Collective Roots -

Breathtaking Gardens Need Your Support

wolfram — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:10:07 -0800

Here at Collective Roots, we build breathtaking school gardens - unique open spaces where both our students' minds and our community's spirit can take root. We are also working to change our food system - creating access to local, sustainable produce for the families that need it the most. Please read Wolfram's letter by clicking on the image to the left to learn more. By honoring our valley's abundant past while celebrating a healthy, sustainable future, we are building a food system that is robust, just, and fiercely and proudly local.

Why parks matter

LucienSonder — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:15:24 -0800

As a Guatemalan immigrant raised amidst the sprawling concrete of Los Angeles, attorney Robert Garcia understands how crucial parks and open spaces are to the well-being of children growing up in crowded cities. "Children of color living in poverty have the worst access to parks and schools with five acres or more of playing fields, and they have the highest levels of childhood obesity," he told Carla Hernandez, 17, when visiting Collective Roots' one-acre garden at East Palo Alto Charter School.

''Greens and Means"

LucienSonder — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:45:06 -0700

The streets of East Palo Alto have seen everything from brick factories to poultry farms to gang shootings, but they haven’t before met anything quite like Rev. Bob Hartley, a known and respected longtime EPA resident. He’s a man with a plan to help the youth in the community give up their weapons – in favor of plants.

He and his wife Clara, an industrious wheelchair-bound woman with a lovely smile, grow a wealth of flourishing vegetables in their backyard and bring a selection of fresh pickings to sell at the EPA Farmers' Market each Saturday.

Fruit Salad Day Serves Up Health and Nutrition at EPA Charter School

LucienSonder — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:51:50 -0700

In line with the USDA’s recent ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative, eighth graders at East Palo Alto Charter School held an event called “Fruit Salad Day” for their entire school on Sept. 17, 2009.

The 15 students in the school’s Garden Elective class helped to wash, chop, mix, and serve seasonal fruits donated by farmers' markets in Palo Alto and East Palo Alto to more than 300 schoolmates.

Collective Roots Community Garden Work Day: Saturday, March 27th

wolfram — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:48:38 -0700

Start: 03/27/2010 - 9:00am

End: 03/27/2010 - 12:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-8

Our next Garden Workday at EPACS will be held Saturday, March 27th, from 9 AM – Noon.

Please join us at the EPACS garden on March 27th, from 9AM until Noon, for a morning of spring garden tasks. Enjoy tending vegetables, pull out spent crops, weed, mulch, seed, turn beds and compost, plant, prepare the chicken coop for new chickens and help keep the garden going strong through the winter. Please dress in layers and closed-toed shoes and apply sunscreen!

RAIN: If it is raining, please stay home, warm, and cozy!

To RSVP or to sign up to be a team leader, call 650.324.2769 or email volunteer@collectiveroots.org.

Recession causes more families to go without food, survey finds

wolfram — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:49:23 -0800

The number of U.S. households that are struggling to feed their members jumped by 4 million to 17 million last year, as recession-driven job losses and increased poverty and unemployment fueled a surge in hunger, a government survey reported Monday.

These "food-insecure" households represent about 49 million people and make up 14.6 percent, or more than one in seven, of all U.S. households. That's the highest rate since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began monitoring the issue in 1995.

More Households Request Food Aid

wolfram — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:26:30 -0800

The U.S. Agriculture Department said Monday the number of households that reported struggling to buy enough food in 2008 jumped 31% over the previous year.

According to the USDA's annual poll, 17 million U.S. households reported some degree of food insecurity in 2008, up from 13 million households in 2007.

Read the entire article by SCOTT KILMAN and ROGER THUROW in the Wall Street Journal by clicking here.

Cooley Landing

wolfram — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:52:09 -0700

Did you know that the City of East Palo Alto is in the process of developing a new park on the bay? Cooley Landing is a 9-acre peninsula at the end of Bay Road with amazing potential to be a place of recreation, education, and conservation in the community of East Palo Alto.

Contact: If you have any questions or comments, contact Lily Lee, Project Manager for Cooley Landing, at llee@cityofepa.org, or email Cooleylanding@cityofepa.org

Stay up to date on Cooley Landing developments - join the monthly newsletter emailing list! Just email Cooleylanding@cityofepa.org and say you want to join.

For more information, visit:

High Schoolers Skip Fruits, Veggies

wolfram — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:33:33 -0700

Fewer than 10 percent of U.S. high school students are eating the combined recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, a finding that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called "poor" in a report Tuesday.

The report based on 2007 data found that only 13 percent of U.S. high school students get at least three servings of vegetables a day and just 32 percent get two servings of fruit. Fewer than 1 in 10 get enough of both combined.

Americorps - HealthCorps Paid Positions (Part-Time) Available at Collective Roots

wolfram — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:00:17 -0700

School and community gardens promote healthier eating and physical activity while enhancing civic engagement and our sense of community. They are a proven solution to the obesity epidemic, making nutritious food and physical activity more readily available to people of all ages. In an innovative new partnership, The Health Trust has joined together with AmeriCorps and ten local organizations to form the Silicon Valley HealthCorps.