Read about Grey to Green on realneo:
It’s no great secret that local foods and local economy represent one of the great opportunities for our city and region. Exciting work is developing at a rapid pace in this domain, not just in Cleveland but throughout our entire region. A great example of educating, advocating, and advancing collaborative ways of driving grassroots economic development was made transparent to hundreds who gathered at last month’s Grey to Green festival in Youngstown. I was honored to participate and meet a living legend, MacArthur award recipient and urban foods pioneer Will Allen, there. For decades Will has worked to lead Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a champion of social entrepreneurship and social justice.
Thanks to Jaci Clark for pictures of the 2009 Festival. Enjoy the slideshow. Music is by The Wailin’ Jennys.
The 2009 Grey to Green Festival saw a substantial increase in attendance and recognition. Food vendors sold out of everything they brought, art was abundant throughout the park, and vendors saw a significant amount of foot traffic.
At most festivals, the large number of attendees might raise a common problem: a large volume of trash left behind and headed to a landfill. Something remarkable happened at Grey to Green, though.
At the end of the day, as the grounds were cleaned up, a solitary garbage bag was all that was needed. Everything else was gathered for composting or separated for recycling. If there’s a more appropriate testament to the significance of the day, I can’t think of one.
- 10:00 to 10:30 am – Caledonia Mission (from Youngstown, Ohio – national recording artist)
- 10:30 to 11:00 am – Opening Remarks
- 11:00 am to 1:00 pm – Will Allen at the Pavilion
Congressman Tim Ryan (invited) will officially kick off the festival
Mayor Williams will say a few words
Will Allen, Growing Power - 12:30 to 2:00 pm – The film Polycultures: Food Where We Live (at Unitarian Church)
- 1:00 to 1:45 pm – Magic Carpet Theater Presents: “The Day Miranda Met the Mermaid”
- 1:00 to 2:30 pm – Nature Walk throughout Wick Park by Bill Whitehouse (meet at Pavillion)
- 1:00 to 5:00 pm – Entertainment outside on the patio resumes *
- 1:45 to 2:00 pm – Etruscan Press/Poetry Center Poets
- 2:00 to 2:30 pm – Dr. Ray’s Amazing Sideshow of Science!
- 2:00 – 3:00 pm Presentation by Scott Loveland TCT Renewable Energy speaks about Wind Power (at the Unitarian Church)
- 2:30 to 3:00 pm – YSU Gospel Choir
- 3:00 to 3:30 pm – McKelvy Raygun (Acoustic/Folk Duo)
- 3:00 to 5:00 pm – Will Allen panel discussion “Economics, ‘Food Racism’ and Urban Agriculture” at Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown (on Elm across from Wick Park) **
- 3:00 to 4:30 pm – Nature Walk throughout Wick Park by Bill Whitehouse (meet at Pavillion)
- 3:30 to 4:00 pm – U.N. Act (Dance, Violin, Rap, Jam Session)
- 4:00 to 5:00 pm – Sam Goodwill (Youngstown Alt Rock)
* Ed Hallahan, an area artist and art educator who has exhibited his art work both regionally and nationally, will be creating an art piece at the park. At the Grey to Green Festival, he will show tree-inspired sculptural work that is carved and constructed from wood and placed back into the natural tree environment where the trees support and present the sculpture, and the sculpture represents the trees to us who view it.
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PANELIST BIOS:
Will Allen – Founder and CEO/Growing Power
Awarded a MacArthur Fellow in 2008, Will Allen is one of the world’s foremost experts on urban farming. Grow Power, headquartered in Milwaukee, is a national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by helping to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities. Growing Power provides hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner.
Steve Bosserman
Steve Bosserman, founder and president of Bosserman & Associates, Inc., specializes in strategic framing and organization design. Steve’s career started with 20 years of manufacturing experience ranging from the shop floor to senior management. In 1987, he started B&A in order to apply his expertise in the design and delivery of organizational change and leadership development strategies with clientele in both for-profit and not- for-profit sectors across domestic and international arenas.
Over the past three years, Steve’s interest in social networking systems, processes, and tools has evolved into the development of sustainable local food systems as a platform for local economies–the foundation for social justice. This shift positioned him to be a Co- Principal Investigator on a three-year USDA-SCRI grant awarded in late 2008 to utilize social networking strategies in the advancement of local food systems. Furthermore, his work in the development of metrics for local food systems and evaluation criteria for localized investment portfolios has led to a recent grant award from the Advance Northeast Ohio / Fund for Our Economic Future (ANEO / FFEF) to launch an Ag-Bio Cluster Leadership Council and provide the Council with a portfolio management process for their project proposals and business cases. You can read more about Steve’s work on his blog at http://localfoodsystems.org/blog/2.
Brad Masi, Executive Director, New Agrarian Center
Brad Masi serves as the founder and Executive Director of the New Agrarian Center (NAC), an organization which works toward growing a more sustainable and just regional food system in Northeast Ohio. Masi is co-founder of the City Fresh program, a region-wide partnership focused on linking rural and urban farmers with inner-city neighborhoods and institutions in Northeast Ohio. Masi is also co-founder of the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Food Policy Council which is seeking to improve local food access in inner-city neighborhoods.
Leslie Schaller, Director of Programs
Ms. Schaller was part of the founding staff of ACEnet’s Food Ventures program and oversaw the development of the Food Ventures Center, ACEnet’s 12,000 square foot kitchen incubator facility. She has worked directly with food producers, farmers and artisan micro-entrepreneurs since1992 to develop businesses, resources and networks to relocalize Appalachia Ohio’s food economy. Ms. Schaller is responsible for working directly with entrepreneurs throughout the intake and assessment process, focusing on the start-up phase of network clients. Ms. Schaller designs curriculum, provides direct technical assistance and coordinates the expertise of ACEnet staff teams to create innovative product ideas, marketing strategies, business plans, and financial management systems within the targeted sectors. Ms. Schaller currently serves as an appointee to the Governor’s Ohio Food Policy Council, the Ohio Department of Agriculture Market Connections Task Force, the national Farmers Market Coalition’s Board Treasurer, as Board executive for the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and chairs the Athens Municipal Arts Commission. See www.acenetworks.org for more information.
Samina Raja – University of Buffalo, Dept. of Architecture and Urban Planning
Dr. Raja’s research focuses on planning and design for healthy communities and the fiscal dimensions of planning. Her research on healthy communities examines the influence of the food and built environments on obesity and physical activity. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this topic, Dr. Raja collaborates with colleagues from UB’s School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Health Professions. An ongoing multi-year study, conducted in collaboration with the School of Medicine, examines the effect of the built environment on obesity among youth, and has received over a million dollars in funding from the National Institute of Health. http://www.ap.buffalo.edu/planning/people/raja.asp
Marla Herrmann Urban farmer and cook
Marla began her love of growing things in her Mother’s garden as a little girl. With twelve years experience running a landscaping business behind her, and a hereditary inclination towards baking and the restaurant business, she has honed her passion for creating delicious, wholesome and nutritious fare and turned it into a mission of sorts. Marla currently grows produce organically for direct market and for her own use when she cooks for private parties. For more information please contact greentreegardens@hotmail.com.
- US Green Building Materials
Business – Deconstruction of houses – reuse of building materials - The Green Building Pros, Ltd.
Energy audit - EOS Whole Fitness and Bellydance
Business – Tribal clothing and Natural/ Organic Body Care - Eco-Central
Business – will be selling cotton bags - Audubon Society
Eduational – Audubon Society - Bill Youngman
Shirts from recycled clothing, organic soaps, etc. - Cats Paw Herbs
Will sell organic herbs, recycled bottle items - Vegetarians of Greater Youngstown
Educational Information - Divine Scentsations Inc.
Business: soy wax products - Mahoning Valley Green Party
Business – educational - Firemother Designs
Business – recycled jewelry - Energy Detectives
Business: Energy Analysis and Conservation - Mahoning River Education Project
Business – Educational River Conservation - Naturehaven Paperworks
Business – Paper products artist - Yo-oH Studio
Business: green products – art - Mill Creek Metro Parks
Business: Educational parks - Commonwealth Inc
Business – Educational Community - Scrap Heap Sculpture
Business: Recycling sculpture from scrap metal - Dr. Ted Suzelis ND
Business Naturaopathy holistic nutrition - The Villa Shoppe
Business: Fair Trade Products - YSU Smarts
Business: Education Children - Amber Foster
Business: Recycled objects toys/art - Treez Please
Business –Non- profit urban reforestation - Green Team
- Youngstown Litter Control and Recylcing
- Wick Neighbors
- Habitat and Restore
- Art Youngstown
- City Scape
- TNT Wind Turbines
- MVOC
- Grow Youngstown
- Ray Beiersdorfer (Gem table)
- Etruscan Press
- Drop and Shop
- Mahoning Time Banks
- Wean – Neighborhood Success Grants
- Lien Forward
- Children’s Center for Science and Tecnology
- Animal Charities
- TCT Renewable Energy
Speaker about wind power - Habitat and ReStore
- Youngstown Alliance for Climate Protection
- Eco-Watch
- Pride Youngstown
- The Wind Chime Lady
- Goodness Grows
This year’s Grey to Green Festival features a special presentation at 11 a.m. by Will Allen of Growing Power. As an urban farmer, Allen is the recipient of the 2008 MacArthur “Genius “Award.
On September 12, 2009 at the Grey to Green Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., historic Wick Park will become a forest of information and activities devoted to transforming Youngstown into a healthier and environmentally friendlier city.
- Entertainment
- Educational Exhibits
- Children’s Activities
- “Green” Vendors
- Healthy Food
- Farmers Market
- Magic Carpet Theater
- Composting
- Artists
- Energy Assessment
- Drop and Shop for Free
- Recycled Products
- Enviroscape
- Wick Park Historic Tour
