This is great -- Does anyone know if anyone is working on something similar in San Diego?


--- On Sun, 1/18/09, Kate & Tom <[address removed]> wrote:

> From: Kate & Tom <[address removed]>
> Subject: Re: [newurbanism-101] New Meetup: San Diego Backyard Fruit meetup
> To: [address removed]
> Date: Sunday, January 18, 2009, 12:08 PM

> One more - fyi:
>
> http://www.fallenfruit.org/whatisfallenfruit.html
>
> *Fallen Fruit: Public Fruit Jam this Sunday *
> August 1st, 2008 by Kristin A. Smith
>
> What do you get when you mix L.A. sunshine, a collection of
> artists and an
> obscure state law? The Fallen Fruit project.
>
> A few years ago, artist/activist and CalArts professor
> Matias Viegener
> stumbled across a California law stating that any fruit
> that grows on or
> over public land is community property, even if the trunk
> is rooted in a
> private yard. In LA, that means both bounty and variety of
> fruit.
>
> Viegener joined forces with CalArts colleagues and
> collaborators David Burns
> and Austin Young, and the trio set out to find trees that
> spread their
> branches over sidewalks, streets and parking lots. They
> looked for hidden
> fig trees in city parks and gnarled grape vines on fences.
> They found plum
> trees in abandoned lots and olive trees by highways.
>
> Armed with sharpies and recycled paper, they set out to map
> the public fruit
> of their city and thus the Fallen Fruit project was born.
> The group set
> about trying to feed those most in need by distributing the
> maps to
> residents and posting them around the neighborhood. A
> passage from Leviticus
> 19 was their guide: When you reap the harvest of your land,
> you shall not
> reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the
> gleanings of your
> harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather
> the fallen fruit
> of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the
> stranger.
>
> Their website offers a series of LA-based fruit maps and
> suggestions on
> creating one for your own neighborhood. The eventual goal
> is to produce a
> global atlas of public fruit maps.
>
> But the group doesn't rely just on the city's
> existing fruit for the
> project. As a part of their mission, Fallen Fruit
> encourages homeowners to
> plant fruit trees on the perimeter of their property and
> advocates for the
> city to plant more fruit trees in public spaces.
>
> Fallen Fruit also organizes community events to let their
> neighbors get a
> taste of the wild urban bounty. In the early days, they
> rallied friends for
> midnight fruit forages through the concrete jungle, and
> they now host
> daytime events, as well, such as the Public Fruit Jam,
> which will be held
> for the third consecutive year this Sunday, August 3rd.
>
> The Public Fruit Jam invites LA residents to come together
> and make jam with
> fruit harvested and collected from their own yards.
>
> The kinds of jam we make will improvise on the fruit that
> the participants
> provide. The fruit can be fresh or frozen. Fallen Fruit
> will bring public
> fruit. We are looking for radical and experimental jams as
> well, like basil
> guava or lemon pepper jelly. We'll discuss the basics
> of jam and jelly
> making, pectin and bindings, the aesthetics of sweetness,
> as well as the
> communal power of shared food and the liberation of public
> fruit.
>
> If you are in LA or would like to make a trip there this
> weekend, you'll
> find Fallen Fruit jammers at The Machine Project in Echo
> Park, 1200 Alvarado
> Street, from noon to 3pm. And just one month from now, be
> sure to get
> another jam fix at Slow Food Nation's Honey and
> Preserves Pavilion.
>
> Kristin A. Smith is a freelance writer and educator in San
> Francisco. It was
> at the Seattle farmer's market, where she worked for
> years, that she
> cultivated her love of organic food.
>
>
> Kate McDevitt
>
> Assistant Director, United Through Reading -
> www.unitedthroughreading.org
>
> Slow Food Urban San Diego
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Kate & Tom
> <[address removed]> wrote:
>
> >  FYI-
> >
> >  Article:Oakland's fruit doesn't fall far from
> the
> > tree:/c/a/2008/08/29/HO1J124S37.DTL
> > Article:Oakland's fruit doesn't fall far from
> the
> > tree:/c/a/2008/08/29/HO1J124S37.DTL
> >
> >

> <http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=158imhrsn/M=600016730.600020501.400149188.400149188/D=ncon/S=2022776206:LREC/Y=PARTNER_US/EXP=1232316114/L=da8f5c0c-e59a-11dd-a255-3f777572b212/B=GQktAGKID0g-/J=1232308914561088/A=1718627676380974414/R=0/X=2/SIG=11qnmgg4e/*http://www.cel.sfsu.edu/sp09infosessions/index.cfm?fm=67>
> >  [image: SFGate] <http://www.sfgate.com/> Back
> to
> Article<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL>
> > [image: SFGate]

> > Oakland's fruit doesn't fall far from the tree
> >
> > Matthew E. Green, Special to The Chronicle
> >
> > Saturday, August 30, 2008

> >  [image: Anne Louise Burdett, Director of Urban Youth
> Harvest,
> lea...]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL&o=0&type=printable>
> [image:
> > Juan Carlos Morales climbs up a large tree in Oakland
> to
> ...]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL&o=1&type=printable>
> [image:
> > Max Feld hands over a full bag of pears to
> PUEBLO's
> Morales.]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL&o=2&type=printable>
> [image:
> > Six-year-olds Luis Lopez (left) and Brian Altheimer
> from
> ...]<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL&o=3&type=printable>
> >
> More...<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL&o=4&type=printable>

> >
> > In the backyard of a house in Oakland's Rockridge
> neighborhood, seven high
> > school kids balance themselves carefully in the boughs
> of a robust apple
> > tree, throwing down ripe fruit to a small ground
> squad.
> >
> > Once the tree is stripped, the crew weighs the bags
> and announces the haul:
> > 63 pounds. It's the third and final yard visit of
> the day, and the group has
> > already gathered more than 150 pounds of ripe apples,
> oranges and lemons.
> >
> > In this part of Urban Youth Harvest, a program of the
> nonprofit People
> > United for a Better Life in Oakland (PUEBLO),
> teenagers and young adults
> > from neighborhoods in East and West Oakland are hired
> for the summer to
> > glean fruit from backyard trees, largely in the
> Dimond, Laurel and Fruitvale
> > neighborhoods, if residents don't have the
> inclination to do so themselves.
> >
> > The harvest is donated to low-income senior centers in
> the neighborhoods in
> > which the youths live. It also goes to local youth and
> community programs,
> > which sell it at below supermarket cost to residents
> who often lack access
> > to fresh produce.
> >
> > In July alone, more than 600 pounds of fruit was
> gleaned from Oakland yards.
> > Harvests have included grapefruit, limes, apricots,
> plums, peaches, figs,
> > walnuts, pomegranates and blackberries. Perhaps most
> striking is that most
> > of the fruit grows year after year with little or no
> human assistance - and
> > about 99 percent of it is never treated with
> pesticides.
> >
> > This year the program hired four youths to pick
> throughout the summer. On
> > the July day that a reporter tagged along, the crew
> included members of the
> > West Oakland urban agriculture nonprofit People's
> Grocery, who help out
> > every few weeks.
> >
> > "As long as I don't have to touch spiders,
> I'm cool," says Jennifer Copto,
> > 15, who lives in East Oakland. "I didn't
> really know that people were
> > growing fruits in Oakland. There are all kinds."
> > Practice increases
> >
> > Gleaning, the age-old practice of collecting harvest
> leftovers, has been
> > adopted by a number of food banks in California and
> other states feeling the
> > pinch of decreasing donations and growing numbers of
> hungry people. The
> > Alameda County Community Food Bank provides roughly
> 250,000 pounds of food
> > to its 300-member agencies throughout the county. It
> feeds 40,000 people a
> > week and estimates that food requests are up at least
> 30 percent from last
> > year.
> >
> > Over the past two years, the food bank has started
> accepting more donations
> > of fresh local produce, and this year it will
> distribute roughly seven times
> > the amount it did in 2005, according to its executive
> director, Suzan
> > Bateson.
> >
> > Anne Burdett, 24, who coordinates the harvesting
> program, has spent the
> > summer guiding her crew throughout Oakland while
> fielding calls from
> > homeowners with more fruit than they know what to do
> with.
> >
> > This year, the operation joined Cycles of Change, a
> local youth bicycle
> > program, and the young harvesters frequently made
> their rounds on two wheels
> > with attached cargo wagons.
> >
> > "I had no idea how much fruit there was and how
> much you can get done with
> > just four or eight kids," Burdett said. "My
> perspective on food has changed.
> > I didn't realize that one tree could yield 200
> pounds of fruit. It gives me
> > a new sense of 'local.' "
> >
> > Burdett says the biggest challenge can be locating
> donors, which is mostly
> > done through neighborhood flyers, community events and
> word of mouth. She
> > hopes there will be enough demand and funding to
> continue the project
> > throughout the year as an after-school job
> opportunity.
> >
> > In collaboration with other Oakland nonprofits,
> Burdett's small team is
> > surveying residents throughout the city on issues
> related to healthy food
> > access while also working to create a database of
> houses that have fruit
> > trees.
> >
> > The grant-funded project also has plans to collaborate
> with UC Berkeley
> > students to map out where available produce is located
> and how much surplus
> > is available each year. A similar undertaking was
> recently completed in Los
> > Angeles by a group of artists; their maps to publicly
> accessible fruit trees
> > in the city are available at FallenFruit.org.
> > From nuisance to nutrition
> >
> > The map project, which started last year, is the
> brainchild of PUEBLO
> > Executive Director Rashidah Grinage. Every summer her
> tree-filled backyard
> > in East Oakland was producing and dropping far more
> fruit than she could
> > handle, even after she made countless pies, jams and
> chutneys.
> >
> > "It's a great service," says Burdett,
> sampling a just-picked apple. "When
> > you've got hundreds of pounds of fruit falling, it
> makes a big mess. People
> > call us desperate. ... Residents can't possibly
> use a lot of it."
> >
> > Fallen fruit quickly rots, can produce foul smells and
> attracts insect and
> > animal pests. Some cities have ordinances identifying
> neglected fruit trees
> > that reach over fences onto the street as a public
> nuisance.
> >
> > Grey Kolevzon, co-director of Cycles of Change, was
> pleasantly surprised by
> > the bounty of the project's summer harvest.
> >
> > "I'm floored," Kolevzon says. "It
> makes you think on a citywide scale. ...
> > What can be done in the long-term future to satisfy
> the needs of Oakland
> > (residents)?"
> >
> > One of the People's Grocery harvesters, a
> 17-year-old Oakland resident who
> > goes by the name Virtuous, says this summer's
> fruit-picking experience has
> > altered his edible outlook.
> >
> > "That's what I'm going to tell my kids
> one day," he says, motioning to the
> > bag of apples. "'You hungry? Go pick a piece
> of fruit from the tree.'"
> >
> >  To see a video of Urban Youth Harvest in action, go
> to *
> > sfgate.com/homeandgarden.*
> >
> > **
> > Local harvests
> >
> > The success of a harvesting collective on the
> Peninsula is a good sign for
> > Urban Youth Harvest. Founded in 2001 by a Silicon
> Valley businesswoman,
> > Village Harvest has more than 200 volunteers who pick
> 80,000 pounds of fruit
> > each year from the backyards of residents, many of
> them elderly, in Santa
> > Clara and San Mateo counties. Most is donated to soup
> kitchens.
> >
> > Another local endeavor, called Forage Oakland: Forage
> San Francisco, is a
> > blog-based bartering project in which residents
> exchange backyard produce,
> > posting what's available on the Web.
> >
> > *- M.G. *
> >
> > **
> >
> > E-mail Matthew E. Green at [address removed].
> >
> >
> http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/30/HO1J124S37.DTL
> >
> > This article appeared on page *F - 1* of the San
> Francisco Chronicle
> >    San Francisco Chronicle Sections

> >  (c) 2008 Hearst Communications
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> >   [image: Quantcast]
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> >
> >
> > Kate McDevitt
> >
> > Assistant Director, United Through Reading -
> www.unitedthroughreading.org
> >
> > Slow Food Urban San Diego, Membership & Outreach
> Chair
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 11:57 AM, Jenean
> <[address removed]> wrote:
> >
> >> Announcing a new Meetup for The San Diego
> Sustainable Development Meetup
> >> Group!
> >>
> >> What: San Diego Backyard Fruit meetup
> >>
> >> When: January 24, 2009 10:00 AM
> >>
> >> Where: Click the link below to find out!
> >>
> >> Meetup Description: Hi Everyone,
> >>
> >> A member of our group, Bill, has started the
> "San Diego Backyard Fruit
> >> Meetup" The first meeting is on Jan 24th at
> 10am in Old Town.
> >>
> >> Discuss fruit tree cultivation in San Diego
> county.
> >>
> >> Suggested topics: fertilizers, selecting
> varieties, soil types, organic
> >> growing, watering systems, exotics, harvesting,
> grafting, pollination,
> >> managing pests, and whatever else group members
> would like to discuss.
> >>
> >> All invited for casual social gathering. Discuss
> plans for outings, any
> >> special topics of interest, and just network with
> fellow fruit growers.
> >>
> >> Please check out Bill's site for more info.
> and to sign up for this group.
> >> http://www.meetup.com/San-Diego-Backyard-Fruit.
> >>
> >> Learn more here:
> >>
> http://newurbanism.meetup.com/101/calendar/9550310/
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
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> >> This message was sent by Jenean
> ([address removed]) from The San
> >> Diego Sustainable Development Meetup

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> >>
> >>  Meetup Support: [address removed]
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
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> > This message was sent by Kate & Tom
> ([address removed]) from The San
> > Diego Sustainable Development Meetup

> Group<http://newurbanism.meetup.com/101/>

> > .
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> >



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