Some tid-bits from the world of sustainable food in Brooklyn:

• Garden of Eve Organic Farm is still taking members for this season’s CSA. There are several locations in Brooklyn, including: Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Greenpoint, Kensington/Windsor Terrace and Williamsburg. Many thanks to Midge Pingleton for contributing this info.
• The Bay Ridge CSA is accepting new members for the 2009 season and is hosting an info session and member orientation on Saturday, March 14th. The event will be held at the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, located at 6753 Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn.
• Greene Hill Food Co-op is having a general meeting next Wednesday. On the agenda: Creating Bylaws, Food Buying Principles, Google Group Training, an open forum, and more. Wednesday March 18, 2009, 7:15PM-9:30PM. Location: BRIC Studio, 57 Rockwell Place (between Fulton and DeKalb)
• The Intuitive Cook, Ameet Maturu, is holding a class entitled Expand Your Protein Repertoire on Sunday, March 22nd:

  Are you bored of your veggie burger?
  Less than enthused with that grilled chicken breast salad?

  Then come to this interactive class for a refreshing look at protein. We’ll discuss creative new ways to get this nutrient in your diet, covering both plant and animal sources. You’ll also learn all the information you need in selecting the protein that works best for you. Guaranteed to please vegetarians and omnivores alike. Whether or not you like tofu.

  Sunday, March 22
  12 pm - 1:30 pm
  Park Slope Food Co-op
  782 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY
  (between 6th and 7th Ave)
  Cost: FREE

• Added Value lets us know about volunteer, internship and employment opportunities at their awesome urban farm and community organization:

  “Our seed orders are in and our crop plans are complete. Last years teens are in touch (and awaiting their second year of programming) and we are planning recruitment for the coming season. And in this year, in 2009 Added Value is going to be digging deep.”

  “As we look around the globe we see a dramatic recession, we hear news of civil society pushing governments to place the needs of people in front of the needs of major corporations. We see hunger on the rise in our neighborhood, in our city and throughout the world.”

  “In spite of these stark realities and inspired by the creative and hopeful work of people and communities we are forging ahead in efforts to build a stronger, healthier, more just and sustainable Red Hook. We are reaching out to each of you and inviting you to join us.”

  Find the full list of opportunities here.

As always, find your CSAs at Just Food, your greenmarkets at CENYC, and your green news right here at GBK!

The 2008 Environmental Justice Community Impact Grants are in. Some of the projects funded by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation include: community gardens and green roofs, air- and water-quality monitoring, lead poisoning prevention, urban forestry, subsistence fishing education, environmental education for urban youth, inventories of local pollution sources, and an international climate justice conference.

The 12 Brooklyn organizations — including some of our favorite friends — won a combined total of $357,669 in grants. Congrats to all!

Here is the list of winning Brooklyn orgs and the projects funded:

• Added Value – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for construction of a rain water capture system for a community garden to reduce the garden’s ecological footprint, along with community education to promote rainwater capture and use.
• Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for partnership with Pratt Center for Community Development to reduce energy consumption by providing: (1) free energy audits and energy conservation education to low-income residents; and (2) job training and apprenticeship opportunities in energy retrofits.
• Brooklyn Art Incubator, Inc. – Brooklyn - $24,800 – for community residents to develop ways to improve local air quality, followed by construction of a community garden and other green infrastructure at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center.
• Going Coastal, Inc. – Brooklyn - $22,400 – for a survey of subsistence anglers’ knowledge and attitudes about fish health advisories, research into health advisories and fish contamination, and education of anglers.
• The Newtown Creek Alliance – Brooklyn and Queens - $46,041 - for health-based interviews of community residents, with results presented in a unique internet GIS interactive map.
• OUTRAGE - Brooklyn - $47,000 – for a community-based study of environmental and public health hazards from local solid waste facilities and attendant truck traffic, with community education and development of mitigation proposals based on the results.
• Phoenix Community Garden – Brooklyn - $22,000 – to expand operations of a 19,000-square-foot community garden and outdoor environmental education center.
• Prospect Park Alliance – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for a summer ecological research camp for inner-city Brooklyn youth at the Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Hillsdale, Columbia County.
• Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for renovation of an abandoned building into a green community arts and cultural center with environmental education programs.
• United Community Centers, Inc. – Brooklyn - $24,415 – for development of sustainable systems and community education programs for two urban farms and a farmers’ market.
• UPROSE, Inc. – Brooklyn - $46,013 – for a study of local air pollution and related health effects and other environmental burdens, followed by environmental education tours of Sunset Park.
• Wildlife Conservation Society – Brooklyn - $25,000 – for a partnership with the New York City Aquarium to provide training and job opportunities for inner-city teens as aquarium docents and interns and to engage the participants in hands-on stream conservation projects.

For the complete list of winners throughout the state, go here (pdf)

Go here for the grant announcement at NYS DEC.

Go here to read more about the grant program and how to apply for next year’s grant.

What is Environmental Justice?

Environmental justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Environmental justice efforts focus on improving the environment in communities, specifically minority and low-income communities, and addressing disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in those communities.

Click here to read more and for resources on this important topic.

Malcom Walker at the Red Hook Community Farm in Brooklyn

A bunch of recent must-reads:

• Women in the Northeast are contaminated with the highest concentrations of mercury in the United States, with one of every five exceeding levels considered safe for fetuses, according to a new national study.
• Chicago Trib highlights Brooklyn for its green roofs and praises the new NYS green roof tax credit — but reminds us that Chi-town’s got NY beat on green roofs by almost 400k sq ft.
• Manhattan and Brooklyn use more pesticides than any other counties in the state… B/c of cockroaches, ew. And who is most at risk from toxics? Children. Parents, please read this one.
• NYDOHMH (Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene) wins $50k+ for farmer’s markets in Brooklyn from the USDA.
• Christian Science Monitor raves about NY’s Recycle-a-Bicycle, the group’s two bike shops in the East Village and DUMBO, and NY youth participating in sustainable alternative transportation.
• NYSDEC looks at cleaning up utility sites. Greenpoint and Williamsburg manufactured gas plants and four gas holder plants in Brooklyn (Rutledge Street Station, Skillman Street Station, Front Street Station and Keap Street Station). Plus others in NYC and Long Island.
• Promoting the 50 Million Pound challenge to combat obesity, WaPo features photo of Brooklynite Jeremie Howell working out with trainer Kimberly James. Join one of 153 teams in Brooklyn to help promote your fitness and a healthier life!
• DirectBuy — with a store serving Brooklyn and Queens in Woodside and another in Manhattan — is featuring their selection of green building supplies. Mark Brandt, owner of DirectBuy of Manhattan: “The green products our members can buy through DirectBuy have been rated by recognized authorities like Energy Star, LEED or the Sustainable Furniture Council, so you know the green purchase you’re making is part of the solution.”
• NYC non-profits having trouble raising funds. Feeling ok with your finances? Here are some great local orgs where you can toss some green.
• One Glass Productions announces FilmArtFunction — a fundraising event benefiting the non-profit docu-series “Under the Bridges.” The film profiles artists and creative businesses in the Brooklyn waterfront’s DUMBO district who “exceed expectations for environmentally sustainable practices and social responsibility.” The event will take place at Galapagos Art Space on Thursday, October 23rd.
• Boston Globe travel section hearts BK and our green spaces, museums, n’hoods, etc.
• NYT: Sweat equity pays off at Added Value in Red Hook.

Photo: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Brooklyn’s finest bleemail* Brooklyn Based puts out their Green Guide 2008.

Includes some of our fav friends: RePlayGround, Sustainable Flatbush, East New York Farms, Added Value, The Yard, Center for the Urban Environment, Reclaimed Home, 3R Living, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Open Space Alliance of North Brooklyn, Tri-State Biodiesel, Brooklyn Brewery… Check it out…

Sign up for the free 3x/wk email.