Local Food Columbus » Food Pantries, Meetings & Events » Giving Garden Gala at Cafe Bella
Giving Garden Gala at Cafe Bella
Giving Garden Gala Fundraiser to Build a Greenhouse & Provide Healthy Food to Low-Income Families/Sat. Feb. 28 from 2-10 p.m.
Do you like helping local causes? Want to be involved in bringing healthy, nutritious food to local families in need? Here is a worthy fundraiser! The greenhouse is intended to provide produce and plant starts to give to the local SDA CHOICE food pantry on 80 S. 18th St. The project seeks to get fresh produce into the hands of low-income poeple, and also to teach them how to grow and prepare simple nutritious food on their own. Please consider volunteering at the Giving Garden Gala at Café Bella, 2593 N. High Street. Volunteers can expect to work for two hour shifts from 2-10pm (later for clean-up crew) coordinating admissions, (wo)maning the silent auction and raffle, educating guests at the information booth, or helping with general maintenance and clean-up. Volunteers will be asked (but not expected to pay general admission / just like everyone else involved), but will receive a small entrée as a ‘thank you’ for helping. If anyone wants to
volunteer for two shifts, s/he will also receive a ‘free meal voucher’ from Café Bella, to be redeemed at a later date. If you’re interested in joining the ranks, please contact us at givinggardencolumbus@gmail.com and let us know your name, phone number, email address, and the times you’d like to work. Feel free to specify a station, and we will try to accommodate. For more information, check out our Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47370633098> and MySpace <www.myspace.com/cafebellacolumbus> pages. Thanks!
Filed under: Food Pantries, Meetings & Events · Tags: Cafe Bella, High Street
The Giving Gala was a wild success. Lot’s of people, lots of home cooked food that was great and lots of support to flow into a greenhouse proposal that could really blossom for those receiving aid from the host food pantry.
FYI: I thought I’d take a moment to review the possibilities. A small greenhouse of say 12 X 20 could hold about 120 flats of starts. At a nursery the going price for a 48 cell or 24 (with larger vine species) is $15.00. This is a market value of $1800. A plant business would need to deduct seeds, potting medium and heat (if they are a year round business) plus labor. The gardener who starts in March or April would invest about $200 to do this in a back yard with good sun. The yields are predictable for an experienced gardener. A possible break down could be the following.
20 flats tomatoes = 480 plants which can produce up to 10 lb a season = 4800 lb
20 flats of peppers/cucumbers/Zucchini etc. Pretty much the same thing. I hope you’re getting my drift. I don’t want to do the math. Think how this could translate if every person recieving public aid planted 10 plants at home or in neighborhood community gardens. That’s pretty much what were paying the food industry in California and Fl to do for us using migrant workers. Currently the Coalition of Immokalee would like to be paid more then 32 cents a pound to pick them for us. They could strike and start boycotts of Yum foods (Chipotles, Wendy’s, Burger King et. al) It’s your choice who you want to support. Make wise informed decisions when it comes to buying food this year.
Here’s the next meeting of note. I would love to see county commissioners and city councilmen here and consider implementing training like this in the inner city. Perhaps a position at the Dept of Health could over see this as a way to bring back Main Street with green jobs!
Friday Night Film: The Global Gardener with Bill Mollison
Fri. March 27, 7:00 pm
Simply Living office, 2929 N. High St.
Permaculture founder Bill Mollison shows ways people are healing the land,
growing edibles and creating a more resilient world. An introduction to
permaculture through the lens of one of the world’s most innovative
thinkers. A helpful intro for those considering taking the weekend
permaculture workshop later in April or those just wanting to know more
about permaculture. Bring snacks to share, and donations are welcome.
Cool. So you have greenhouses that start these flats to give to people.
How do you reach out to them? Maybe through neighborhood churches and schools? You have some sort of free orientation to show them how to tend the plants and to give them the flats. This would have to be at their church or school some other neighborhood location. You also have to develop some workshops, classes to show them how to cook with these foods. Maybe this could be at a local library meeting room? Much of the traditional cooking skills have been lost with our fast/convenience food generation.
Sounds good. Will you be writing a grant for this or applying for funding from an existing organization?
Hope to do all of the above. 4 Seasons City Farm is planning to do all this, in this, their 5th year. The Bella Cafe project is actually a totally separate happening that mirrors my own views and research on the subject. It’s the creation of Vince the restaurant’s owner. I hope to work with this one as I set up my own. I have the one kit still not placed and would share the purchase of plastic and seed costs to get some more started. I have worked up an info packet that would guide one to do it themselves. kareng