Category Archives: Food & Food Systems
Happy Halloween, New Jersey
November 5, 2012Throughout the month of October, the Dodge blog featured a wide range of blog posts related to food issues and food systems in honor of Food Day 2012. We learned how organizations are addressing food insecurity issues, and about New Jersey’s … Continue reading
Empowering Kids Through Gardening
October 29, 2012Over the past three years, Grow it Green Morristown has seen thousands of children come through the gates of the Urban Farm at Lafayette, a ½ acre farm devoted to teaching our community about healthy eating, sustainable agriculture, and community … Continue reading
New Jersey’s Fresh Faces of Farming
October 24, 2012One of the joys of writing about food in New Jersey is the people I meet who are bringing new meaning to farming and food production in the Garden State. When you picture your typical farmer, what do you imagine? … Continue reading
Looking for Solutions to Food Insecurity
October 23, 2012Food. The word itself conjures up so many associations for all of us. A gentle sigh, a little smile, a relaxing of our bodies, a warmth. I think of lively family dinners around the table talking about the events of … Continue reading
5 Tips From Sustainable Jersey’s Food Actions
October 18, 2012Despite being the most urbanized and densely populated state in the United States, New Jersey communities are taking important steps to keep the garden in the garden state. Although New Jersey’s farm base is shrinking, municipalities are making changes to … Continue reading
A Bold Initiative to Reduce Childhood Obesity and Hunger in Camden
October 10, 2012At Campbell Soup Company, every day is food day. As we work to “Nourish Our Consumers” we are also dedicated to “Nourishing Our Neighbors.” In February 2011, Campbell announced a $10 million, ten year commitment to reduce childhood obesity and … Continue reading
The Art of Food
October 8, 2012The arts and food are inextricably linked. And since I was asked to write on this topic, the links between food and the arts keep appearing around every corner, even more often than usual. Here are some examples that you … Continue reading
Celebrating Food Day All Month Long
October 3, 2012Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of speaking with students visiting Philadelphia from Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario in Canada about food system planning. Although all were undergraduates and several steps away from picking a career, I was surprised … Continue reading
Keeping the “Garden” in the Garden State
October 1, 2012I am obsessed with apples. Most people bemoan the waning weeks of summer; I get deliriously anxious. What I feel when I bite into my first Macintosh apple of the season, and experience that unmistakable snap and sublime blend of … Continue reading
Food for Thought: Defining Food Deserts and Understanding What Access to Food Means
July 25, 2012The recent discussion in popular media regarding the ties between obesity and food deserts, food swamps, and inequitable food access is helping both food system practitioners and researchers refine their definitions for, ideas about, and ways to communicate the importance … Continue reading
“Can I Get This At Whole Foods?”
April 4, 2012Musings from the Philadelphia Farm and Food Fest This past Sunday, I spent the afternoon walking around the first-ever Philadelphia Farm and Food Fest, an event organized by Fair Food and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. Amid thousands of … Continue reading
A Bumper Crop of Events
March 7, 2012By Alison Hastings Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Winter is usually down time for farmers. It’s the season where farmers rest their fields as well as rest themselves. Finding time to catch up with their friends, attend a conference or … Continue reading
Improving School Food Requires Partnerships and Understanding (Part 2)
February 7, 2012A 2-part series by Alison Hastings, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission; Beth Feehan, Director, NJ Farm to School Network; Deb Bentzel, Farm to Institution Program Manager, Fair Food. Read Part 1 (Defining Farm to School in New Jersey) here. Part 2: Understanding … Continue reading
Improving School Food Requires Partnerships and Understanding (Part 1)
February 6, 2012A 2-part series by Alison Hastings, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission; Beth Feehan, Director, NJ Farm to School Network; Deb Bentzel, Farm to Institution Program Manager, Fair Food Part 1: Defining Farm to School in New Jersey By Beth Feehan, Director … Continue reading
Creating Common Ground, Growing Community
December 21, 2011By Samantha Rothman President & Co-Founder Grow It Green Morristown One of the things I love about Morristown is that despite its population size (close to 20,000), it truly has a small town feel. It seems of late that whenever I’m … Continue reading
