Connecting, Educating & Nourishing
growingSOUL (Sustainable Opportunities for Universal Learning) is dedicated to educating the public about the vital role of human interdependence and reciprocity in developing and promoting a sustainable food system that benefits the health of individuals, communities, and our planet. At growingSOUL, we demonstrate and teach the strategies necessary to create a zero-waste food cycle including local food production, preparation, preservation, storage and composting, all fueled by renewable energies.
"Our job is not just to feed the hungry, but to empower the hungry to feed themselves."
--United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in opening remarks at the Food Security Summit Rome, Italy, 11/16/09
In response to this call to action, Will Allen, MacArthur Genius Award Fellow, the Father of Urban Agriculture, and a former Montgomery County farmer, recruited growingSOUL to be the international outreach training center for Growing Power.
This summer, growingSOUL co-founded
the Montgomery County Food Council ,
to advocate for a just, sustainable system
in our nation's capital.
Our Compost-to-Table educational model is housed in a 30' diameter grow dome. The shape of our hoop house symbolically reflects our mission of creating a sustainable, closed-loop food system. Composting is the missing link that enables us to arc weld what is currently a linear food chain into an interconnected cycle.
COMPOSTING
We have begun by "growing" our own soil from our community's left-over food scraps, coffee grounds, leaves, and wood chips that we collect in our recycled diesel truck fueled by straight waste vegetable oil. These items are placed in standing piles until they reach 145 degrees to kill off pathogens. Some of the hot compost is then fed to red wiggler worms, in our layered vermicompost sytem to make worm castings, the best fertilizer on the planet. The compost, mixed with a little coconut coir to retain moisture, and fertilized with worm castings, creates Soil with SOUL , the most nutrient-rich soil possible for organic farming.
GROWING
We will fill our raised beds, vertically stacked containers and multi-tiered aquaponics grow system with this super soil. I n our aquaponics system (shown, lower right) p lants will be fertilized with fish waste using a solar pump. The tank water is pumped to the top of the system where the ammonia from the waste is converted to nitrogen that fertilizes the plants. The water is filtered by microbes as it passes through the potted plants in our gravel-lined grow beds, and it descends back into the fish tanks, purified. This model mimics the nitrogen cycle within a natural river.
CREATING
After we harvest our organic food, we will prepare it using simple techniques. Landfill trips are kept to a minimum in our zero-waste food preparation by using food trimmings to create stocks, soups and stews. Our demonstrations of food preservation methods such as fermenting, freezing and canning for long term storage provide the benefit of having fresh foods to eat or cook with even if they are not in season. Anything leftover will be composted and fed to the worms to make more of our Soil with SOUL.
COMMUNITY
We maintain a Community Compost Center at
the Olney Farmers & Artists Market, where the
community brings their food scraps to help
create compost and wormcastings that are
available to the community based on volunteer
contributions and reciprocity.
CULINERATI
Our mulit-generational volunteer group brings
together people from all walks of life. We will
preserve the culinary traditions of our
community by having our youth interview and
record their elders. from these recordings, we
will create a living video cookbook called
The Culinerati Files .
Sara covering food scraps
with wood chips
Our table top waterfall aquaponics built from 100% Freecycled equipment
Video tour of an aquaponics model at Growing Power in Milwaukee
Jessica's Grandmother's
Culinerati File: Stuffed Cabbage
The Sandy Spring site is dedicated to the past, present, and future residents of Sandy Spring in hopes the activism
that has characterized the community for centuries will continue in the future. This [site] has long been a source for contemplative thought and a place to recognize that we are dependent on this land and should be watchful caretakers.
Taken from the dedication to the spring for which Sandy Spring is named,
we hope to honor the rich tradition of activism and contemplative thought as we are growingSOUL .
Our current system of food growing and distribution is irreparably broken and is having a devastating impact on the health of individuals, communities and
the planet. We can begin to solve this crisis by moving away from the energy-wasting model prevalent in the US of growing food far from its ultimate destination thereby eliminating the resulting pollution and heavy carbon footprint such a system creates.
By teaching the principles of how to grow your own food, we believe ageism, classism and most "isms" can be dismantled by empowering communities to have equal access to healthy food. Ultimately we will create a new kind of diverse multi-generational organization, where young and old people from all walks of life work side by side on cooperative sustainability projects that connect, educate and nourish one another.
growingSOUL will create many Sustainable Opportunities for Universal Learning. As we begin growingSOUL, we will adjust our growing and educational model to meet our community needs. These first years will be an opportunity for our entire community to come together to:
Learn the CONSTRUCTION of our model:
*Hoop house and aquaponics design and building
*Composting; getting it to the site and enriching it with worms to make "soil"
*The multi-level growing system
Learn the SCIENCE behind our model:
*The soil growing/composting techniques
*The farming techniques
*The fish raising techniques including the aquaponics system of fertilization and filtration
*The creation of a solar or other renewable powered motor and pump to operate the aquaponics system
*Planting and harvesting cycles
*Maintaining temperatures appropriate for successful growing using worm compost and solar operated fans
Learn the MATH behind our model:
*How many plants can we grow based on the fertilized water of
a 600-gallon 8-1/2' diameter x 3' high aquaponics tank?
*Figuring how many people we need to harvest and plant
*Based on the length of the growing cycle for each plant,
how much can we grow
Learn the DANCE of our model -- reaching out to the community:
*Seeking donations, grants and fundraising
*Organizing and educating volunteers
*Teaching ZERO WASTE food preparation techniques including:
stock making, pickling and fermentation, canning and preservation
We look to all of you for input in growingSOUL.
Though changing our global food system may seem daunting, the way to change it globally is to start locally.
One step, one person at a time.
The following are steps you can take as an individual to make a difference.
As we shift our behaviors and encourage our family and friends to do the same, we can change our local community food systems.
When many communities work to change their local systems, we can begin to change our national and global food systems.
growingSOUL starts with empowering the individual.
By first changing your personal habits, local and global change is an attainable reality.
Your individual choices and actions MATTER!
Volunteer your time at growingSOUL
Opportunities will include growing, harvesting, preparing, preserving, storing and composting food sustainably,
working towards a Zero-Waste food system.
BRING US YOUR COMPOSTABLES FROM YOUR HOME OR OFFICE
Donate to growingSOUL
We are partnered with several non-profits so that all donations are eligible to be fully tax deductible.
Get to know your food: where it comes from and who produces /supplies it.
Seek local foods from sustainable producers: whenever possible, shop at a farmer's market, CSA, or local food co-op market.
For foods that are imported because they will not grow locally (coffee, tea, cocoa, spices etc. in the Northern Hemisphere) buy fair trade and organic imports.
Share your concerns with local grocery stores and restaurants. Consumer boycotts have been very powerful in this country.
Demand labeling in your packaged foods and read your labels carefully.
Purchase grass-fed / pastured, humanely raised local animal products.
Look to the Monterey Bay Aquarium "Seafood Watch" Guides. These guides contain the most updated information on sustainable fish options.
Avoid pesticides and other chemicals. Buying organic products is the surest way to do this. When availability and/or cost is an issue, try to purchase the following fruits and vegetables grown organically, as the conventional versions are especially high in chemical residues: apples, cantaloupes, celery, cherries, grapes, green beans, peaches, raisins, raspberries, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, winter squash.
Avoid Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). This is especially important with soy, corn and canola. If it isn't organic, it is likely to be a GMO.
Eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup from your diet. Not only does HFCS contribute to the obesity epidemic, but its production contaminates and depletes the soil where vital food crops once grew.
We are partnered with the following local organizations:
Bella Terra Family Farm
Bum Boosa Bamboo Products
Button Farm Living History Center
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Crossroads Farmers Market
Freecycle
Grassential
Manna Food Center
The Olney Farmers' & Artists' Market
Olney Kehila
Project Change
Sandy Spring Civic Association
Wellness-Connections
YOGAMOMS
Our Roots & Shoots Sustainability Group is a place to learn about sustainable living while providing service to the community. A diverse, multi-generational communal learning center allows grandparents, parents and individuals from all walks of life to work side by side with children, teens and young adults practicing basic farming and culinary arts.
Our volunteer "Culinerati" work as a team to build the soil to provide healthy, nutritious food to their communities while documenting the craft involved in their virtual cookbook -- The Culinerati Files .
Our volunteers learn about the food cycle, "compost-to-table". We begin "growing" our compost by adding worms to our leftovers where they do the work of transforming our food waste into the richest of soils. We then use it for planting small vegetables and fruits. We demonstrate how to grow food, harvest, clean, cook, preserve and serve it, and finally, how to compost what is left.
All in the community will be invited to harvest parties which we will host,
viewing The Culinerati Files that highlight the many different ways to prepare the food that all have helped to grow. We hope to create a system based on reciprocity. Everyone in the community can contribute something -- whether it is their time and work, their expertise, or their financial donations.
Students are eligible to receive community service and service learning credit for their work.
Through our Roots & Shoots registered group, we fulfill our mission of CONNECTING, EDUCATING & NOURISHING COMMUNITIES BY PROVIDING EQUAL ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD FOR ALL!
We are currently collecting compostables & coffee grounds
from the following local establishments:
Chipotle Mexican Grill Holy Cross Hospital Senior Source
Mayorga Coffee
Ricciuti's
Roots Market
Starbucks
Vie de France
collecting our coffee grounds and compostables,
we are creating the healthy soil in which good food and strong communties grow and thrive
" This is the most exciting project this community has seen in years and years! Congratulations to you for guiding us back to the path the founders envisioned that speaks to the heart and principles on which this community was founded. "
-- Joy Turner, 5th generation Sandy Spring Resident
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Diet for a New America by John Robbins
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating by Jane Goodall
Holy Cows and Hog Heaven by Joel Salatin
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
An Inconvenient Truth
Dirt! The Movie
Fresh
Food Inc
Fuel
King Corn
Pig Business
Supersize Me
The Future of Food
growingSOUL rescuing vital nutrients
growingSOUL working with Manna to close the food cycle loop
A greenhouse tour and video clip overview of Growing Power
Breaking New Grounds documentary, a similar model
A Fresh clip on Growing Power
A Fresh clip on Polyface Farms
Will summarizes Growing Power, from the MacArthur Foundation
Will Allen summarizes his work
H oop house growing of salad mix
Vermicomposting
A quaponics water system
www.chefscollaborative.org - a national organization that promotes sustainably raised, locally grown, artisan food
www.compostguide.com - a comprehensive compost guide
www.earthsave.org - John Robbins' foundation based on the effects of food choices on our health and the earth
www.edibleschoolyard.org - Alice Waters program offers its model to engage children in organic gardening and cooking
www.farmtotoschool.org - bringing farm fresh food to kids
www.localharvest.org - a nationwide directory of CSA's, farmer's markets, small farms and other local food sources
www.mbayaq.org - The Monterey Bay Aquarium's website where you can download their Seafood watch wallet card
www.organicconsumer.org - a grassroots non profit public interest group focusing on corporate food responsibility
www.slowfood.com - an international association that defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide
www.sustainabletable.org - from the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
www.truefoodnow.org - a network offering a True Food Shopping List as a starting point for sustainable food purchasing
Municipal Curbside Composting Efforts
Street Farmer - New York Times Magazine
Making Fresh Food Affordable - Oprah Magazine
Where There's A Will: Growing Power
Growing Power in an Urban Food Desert
F uturistic vertical farming as a means of feeding our world population
growingSOUL and Anna Lappe interviewed about local food systems
Manna Food Center partners with growingSOUL on composting
Montgomery Victory Gardens writes up the work of growingSOUL
University of Maryland's Grow It, Eat It, Give It on growingSOUL
NURTURE collaborates to develop budget friendly, healthy meals
Student Service Learning with growingSOUL
Good Food jobs recommends growingSOUL
We are teaching Composting & Vermicomposting
at Button Farm
16820 Black Rock Rd, Germantown, MD 20874
We are teaching Nutrition, Food Preservation,
Simple Healthy Seasonal Cooking, Composting & Vermicomposting, and Container Gardening
at the NEW Whole Foods in Rockville
11355 Woodglen Drive, Rockville, MD 20852
at Manna Food Center
9311 Gaither Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Center
CALL FOR CURRENT SCHEDULE
301-537-7422
On the Path Towards Changing our Food System
*Get to know your food: where it comes from and who produces /supplies it.
*Seek local foods from sustainable producers: Shop at a farmer's market, CSA, or local market.
* Eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup from your diet. Not only does HFCS contribute to the obesity epidemic, but it's production contaminates and depletes the soil where vital food crops once grew.
* Volunteer your time at GrowingSOUL. Opportunities will include growing, harvesting, preparing, preserving, storing and composting food sustainably, working towards a zero waste food system.
*Donate to GrowingSOUL. We are applying for non-profit status so that all donations will be tax deductible retroactively to December 2009.
info_growingSOUL.org Phone 301-537-7422
