Food Systems Network NYC is a membership based organization designed to foster communication and cultivate community amongst various stake holders and professionals working across the food system. Members gather monthly for Open Networking meetings to encourage collaboration; share information; discuss public policy; and promote opportunities for individuals to partner on specific projects. We are pleased to launch our website to better fulfill our mission and to provide tools for our members to share resources and grow stronger. Please enjoy looking through what our site has to offer, and if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to get in touch!

Please join us on Friday, February 12th, for a focus on the community food system  in Bed-Stuy from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm at St. John's Bread and Life, 795 Lexington Ave., Brooklyn.  We will begin with a tour led by Yemi Oyename, Director of Food Services for St. John's, followed at 1pm by a panel discussion on the multiple strategies, organizations, and individuals in Bed-Stuy working on local issues and programs.   The panel will include Yonette Fleming, Vice President of the Hattie Carthan Garden; Melissa Danielle, Bed-Stuy Farm Share; and Sabrina Baronberg, Deputy Director, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Where?: St. John's Bread and Life, 795 Lexington Ave., Brooklyn, NY

When?: 12:30-2:00, Friday, February 12th

Lynn Fredericks of Family Cook Productions interviewed Nancy Romer, the General Coordinator of the Brooklyn Food Coalition, on behalf of FSNYC.

LF: How do you see the BFC working in collaboration as part of the greater overall and healthy and sustainable food systems movement in NYC?

NR: Well, I want to start off by saying that the BFC stands on the shoulders of all the really important work that FSNYC partners and others have done over the years. We wouldn't be here without the research, education, organization and advocacy that came before we started organizing.

The BFC's structure lends itself particularly well to connecting grassroots activists with the existing food justice movement, and enlarging it. Our structure is like a hub with spokes -- each spoke heads into a different Brooklyn neighborhood (currently, there are twelve "spokes" for the 12 neighborhoods we are working in). Because each neighborhood spoke has a lot of autonomy, each neighborhood organization decides whom and how to partner with folks working on our issues. So those could be community organizations, businesses, community gardens, schools, houses of worship as well as, of course, food justice organizations. The hub part of the structure allows people to know what their fellow activists in other neighborhoods are doing, share ideas and best practices, and work borough-wide. We see ourselves as bringing people, most already active in improving their communities, together to see that we're all in the same movement. We also are a space for new activists looking for an organization that they have an effect in, that they can influence its direction.

by Ed Yowell, Slow Food NYC

On January 11, 2010, at the International Culinary Center (ICC) on Broadway in SoHo, an historic conference on the state of wheat in our New York foodshed was sponsored by The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), The Northeast Organic Wheat Project, and Greenmarket.  Farmers, millers, bakers, and distillers got together to talk about the state of New York wheat production, with a view to starting a New York State wheat Renaissance.  Once New York State was a major wheat producer; however, according to the USDA, in 2009, 2.22 billion bushels of wheat were produced in the United States.  Of that, about 6.83 million bushels were produced in New York State, making it 32nd in American wheat production, according to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. 

by Lexi Van de Walle, Lighthearted Locavore

Food policy cuts across a multitude of diverse city, state and federal government agencies that often have specific food related goals but, by virtue of each agency’s mission, often lacks a collaborative food systems approach to agriculture, and food-related economic, infrastructure, environmental and health issues.

In 2007, by gubernatorial executive order, New York joined several other state governments in establishing a Council on Food Policy (NYS CFP) that brings together state agencies and a group of high-level non-governmental stakeholders to collaborate on important food issues and make policy recommendations.

Several weeks ago, the NYS CFP, which is comprised of seven state agency heads and 14 public and non-profit sector representatives, presented its third annual progress report and recommendations to Governor David Patterson “Making Connections: Developing a Food System for a Healthier New York State”. The 2009 report outlines the strategic framework established in 2007 for the NYS CFP which is to preserve and enhance agriculture, food and production and ensure access to safe, affordable, fresh and nutritious food.  

The recommendations to the governor summarize the work of the NYS CFP and formal and informal input received from organizations and citizens in the City, including several Food Systems NYC Network members who testified at listening sessions, Upstate and on Long Island across four strategic issue areas:  
•    greater participation in food and nutrition programs
•    strengthening the connection between food producers and consumers
•    improving the food production and retail infrastructures
•    improving consumer access to safe and nutritious foods

 Posted by Kristin

Back in October, around fifty representatives from the New York City area attended the Second Annual Growing Food and Justice Gathering in Milwaukee. On the first night of the conference, author and food activist Bryant Terry hosted a Grub dinner, meant to promote conversation on food justice topics over healthy, mostly local food.  Now East New York Farms! has brought the concept back to Brooklyn, and is hosting its own version of a Grub potluck to promote conversations and relationships.

The potluck, which is also BYOU (Bring Your Own Utensils, Plate and Cup), will be held at the United Community Centers, also the home of East New York Farms! (613 New Lots Ave).  The event is co-sponsored by Jin's Journey, Food Security Roundtable, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and the Brooklyn Food Coalition.  Any and all urban farmers, gardeners, cooks, chefs, food activists, food bloggers and foodies of Brooklyn are invited to meet fellow food enthusiasts, build new relationships and learn about the food related initiatives taking place in Brooklyn.

The food will center around local and seasonal dishes brought by the guests.  Organizers are hoping to compile recipes from contributed food, so if you are interested in attending, write your recipe on an index card and bring it along.

Where?

Take 3 train to Van Siclen Avenue

You can RSVP here with the dish you would like to contribute:  https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGg1QXRjTDVrd05pbjJTYmJ...

Welcome to the food systems video collection! Each month, this space will feature a new local food system video submitted by FSNYC members and friends to be shared and enjoyed as an educational resource and inspiration for our collective work within our NYC region.  Some of the best stories of local food and farm efforts are difficult to convey using words alone. With the plethora of video currently being produced about food, we became excited to provide a video showcase for some of the amazing behind the scenes work within our region. This monthly feature will present innovative programs, producers, school and community gardens, other urban farming efforts -- the sky's the limit. So enjoy our feature, and spread the word!

BK Farmyards is a new urban farming network in Brooklyn. Our mission is to increase access to healthy affordable food to Brooklyn residents through increasing urban food production and providing jobs for urban farmers. We started last year by turning backyards into farmyards, offering the first CSA with all produce grown in Brooklyn. We are building on last year’s success with new sites, more farmers and more CSAs. We are working with the High School for Public Service to create a new Youth Farm.  We will be turning the school’s one acre lawn into a thriving, productive and educational farm. The Farm will provide fresh affordable food for the community through a CSA, while providing educational and employment opportunities for the students.

Urban farms across the country have been offering a glimpse of what is possible, but we want to push farther. We believe that cities have the capacity to grow more food and employ more people in agriculture. There are currently over 10,000 acres of vacant land in NYC, 1,500 in Brooklyn alone. If just 10 percent of the backyards in NYC were farmed we could grow enough food for 700,000 people. There is high demand for local and healthy food, all 26 Brooklyn CSAs have waiting lists, and farmers markets are becoming more and more popular. Additionally we have an abundance of people who are skilled and talented in growing food, and even more who are interested in learning how.