Happy 18th Anniversary of a Bad Day
The life-changing event that turned Good Food from habit to lifestyle
In The Issue
• The Health Incident That Made Me a Good Food Disciple
• Congrats to AUA’s Capacity Building Grantees
Happy 18th Anniversary of One of My Worst Days
On December 10, 2003, I had radical surgery for prostate cancer. I was diagnosed at age 47 with a disease that men are more likely to contract when they are 74. And yet, because of one of the worst days of my life, I’m here to write about it 18 years later.
Life has been a roller coaster in the years since, and I’ve had plenty of other bad days. But most of them have been good, and I live with gratitude to be able to say that. I know that am I very fortunate, and my thoughts always are with the people who were not so lucky and their families.
One of the most important impacts of this health crisis was how it changed my relationship with food, and how that contributed to this second career in which I am immersed.
I was an early adopter of the Good Food movement in the 1980s, shopping at Whole Foods Market stores before they were all over the place, and at the handful of farmers markets in Washington, D.C., where I was pursuing my first career as a political journalist. When I got sick, my pursuit of better for people (and the planet) food stopped being a habit and became a lifestyle.
I was already wearying of the unending combativeness and politicization of everything by one of our political parties when, in 2009, I got a big shove in the form of a takeover of the company where I worked, turning it from one I loved to one I couldn’t wait to get out of.
About the same time, I attended a presentation by author Mark Bittman, who had emerged as a leading advocate for building a better food system, and I was so moved that I knew I needed to be more deeply involved than just as a consumer.
After we moved to Chicago in 2011, I started pursuing opportunities to write about food and, long story short, it has worked out pretty well.
There is no way that I can prove that eating a diet overwhelmingly made up of healthy food, produced sustainably and as locally as possible, is the key factor that enables me to live robustly and work like someone much younger, when I just turned… well, you can do the math. But there is plenty of scientific research showing that a diet that is mostly plant-based (even if you’re an omnivore like me), with a rainbow of phytonutrients and antioxidants, helps defend against a number of potentially lethal diseases and improves your chances for longevity.
And when you buy local, you are getting the freshest, ripest and tastiest (prove me wrong) food available. That makes it a win-win, so hedge your bets if you’re not already persuaded. If you’re already a true believer, tell your families and friends.
Congrats to AUA’s Capacity Building Grantees
Chicago’s Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA), in partnership with Food:Land:Opportunity, has announced the recipients of its 2021 Capacity Building Grants. These grants, ranging from $2,500 to $20,000, go to 11 Chicagoland urban farm businesses that are working to expand and scale up their operations while working toward sustainability.
The winners are listed in AUA’s press release below. Congratulations to all the winners who, individually and collectively, are moving our local food system forward.
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Advocates for Urban Agriculture Announces Capacity Building Grant
Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA), in partnership with Food:Land:Opportunity (FLO), is excited to announce the awardees of the 2021 Capacity Building Grant.
This is a continuation of the series of grant opportunities AUA launched since 2020 at the offset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, AUA awarded over $200,000 in grant funds to over 80 Chicagoland growing operations through the COVID-19 Farmer Support Grant and the first round of Capacity Building Grant. While the COVID-19 Farmer Support Grant addressed the immediate financial needs of urban growers in the midst of the pandemic, the Capacity Building Grant continues to support Chicagoland urban farm businesses working to expand and scale up their operations and work toward sustainability.
“The AUA team is humbled to have the opportunity to continue to support the growers who are nourishing our communities,” said Bea Fry, Development Coordinator of Advocates for Urban Agriculture. “At the center of our team values and the values that guide our Capacity Building Grant is the understanding that justice and reparations are necessary to reimagine our current food system - with respect for the earth as our guide. We are excited to announce this round of grantees who embody these values throughout the work they do in our communities.”
The Capacity Building Grant program is funded through AUA’s partnership with FLO and reflects a set of values that were established by a cohort of Chicago urban farmers. The grant continues to serve farm operations which are:
Small Operations — less than 5 acres and/or have an operating budget of less than $250,000
Owned and/or led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), trans, non-binary, and/or gender non-conforming people.
Providing food and other services for low-income communities
The Capacity Building Grant provided grant awards ranging between $2,500-$20,000, with applications being reviewed by a wonderful group of food systems educators, growers, and advocates, including:
Jesse Schaffer of The Talking Farm
Gina Roxas of Trickster Cultural Center
Azizah Ali-Ashraf of A&P Paradise Farm
Erin Kwiatkowski of a national nonprofit
Nora Bryne of a nonprofit health center
Erana Jackson Taylor of Ujamaa Co-op
For more information about AUA and their funding programs, visit http://www.auachicago.org.
2021 Capacity Building Grant Recipients:
$20,000 Awardees: Obodo Farms, La Villita Park Community Farm$10,000 Awardees: Cicero Community Farm, Growing Solutions Farm, Sistas In The Village, Reclaiming Our Roots
$5,000 Awardees: Ever Favor Farms, Global Garden Refugee Training Farm, Sunflower Soule Farm, City Farm Chicago
$2,500 Awardee: Hinata Farms
About Us
Advocates for Urban Agriculture (AUA) is a coalition of urban farms, community and school gardens, individuals and businesses working to support and expand sustainable agriculture in the Chicago region. AUA’s mission is to empower urban growers to foster thriving communities through sustainable agriculture and equitable food systems.
Food:Land:Opportunity (FLO) is a partnership between The Kinship Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust, funded by the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust.
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