It's been hot. Extremely hot. The CSG garden coordinators & food justice interns have experienced it the school gardens, and the UAC farm team has felt it at 6th Street and the new CATEC location. FJN advocates & residents who live in public and subsidized housing know all too well that the heat of summer, which is increasing at an alarming rate due to climate change, brings with it the dangerous heat island effect.

As much as our team plans to take advantage of the cooler temperatures of early morning and late evening for garden work, people who live in neighborhoods without green space and tree canopy are not able to escape increased energy consumption, elevated emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, compromised human health & comfort, and impaired water quality.

Cville Plans Together is leading the work around the new Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan and has highlighted equity as the most important requirement for this process. Earth and climate justice are food justice; RESTORE EARTH AND CLIMATE JUSTICE is one planks of our Food Equity Initiative Policy Platform and calls for significant investment in affordable housing that is paired with green space for urban agriculture, affordable markets, and equitable transportation routes.

It's hot, hot, hot—and some residents of our city are feeling it more than others.

Food justice interns from left to right: Kay-C, Rohan, Keyshanna, Rosy, Hallie, Seth, Homa, Demetrius, Mohammad

Summer Cool Down by Jordan Johnson

The summer heat is still in full force, but here at Cultivate our summer programming is starting to cool down. We were so excited to have had an intensive 6-weeks of programming with the Food Justice Internship and garden programming with Parks and Recreation at three of the elementary schools—all filled to the brim with exploration, curiosity, discovery, and leadership. We are thrilled to have had such robust programming again to enjoy the bounty of the what summer garden spaces can offer us! With the summer programming ending this week and gardens in full bloom across the district, we are already gearing up for the start of school year to ensure students can continue to enjoy the gardens into the fall as they re-enter the classroom. 

Keep an eye out for blog posts with updates on the garden activities and exploration from Parks and Recreation camps and updates on the Food Justice Internship program 6-week sessions on Food Justice and student-led Healthy School Meals work.

July Jekyll and Hyde by Richard Morris

July is the month of two faces. One face is all smiles as July is the height of the season where produce is abundant. The other face is a grimace, reflecting the challenge of working in Virginia’s hot humid weather. 

UAC farmers, Jenifer, Michael, and Richard hosted six Community Market days in July, which included a popup market on a Saturday in the Riverside neighborhood. Alfred Shirley, Cultivates’ new CSG Youth Leadership & Food Justice Coordinator, joined the UAC staff for Market Day, as did Bria Williams, Cultivates’ new FJN Program Director. They were a welcome addition to the Friday market where fresh produce is available to Charlottesville residents at no cost.

At the new UAC garden at CATEC, most of the 10,000 square foot garden has been put under plastic to solarize the Bermuda grass beneath the newly tilled topsoil. In the remaining space, the Piedmont Master Gardeners planted buckwheat on a 25’x40’ plot and applied heavy mulch to a second 25’x40’ plot. Besides the buckwheat, the only thing growing in the new garden, so far, is soil that will support next year’s crops. 

Cultivates’ youth food justice interns spent one day each week during their summer session at the UAC Farm plot at the corner of 6th Street and Monticello Avenue. Along with weeding and harvesting, they hung a new mural at the back of the garden. The mural is a striking image of father and son farmers in front of a bucolic background of furrowed rows and a red barn. “Land is Liberation,” is written on a banner for all to see. Drop by the garden and check it out for yourself. 

Land is Liberation mural at the 6th Street garden

 Systems Change Work Continues by Gabby Levet and Jeanette Abi-Nader

As we wrapped up the Food Justice Network Large Group Gathering on Wednesday, our team is invigorated by the introduction and addition of our new, passionate and highly skilled food justice movement leaders, Bria Williams and Alfred Shirley to the Cultivate Charlottesville team. We are eager to continue the long-term systems change efforts necessary for cultivating food equity in Charlottesville. Together we looked specifically at the integrating food equity language into the City Comprehensive Plan and learning more about the City’s commitment to racial equity. 

Although the recent written public comment period for the Comprehensive Plan through Cville Plans Together ended on June 13th, you can still ENGAGE and sign on to SUPPORT these efforts:

• Check out our Comprehensive Plan Take Action Toolkit for the specific recommendations and ideas on how to engage. 
• Sign on to the Call for Action in support of the Food Equity Initiative Policy Platform
• Speak at the next Cville Plans Together meeting to let council know you care about food equity in the comprehensive plan

Together we can move Charlottesville from a foodie city to a food-E(quity) place to call home!

For more information or to join Food Justice Network full team meetings, contact Alfred Shirley at alfred@cultivatecharlottesville.org

Here are a few of the titles we are reading and watching:

How Black Foragers Find Freedom in the Natural World, Cynthia Greenlee, The New York Times

Racism in School Food—And What We Can Do About It, FoodCorps

On Pine Ridge Reservation, a Garden Helps Replace an 80-mile Grocery Trip, Nadra Nittle, Civil Eats

From all of us at Cultivate Charlottesville—a hearty thank you to the many new supporters that have pitched in to keep our work going to build food equity during COVID-19 and beyond.

At Cultivate Charlottesville we believe that working together to grow gardens, share food and power, and advocate for just systems cultivates a healthy community for all.