Food Day with Slow Food UW

Celebrate Food Day 2012 with Slow Food UW!  National Food Day (October 24), as conceived by CSPI and a coalition of leaders in the movement toward just and sustainable food-ways, presents an opportunity to appreciate a good meal and to engage with the issues and policies that speak to heath, hunger, and agricultural practice. 

Slow Food UW events include:

• Introductory remarks from Barlett Durand regarding products from Black Earth Meats as well as his involvement with Red Meat Market
• "Meet your Meat" spin board for prizes
• Information table and raffle with REthink Wisconsin to support its Farm Mobbing project
• Free samples from Bloom Bake Shop (bacon brownies and other treats--including options for vegetarians)
• Visit from Bucky Badger
• Free swag from the Office of Sustainability and We Conserve

When:  October 24 (11:30 AM - 2:00 PM)
Where: Slow Food UW Café (1127 University Avenue)

Eat Real!  Health + Sustainable + Affordable + Fair

All Campus Food Drive, 2011

Now, through December 1, students and staff are invited to donate non-perishable food items on behalf of the "Share Your Holidays" end-hunger campaign. This effort, as coordinated by NBC 15, the campus Office of Visitor & Information Programs and campus partners, including University Housing and the General Library System, supplies necessary food items for the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.

Current campus donation sites include the following:

• Union South, 1308 W. Dayton Street

• Office of the Registrar, 333 East Campus Mall, Room 10101

• WSUM 91.7 FM, 333 East Campus Mall, Room 4100

Those who wish to make a monetary donation can do so through the Second Harvest site and can have that donation credited to UW-Madison or to the specific department or unit helping to raise donations.

See the campus press release.

All Campus Food Drive

Beginning Monday, November 8 and running through Friday, December 3, students and staff are invited to donate non-perishable food items on behalf of the "Share Your Holidays" end-hunger campaign. This effort, as coordinated by NBC 15, the campus Office of Visitor & Information Programs and other campus organizations, supplies necessary food items for the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.

Campus donation sites include the following:

• Red Gym (Campus Information Center), 716 Langdon Street
• Welcome Center, 21 N. Park Street
• DoIT TechStore, 1210 W. Dayton Street
• Weeks Hall (main lobby), 1215 W. Dayton Street
• Wisconsin Alumni Association, 650 N. Lake Street

Additional donation sites will soon be added by participating groups and in specific building locations, including Memorial Library, Student Services/333 East Campus Mall and the School of Business.

Those who wish to make a monetary donation can do so through the Second Harvest site, "Share Your Holidays" campaign page.

See the campus press release.

Resources on Haiti

In response to the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, Chancellor Martin encourages the UW-Madison community to support relief efforts.

Many resources are available online, and from campus libraries, to help you to learn more about Haiti and current relief efforts. Speak with campus librarians for assistance locating additional resources (articles, books, web sites).

Charitable giving (agencies, organizations):
American Red Cross
Doctors without Borders/Medecins sans Frontieres
Engineers without Borders
Partners in Health
Unicef…, among others.
(In order to evaluate a charitable organization, visit the Charity Navigator site).

News:
CNN Haiti Earthquake
Democracy Now! (headline news and recent shows)
New York Times, Haiti
Relief Web, Haiti

Country Information, Maps:
CountryWatch (Select country, Haiti)
Haiti, CIA World Factbook
Haiti, World Health Organization
Haiti Earthquake, Map, USGS

Health & Disaster Response:
Haiti Earthquake, Disaster Information Management Research Center, NLM, NIH

Books/Documents (campus collections):
Run a MadCat, Words Anywhere search, to flexibly retrieve records to books, documents and audiovisual items from campus collections or browse this index of subject-headings. Click on a heading of interest to pull records to those collection items.

• Haiti: Past and Present Research Guide, UW-Madison Libraries (includes listing of film series event)
  

Blog post inspiration credit to UMass-Amherst librarian, Isabel E. who has generated a “Disaster in Haiti" Research Guide for her campus.

National Community Gardening Week (Aug 23-29)

The US Department of Agriculture has declared August 23-29 to be "National Community Gardening Week"!

According to Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, “Community gardens provide numerous benefits including opportunities for local food production, resource conservation, and neighborhood beautification… But they also promote family and community interaction and enhance opportunities to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Each of these benefits is something we can and should strive for."

Get to know your community gardens! The Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, works with more than thirty-one community gardens in the Madison area.

If you are interested in learning more about community gardening initiatives, consider browsing Steenbock Library collections. Run a MadCat catalog search to find these resources (HINT: try using “community gardens” or “community gardening” as a search term).

Among these resources are the following:

City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America

Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty

Community Garden Book: New Directions for Creating and Managing Neighborhood Food Gardens in Your Town

You can also learn more, or find a community garden in your area, by visiting the American Community Gardening Association’s web site.

Do also explore links from the USDA's People's Garden Project.

With thanks to Amanda W for selected titles. For additional library resources, see her original blog post.

Second Harvest Donation Event

The campus Visitor & Information Programs (VIP) office will host an opportunity to donate to the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. On December 5, students and staff can bring non-perishable food items to the Red Gym (716 Langdon), between 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM, for this effort. While there, enjoy some hot chocolate, courtesy of University Housing.

Your contribution matters, here, locally!

For some additional information and statistics regarding food insecurity/hunger in the United States, consult the following fact-sheets and studies supplied by Feeding America (parent organization for the Second Harvest foodbanks).