What is success? Three little tomatoes, twenty kids' names.

[slideshow] Today was our last day of the semester, working in the Jefferson garden with Ms. Kelley's art class.  Surveying the scene, you might not have thought much of our progress this spring.  Several beds are barely sprouting seeds, new trellises have JUST become upright, and the thirty plus kids (you know about those super-sized LAUSD classes?) to some observers, might not seem super engaged; they drag their feet at the start of each new day, mumbling about getting their shoes dirty, complaining they aren't getting paid. They say unkind things about the worms.

For those of us who have been out with these kids for the past three months, THIS is what we see:

The kids making tacos near the greenhouse?  They run that culinary show.  After two weeks of our staff trying to enlist them in some orderly cooking session, we instead turned all the food prep over to them and it became more organized than we could have imagined.  The kids took turns, picking menu items, setting up and dismantling the cooking space, and assuring that every kid in the garden got a taste of the day's fare.  Tossing their scraps in the compost bin, they can explain now, how those nutrients will go back into the soil.

Seven  raised beds have been filled with a combination of compost, (carried in wheelbarrowful at at time by the kids) and an intricate mix of soil amendments, carefully measured out, scoop by scoop.  The compost bin was filled, it did it's work on our food scraps and brown waste, and the soil WE created, returned also, to the beds. Weeds, not the ones we see today, but the ones that would have taken over the garden entirely, have been eradicated.  Mulch has been hauled over also, to make paths between the planted plots.

This last day of the semester, we found in the areas we did manage to plant the past few weeks, two little tomatoes, nicely formed and waiting to vine northwards on those new trellises.  Lettuce and cucumbers and snow peas and radishes will be harvested over the summer, and next fall, due to all the soil amendment work the kids have trooped through, we will simply be ready to plant, harvest, and eat.  Next year's class is going to OWE this year's class, big time, for the less sexy bits of gardening prep work they took on.

The very best thing about what happened this spring?  (Keep in mind we'd all had disagreements, frustrations, and flat out work strikes throughout the semester.)  When we passed around a sheet of paper today, and asked the kids, "Who wants to stay in touch with us over the summer, sign up here?"  The kids didn't say much.  We figured at least two or three may express interest.  When the piece of paper came back, twenty names were clearly written on it.  The student who handed it to us had even taken the effort to re-write the list after the first one got cooking oil on it.  They all wanted to be sure we could read their names.  :)

RootDown trains with Hunger Action LA

What’s the low-down on hunger and food assistance in Los Angeles?  Last week,a small RootDown LA crew, including Andres Chopin, Ana Torres (pictured above) and new Programs Manager, Shara Prophet, attended a Hunger Action LA training on food security issues in our communities. This training, held at the Community Health Councils building and co-hosted by Inner City Struggeles, was created to equip individuals with the tools they need to address their state senators and neighborhood council leaders at Hunger Action Day in Sacramento on May 17th.

We had the pleasure of meeting with some of LA's most enthusiastic and passionate community leaders including Frank Tamborello, community educator and Executive Director of Hunger Action LA.

We discussed the many issues surrounding food security such as child nutrition, fast food chains monopolizing our neighborhoods, food deserts, and the limited access to more healthy and nutritious foods.

The training also helped to dispel our various confusions about CalFresh.  Some of us thought only adults with dependents could get food assistance. Did you know,  CalFresh is available to anyone whose income falls within the eligible income bracket?  You can check to see if you are eligible for CalFresh benefits as well as sign up online at http://www.calfresh.ca.gov.

Though RootDown LA will not be able to make it to Hunger Action Day this year, we walked away from the training with a wealth of information about what's going on with food assistance and securities in our community.  Hunger Action LA, Community Health Councils and Inner City Struggles - we appreciate the invite and thanks for helping us help others to make healthy food more affordable for all!

New 4-week classes make more folks wanna eat their veggies!

[slideshow] Thanks to the enthusiastic support of our new programs intern, Shara Prophet, and for funding from the Network for a Healthy California, RootDown LA is rapidly rolling out more four-week cooking, nutrition and food systems classes.  These fun, high energy classes give folks simple techniques to make healthy food taste better, and help drive home the importance of eating more nutrient rich whole foods, and fewer calorie and additive/sugar/sodium dense processed foods.

Partners in the community - A Place Called Home, Nuevo South, L.A.U.R.A, and Jefferson High - have all invited us to connect with youth and adult groups to run these veggie heavy classes.  Homemade pico de gallo, sauteed veggie and chicken quesadillas, spicy carrot cucumber salads, tangy orange yogurt dip are coming out of the kitchen as we convince more folks that healthy food can be tasty, affordable, and easy to eat every day.