Day 8 - Allison

We started out our day leaving White Haven, PA at 6:30 am and arrived at several gardens located in the suburbs of Northern Philadelphia. Lisa, from Food Moxie, was our tour guide for the morning. 

 

The Food Moxie is a non-profit organization that brings together the people of the local community to educate and provide food to low income households. In Philadelphia, many families of 3-4 make $12,000 a year making Philly rank in the top 10 city in poverty in America. The Moxies’ mission is to provide a place where low income families will not experience food insecurity. Food insecurity means that one does not know where at least 1/3 of their meals for their day are coming from. In one of the community gardens we visited there’s a garden area that has been there for around 40 years old and allows for spaces for individuals to garden, many of the gardeners being 60+ years of age. With this, we drove about 5 minutes down the road to one of the largest emergency shelters in Philadelphia, in their outdoor area, also being organized by a non -profit group, where people at the shelters, whether staying for 6 months or 2 1/2 years, are able to teach people how to make food from scratch and simple meals such as how to boil rice and how to cook stir fry. At the end of their program as a graduating “gift” they provide the participants with items such as pots, pans and utensils. Since the programs are not-for profit, much of the money they receive comes through grants, donations, or community events. Ending our visit with Lisa, we went to the Saul High School farm with their local fresh market called ‘Henry Got Crops’. There they have crops as well as a dairy cow barn, with a new sheep barn being built. Our morning with Lisa was pretty interesting because of the amount of community support that is integrated in the small urban agricultural sections of North Eastern Philadelphia.

  

From community gardens to CSA's, Food Moxie is helping to prepare people to be food secure.

  

    

   

We were able to walk through the gardens, see plants that we have never seen before and learn about crop protection, water collection and green roofs.

We visited the store and enjoyed fresh cherries on our ride to the next stop.

Following, we drove an hour and 45 minutes to the largest one site composting facility in America called LaurelValley Farms. Here, they create a compost that is used to grow mushrooms. There’s several phases in the mushroom making process. We were also able to walk through the rooms where the mushrooms grow. They have 2 stories for each room and the rooms are kept at 60 degrees Fahrenheit in dark, low lit areas. In my opinion, seeing the mushroom farm was pretty cool and interesting since in Florida we rarely see or hear about mushroom growing. Mr. Joe and Ms. Amanda were great teachers. Learning about how the mushrooms grow really opened my mind to how different techniques in agriculture are in comparison to other crops. Today, honestly was one of my favorites on the trip so far and I can’t wait for the next few days.

     

There are 7 phases of producing mushrooms. The beginning is the making of the compost that the mushrooms grow in.

  

   

Walking in to the mushroom farm, we heard a lot of "Whoa!", "Wow!" and "This is so cool!". Definitely an eye opening experience.

Sporting our safety vests! Thanks to Joe and Amanda for a great tour.