FARMWORKER JUSTICE PANEL CHALLENGES AND
INSPIRES US TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS A BIT MORE
We all know that the sustainable food movement has done a tremendously good job
promoting the benefits of buying local, organic, and humanely-raised foods. Indeed, the
word, ―locavore,‖ (meaning a person who primarily eats food produced close to home)
was dubbed the 2007 Word of the Year by the Oxford American Dictionary just three
years after it was first coined. Also, more and more of us know that not everyone has
equal access to healthy foods and that school districts receive a pittance to create lunch
menus which often lack in nutritional value as a result.
These issues—environmentally sustainable foods, food
access and security, healthy school foods—are, of course,
immensely important. But the people who grow, process,
transport, and serve our food to us are just as important to
consider if we are to really create a holistically healthy,
just, and sustainable system. Unfortunately, their issues
have been largely left out of the sustainable food debate. Photo from LUPERGE
This oversight is not at all inconsequential. For instance, nine farm operations – effecting 1,000 workers and more than a dozen employers – have been prosecuted for slavery
in the past decade; the average farmworker makes only around $12,000/year working
very long hours under physically demanding and often unsafe conditions; each year
farmworkers, including children, suffer up to 300,000 acute illnesses and injuries because of pesticide exposures; the list goes on.
Needless to say, a food system is only sustainable insofar as its land, its animals,
AND its people are treated with dignity and respect; how else to ensure the health
of the system? On Thursday evening, April 7th, a gathering of around 40 people came
together for a simple dinner and to hear from three panelists who all have direct and
different experiences with this issue: Dr. Robert Gottlieb, author of the new book Food
Justice; Norma Flores from the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Program’s
Children in the Fields Campaign (and former child farmworker herself); and Joan Norman who employs and houses 30 farmworkers on her farm, One Straw Farm, in Baltimore County all shared their passion for farmworkers issues, and the challenges involved in bringing about a more dignified system of farm labor.
Because there are no labels (except for Fair Trade) that can tell us whether our food has
been harvested by people treated fairly, it is difficult for us to know that what we eat
aligns with our desire to care for our neighbors in the fields. We have a long way to go
in figuring this out, but we can start by posing the same question put forth by Fast Food
Nation author Eric Schlosser: ―Does it matter whether your heirloom tomato is local
and organic if it was harvested with slave labor?‖
TIME (AND MONEY) ARE RUNNING OUT FOR GRANTS!
SPRING 2011
Volume 4, Issue 2
BFFP’s mission:
To partner with Baltimore area
faith communities and religious
organizations of all faith traditions to promote a just, safe, and
trustworthy food system that
allows us to produce what is
needed now and for future generations in a way that protects
people, animals, air, land, and
water.
FOOD OF THE SEASON
Over 4,000 years ago, the pharaohs of Egypt prized mushrooms
so much they decreed that only
royalty could eat them. Many
other civilizations throughout the
world also treasured
mushrooms for their
taste and healing
properties, so much
so that rituals around mushroom were developed. Mushrooms have been the object of
much scientific research for many
years and are considered to have
valuable immune-building and
anti-cancer properties. Not only
do they have great health benefits,
they also add great flavor to a variety of dishes. There are over
38,000 kinds of mushrooms with
different colors, textures and flavors. Did you know that Pennsylvania produces over 61% of the
total U.S. production? However,
Be Careful! Never pick or eat
mushrooms you find growing
wild in the woods because they
may be poisonous!
Calling all gardeners! Don’t forget that the BFFP has Garden Grants available in amounts up to $750 to help your faith community or religious school start a veggie garden. Applications
are already pouring in, and funds are limited, so make sure to apply ASAP. (The deadline to apply is August
15th.) Visit our website for more information.
Grilled Portobello Mushroom Burgers
Adapted from the All Recipes.com
Spring is here! Warm temperatures bring us outside to relax and play and work up an appetite. The
scent of barbeque makes our stomachs growl, and we hunger for food cooked on an open fire, in the
great outdoors. Do not despair! We here at the BFFP have discovered a perfect BBQ recipe that is
rich and meaty (without the meat) that is sure to satisfy your deepest barbeque cravings. Enjoy!
Photo from Kitchen Daily.com
4 portobello mushroom caps
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Whole wheat burger buns or sliced bread
4 (1 ounce) slices of cheese
Toppings- lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.
Place mushroom caps (wiped clean), smooth side up, in a shallow dish. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, basil,
oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour over the mushrooms. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, turning twice. Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Brush grate with oil. Place mushrooms on grill, reserving marinade for basting. Grill 5 to 8
minutes on each side, or until tender. Brush with marinade frequently. (You can also broil caps for 5 to 7 minutes on each
side.) Top with cheese during last 2 minutes of grilling. Place finished mushrooms and favorite toppings on rolls or bread.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
St. Ambrose Catholic School
4506 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215
Joan Noble, Teacher
‘If you build it, they will come’ was the phrase we thought of at the first annual St. Ambrose
spaghetti lunch. We’d heard rumors that if kids had a hand in growing something—even if it
was spinach —they would gobble it up with relish (no pun intended), and boy did they! We Wall mural at St. Ambrose
saw students pleading for who among them got to eat the carrots (yes, that’s right; we said
carrots, not cake), and we were impressed by the kids who gave us a garden tour and served us food they had cooked. It was
teacher Joan Noble’s vision that turned these school grounds into an urban and culinary oasis. Joan shares how this garden
has been transformative for students who have a hard time finding fresh produce in their own neighborhood:
―Pizza, chicken nuggets, and French fries. This is the staple diet of most children around the country, and it was no different
for the children at St. Ambrose Catholic School. Sure we planted our little seedlings on our windowsills like other schools, but
I wanted to do more. As the third grade teacher at St. Ambrose Catholic School I figured I had a whole class of able and willing farmers that I could put to work in a garden.
We are an urban school located in the Park Heights area of Baltimore. We don’t have much unpaved space, but we do have
one small area. Enlisting the help of my friend Joan Norman from One Straw Farm it wasn’t long before we were breaking
ground creating two 15’x15’ gardens. The kids did all the work from spreading compost, planting seeds and seedlings, weeding, and of course harvesting and eating our ―crops‖. They raised money filling and selling bottled compost at EcoFest and
holding bake sales. The rest of the money we needed to get started came from a generous grant from the BFFP.
Three years later and we have started preparing for the new growing season. Lettuce and celery have already been planted. Our
windowsills are still full of plants, but now it is tomato and pepper plants, as well as a variety of herbs for our school garden.
No longer is it just a third grade project, now any student can lend a hand. It’s great to see the children popping cherry tomatoes into their mouths like candy, and pleading for who gets to eat the vegetables. Much of our harvest never makes it into a
kitchen because it is eaten on the spot.
Our plots have grown to 20’x20’ and we had added extra area by building trellises that climb
up our walls. Every year at the end of the growing season the children host a Harvest Day
Lunch for parents, teachers, and students throughout the school. They make a spaghetti feast
using our own vegetables and some donated by local farmers from the farmers market. Our
Summer Program has provided us the opportunity to provide the children with classes in
nutrition, cooking, and fitness. Unfortunately budget cuts make this no longer possible.
Garden Ambassadors do a great job!
So is it still pizza, chicken nuggets, and French fries? Well, yes, but now the kids are open
to have vegetables, salad, and fruit with their meals. And if you stop by St. Ambrose School you will meet our garden ambassadors who will give you a garden tour, showing you our heirloom fish peppers, introducing you to Little Tom, the world’s
smallest tomato plant, have you smell the basil, and maybe, just maybe let you eat some of our coveted cherry tomatoes.‖
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Because we eat two, three or four times every day, it’s easy to forget how wondrous that is. It’s like the sunrise or the sunset.
The sun rises or sets every day. If it’s an especially beautiful sunrise, we may notice it. But if it’s not ―special‖ we may not even
see it.
But if we can see it as if for the first time, each sunrise becomes very special and very beautiful. And so with each meal we
create.
- Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields (1996)
―Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master’s Lessons in Living a Life that Matter‖
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Wednesday, 5/4/11, 7:00 PM
First Unitarian Church of Baltimore
1 West Hamilton Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
For more info, call (410) 685-2330 or visit
First Unitarian Church’s Facebook page
Zoerheide Lecture featuring Mark Winne
Mark Winne, community food activist and expert, will speak on ―Food Rebels, Guerilla Gardeners, and Smart Cookin’ Mamas: Fighting Back in an
Age of Industrial Agriculture.‖ From 1979 to 2003, Mr. Winne was the Executive Director of the Hartford Food System, a private non-profit agency
that works on food and hunger issues. His work there included organizing
community self-help food projects that assisted the city’s lower income and
elderly residents, as well as developing commercial food businesses, farmers’
markets, and other food and nutrition education programs. He is a co-founder
of a number of food and agriculture policy groups was a member of the
United States delegation to the 2000 World Conference on Food Security in
Rome. FREE.
Thursday, 5/12/11, 6:00 PM
Special Documentary Film Screening of Living Downstream
Southeast Anchor Library
3601 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21224
This film follows ecologist and cancer survivor, Sandra Steingraber, as she
explores the links between human health and the health of our air, land, and
water. She follows invisible toxins (including atrazine, one of the most
widely used herbicides in the world, and PCBs) to some of the most beautiful
places in America and discovers how they enter our bodies and what effects
they have once there.
For more info, visit Baltimore Green Works
Saturday, 5/14/11, 2:00 PM
Govans Branch of the Enoch Pratt Library
5714 Bellona Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21212
For more info, call (410) 396-6098 or visit
Enoch Pratt Library (scroll down a little)
World without Fish
Join master storyteller Mark Kurlansky as he introduces his new book for
kids (―World Without Fish‖) and talks to them about what's happening to
fish, the oceans, and our environment and what kids can do about it. Connecting all the dots -- biology, economics, politics, climate, history, culture, food,
and nutrition -- Mr. Kurlansky speaks to kids in a way they can really understand. The book describes how the fish we most commonly eat, including
tuna, salmon, cod and swordfish, could disappear within 50 years and the
domino effect it could have. FREE.
Wednesday, 5/18/11, 7:00 PM
(Reception at 6:00 PM)
Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Library
Wheeler Auditorium
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
For more info, call (410) 396-5430 or visit
Enoch Pratt Library (scroll down a little)
Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis
Sandra Steingraber will talk about her new book and about enjoying the lives
of her two children while finding ways to protect them from the toxic, climate
-threatened world they inhabit. While not entirely devoted to food, she writes
about chemical-intensive agriculture and other toxic exposures, exploring the
underlying social, political, and ecological forces behind them. FREE.
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Questions or comments, please e-mail us at [email protected], or call 410-502-5069.