rootdownLA

Thanks to all the students and SO many parents (there’s a waiting list now of Manual Arts parents who want to go to the farm!) who joined our last trip to McGrath family farms.  We had a stellar bunch of student chefs and were thrilled to see them filling up their bags with beets, carrots and sunflowers to take back to the city afterwards.

Thanks to all who joined RootDown LA’s first

“Not-Quite-a-Fundraiser”

(See more pics when you click here.)

“What will you bring to the table?” was the theme for the night when we gave RootDown LA it’s own little inaugural party at Jennie Cooks Catering last weekend.   We asked all of the students, gardeners, chefs, educators, activists, planners, (visionaries all) in attendance, to let us know what they could bring to the table as we work to build healthier communities and support RootDown LA’s work in South LA.

Thanks to all who brought their enthusiasm, ideas and donations to help us build connections and raise almost $1,000 right at the door that night.

So what ended up on the table?

Freelance baking (and a drawing of the Secret Goldfish),

Urban farm networking

“Everything and then some – visits, events, produce.”

“Negotiations to (hopefully) Win-Win” with school lunch improvements.

Equadorian recipes and willingness to cook with students!

Raised vegetable gardens.

“Time, thoughs, ideas, space.”

Peeps to know at UCLA Health Policy Center

Space for a fundraiser

Connection w/ a Student Leadership Summit @ Jan Perry’s new green building.

A glossy magazine dedicated to food and RootDown

A mobile culinary lab

Homemade pasta and bread and a garden to share!

A love of cooking, food, health & kids

Nutrition education and food prep in LAUSD

Education to my friends and family, community

Willing to cook with kids and go to the farm.

Media literacy for youth, documentary skills

Video production with youth

Art!

Music [and a nice drawing of a guitar and a guy singing Fa la la]

Yoga and extra hands

Banking expertise, volunteers

Passion for the cause, graphic design support

Improv and theatre games

Vegan blogging, farmers market recipes

Intentional living, integration of meeting needs/desires

Written by Manual Arts Student, Victor Islas…

November 20th, 2008, yes that was the day that, after 17 years of life, I first set foot on a real farm, The McGrath Family Farm. When I first heard of this farm, I thought to myself “oh just another boring piece of land with acres of nothing but wheat and corn,” but to my surprise, the farm was filled with a myriad of fruits and vegetables, all of which were planted very near each other, sometimes side by side. I soon learned why that and many other planting techniques used by the McGrath Family Farm were important, not only for the growth of the plants but also for the consumers, us.
The tour began with a look at the animal farm. I and two other students started visiting the animals. We enjoyed petting the rabbit, seeing the pigs and the goats, and running from the angry geese, which seemed to be the only one upset at our presence.
After seeing the animals Farmer Phil McGrath began the real tour. Right off the bat I knew there was something intriguing about the place. The first piece of information I was impressed with was with the fact that it was an organic farm, meaning they did not use any type of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and instead they use organic pest control methods. By using these methods, organic farmers eliminate the need for pesticides. This is important because it means the plant is healthier and natural, but besides that these methods prevent further damage to our soil and pollution to our atmosphere.
Then we walked for about an hour around the farm with Farmer Phil. We kept on learning more and more about the benefits of organic farming. So, the reason why it is beneficial to have so many diverse plants growing together is that it helps prevent bugs and insects from spreading. For example, if I were growing nothing but corn or wheat on my 100acre farm, as some farm companies do, and corn bugs infest my crops, then they have the potential to wipe out my entire corn supply. Then, I must use tons of pesticides to kill them but at the same time I’m destroying the soil, and creating a health hazard for my workers and my consumers. But if I had diversity in my crops, that event would never occur.
It was almost time to head back to our table and prepare lunch, but before that Farmer Phil, the Owner of the farm, allowed us to walk through rows of strawberries, and he allowed us to pick as many as we wanted. The strawberries were not as big as the ones I am use to seeing at the markets, but to my surprise they were ten times sweeter. My friend also remarked that they were the best strawberries he had ever tasted, and I agreed with him. We prepared lunch with freshly picked vegetables from the farm. Some of the vegetables we used were carrots, potatoes, beets, garlic, and onion; the best part was that they were all organically grown. After roughly an hour of cooking, I was anxious to taste our neatly prepared vegetable pasta. Simply delicious; it was the best pasta I had ever tasted, even though it was missing the Parmesan cheese. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it so much that I even made room for seconds.
Finally we were ready to leave the farm, but not before Phil, our generous host, filled our bags with organic fruits and vegetables to take home. I was so excited to show my mom the different vegetables we gathered, but I was more excited to see her reaction to the taste of the vegetables. She ate a carrot first and agreed with me that it tasted better than the ones that are not organically grown. Now, my mother wants to go buy more of this organic food, and I think we are going to make our first visit to a family farms market pretty soon.

We’ve just spent a whirlwind 48 hours with the first year Root Down students and they are INSPIRING!

It started in South Los Angeles at Manual Arts High School yesterday when we got to take some precious class time to meet the kids who will be coming to McGrath Family Farms this year.  As well, we began to cull out a smaller group of students who will work as our Youth Leaders.

Twice during the day, Megan dragged into the classroom, her ridiculously goofy giant hand drawn mural depicting the food system changes in our country – the transition from whole foods to processed foods.  The students were suspiciously kind, not making fun (at all?) of her stick chickens and cows.

These 10th graders were excited about the prospect of heading to a farm AND they agreed to come wearing ugly shoes and toting their own fork and spoon for lunch.  These kids are savvy.  When asked to tell a story from the stick chicken mural, the students threw out lots of terms they’d been exposed to – factory farms, hormones, organic, healthy.  Those word were all on their radar screens yet they had a lot of questions about what those things meant.  We’ll work on figuring that out this year.

The depth of the conversations that unfolded, in the classroom and during lunchtime and after school meetings with potential Youth Leaders, was unbelievable.  One student had built a cottage industry pomegranite business before she moved to South LA.  A flurry of ideas for other food businesses ensued.  Several students bragged they are the primary cooks in their families. One student felt compelled to tell us that he has been eating pretty much JUST cereal all his life; he’s nervous because several people in his family have diabetes.   He’s coming back next month for a private lesson on making even the most seemingly hideous vegetables palatable.

Today, when the bus pulled up to McGrath Family Farms and the kids poured out, we were uncertain how they would react to the scene.  Ducks waddling about, the hot sun blaring down, farm workers washing giant bins of greens and piling pumpkins for the roadside stand sales.  The kids didn’t skip a beat.  They easily took up tasks moving pumpkins, picking red, purple and green tomatoes and multi-colored beans.  Four students collaborated to cook an incredible lunch – a giant pot of chili and gorgeous salad of beets, greens, carrots – all from the farm.

At the end of the day, Katy shared with us what she’d overheard one student say as he sat with his plate of food, watching his friend pick up a baby bunny, “This is GREAT.”  Simple as that.  This was their school day.  And it was great.  For the students, the teachers, the farm staff, and for us.  Thanks to all of you, for helping us get this off the ground.

We’ll end with a wonderful string of thoughts and impressions Judy McGrath, (Farmer Phil’s sister) wrote to us after our visit today.  She’s in one of the pictures, with a bunny and Phil.

“Thoughts about today’s farm tour…  Incredible enthusiasm and motivation.  Lots of willingness to return to the farm.  I witnessed gentleness in handling a baby bunny, encouragement from peers to LISTEN to their peer group speaker.  Nutrition and diabetes were discussed among a group of students, as were store bought healthy foods, and “hard work” in relation to a student telling me she had picked beans.  Students asked if there was a compost area and were courteous with clean up.  The overall feeling was positive vibration with everyone.”  – J McGrath.

We got the call this week!

The board of Community Partners has officially granted Root Down fiscal sponsorship beneath their umbrella non-profit organization. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So now, Root Down benefits from Community Partner’s incubator services, and YOU benefit from a tax write-off when you donate to Root Down!  We’ll soon post a page, to let you know how exactly, we can best utilize your donations of time, equipment or materials.  For now, know that every penny you may choose to funnel our way, will go towards getting students to McGrath Family Farms on monthly trips this year.  Because, that’s where good nutrition starts – with healthy farming!

If you are able and inclined to do so, you can donate to Root Down online (writing a check to “Commuity Partners FBO Root Down” is best – less fees are taken out) on Community Partners’ website.  We would also welcome material donations now, of SHARP! 9″ chef knives, 2-3 butane portable cook stoves, a heavy-bottomed stock pot or 2, plates, bowls, mugs and flatware (aka forks, spoons & knives!) for up to 40 people.  Or, you have some clever idea for a donation we may not have thought of here, feel free to run it by us.

We look forward, to providing reports from our in-school and on-farm nutrition and cooking lessons, starting next month!

This quote, from an article in the Washington Post that tells about city council woman, Jan Perry, pushing for a moratorium on new fast food establishments in South Los Angeles.  We’ve started creating our own Google map of South Central – marking the places where food can be purchased and exposing the DEARTH of healthy food spots in the neighborhood.  We hope to be able to share this piece soon!

It might be a bit premature to announce a full blown partnership, but we’re excited to let you know that talks are taking place, to schedule monthly visits for Manual Arts High School students at McGrath Family Farms this year!
(Read more about the farm below.)

The ultra amazing Phil McGrath (note he’s a surfer AND a farmer) invited us to visit the farm earlier this spring, to hear his thoughts about building a more formal educational program at the farm. When we arrived, we were excited to find a small posse of his family, friends and neighbors, who gave us an early indication of what a supportive community exists there.

The McGrath Family Farm community also includes a hard working and devoted crew of laborers who, when asked to consider the possibility of sharing work days with our students, were enthusiastic to share their time, skills and knowledge of the farming profession.

Phil often has school groups visit, but we clarified with him, we don’t want be idle tourists on the farm. We want to come and build a working relationship. We want to get to the know the cycles of the farm and the food, and prepare our own healthy lunches while we are there. We hope to make McGrath family farms the rural arm to our healthy food community in South Los Angeles.

And hey, because we’re the kind of people who to shoot for the moon – we’re already talking about a sustainable food systems/surfing tour for Farmer Phil and our youth – to Costa Rica!
Crazier things have happened.

McGrath Family Farms is an organic vegetable farm, established in 1871 by and Irish immigrant named Dominick. On the farms 300 acres on the ranch, Phil MGrath (Farmer Phil) grows an extensive array of seasonal vegetables. Year round vegetables grow on 24 acres with an additional 4 acres of strawberries and 17 acres of lemons.

McGrath Farms is located in Camarillo, CA just off Hwy101 and Central Avenue.