Community dinner creates lasting impressions

The New Mexico Action Corps partnered with several local farmers to use their left overs to host a community dinner in honor of World Food Day.  Joined by Oxfam constituents partner organizations and local food enthusiasts, this GROW friendly event brought people together over principles such as reducing waste, eating less meat, and cooking smart.  For more photos and information about the New Mexico Action Corps click here.

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By Jasmine McBeath

 

The time to vote has come and gone, right? Not true, according to Foodology star Greg Gould, who claims we vote three times a day, probably more. That’s because you’re making an economic, political, and social justice choice every time you raise a fork to your mouth. 

For instance, if Americans in urban areas bought two fair trade chocolate bars a month, it could benefit 30,000 small-scale farmers. Or, if we were to join families in the Philippines, India, Brazil, Spain, and the UK in cooking more efficiently, the benefit would be the same as planting 540 million trees and letting them grow for 10 years. 

My favorite part about this worldwide GROW movement is that it’s not overwhelming. The idea is to think global, act local. It’s not hard to save food, cook smart, or eat a little less meat. It’s also reasonable to expect us to eat seasonally and support small-scale farmers.

Oxfam’s been talking a lot about the GROW Method this fall, so we decided to practice what we preach in a big way. Two weekends ago, we celebrated our first World Food Day Community Dinner. We partnered with six different nonprofits, received donations from a dozen farms, and put twenty volunteers to work in shifts from 10am to 10pm. Everyone came away saying how wonderful the food tasted and with a greater understanding of how eating locally can make a global impact. 

I was lucky enough to see it through from beginning to end. The day started with picking up produce at the Downtown Growers Market. Our community chef Kathy met me there and we visited each booth from 11am-1pm requesting leftovers. The farmers were incredibly generous and helpful, offering what they didn’t think other growers would have and making sure we came out with what we needed to pull off the meal. We left with watermelons wedged below the seats, baguettes leaned against the doors, and greens draped across the seats. Boxes of cauliflower, squash, and tomatoes called shotgun, paper bags full of potatoes and apples filled the truck, and mini pumpkins spilled out the back.

I have to admit it was a little overwhelming when we laid all the food out on the counter in the church. Then something magical happened. Our community chef Kathy transformed into a contestant on one of those cooking show competitions. Challenge: make food for 100 people using the ingredients in the kitchen with only 6 helpers in under 5 hours. But unlike the people on those shows, everyone seemed to maintain their composition. Every time I glanced over, I saw people hard at work, but smiling.

And then, suddenly, it was dinnertime. Volunteers set out frothy watermelon juice in a glass punch bowl next to pitchers of sun tea. The produce from the counter (plus the donation from the Co-opt) became spicy pumpkin soup, chicken stew, bruschetta, shepherd’s pie, beans with tortillas, squash and greens, green chile bread, baguettes, and half a dozen different salads. The dessert table screamed fall with its peach squares, apple brown betties, dark chocolate covered apple slices and pumpkin pudding.

As I walked around, I heard great things about the food, and was happy to see people using the food icebreaker questions. There’s nothing like food to get strangers talking. 

        

When it came time to pledge GROW, some people said they will try Meatless Mondays, others vowed to chop vegetables and meat into smaller pieces for shorter cook times, and still others promised to buy CSAs and shop at the farmers market. Keynote speaker Greg Gould shared insight into fixing the food system by improving our personal quality of life and health. I liked how Greg acknowledged that each person is an expert as far as their own personal food preferences. We already know what we like to eat, now we just have to think about the best way to go about it. Greg’s talk tied in family food traditions, teaching children to cook, and what we can learn from planting trees. He’s a very engaging speaker, so I recommend hearing his speech, recorded by Peter Gallo at Kimchi Farms.  

At the end of the night the cleaning crew came to the rescue. Right in line with the GROW Method, we didn’t have to throw anything away. With hoards of hungry guests, there weren’t many leftovers. Anything extra was split between volunteers while the kitchen scraps went to the pigs at Kimchi Farms.

I really couldn't have wished for a better event!

THANK YOU!

Donors

Bosque Baking Company

Brown's Family Farm

Clay Trafton Farm

Frost Hill Organics

Granja Para Mañana

Harvest Gifts

La Montanita Co-opt

La Quiche

Macias Farm

Magos Farm

Majestic Valley Farm

Moore Family Farm

St. Thomas of Canterbury Church

Collaborators

Amnesty International

Bread for the World

Community Bricolage

Food Corps

Foodology

Nourish International

Oxfam Action Corps

Community Chef

Kathy Chavez

Guest Speaker

Greg Gould

Photographer

Rene Ronquillo

A Coldplay fan tries out a week on GROW

From the October 19, 2012 post on the Oxfam On Tour blog, a blog dedicated to following the Coldplay Tour and Oxfam fans around the world! Click here to read more about the Coldplay tour and blog posts from fans!

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Coldplay Fan Sian came to our attention when she tweeted about her fundraising blog.  Sian, from Darlington, England, decided she was going to do something to create change in her own way and support Oxfam through living the GROW method for a week. She asked her friends and family to sponsor her for a week full of vegetarianism, buying local food and reducing her food waste.

So of course we interviewed her for GROW week and asked her to share her diary with us. Check out what song got her through the week and her discovery of new food.

Name: Sian

City: Darlington, England

Coldplay activity: Living the GROW method for a week

Money raised for Oxfam: £50 and still counting!

How did you find out about Oxfam?

I looked into Oxfam a lot more after attending my first Coldplay concert. I already knew how involved Coldplay were with the organisation but I learnt to understand it a lot more after noticing the Oxfam campaigners at the gigs. This made me do some research into Oxfam and get more involved.

What inspired you to get more involved with Oxfam?

My school is very ‘into’ fundraising and encourages others to do so. I’ve always been a busy person and felt very guilty for not doing my own fundraiser and I wanted to feel good about helping others. Also I felt as being a Coldplay fan that it was my duty to get involved.

What did your family think about your GROW method week?

Surprised! That I’d decided to do something I’d never normally do and organise it all by myself. I think they realised how independent I can be!

What did your friends do to help you?

Well they all sponsored me! They also came round with me to collect donations and kept my spirits up during the week!

Did you discover any new foods?

Veggie burgers and soup! I’m usually a tomato soup girl, but I realised how much variety there is and they are a very helpful way of creating a dinner from your leftovers.

Did you have anything that kept you going through the week? A song, snack, picture etc.

My friends definitely did and Oxfam. I can’t thank Oxfam enough for all their support and encouragement. Also of course a bit of Coldplay! ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’ was on constant replay!

I love your quotes, what made you start a daily quote?

It was to encourage people to get involved, words are powerful things and used in the right way can make a huge impact on people.

What was the most important thing you learnt from doing the GROW method week?

I never realised how much work Oxfam does with people internationally and what an impact their work makes on others. Since completing the GROW method week I am much more efficient now with food and try to buy local to reduce air miles and support local farmers. It made me realise that although I may have a bad day at school, there are millions of people out there who are much worse off and need your help.

What advice would you give people who wanted to do something like you too?

DO IT! It gives you such a buzz helping others and doing something. Using an idea you’ve thought of and developed is also a lot of fun and changes people’s mindset towards you. It’s hard but it’s a great way to help people less fortunate than you and although the challenge is hard it’s so easy to get involved and Oxfam, who are extremely helpful and supportive!

Sian’s GROW week diary. 

What’s is all about?

I recently got a email from Oxfam and they’ve opened up my eyes to this campaign all you need to know about the GROW method is here  and if you want to know more about getting involved click here  and to Join GROW click here.

I’m going to get people to sponsor me on a GROw method week, if you want to do the same download a sponsorship form here, wish me luck!

The GROW Method- DAY 1

I’ve started my GROW method week and I’m over the moon with the amount of interest I’ve had from class mates, friends and Oxfam. I can’t thank you all enough. From all my sponsors (I’m still getting more at the moment) so far I have around £50. This week will be challenging and I’m sure I will enjoy it! So here goes my weekly diary of living GROW method.

Breakfast: I kick started the day with a breakfast of toast and homemade jam!

Lunch: For lunch I had some potatoes, vegetables and a slice of margarita pizza. To finish I had a pot of strawberry yoghurt to which one person decided it would be funny to read out the ingredients and tell me it contained crab-which of course it did not!

Dinner: For dinner I had planned to go out for a meal with friends and devour another margarita pizza! But got stuck in traffic and couldn’t make it so had to settle for some tomato pasta and a cup of Yorkshire tea! For dessert I had a cheeky chocolate bar – but made sure it was fair trade!

The GROW Method – DAY 2 

Hello again! Going veggie today was proving hard as I had to resist some beef curry!

Breakfast: I had my braces tightened yesterday evening and I went down stairs and made some toast again but discovered I could not eat it! My teeth were hurting too much! Had to settle for porridge!

Lunch: For lunch I ate some vegetables and potatoes along with some vegetarian gravy and a pot of yoghurt to finish!

Dinner: I settled for some pasta again tonight but this time spaghetti!

I think soup is on the agenda tomorrow 

Today I went food shopping buy local/fair trade items as a key point of the GROW method is to eat local to support local farmers and ensure people globally get a fairer price for their produce.

Below are just a few of my items I managed to snap before they were cooked!

GROW method – DAY 3

Oh dear, having some technical difficulties with the laptop sorry for the late post!

Breakfast: Ok so I started off the day with porridge again as still having brace problems!

Lunch: I was very upset to find no vegetarian option at school today for lunch so had to settle for a jacket potato beans and vegetables! I then had to have my fair trade Kitkat as I was still hungry!

Dinner: When I got home I was welcomed to some lovely spicy tomato soup made from the tomatoes we didn’t use in our pasta. This proves it’s easy to eat your leftovers as the GROW method promotes being careful with your food to reduce food waste. It was yummy too!

All is well with the GROW method; it’s hard, but not as hard as I imagined but certainly not easy! Can’t thank Oxfam on tour enough for all their support so far! Here’s to Oxfam  I’m very excited to see how much has been raised! I’ll leave you all with these beautiful quotes I found!

Quotes of the day:

‘No one has ever become poor from giving’. – Anne Frank

‘You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give’. – Winston Churchill

GROW Method – DAY 4

WOAH, today I almost ate a haribo! We had a netball match against Darlington town netball team and we won so we were given haribo gummy sweets as a prize but I had to pass it on as gummy sweets contain gelatine. Gelatine is a protein product that is present in animals so I couldn’t eat it. Anyways hello again!

Breakfast: I finally got to have toast again Yey with chocolate spread mmmmm.

Lunch: For lunch I had some spaghetti pasta at school with some carrots and some chocolate sponge!

Dinner: For dinner I finished my day with beans on toast.

And here’s a quote goodnight!

Quote of the day:

 ‘I believe the world is one big family and we need to help each other’. – Jet Li

GROW Method – DAY 5 

Only two days left! Where has this week gone! It’s been extremely fun though and although people have tried to tempt me I’ve stayed strong!

Breakfast:  For breakfast I had weetabix 

Lunch: I then had some lovely cheesy pasta, peas and chips for lunch!

Dinner: I then had leak and potato soup for tea (aka dinner)! The recipe for it is below.

Quote of the day:

‘Every charitable act is a step towards heaven’ – Henry Ward Beecher

GROW Method- DAY 6

Hello! Sorry I didn’t post yesterday I was very busy at school helping with a school open day then had to go to Teesside shopping! Anyway

Breakfast: to start the day I had banana yoghurt and a cereal bar!

Lunch: I had carrot and coriander soup!

Dinner: I had a veggie burger and chips!

GROW Method- Day 7:

Breakfast: This morning I had eggy bread. This is cheap and tasty dish of bread soaked in eggs and then fried. Try it out to use up your left over eggs and bread.

Dinner: I was then naughty and skipped lunch! I just forgot and had some pasta for tea. I would have killed for a Sunday roast though WA :’)

Quote of the day:

‘I don’t wish to be everything to everyone, but I wish to be something to somebody’ – Javan.

So that’s it! My grow method week is done, sad face. I really enjoyed it and it has made me appreciate what I’ve got much more. I can’t thank everyone enough for supporting me particularly my friends and Oxfam on tour. So goodbye and a massive thank you!!

Leek,Onion and Potato Soup

Ingredients

4 Large Leeks

2 Medium Potatoes peeled and diced.

1 Medium Onion,Chopped small

2oz butter (50g)

11/2 pints water (850ml)

10fl oz Milk ( 275)

Salt and black pepper

1) Cut off the tops and roots of the leeks and get rid of the tough outer layer. Split them in half lengthways and slice them finely. Then wash them thoroughly and drain.

2) In a large saucepan melt the butter then add leeks potatoes and onion stirring them into the butter.Add salt and pepper to season and cover to let the vegetables sweat on a very low heat for roughly 15 minutes.

3)Add the water and milk and bring to simmering point and put the lid back on and let the soup simmer gently for a further 20minutes (or until the vegetables are soft).

4) Then put it into the liquidizer and blend to a purée or press through  sieve.

5) Return the soup to  saucepan and reheat gently and serve.

Tomorrow is Election Day 2012!

From the Iowa Oxfam Action Corps blog.

You’ve seen the advertisements. You’ve likely been subject to a dizzying array of phone calls from your local field office – they want your vote. And the news media is covering and analyzing the candidates and their every sneeze. The pieces on the “chessboard” of the American political landscape have been set. November 6^th is Election Day in the United States of America. 

And there’s a lot at stake as it concerns feeding a growing population: international affairs, foreign aid, The Farm Bill, etc. Sadly, though, very little focus was given to these topics especially during the foreign policy debate. Our friends over at ONE.org asked President Obama and Governor Romney (the front-runners in the race for POTUS) what, if elected, they would do to combat extreme poverty and preventable disease. Read their answers here. 

While Oxfam America is non-partisan and does not (and will not) endorse any candidate running for political office, we do strongly encourage our supporters to vote on November 6th. 

If you need help finding your polling location, click here.

Happy Voting!

Action Corps Offers Up Awesome October!

Through the month of October the Oxfam Action Corps has come out stronger than ever before. With 18 self-organized events and participation in over 50 events during the course of the month, October has been one of the most active and successful months yet. Not only has the Action Corps hosted and organized a World Food Day event in each of the 15 cities, each city was also the host to several World Food Day dinners each. Together, the 15 separate Action Corps branches conquered and surpassed our 300 Action Corps dinner goal with an astonishing total of 365 dinners! Wow! 

Take a look at some of the events that helped us smash our 300 dinner goal:

Albuquerque participated in Bread for New Mexico’s dinner and prayer circle and had a community dinner using leftovers from a local farmers market!

At the World Food Day event in Columbus!

The Farmer’s Tour trailed across the eastern US, allowing speakers Susan Godwin, Oxfam America’s Food Hero 2012, and Dienaba Diallo to speak on panels in South Carolina, DC, New York, Pennsylvania, Columbus, and ended in Des Moines, Iowa at the World Food Prize!

The World Food Prize brought great minds together to learn about the newest innovations in agriculture and what they mean for our planet’s food security. The Iowa Action Corps (plus volunteers from around the country) were there, stopping for tea with some of food’s finest thinkers!

Tabling at the World Food Prize

Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago, and Albuquerque munched on some GROW friendly eats at their own Grubwithus dinner! 

The poster for Minneapolis' benefit concert!

Minneapolis jammed to some tunes to raise money for the Sahel at a benefit concert before hosting a public potluck for World Food Day!


Indianapolis hosted a Congressional Forum to discuss food issues, while Burlington added a GROW theme to a local benefit dinner! 

San Francisco had a GROW themed gala to cheer on the Giants, while Madison partnered with Slow Food at the University of Wisconsin for a meal of 100+! Austin hosted a GROW meal in the park, while Kansas City hosted a public potluck.

An Austin volunteer promotes World Food Day dinners!

From coast to coast, each Action Corps city had a role in our huge successes this month. These events are only a small sample of all the incredible things that the Action Corps accomplished for Oxfam America this World Food Day! And things aren’t slowing down yet- the Action Corps is going full force ahead into November with more events, tabling, and Oxfam America Hunger Banquets on the way! Click “Join Us” in the upper left hand corner to sign up for local updates and learn more about what your city’s Action Corps has in the works! To learn more about Oxfam America, click here.

Here are some more photos from World Food Day festivities around the country!

Columbus event attendees munch on local eats!

An Albuquerque volunteer enjoys some World Food Day snacks!

Tabling at the World Food Prize

NYC Action Corps at a GROW themed potluck