My Week on the GROW Method: Part 3!

By Zoe Johannas, Community Engagement Intern

In this thrilling conclusion to My Week on the GROW Method, I discuss how I achieved the last two GROW Method goals while fighting off laziness and cooking great food.

And this brings us to my third, but maybe not final, grocery store struggle. You see, It’s not that I can’t cook when I put my mind to it, but more that I tend to make only 3 things for lunch- 2 of which end in sandwich. While sandwiches are great and all, they do leave a lot to be desired in variety category. No matter how much I think I want to cook myself a well-rounded meal and use foreign items such as colanders, and spatulas, and stove tops, I inevitably wind up using nothing but a fork and a microwave. So to take on the GROW method I readily embraced the cook smart axiom. I felt more than ready to learn some minimum energy recipes that translated directly into speedy prep times. To round out my GROW Method, I less readily, but just as determinedly, I decided to cut down on my meat and animal product intake as well.

Though I eat very little meat besides my beloved cold cut sandwiches, this is really just because I don’t feel like cooking, not because I think about the necessity of saving water and resources. So even though I don’t eat much as is, I felt that I ought to do what I could to be conscious about my choices, while attempting to expand my puny recipe repertoire. Though for a while I feared that this would mean my ham and cheese sandwiches would simply morph into PB&J’s, I instead decided to actually use some of the Oxfam resources I spend my days promoting.

 If you have yet to visit Oxfam America’s Pinterest site, I cannot suggest it more. I credit this site for not only   luring me in with its mouth-watering recipes but inspiring me to hunt down some of my own! With a couple quick clicks I ended up finding some delicious, gluten free and foolproof recipes that allowed me to give the lunch meat a rest.

Though I’ll always have my ham and cheese sandwiches to fall back on, I found new recipes that are not   only giving me some much needed variety in my limited meal set, but also all take under fifteen minutes to prepare. Who knew cooking smart and being incredibly lazy could go together so well? Some favorite new dishes I stumbled across were avocado soup, kale chips, and burritos as a way to eat basically all leftovers. I managed to eat better, cook better, and make better choices at the grocery store all as a result of applying the sustainable GROW Method. 

Applying the GROW Method encourages me to pay more attention to the products I buy and use them to eat better. Every aspect that I thought would be a burden turned out to only help me make better choices. Though I did not have to sacrifice much, I did gain a new awareness of the importance of my choices and how easy it was for me to concentrate on everything but the specifics of my shopping. And while I will probably always wince at the thought of my weekly grocery adventures, I can now safely say that implementing the GROW Method will be the least of my struggles.

Now it's your turn! Tell us what you've done to make the GROW Method work for you! How are you spreading the word to your friends and families? Give us your stories, tips, ideas, and experiences! Send them to actioncorps@oxfamamerica.org and see them posted here!

From Washington, DC: Growing the GROW Campaign

by Nickolas Johnson, San Francisco Bay Action Corps Organizer and Economic Justice Intern for Oxfam America's Washington, DC office

With the 24-hour news cycles constantly discussing the debt ceiling and the nation’s budget woes, it is easy to tune out much of what is said from either side of the aisle. Regardless, I go out of my way to catch new developments and updates from the President, but even I was surprised by what he mentioned at one of his recent press conferences.  

“So I think there are ways that you can essentially take a little over a trillion dollars in serious discretionary cuts, meaningful discretionary cuts, and then start building on top of that some cuts in non-health care mandatory payments, ethanol programs...”

Not once had I heard the Administration suggest cutting ethanol programs prior to this conference. Looking back, it was a welcome surprise. 

Eliminating ethanol subsides is particularly important to me due to my activism in fighting global hunger. My activism has led me to the Oxfam Action Corps, which I have been a part of for just over a year. I joined as a volunteer and am now the co-leader of the San Francisco Bay Area Action Corps. 

Currently, I have been working with Oxfam America’s Policy and Campaigns team as the Economic Justice Intern in Washington, DC. As the Economic Justice Intern, I focus on Oxfam’s most recent and ambitious campaign: GROW. 

One of GROW’s campaign goals is for the government to make cuts to its ethanol programs. I joined the GROW team right before its launch and have witnessed the campaign come a long way since then. To have President Obama start mainstream political discourse on cutting ethanol programs is a huge achievement for GROW considering the campaign’s recency. 

This experience has showed me that Oxfam’s seeds of ideas can lead to substantive change with hard work and dedication. During my internship, I have been lucky enough to be exposed to and work on the beginning of a new and exciting venture. Seeing ideas take shape into concrete plans and actions, and seeing my fellow Action Corps members help launch the GROW campaign across the country has made me proud to be part of this effo rt.

It was during President Obama’s speech that I had seen the arc of idea to change. I have seen the seed of an idea grow through many of its incarnations to the brink of a full-fledged flower of change. Although we do not know the future of ethanol subsidies, the message to cut the programs has been sent. It is this experience that has deepened my belief in Oxfam and has sparked an even bigger excitement  to further and build a bigger and stronger Bay Area Action Corps.

Nickolas Johnson with Oxfam staff at the GROW launch on Capital Hill

GROW campaign successfully launches!

On June 1st, Oxfam America's GROW campaign officially launched. At the Boston headquarters, I saw a flutter of activity as we got together our GROW materials, brochures and information to be shipped nationwide in order to support our Action Corps volunteer's. However, if I thought I was busy packaging and sending the materials, it was only until I saw how much effort and work the volunteer's put into using them at their launch events! Over the last couple weeks, I've gotten the opportunity to see the pictures and hear the stories of how the Table For 9 Billion launch event went in over a dozen cities.

If you haven't had a chance to read up on the GROW campaign, it takes on the core challenge of fixing a broken food system and centers around the idea that every person deserves enough to eat. In a world that will host 9 billion people by 2050, we must create a new food system in order to feed them all. Even though our world produces enough food for everyone, one person in every seven will still go hungry. Oxfam America believes that hunger is about power, and with awareness and advocacy of Oxfam supporters, we can work towards a world where everyone has the power to feed themselves. 

Around the nation, and the world, supporters of the GROW campaign set a Table for 9 billion at farmers markets, community events and town centers to highlight the new campaign and to ask for support from their community. Below we have chosen a few city blog posts which explain how their events went and their experiences with the Table for 9 billion.

If you would like to read more about the city specific events, look to the left side bar for links to all of the Oxfam Action Corps city blogs.

New York GROW Launch Event

Launch of Oxfam America's GROW Campaign!

Yesterday we launched Oxfam America's new GROW campaign! Oxfam’s GROW campaign aims to build a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population (estimated to reach nine billion by 2050) and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive.

Events took place around the world to launch the new campaign. In NYC we set up a Table for 9 Billion in Union Square. From 11:30 - 8:30 PM a number of people stopped by the table to learn about the new campaign and show their support. The Oxfam Action Corps NYC collected over 200 signatures! If you were unable to swing by our table yesterday, you can still show your support and sign online.

You can also learn more by reading the campaign report, brochure, or watch a recording of a DC panel of experts talking about the launch of the campaign.

The campaign was also actively posted online. Other #Tablefor9bn took place worldwide. View our pictures from the day and read our Twitter and Facebook posts.

Minneapolis GROW Launch event

GROW: Food Justice Campaign Launches in Minneapolis

Oxfam Action Corps-Minnesota volunteers staged a fine dinning scene at the Midtown Farmers' Market on Saturday, June 4th. The formal attire, elegant candelabras, and free GROW buttons lured market-goers to the Oxfam table set for nine billion (the estimated human population in 2050). Volunteers took the chance to introduce Oxfam's newest food justice campaign, GROW, to the Minnesota public and garner their support by signing the pledge to help create a world where no one goes hungry.

What is GROW all about? Well, the human population is growing, and with it so is the demand for food. Current power structures prevent one in every seven people from accessing food (i.e., there are 1 billion people on Earth today who go to bed hungry). Armed with the knowledge that our planet produces more than enough food to feed every one of its inhabitants, Oxfam will use GROW to fight for a world free of hunger by targeting five specific areas:

• Invest in small-scale food producers
• End excessive speculation in agricultural commodities
• Modernize food aid
• Stop giveaways to the corn-ethanol industry, and 
• Regulate land and water grabs

By tackling these issues Oxfam will help to build a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive. Their strategy will be to urge governments and companies to make smarter investment in agriculture and climate preparedness, and create policies and program that protect farmers living in poor and marginalized communities around the world. 

You can learn more about the GROW campaign by visiting this link. 

Fight for food justice. Take action now by signing the petition here

Albuquerque GROW Launch event

Table for 9 Billion Launch Event

NM Oxfam Action Corps were out spreading the word about the GROW Campaign last weekend in Nob Hill. We set up a table with information and GROW goodies in front of the La Montanita Co Op. We met some wonderful local ABQ folks who were committed to sustainability, organic agriculture, and food security. Lively conversations about ending hunger, population numbers, and NM activism paired with the amazing early June sun left us feeling energized and productive.

Thanks to La Montanita for giving us table space next to their organic herbs and seedlings, which totally fits with the new GROW Campaign.

A big thank you to everyone who came out and supported the event and the GROW Campaign! More local ABQ and Santa Fe events to come later this summer. Let us know if there's somewhere nearby you think we should show up!