I worked as an RFO for RFC from August, which was mostly training/conference calls and then throughout the fall and winter. I declared my resignation in late January and officially finished on February 28th, the last day of the NYC Real Food Training.

There are at least 5 RFOs at a time. I was the only one in the Northeast and now there isn’t any momentarily in the Northeast. I met RFOs from times prior when I was beginning the internship and based mostly on what they expressed to me, I think it is a job that holds potential to be an extremely fantastic time. Like anything, it’s different for everyone. I can’t make much of a judgement about the internship because there were very specific reasons why I decided to resign.

The main reason why I resigned was because my local agenda became a greater priority to me than my regional one. Originally, my plan was to try to quickly transition my old position as the leader of an environmental justice club at CCNY to a new person and give them help when they needed it. Not only did that prove to be way too special of a task, but I didn’t fully consider the political climate when I took the RFO position. Climate Justice became a huge matter from October 2009 to December 2009, and it being my last semester at this diverse school in Harlem, I felt it was my last chance to spread Climate Justice awareness at the most urgent time. If I didn’t put all my time and energy into it, it may have dwindled into a lost hope. I felt it was more important to bring CJ to Harlem and all the different colored people of NYC then to ivy league and like schools around the Northeast.

There was also the matter of Food Justice. Originally, I made a RFC team at City that semester to take the Real Food Challenge and to possibly help me with whatever else. When people heard I was making another club, they thought I was absurd, and living an impossible life. And I said that is was actually part of what I was already doing. This team grew quick and maybe it’s that people just starting to get involved is a heavier thing than people already involved, so I was very careful about fostering this new project and I could hardly help but to allocate  a substantial amount of time to that, especially when again, the issue of food justice became a dominating factor in a very specific place.

Those were the two main things, but there were other reasons why I decided to resign, which didn’t have much to do with Real Food Challenge. There was the issue of cancer in my family. From the outset of the job, cancer became a huge issue, and strangely, the war against the gigantic, industrial food system had to take a side to the attention family members needed. There was also the issue of niche. I’m an artist. All of these things resulted in a lack of time that I was able to spend creatively. In the 2 years before the internship, I learned a lot about the ingredients that an artist needs and because I was spending all my time with my family, doing school work, working, reading and responding to emails, making calls, organizing data, attending conference calls usually on the go, there was no time to write, play guitar, do something meditative or absorb other art or artists.

Activism is basically my favorite thing. Often I do feel that I am fulfilling my creative needs, my social needs, my adventure needs and all that when I’m doing something for a significant cause. If you need a job and you want to change the food system then RFO is certainly considerable but you have to make a very ethical decision. I think if you have a local group, especially if you are the leader of it, especially if you are the leader of 2 local groups, definitely give those projects all the love they need. If you have a lot of classes, likewise. I think whatever you do it needs to be able to get all the love from you that it needs.

Now I take one additional creative writing class at CCNY so I can seriously focus on my creativity. In the same context, I am doing my best to launch these two local groups out into years of adventure like I have had as an activist, the best years of my life. I’m trying to fulfill those local urgencies that I wasn’t able to last semester. For 3 weeks I’m working for Earth Day Network to mobilize NYC to DC for a huge Climate Rally on April 25th. It might seem counter to what I just said, but not really. It’s not on the scale of RFO. Similarly, for the previous month I was working with Earth Day NY to help organize the NYC Amp Up Summit and Amp Up Network. Plus I need money and I only have one class and no job now (because I can’t get work-study anymore). The Food Justice group is practically going by itself and Climate Justice is fully aligned with this DC rally and Amp Up actions coming up. As I resigned from RFO my creative output exploded and that hasn’t stopped. I spend a lot of time just having fun and getting inspired. My family gets as much as me as it needs. I’m finally starting my terrace-garden project, which is still a fundraiser for RFC and my own personal weapon.

http://shannonsnortheastgardenchallenge.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/finally-getting-started/

It’s a crazy fundraiser now in progress. (http://shannonsnortheastgardenchallenge.wordpress.com/). It’s an experiment in urban agriculture, a first time experience, and a public chronicle, where people can figuritively buy food, or challenge me to grow produce of their suggestion while putting down a number.

Sign up for the Real Food Training event: http://realfoodchallenge.org/NEtrainings10. And tell others about it.

Today the Greater NYC Training Core Team hooked up. We also have new interns working on the other two.

A bunch of CCNY students and I went to NYU Food and Climate Justice Summit 09 today. Our borough president Scott Stringer was there because he’s cool. Anna Lappe basically hosted it. Karen Washington, (Bronx Garden of Happiness & Gardening is My Blank ads) was terrifically vocal as usual.

I attended: Mobilizing on Food and Climate Issues. Brooklyn Food Coalition was on that panel as well as Kristina Gsell who works on Columbia U’s student garden. That was cool. The best was when  let’s say-frustrated organizers that were audience expressed opinions, that regular organizing isn’t enough all the time. One guy talked about direct action and the methods of the Labor Movement and Civil Rights movement, sit ins, front of the bus, etc. To me that’s not the militancy he first addressed, but is indeed something a small amount of folks can do to play hard, make history.

Short day- outside NYU at the end was Santa Con, hundreds of partying Santas.

Boston, MA: BC, Feb 19-21

NY, NY: CCNY 26-28

Written by SA

I’m excited. Maybe because I loved the last  training, though we slept on a farm, now I’ll be at the NYC one, visiting an urban farm, meeting food activists and in the same vein, have fun, learn, strategize, and eat good food.

This is an article on the last one: http://realfoodchallenge.org/blog/rfc-ends-summer-northeast-training. It’s intimate with 20 something folks and should change your life. We would like if at least one person from each school comes so don’t come alone.

Please ask me about it as soon as possible.

-Shannon
516-458-6966 (ayalashannon@gmail.com)

CCNY

Written by SA.

Lydia Bowers, student, says “Our Food Justice Society has just finished producing a 2010/2011 Local Foods Calendar showcasing the positive effect local/organic food can have on the body. We’re really excited about, but whew it’s been a lot of work.
We’ve also looked into screening Food Inc on campus, but it turns out that’ll cost us between 200-700 dollars in licensing fees so we might just show it as a “private event” and still encourage our “friends and members” to come. Negotiating around legalities.

For info on ordering the calendar contact fjscalendar@gmail.com

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the South Bronx Food and Film Expo. The South Bronx is notorious for being the home of hip hop as well as having the highest asthma rate in the country because of industrial pollution but it is no stranger to urban agriculture and food justice.

A really cool and colorful place called The Point, which is in Hunts Point, hosted tables of environmental and urban agriculture groups, screened Fresh, What’s On Your Plate and served local, vegan food. It was inspiring to see videos of youth working on urban farms and caring about food. Some of these people might be able to help me figure out how public school systems can purchase sustainable food, as we discussed, and collaborate with us or give workshops. I hope to see some of these folks again next weekend at the NYC Food and Climate Summit.

The Slow Food chapter of Green Mountain College creates Nude Calendar to raise funds.

Brown Dining Services just hired two new Real Food Interns to begin work on bringing more Real Food into the DIning Halls.  Students from the Real Food Campaign were present throughout the entire hiring process, and the two new students interns are hried with our full approval.  They will be paid through a seed money grant of $25,000 from the Office of the President, which will also be put towards subsidizing increased Real Food costs.  We’re really excited to be making progress here on campus.

On the challenge of public universities where in these times, asking for more is tough, I’ve asked Amy Cotler, founder of Berkshire Grown and author of The Locavore Way for advice.

“People have to hack their way through. Eliminating Ala Carte items, where possible, and developing a 5 year plan to introduce local food incrementally, by buying seconds, working out deals, etc.”

More on this to come…