Theme Week: Farm 2 Table : Day 4 July 28,2011

On Thursday we went to the Walnut Hill Farm for a work day. We worked with some of the people from the Rooted in Community conference and some of the people from the community. We had to weed and plant cabbage in some of the beds. We also had to install two more community beds. Then we had to lay some mulch down. It was really hard getting the mulch out of the trucks on to the ground and then shoveling it in to the wheel barrels to take it bake to the beds. In the end we got everything done with a lot of team work and sweat.

Theme Week: Farm 2 Table : Day 3 July 27,2011

On Wednesday we went to the Septa building to visit the other Walnut Hill Farm stand and then we went to a very nice restaurant called Zahav. At this Farm stand we met and talked with one of the farmers named Tim. He was really helpful and told us about how some of the food comes from common market but most of their food is from their own garden.The Walnut Hill Farm stand coincides with the theme for this week because they're selling their produce and the people are taking it home to have for dinner. Zahav is a restaurant where they cook all their meals over hot coals. Every couple of days they go to a farmers market to get some fresh produce. Zahav coincides with the theme for this week because they are taking freshly grown food and cooking the meals at their restaurant.

Theme Week: Farm 2 Table : Day 2 July 26,2011

On Tuesday we went to the Walnut Hill Farm and Farm stand. The Walnut Hill Farm is a community garden where most of the community has their own bed that they take care of. The farm stand is where they sell their produce for a profit. The Walnut Hill Farm coincides with the theme for this week is because they are selling their produce and the people are taking it home to eat. Then we went to the Philly Rooted Growers community farm. We got to meet some of the community families and they helped us weed. They were really invested in the garden and what comes out of it. At the end of our work day we harvested some of the cucumbers and they came out nice and big. Philly Rooted Growers coincides with the theme for this week because the community is literally harvesting the food and eating it.

Theme Week : Farm 2 Table : Day 1 July 25,2011

On Monday we had to go to the Carousel House to have a work day with Teens 4 Good. Teens 4 Good is an organization that transforms many vacant lots into garden where they produce local, freshly grown food to sell to the community. We helped them weed their garden. I learned that you have to plant beans in a triangle formation, so they can grow correctly. I also thought it was great how these other teenagers like me were working hard and having fun doing it. The reason why Teens 4 Good coincides with the theme for this week is because every week at Carousel House they have a cooking demonstration with the food they grow in the garden.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Conference

This summer I was given a great opportunity to go to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Conference in Detroit, MI. This conference for all the partners of Kellogg’s to get together to talk about what they have achieved so far. Some other youth and I were to go as P.U.F.F.A youth advocates, to represent our city Philadelphia. At the conference it’s was very nice to meet with other youth from different cities and learn about what they were doing in their cities. It’s was also great to tell them about all that we were doing in our city. The conference had mini meeting were each city gave feed back to the other. Cities swap ideas back and forth to one another. I thought it was great to see all these people, young and old, together fight for their cause. To me, it made me want to work even harder in Philadelphia.

My take on PUFFA Intership

This is my second summer as a PUFFA Intern and so far its been even more enlightening than last year. It’s showed me how people in Philadelphia are really trying to change this here and some of them are my age. I think that really cool that someone my age can change things. Then also this summer we've been to so many farmers markets around Philadelphia, which I didn't even know existed. At these farmers markets you get to meet the farmers who picked the crops that your buying and in a sense your see how your helping them along. I notice that the produce they sell looks better and smell better than some of the fruit in the regular supermarket. I found out from one of the farmers that’s because it’s very fresh and they don't use pesticides on there produce. Then we also went to Reading Terminal to talk to a Farm 2 School representative Deb Bentrzel. Farm 2 School is an organization that is connects schools (K-12) and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers. We talked about food gets to Philadelphia from all over the world. It a very complicated system. The Ms. Deb gave us a tour of Reading Terminal, there are many different stand in there too. They sell all kinds of things there like, fresh produce, meat, flower etc.                           --Stephanie-PUFFA Youth