What's for lunch? September 12th 2011

Todays menu features Beef Chili, Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli.

The beef that we use to prepare our meals is produced locally and grass fed, but what is grass fed beef?

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of grass farming is that the meat offers tremendously significant health benefits. Grass Fed Beef contains high levels of Omega 3’s—the fatty acids that can reduce cholesterol and fight heart disease. In contrast, grain-finished animals from feedlots are high in Omega 6’s—the fatty acids that can raise cholesterol levels. In addition, grass-finished beef offers 400 percent more vitamin A and E than commercial beef, and is rich in beta-carotene and conjugated linoleic acids, both major cancer inhibitors.

Most beef consumed in the US is “grain finished” at large-scale commercial feedlots. Grass-fed beef is raised and finished on an all-natural, grass diet, that results in animals that are much healthier. The cows never receive antibiotics, hormone implants or by-products, so there’s no risk of mad cow disease.

Bon Appetit!

Eat Local. Think Global.

Today is the Summer Solstice in New York (hello, longest day of the year!) and in the garden we've been talking about several key terms that relate to the change of season. Yesterday we discussed what it means to "Eat Local. Think Global." This catchy phrase has been circulating around the food world for years now (if I knew it's origin I'd give the person some serious props!) and it's a concept that we want our students at Promise Academy and HCZ to really understand. In fact, it's one of the headlines on our cafeteria posters which we promised to do a follow-up series of blog posts about...so, let's get started.

First let's make sure we understand the terms we're using. What does it mean to "eat local?" Local food comes from your region. If you live in New York City, eating "local" means that you get most of your food from farms in the nearby counties in Long Island, Upstate New York, New Jersey and maybe even Pennsylvania rather than raising it yourself. Imagine yourself as the center of your world (probably not that hard for some of us!) and draw a 100-mile radius around yourself on a map. This is your local food region. If you manage to "eat local" you'll be considered a locavore. (You may be surprised to learn that most of the food we serve at Promise Academy including all our produce, dairy and meat is locally-sourced. Find out more about the food in the Cafeteria here.)

So, why eat local? From the posters our students, learn that local food is fresher, seasonal, and more nutritionally dense. It hasn't traveled thousands of miles to get to your plate which means it tastes better and its better for you and for the environment. Plus eating local food supports your local community and the regional economy. Pretty cool, right?

So what about eating seasonally? This is actually probably a little more challenging for the modern America. We're so used to having access to everything all the time, it's hard to reign in our habits back to what nature is serving up according to our local season. This has contributed to the fact that we eat fresh tomatoes (or bananas) year round that are shipped in from distant countries. It has also made us less connected to the joys of the cycle of the season. Eating seasonally actually can save you money, because the produce that's in season is usually the least expensive. Eating locally and seasonally actually go hand-in-hand, if you start by trying to eat more local foods, you almost can't help but eating more seasonally, which brings us finally to the last point: the big picture.

Thinking globally means you engage the big picture. (Remember that map of you as the center of your own local food community? Picture now that you are zooming out from your local community, keep zooming so far out that you disappear and now you've got an astronaut's perspective on this beautiful blue planet.) In the grand scheme of things, you are just one small part of the whole system of the world, the universe. That doesn't mean you aren't important or can't make positive change, but it just puts things in perspective. Surprise! The world revolves around the sun, not around you. Still your actions are significant, because while you may just be one person you are one of nearly 7 billion people on this planet. To maintain balance with our environment, we all have to consider how our actions impact those around us and the planet. Together we can create a sustainable future.

And that gives us much to look forward to as we celebrate the Summer Solstice here in Harlem! So go outside today and salute the sun and consider how you can eat in a way that is more in step with the earth's seasons and your unique place in the world.

The Dirt

Our after school Garden and Cooking Club got into the dirt this week, literally. From tilling the soil to starting our first compost pile (pictured) to building our own Worm Café to some simple pH tests to figure out how to feed and replenish what was used up by last year's plants, we've been hands deep in the dirt (and the weeds) for the last two weeks! Along the way, we learned what a wonderful rich story every square inch of soil has to tell and we thought we'd share a few of the most fascinating facts with you.

What exactly is dirt?
According to our book on soil, soil is "the naturally deposited unconsolidated material which covers the earth's surface whose chemical, physical, and biological properties are capable of supporting plant growth." Huh? Deposited unconsolidated material, eh?  We love the SAT-worthy words, but we wanted to find a simpler definition so we surfed over to Websters Kid's Dictionary and found this:

soil (noun):
i. firm land
ii. a : the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow
b : the superficial unconsolidated and usually weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth
iii. country, land <our native soil>
iv. the agricultural life or calling
v. a medium in which something takes hold and develops

Definitions 2 and 5 seemed closer to what we think of when we talk about the soil in the garden. Still they still did not quite give us the simple straightforward definition of soil we were hoping for--and maybe that's because soil is so much more complicated than we give it credit for! It's literally teaming with life and essential to helping new life translate sunlight into usable energy. Soil is a crucial part of nature's recycling system and critical to the food web that we all rely on. For now we're consider soil as the living, breathing outer layer of the earth that's made from all kinds of materials (plants and rocks and vegetation and animal matter) in various stages of decomposition that provide habitat for new plants and animals.

Soil as we know it today has developed over an extremely long period of time; in some cases even thousands of years. It's one of the earth richest resources and it's also one of our most renewable. But it does require some care, especially when we put it through rigors like farming and remove its natural rehabilitators (like forests) from its surface. So, we've been testing the soil in our 39 rooftop planters and are getting ready to feed it with…you guessed it…worm poo! Feeding the soil is on our "to do list" for next week's gardening club.

So until then, we'll leave you to contemplate this chart that shows how soil fits into a complex food web plus a link to some great further reading about the basics of soil from CXI. We really like how they define Soil as "a complex habitat where plants and microorganisms live together. Healthy, living soil is alive with a diverse population of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, and nematodes. These organisms create a web of activity that decompose organic matter in soil to ensure that nutrients are usable by plants and crops. This results in continuous soil development, maintenance of soil structure, nutrient cycling, and various beneficial interactions with plant roots."

We've got seedlings!

There's always a lot of excitement in the air (not to mention allergens! Achoo!) as the plants and trees that have survived with us through the long winter start to bloom and blossom. Walking around New York the past few weeks it's been impossible not to notice the Pear Trees and Cherry Blossoms showing signs of life from Harlem to Brooklyn. Meanwhile, here at HCZ we've been incubating our own set of seedlings for our Kitchen Garden...and after a few days and weeks of patience...we've got sprouts!

These seedlings will grow up to be some deliciously fresh fruits and vegetables. Plus along the way we'll get to learn about the amazing scientific processes that go on in the soil and the systems that support turning sunlight, air, and water into edible energy. So far we've started lots of tomatoes (Tiny Tim, New Yorker, Fox Cherry, Green Zebra, Goldie), some cucumbers (Big Munchers and Pickling Cucs), Eggplants (Apple Green and Black Beauty), Peppers (Big Jim and Hot Chili), Herbs (Thyme, Tarragon, Dill), some melons (Banana, Iroquois, Jerry Lind), some squashes (Patty Pan Squash and Pumpkins) and some cruciferous vegetables (Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts) to transplant into the garden.

We love the artist illustrated seed packets that we got from the Hudson Valley Seed Library and are excited about the heirloom varieties donated by John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds! What about you? Are you starting to think about growing your own balcony or fire escape garden now that the weather is turning? Or do you want to get your hands dirty in our garden? We would love to give you a tour of what's growing and we're always looking for volunteers to help us with our latest project. Let us know if you want to get involved. Until next time, keep growing and learning and eating well!

Happy Earth Day!

Since 1970, April 22nd has been celebrated around the world in ways big and small as "Earth Day." This unique holiday promotes awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. The Harlem Children's Zone recognizes what an important idea this is and we're excited to be in the process of preparing our own school garden for yet another year of connecting our students and community members with the process of growing and harvesting their own food. In honor of Earth Day, we got out in the garden and cleaned up what was lingering from last season so that we could kick off our compost bin and get the beds ready for the new seedlings that are started.

According to the Earth Day website, "planting a garden at a school or at home is recognized universally as one of the best ways to teach children of every age the life sciences, to inspire a greater desire for whole foods and generally to reconnect them with Nature." We could not agree more and we are looking forward to enjoying and honoring our garden and this beautiful planet we call home, not just on Earth Day, everyday throughout the coming seasons.

You can participate in this day by making your own pledge at www.earthday.org

What milk options are available?

Our Milk is sourced locally from Manhattan Milk which delivers 1% Half Pints from Byrne Dairy that are hormone and antibiotic free. All of our sites offer non-dairy alternatives for children with Lactose Intolerance including Soy Milk and Rice Milk.

Click here to keep reading our FAQ section.

The Educated Eaters Project

The Educated Eaters Project works to transform how the HCZ community engages with food—through improving our nutrition environment and thinking more sustainably about what we eat through hands-on nutrition education in the garden and the kitchen, in the classroom and the boardroom. 


Find out more about our ongoing projects here.

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We all must eat. Our work is to educate our community around how to eat better. We are not all called to work as gardeners, chefs or farmers, but eating is one of our most basic instincts and needs. We need to eat throughout our lives. We participate in the food system, to some degree or another, every day. But as the world has become busier and more complex we’ve grown increasingly disconnected from our food sources and our eating habits. Our neighborhood and our nation is currently struggling with a food identity crisis and the resulting health problems are costing us not just in terms of years of our lives, but in terms of quality of our health.

The Educated Eaters Project is committed to teaching the next generation how to feed themselves better. To achieve this goal, we’ve got to have comprehensive community support on all levels—from parents and students, to staff and policy makers. Eating may be one of our most basic instincts, but we believe it needs more focus and attention that we’ve been giving it.

The Educated Eaters Project strives to empower our community to eat more responsibly, more carefully and more sustainably. This work takes many forms and venues—as it should—since food is culture and culture change is slow work. We must first understand what better food is, then make better food more accessible through education, collaboration and outreach, and all the while remind ourselves of the truth that eating healthfully is a key component of living well. The changes will come through baby steps that over time will have a huge impact.

The conversation about food is connected to every area of scholarship and society. Together let’s rediscover how to grow, cook, eat and engage with food in a healthy, sustainable and responsible way. Transforming what we eat is crucial to HCZ’s larger missions—in the classroom, the future and beyond. The better we eat, the better we learn and the better we live. So, join us as we create a community of Educated Eaters.