7.4: Enhancing the local values chain with community gardens feat. Doug Jones

In this episode, Ariel interviews Doug Jones from Waterloo Region Community Garden Network, and he discusses about how the Network was started, what it does, and the benefits of gardening for the health and wellbeing not only for you but for your entire community. We discuss gleaning, food insecurity, access to land, and much more; this is an episode you’re going to want to listen to, especially if rising cost of food and food security are concerns for you these days.

I (Ariel) have included some links to the local organizations he mentions, as well as some that expand on some of the topics we discussed, which you can check out in the YouTube description or on our blog.

#SolarPunk #SolarpunkPresentsPodcast #podcast #food #FoodProduction #LandAccess #CommunityGardens #CommunityGardening #FoodSecurity #Ontario #Canada #RegionOfWaterloo

https://youtu.be/jgj-6UCOkWY?si=M9jGWRTiBh8v3ZcZ

"Cuts of 30 to 70% are rumored at USDA next week. NIH & NSF funding is being destroyed & the agencies themselves facing cuts.

About 3,500 nonfederal entomologists depend on these agencies. We'rerisking research that protects #ecosystems & #foodsecurity."

It's difficult to keep up with all the atrocities, but we amplify the gravity of the losing these experts, the firings, existential threats... of the #TrumpMusk admin.

#DOGE #Firings #Science #USDA #NIH #NSF #USPol https://www.govexec.com/management/2025/04/some-usda-rif-plans-take-shape-department-warns-employees-major-cuts/404247/

"Microplastics are now a ubiquitous part of our daily physical reality. They suffuse our #air, our #soil, the #food we eat and the #water we drink. They’re being detected everywhere, from Antarctic sea ice to human brains. A new #study published reveals how #microplastics hinder #photosynthesis across a wide range of plant species—including crucial food #crops." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastic-pollution-is-messing-with-photosynthesis-in-plants/

Africa: We Studied Smallholder Farming in Three African Countries for 10 Years - Why Profitable Irrigation Is Key: [The Conversation Africa] The world has to feed a growing population with the same area of land and less water. Irrigation is key to managing this problem. A 10-year project called Transforming Irrigation in Southern Africa focused on capacity constraints on schemes in… http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TK0S78 #Irrigation #SmallholderFarming #SustainableAgriculture #AfricaAgriculture #FoodSecurity

Very good article in Portuguese regarding food colonialism
The “debt of hunger” that devastates the South

We need to understand how debt captures wealth and dismantles food systems in the global South. Dependent on dollars to pay it off, states give in to extractivism and cut social spending. How can we build a large movement to overturn this form of colonialism?

https://outraspalavras.net/mercadovsdemocracia/a-divida-da-fome-que-devasta-o-sul/

ht www.biodiversidadla.org

Africa: Repatriate Africa's Climate-Smart Wisdom That Was Suppressed By Colonialism.: [African Union] The urgency of climate change compels us to revisit lost wisdom in the African Agricultural Sector. Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki is African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems observes that extreme weather, erratic rainfall, and rising temperatures threaten the staple crops that… http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TJx2SK #ClimateChange #SustainableAgriculture #FoodSecurity #IndigenousKnowledge #AfricanWisdom

In difficult times let’s open our doors to help. At our Open Doors Community we offer a free Thursday Lunch: geared toward seniors at noon on Thursdays. This program is offered free of charge, though a pay-as-you-are-able donation is always appreciated. All are welcome!

There’s also a free Tuesday dinner, foodbank, clothing bank and more.
Location
662 Guelph Line
Burlington, ON

https://opendoorscommunity.ca/what_we_offer/food/ #foodsecurity #seniors #burlON

HT @AgroecologyMap

Northey Street City Farm in #BrisbaneAustralia

"We consider the vital connection to the elements of nature to be integral to learning and offer practical skills that can be utilised every day in your own garden space or working environment. Being based in the Magical #Bundjalung Country - the Northern Rivers 'Rainbow Region' of Northern #NewSouthWales, Australia, 'Growing Roots' offers a huge range of functional and cutting edge experimental #permaculture systems for students to explore. From the intensive, highly productive market gardens of ‘The Farm’ at Byron Bay through to Rural #FoodForests, #Agroforestry Systems, #BushTukka Gardens and the Great Wilderness of our Subtropical and Cool Temperate Rainforests, the teachings of nature - and humans creative dance within it - are vast and profound. We utilise the following 12 principles of Permaculture."

Learn more:
https://agroecologymap.org/l/northey-street-city-farm-in-brisbane
#AgroEcology #sustainability #regenerativeagriculture #FoodSecurity #Permakulture #AgroForestry #BushTucker #BuildingCommunity #SolarPunkSunday

A local food charity was asking about what kind of platforms might be available instead of Instaram?

I don't have good answers; except that as we have seen in the research that you must stay on instagram but create an alternative home which has all of the functionality you need and then point people from the place you dislike, towards the spaces you like

Within reason, of course.

Has anyone here has cause to develop food pantry communication systems?

Our Shared Future
Upholding Canadian Values in the 2025 Federal Election

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bmrrFxNnX6YhDsgo_44Roq-Qgdjd3UxueaGTqIAYcVw/edit?usp=sharing

CAVE: collaborate, advocate, vote, educate

#CalPol #CanadaVotes #2025CdnElection #democracy #CanadianValues #diversity #multiculturalism
#ElbowsUp #never51
#populism #conservatism #housing #FoodSecurity #inflation #unions #solidarity

QuIRK-E is a Vancouver, B.C. based writers collective, predominantly senior 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate-activists. Read their Call to Action!
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/114305429532018275

Consider planting an extra row for the hungry in your garden this spring

If you’re going to plant fruits, vegetables or herbs this spring, why not grow some extra for your local soup kitchen or pantry?

By JESSICA DAMIANO, March 18, 2025

"If you’re gearing up to plant fruits, vegetables or herbs this spring, why not grow some extra to donate to your local #SoupKitchen or #FoodPantry?

"The national #PlantARowForTheHungry campaign, launched in 1995, has been encouraging home and community gardeners to do just that every year to help feed neighbors in need of fresh food.

"The program was spearheaded in 1995 by Anchorage Daily News garden columnist Jeff Lowenfels, who wrote a column encouraging his readers to plant extra crops and donate their harvests.

"After seeing the impact that his column had on local food donations, Lowenfels partnered with GardenComm International, then known as Garden Writers of America, to enlist garden columnists all over the country to promote the cause in their own communities. Since then, more than 20 million pounds of produce, providing more than 80 million meals, have been donated through the campaign by home gardeners.

"'All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape — just people helping people,' according to organizers on the campaign’s website. And there’s no big advertising campaign, either — just garden columnists and their readers spreading the word."

Read more:
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/18/gardening-for-the-hungry/
#BuildingCommunity #FoodInsecurity #FoodSecurity #SolarPunkSunday #CommunityGardens

Glacier meltdown risks food and water supply of 2 billion people, says UN | Glaciers | The Guardian…

Retreating #glaciers threaten the food and water supply of 2 billion people around the world, the #UN has warned, as current “unprecedented” rates of melting will have unpredictable consequences... #climatehange #globalwarming #foodsecurity #watersupply

https://formuchdeliberation.wordpress.com/2025/03/21/glacier-meltdown-risks-food-and-water-supply-of-2-billion-people-says-un-glaciers-the-guardian/

It's time!
And by that I mean, not only is it springtime, and all of us in the Pacific Northwest and most of the rest of the northern hemisphere should be starting our food crops, but... it's TIME, also. As in, politically, socially, and everything-else-ally, we all need to grow some food.

https://www.emilyartist.ca/2025/03/growing-food-without-land-money-or-time.html

One of my jabuticabas has burst into bloom. And lots of buds everywhere.

I really recommend this plant for its near year-round production of fruit and easiness to grow.

Link to thread I did earlier: https://mastodon.world/@jblue/113890538749834507