Farm School NYC December Newsletter

12/17/2022

𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙐𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚
Students are halfway through the Training of Trainers course, led by Ravi Ramaswamy and Maya Stansberry, familiarizing themselves with popular education methods, learner-centered teaching, and hands-on, participatory learning. Check out our post from last month to learn more about the Training of Trainers and Popular Education frameworks.

Next, students will take our Food Justice course with Farmer Yon. Look out for an update about Hattie Carthan Community Garden soon!

𝙀𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙥
Our last public course offering for this year is wrapping up. Enterprise was led by Woke Foods co-founder and FSNYC grad, Ysanet Batista, along with Choy Division Farm founder and farmer, Christina Chan. Participants covered the fundamentals of business planning, development, and management of enterprises in a local food system while looking at various enterprise models and envisioning to plan their own. Figuring out the first steps in their ventures will help participants create healthy systems that allow their projects to thrive with longevity.

𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙐𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚
Farm School NYC students attended The Future of Food Symposium last month. The Columbia Climate School hosted this conference. Geography2050 and the American Geographical Society funded 15 spaces so FSNYC community members could be present. They also connected students to resource networks beyond the conference. In discussing the Future of Food, it is imperative to highlight and create space for BIPOC. We appreciate the coordination and generosity of AGS and hope universities continue to invite FSNYC to similar events and provide support so our students can attend. Pictured above are some of the students who attended. They posed challenging questions and advocated for further representation at this conference and in the future.

𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚!
This week, our goal is to raise 5k in 5 days! Please help us reach this milestone by spreading the word. Share our campaign with 4 to 5 people in your network. If 25 people donate $200 each, we will be over halfway to our $15,000 year-end goal.

Please support our year-end fundraising efforts. Please consider donating if you enjoy updates on how FSNYC continues to impact the food landscape, lives, and communities across NYC. You can also support by sharing posts or buying merchandise.

Farm School NYC Merch is the perfect gift for the holidays! The sizes are inclusive, most materials are organic, and plenty of different items are available. Happy shopping, and thanks for your support!
DONATE TODAY!

𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧
• QTBIPOC Collective Care Grant
Are you a QTBIPOC collective engaged in farmwork and land stewardship in the Northeast? The QTBIPOC Collective Care Grant is now accepting applications until December 28th. Collectives are able to apply for up to $4000 per organizing group to support community building, resource distribution and self-determination through land-based work.

Collectives that have a QTBIPOC majority and are based in the Northeast are eligible to apply. For more information and to express interest, please visit this link

• NYS Agriculture Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grant Program
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets announced the availability of funds through the Urban Farms and Community Gardens Competitive Grant Program to support the development and expansion of community gardens, school gardens and urban farms across the state. A total of $800,000 is available for this program. The State will cover up to $25,000 with a minimum grant amount of $5,000 for the project. Click here to check the full request for proposal. Applications are due January 10th, 2023

• CRAFT+TUFFS
The Urban Farmer-to-Farmer Summit (TUFFS) is a year-end gathering of NYC urban farmers.

All NYC urban farmers are invited to celebrate the season at this year’s final CRAFT visit hosted by East New York Farms! There’ll be snacks, a seed swap, a farm tour, and some TUFFS-style story-and-skill-sharing. Please bring your seeds and stories to share!
Friday, December 16th (Rain or Shine)
1:00-4:00pm | East New York Farms! UCC Youth Farm | 620 Schenck Avenue Brooklyn, NY
RSVP here

• GreenThumb GrowTogether Submissions due soon!
The 39th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference on April 1, 2023 is back in person! This year’s theme is Learning from the Land: Bounties of Wisdom from Community Gardens. There is a wide range of workshop proposals about community gardening, seeds, composting, biodiversity, indigenous plants and cultivation methods, ecology, resilience, food and racial justice, herbalism, group development, community organizing, native plants, climate change, intergenerational gardening, crop histories, and more. Would you like to share your knowledge?
If so, submit a proposal using this form no later than Wednesday, January 4th, at 5:00 p.m.

𝙕𝙤𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙊𝙪𝙩
Urban producers in New York City are invited to join a pilot program for urban and suburban producers that includes the opportunity to participate in Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Committees (COC), a critical part of FSA operations that allow grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs. New York FSA is looking for producers growing an ag product, such as vegetables, fruits, honey, mushrooms or flowers to be voters. If you would like to submit your information to be a voter in the upcoming Urban County Committee election, please fill out the AD-2047 form.

For additional information, please reach out to Lynnette.wright@usda.gov.

𝙅𝙤𝙗𝙨
• The Hort- Program and Garden Educator

• Wave Hill – Youth Programds Coordinator

• LES Ecology Center- Stewardship Coordinator

• Soul Fire Farm – Communications Manager

• Edible SchoolYard NYC – Garden Manager

• GreenThumb – Youth Leadership Council (YLC)

• Rock Steady Farm – Farm Education Manager

• NYBG – Compost Project Outreach and Education Coordinator

• Brooklyn Grange – Assistant Garden Manager and Communications Associate

GrowNYC – Compost Regional Manager and Spanish Language Justice Consultant (expired)

• West Side Campaign Against Hunger- Digital Choice Program Manager