteer?
If you have not filled out a volunteer form or have a friend who is interested in helping out please email Janet at RGSJRS@aol.com.
See you on Saturday at IFFS Farm and/or Sunday at Crop Mob!
IFFS Mayview Community Garden 2136 Mayview Rd.
Mayview Community Garden is located behind the Duplex at . Turn onto Mayview from Oberlin, then take the first right into the parking lot. Park in any of the spaces and walk to the back of the lot. The garden is located just down the hill.
Neighbor2Neighbor- 1200 South Blount Street. (view map)
IFFS Farm --- 2401 Dover Farm Rd. (view map)
GO BANANAS!!!
By: Jamie Becker, NC State Student and OFL Class Instructor
This week we featured banana pancakes for our "Power of Eating Right" OFL class. The kids loved the pancakes, especially putting fresh bananas and strawberries on top! Fixing this recipe helped to hit home our message about eating plenty of grains and the fact that breakfast is the MOST IMPORTANT meal of the day. Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day you may ask? Most people who want to diet skip a morning meal, however eating breakfast has the important job of jumpstarting your metabolism, and giving you brain fuel first thing in the morning to help you at work or school.
Starting your day off right with a nutritious meal is best; a good rule of thumb is to try a breakfast trio. A trio is where you combine three different food groups to create a balanced meal. One of my favorite trios is cereal (Special K, Cheerios, etc.), milk, and fresh bananas sliced on top. The benefit is that you are including one serving of grains (cereal), one serving of dairy (milk), and one serving of fruit (banana).
This starts off your day right and helps to keep you going until lunch.
The best diet includes breakfast!! So try a trio in the morning!
Great recipes from Emeril!
"Good Morning America" recently joined with Macy's and Feeding America for the project dubbed "Come Together," through which people were encouraged to throw dinner parties and invite their guests to donate money to Feeding America. The good fooks at Macy's matched every dollar that was donated. "Good Morning America" celebrated the project's finale with a live Emeril Lagasse dinner dare. Check it our here.
Mayview Community Gardens: volunteer spotlight and update
Meet Food Shuttle volunteers Darius and L*Joy! L*Joy and Darius are volunteers at the Mayview Community Garden, and truly have a passion to help make the Mayview Garden a place of fellowship and a sustainable fresh food supply for the residents.
Watch this videos for an exciting updates on the Mayview Community Garden from Darius and L*Joy:
Join Darius, L*Joy and other Food Shuttle volunteers on the Farm or at a Community Garden: Become a Volunteer!
Couture for a Cause
Couture for a Cause
October 23rd, 8-10 pm
ME³ is having a fashion show benefit that links up local nonprofits with local designers this Friday at Marbles Kids Museum! The Food Shuttle is honored to be a feature nonprofit for the event!
Local designers have been paired with nonprofits and were asked to design a garment that embodied the spirit and mission of the assigned nonprofit organization.
Our designer, Tyger, came by the Food Shuttle last week to learn more about the organization and get inspiration for her garment that will be in the fashion show on Friday! We can't wait to see what she designs! For more details on the event and ticket information go to ME³'s website.
Thanks, Tyger!
Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank
By Sarah Mehta, Nutrition Intern
We’ve come up with 3 more tips for eating healthy on a budget (find previous tips here):
1. Drink water.
- Not only will you save calories by choosing water over sodas and other beverages, but water is free!
- When you’re out of the house – at school or work – grab your re-useable water bottle, fill ‘er up and go. When you’re thirsty, water is just a sip away.
2. Choose whole grains to stay full.
- Unlike refined grains, such as white rice or flour, whole grains haven’t been stripped of their fiber-containing bran and germ.
- The fiber from whole grains, like brown rice or oatmeal, will give you a long-lasting feeling of fullness. So, you’ll likely eat less, saving both money and calories.
3. Eat beans for protein.
- Not only are beans an economical source of protein, but unlike meats and poultry, which can be expensive, beans come with the additional benefits of fiber and less saturated fat.
- There are various kinds of beans – black, pinto, kidney, lentils and garbanzo to name a few – so mix it up!
- If you’re buying canned beans, be sure to get the no-salt added or low-sodium cans. However, if time is not a factor, cooking dry beans yourself is even cheaper than the pre-cooked, canned variety. So, you can make your beans and eat them too!
Get to know the Food Shuttle Staff: Tonya Post
Name and title: Tonya Post, Director of Programs
What does at typical day at IFFS look like for you?
I oversee the coordination and administration of all aspects of ongoing programs including planning, organizing, leading, and monitoring program activities--that means BackPack Buddies, Hands On Health, Food and Nutrition Services Outreach, etc. There are no typical days. I have the pleasure of working with numerous community partners such as Advocates for Health in Action, Partnership for a Healthy Durham, Obesity and Chronic Illness subcommittee, community volunteer groups and funders! So from delivering lunches to writing reports to building relationships to supporting Food Shuttle staff and leadership I stay busy.
How long have you been at the Shuttle?
Since the fall of 2005
What’s your favorite part about working at IFFS?
That all different kinds of people come together here to help their community
What did you do before IFFS?
Early Childhood (Infants and Toddlers!!)
What do you like to do when you’re not fighting hunger?
cook and clean (no, really)
Favorite Movie?
Say Anything with Jon Cusak
Your last meal would be?
ice cream
OFL class update: Power of Eating Right
By: Lindsey Brantley, NC State student
The first cooking/teaching class for Operation Frontline was such a great experience! We held the Power of Eating Right class in Mayview. The teenagers were shy at first, but quickly opened up once we started cooking. It was so much fun to be able to interact with young adults from one community and share our knowledge of healthy eating. They were so willing to learn and were excited about future classes. We prepared the Turkey and Vegetable Chili, which turned out to be delicious!
Earlier this week we posted the Turkey and Vegetable Chili recipe made in this OFL class. Go here to make the recipe this weekend!