Union Square

I went to visit Union Square's Green Market on Friday, where I attempt to support the bustling market at least once a week.  It is the warmest day out, since winter and many people are shopping at the local produce, fish, baked goods, art, and music vendors.  I spot many different social groups among the visitors and can tell who is educated and asking questions about their food supply at the farms' stalls.  Educated or not, at least they are all supporting the local agriculture.  On the park bench next to the market you can observe many people enjoying the weather, as well as myself.  Behind me there is a group of hipster on the grass, smoking there cigarettes, singing, and playing there acoustic guitars while a man across from, appearing as a wall street business executive, writes his daily emails on his laptop.  They're are people from everywhere, young and old, enjoying the market.  I see musicians, artists, business people, students, elderly, soldiers, park employees, and much more.  They one group that I can't spot, as hard as I try, is the poverty stricken and underprivileged classes.  In the last few months I have learned to spot these people, carefully busying there jumbo boxes of cereal at the food store with their WIC checks.  All other classes can be seen, affluent or at least food secure.  I do not see anyone worrying about what they buy, as long as it looks good.  No one spends time bargain shopping, they just pick up the best looking vegetables they want, pull out their 20's and 50's and go about their merry day.  Thoughts are provoked with where are these people, they're just a short subway right from one of the greatest produce resources in the city at, from what I can tell, pretty affordable prices, but it still appears as if they don't even have access to it.  Why? Do these people even know this place exists? Do WE need to educate them more about buying fresh produce?  At even the lowest price of the season, is it still to expensive to buy these nutritious and wholesome foods?  Answers need to arise and help needs to be provided.  Wasn't America suppose to be the land of the free, so why can't these people even afford the rightfully grown, most basic need?

Just an Update! Charity Concert!!

Hey Everyone,

Its been a while since I've written.  I have been working on some pretty big plans.  First, I've been in contact and had the privilege to sit down with an organization called 800 Charity Farms.  They are an organization devoted to starting 800 charity farms across the US in hopes of feeding the hungry local, sustainable, and organic food.  They currently have one farm established in Florida with a second on the way.  They donate all of their food to local non-profit organizations that feed the needy.  They have had great feedback and are looking to expand.  They are actually looking to start a farm in NYC.  I am trying to help as much as I can.  I know if we find some land to farm we can make this work.   One of the major issues they currently have, though, is funding.  This is where I come in!!  I am trying to organize a charity concert where all the proceeds will go to starting a NYC farm.   Now this is where you come in.  I have had many positive responses with people in bands that want to play for this cause but am still looking for more.   I am currently on the hunt for a venue to host a concert like this.  If anyone knows anybody that can assist with any of the above topics, please respond.  It would be a dream to have a major band that supports this play, but any local bands with followers is always appreciated.

VIctory Garden!!!

It has finally happened. We, as Americans, have gone from an agricultural country to an industrial country, and this is the revolution to go back to the roots of America. Recently, Michelle Obama and 25 5th/6th grade students began the Victory Garden at the White House. This symbol of change in America has created a wave of hope in the U.S. As Michelle Obama started the White House gardens, hopes have turned. Is a Food Revolution to be expected in the future? in store? As journalists have suggested, this might be what America needs. We have completely lost control of what we consume; all that anyone cares about anymore is making a buck. Maybe this recession has made people realize the more important things in
life, such as what we consume and the importance of family. The White House Garden has done more than just put a symbol of America back in place, but it also signifies that spring has officially arrived. For me this means the end of hearty winter squashes and the beggining of asparagus and ramps. Green Market, within the next few weeks, should be bustling with people looking to purchase the first of this season's crops. This is the perfect time to start educating lower income citizens about the importance of local and sustainable agriculture, and to get my own little fire-escape garden started. Prices will begin to fall as these products come into their prime and may even be affordable to people who wouldn't normally be able to afford them. So we should all go out, ask questions, look for these good deals at the farmers market, and possibly (if you can afford to) donate some of this fresh produce to your local organizations who help
poverty stricken people, so they have a chance to enjoy the abundance of mother nature. Wasn't this the American Dream? And remember through the words of William Morris "Art is long and life is short;let us at least do something before we die".

What an Inspiration!!

Yesterday, I actually had the opportunity to sit down and watch the recent 60 Minute interview with Alice Waters. She is an inspiration and revolutionary. What she has done in her life so far exceeds what most will do. She has even taken her concerns to the White House, proposing a White House garden where we can live in harmony with our food and Mother Nature. After watching her interview and reading Appetite for Change by Warren J. Belasco, I have decided to write an entry on how our food industry has flipped itself upside down in the last 40 years. Alice waters has summed up what I have been trying to tell people for the last year of my research on Local, Organic and Sustainable foods and what has inspired me to write this blog, get involved, and make a change. After spending a month in California on a food and wine seminar, and learning and seeing organic and sustainable farms, I have appreciated the changes Waters' is trying to convey; I even wrote a paper on why the government needs to intervene with definitions of sustainability. As Waters explains her philosophies and ideas she says "Good food should be a right, not a privilege." This takes me to the book Appetite for Change, where Warren J. Belasco researches how our food system began to change back in the late 50's and early 60's, with wide spread pesticide and insecticide use. At the time, these ideas were revolutionary. The argument was that our food was already "toxic" with disease, so why not spray "less toxic" chemicals on our plants to protect our well being and maybe even fight world hunger. Well, 40 years later, we have learned that the chemicals that we ingest in most of our food chain, especially in processed foods, are killing us. The rates of many chronic and life threatening diseases has risen exponentially, and the fact remains that world hunger still exists. My main concern is Hunger in America, though. Now organic foods are a commodity that is only accessible to the upper classes and middle class (if it actually still exists). The organic labels have been a marketing plan that only fortunate people can afford. This brings me back to Alice Waters' quote that good food should be a right and not a privilege. What boggles me is that this food, which has been eaten for hundreds of years without chemicals, has become such a marketing scheme that the lower class doesn't really have access to it. We need to do something about this: Good food is a right! Alice Waters has created programs in schools involving them in planting gardens and learning about the earth and soil and good food. I think education is essential to changing this process, especially in lower classes. We need to teach our children about how to shop and cook, so they can for their families. My goal is to go into schools and teach children about how they can be an active member in their family. I know many parents (both) work multiple jobs to just put food on the table but they need to know what they are putting in their childrens' stomachs so they can live long, healthy, and prosperous lives. We need to fix our system, that in such a short period of time have become riddled with such harmful "supposedly beneficial" measures. SO my next question is what are you doing about this? And if you can't really ask this question, would you like to do something and what? My goal is to educate, create restaurants that everyone can eat at in this nature, and bring the family back together. Also I think people need to learn to appreciate Mother Earth more than we do, which can be accomplished through education and opportunities to work with it. Lets make a difference and change, come together as one and work on this huge problem!!

New Ideas!

So just throwing out some ideas.  First idea I have been working on is the thought of a sustainable, local, and organic soup kitchen.  After reading about the health of people on a low-income budget, I feel it is our responsibility to give these people a healthy meal that is not only good for them, but for our environment too.  After finding out that low-income Americans are among the most obese and diabetic citizens, because the more nutrient and whole some foods are more money, I feel the need to feed (and educate) these people nutritious meals. I believe that we can educate these people on how to buy and prepare healthy and, perhaps, local meals on a budget.  By giving these people a chance to eat well balanced meals they will be more productive at work, happier, and won't get sick as much, reducing our costs in yearly medical bills.   This, to me, seems like a pretty simple process, but I'm sure that there are many bumps to encounter along the way.  The one issue I have with doing things like this are time.  While I have a drive to help people, I am among the working class, working up to 70 hours a week in a kitchen to support myself, so i also need your help.  I figure if we all put in a little bit of time and share our knowledge we can collectively help.   Please send me any information, ideas, or suggestions pertaining to doing something like this.  

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all of your immediate support. I do believe in power in numbers so spread the word and tell everyone to purpose new ideas and perspectives to further research. I am so excited that people are interested in the same cause, and as a young person this is flattering. I have created an email for this cause CFuscoFoodmovement@Gmail.com. Please e-mail me with any questions, concerns, ideas, information, articles or if you would like to support my cause in any other way.
I would like to talk to people who have already been part of these movements to see what steps need to be taken next. Thank you so much and keep spreading the word. We can make a difference.


Chris

Food Movenments from Cook: I'm pissed off!!

I will start off by introducing myself as a recent culinary school graduate and NYC cook. I currently work at a 3 star Manhattan restaurant, and while enjoying cooking there is something inside me that still feels unfilled. I am, for the first time, living in a low income bracket and would like to make a difference. After reading books such as Omnivore's Dilemma and The Revolution will not be Microwaved, I have been inspired to either start or become involved in a food revolution and food activism, primarily pertaining to poor and underprivileged people. I would like people to join this movement to make a difference with me. As I realize that choosing food, for the lower class, is not a choice but a necessity, I realize that the Organic and Sustainable foods aren't really accessible because of the price to these people. This, in my opinion, needs to be looked at and changed. As American citizens, it is our right to a choice, and that is not Monsanto or Cargill, but which local farm that our ingredients are grown from with the absense of pesticides and Genetic Modifications. If this is an interest or if you are already in a grassroots movement please inform me to get involved.