Phew! The hard work started by Ecourban Homes, HopeBUILD, Manchester United Methodist church, the JUICE Box, and other amazing folks, culminated in a planting of exciting summer and fall crops. Amidst the tires and parking lot barriers, seeds of pumpkins, okra, squash, corn, cucumbers, and pole beans, along with elephant head amaranth, were planted. Look for the seedlings poking through the soil soon. We are super pumped about the Three Sisters planting in the middle of the informal garden. Look for more news about this exciting little greenspace in upcoming posts!
Check it out, right at Minnesota and Arsenal.
Youth from the 21st Century afterschool program got their first taste of gardening as they dug in the dirt, learning how to plant vegetable plants and seeds. This week the students will get to see how their plants fared during the wet and cool weather, and if their watermelon seeds sprouted. The students in the summer portion of the program will thank the hard work of these students for planting something they can harvest!
Eating “right” means different things to different people, but on a gut level is easy to understand. The food you eat should be natural, colorful, fresh, rich in nutrients, and able to be consumed even in large quantities without harming your organism. It should not be processed, in other words, have a nutrition label printed on it. Eating right is as easy or as hard as getting the vast majority of your calories from things that cast a shadow in the dirt.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s challenge to those of us removed from our origins in nature:
“Go out of the house to see the moon and ’tis mere tinsel; it will not please as when its light shines upon your necessary journey.”
It’s not a stretch to make a similar connection with the food we eat. Growing vegetables, harvesting them, and then eating them is a significant act of engagement with nature. There’s no better time to consider this than the lovely month of April.
April 15th, 2010 in
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Fresh Starts Garden in North St. Louis was featured on Show Me St. Louis this past week.
Click here to watch the excerpt if you missed it:
Woman transforms Neighborhood
Congratulations Rosie!!!
HopeBUILD is looking for 2 health interns this summer!
Position: Health Intern
Duration: Summer season of 2010, June – August, 8 or 10 weeks
Schedule: 12-17 hours per week
Description: The HopeBUILD Health Internship program engages motivated and talented individuals in accomplishing our organization mission of building strong communities through healthy food choices and availability. HopeBUILD values interns as an integral part of our organization – we offer our interns the opportunity to learn about the specific issues involved in our work and the chance to participate in the implementation of our programs. Interns offer HopeBUILD the time, energy skills and commitment that make our programs possible and relevant to communities throughout St. Louis.
Responsibilities: The HopeBUILD Health Interns will have the opportunity to directly develop, research, coordinate, prepare, present, and evaluate nutrition education programs for various groups of youth in St. Louis. HopeBUILD Health Interns may also be expected to participate in the following activities:
▪ Work with the Garden Manager and Food Access Coordinator to integrate and coordinate the nutrition curriculum with the gardening schedule and service learning projects
▪ Assist in nutrition program evaluation process by creating comprehensive documentation of programs
▪ Help in HopeBUILD community gardens with the Garden Manager
▪ Help implement and participate in the youth service learning projects
▪ Provide health/nutrition research and narratives for at least (1) grant application
▪ Other duties as needed throughout the duration of the internship
Compensation: Stipend is available.
Qualifications: HopeBUILD is seeking graduate and undergraduate students who are interested in internships in our innovative public health nutrition programs. Nutrition and dietetics majors are strongly encouraged to apply, but students with a general interest in the areas of nutrition, hunger alleviation and nonprofit work will be considered.
Performance Skills Required:
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Ability to communicate with diverse populations
Well organized with attention to detail
Ability to meet deadlines
Professional demeanor
Experience/Special Skills Desired:
Experience working with youth
Experience using Microsoft Office programs
Ability to prepare written reports based on data analysis
Familiarity with public/private community agencies in St. Louis
Interested? Please send resumes to garwen@hopebuild.org by March 31st, 2010.
Questions or for more information, contact:
Garwen Chen, Food Access Coordinator
Email: garwen@hopebuild.org ۰ Phone: 314-757-6360
”And what has calcium in it?” “MILK!” “BROCCOLI!” “YOGURT!” and other responses were shouted out during one of the several childrens’ HopeBUILD nutrition programs given last week at three local Head Start facilities. Introducing a newly developed program entitled “Grow and GO!,” students spent three days learning about foods that would help them grow and give them energy to “GO!” Kindergarteners through 5th graders explored the links between food and health, along with specific nutrients in food such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Calcium. Additionally, the program covered the importance of using food as a fuel to help students getting moving through physical activity – a major focus for child-based wellness programs.
A report published by the American Heart Association discusses the increasingly high number of children diagnosed with obesity and obesity-related health problems. Entitled “Promoting Physical Activit
y in Children and Youth: A Leadership Role for Schools,” the paper highlights “community linkage” to increase physical activity – connections between schools and after-school programs run by community organizations.
The YWCA and HopeBUILD’s collaboration on the summer nutrition series “Grow and GO!” is just one positive example of how “community linkage” can help students’ knowledge of health and nutrition really “grow”!
SEED FOR THOUGHT: “Children are one third of our population and all of our future.“ ~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981
It’s the middle of the growing season, and HopeBUILD continues to sow garden plots with late summer seeds. Clay Elementary School, a Saint Louis Public School in North City, received the attention of more than 40 hands in the weedings, planting, and watering of nine raised beds next to the school’s playground. The heat did not deter Garden Leader Kyria and her students from planting radishes, herbs, peppers, and even some pumpkins along a corner raised bed! Sketches were drawn of each plot, giving the students a chance to map out and keep track of what plants they will be looking for as the growing season continues…
Keep your eyes on the lookout as we post the progress of Clay Elementary’s garden, as well as other community gardens through pictures at our website photo gallery and the upcoming newsletter!
On the surface, a game played with a red bouncy ball is hardly related to a dirt plot of plants. Upon closer inspection, these two entities actually have similar needs that can’t be ignored! As you consider joining the fun at SLHMC and HopeBUILD’s Kickball Tournament (May 24th), graciously entertain these connections between kickball and gardens:
1) THE RIGHT MATERIALS ARE NEEDED. Whether it’s vinyl bases or garden hoses, kickball and gardens have specific needs that are necessary for success. Everyone knows you can’t play kickball with a flat ball or expect vegetables to grow when they’re surrounded by weeds!
2) FIELD POSITIONING IS KEY. In the garden, each plant needs its space in order to grow well; on the kickball field, each player has a designated space to cover for the team. Without the proper spacing, plants and people trip over each other and miss opportunities for performance excellence!
3) IT TAKES A TEAM. Countless sports movies reside on the motto that it takes the skills of every player working together to beat the antagonistic trash talkers from the rival school. In the same manner, this tournament’s kickball champions will succeed in the spirit of teamwork, and our gardens will only blossom with the support of the entire community. “There’s no ‘I’ in team!”
Bring your support and skills to the SLHMC and HopeBUILD First Annual Kickball Tournament on May 24th at Tower Grove Park, 1-5pm. There will be an adult competition as well as a children’s tournament. Adult registration fee is $10/adult and children registration fee is $5/child, with a minimum of ten players per team. Contact Sarah (sarah@hopebuild.org) for more information!
SEED for THOUGHT: “Put me in Coach, I’m ready to play today; Put me in Coach, I’m ready to play today…look at me, I can be Centerfield!” -John Fogerty, “Centerfield”
