Food Justice Newsletter
Welcome to the NOFA/Mass newsletter series
Each week we publish original articles on the topics we care about most.
Read about the latest policy issues affecting Massachusetts farmers and consumers in our “Policy and Advocacy” newsletter, get insider farming and gardening tips from expert growers in our “Be a Better Grower” newsletter, learn to do it yourself, from food preservation to building fences, in our “Practical Self-Sufficiency” newsletter and see how our community is working to improve the food system in our “Food Justice” newsletter.
Soil Health and Herbal Medicine at Tapley Garden
Christy Bassett2022-09-22T14:42:26-04:00September 22nd, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Access, Food Justice, September 2022|
By Sis. Anna Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Director Left to right: Ruben Parrilla, Agnes Frias, Sis. Dora Miller, Sis. Anna Gilbert-Muhammad at Soil Health Day at Tapley Garden, August 30, 2022. In August [...]
Microbes, Microscopes, Soil Health and Food Access
Christy Bassett2022-07-29T14:58:02-04:00July 29th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Access, Food Justice, July 2022|
Youth Agricultural Scientists Bridge Soil Science with Food Security John Duke speaks to a crowd of youth agricultural scientists in Springfield, MA in July, 2022. By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Director [...]
Cooking With Mari: Making Sofrito with Tapley Court Apartments Resident Chef
Christy Bassett2022-06-30T17:57:35-04:00June 30th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, June 2022|
By Sister Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Director The Summer season for the Youth Agricultural Scientists at Tapley Garden started with a cooking demonstration from local chef Marylis. Marylis is a resident of the [...]
Reflections on the Recent Tragedy in Buffalo, NY
Christy Bassett2022-05-27T14:50:52-04:00May 27th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, May 2022|
NOFA/Mass stands in solidarity with the families of the people affected by the recent hate crimes. We also recognize and support the work of the front line organizers holding their communities and experiencing the [...]
Working with Stinging Nettles and Wild Violets
Christy Bassett2022-04-29T14:36:41-04:00April 29th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: April 2022, Food Justice|
Kitchen Medicine with the Youth Leaders of Home City Housing, Part 2 By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Director Youth wild harvesting nettle and wild violets in Springfield, MA, April 2022. Nathalie [...]
The Misnomer of the Commons (Part 2)
Christy Bassett2022-04-29T14:18:13-04:00April 29th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: April 2022, Food Justice|
The History of Common Land in the Commonwealth By Grayce Rose, recent graduate of the Farm and Food Systems program at Greenfield Community College and NOFA/Mass Intern. Land that had been seized for use as [...]
Your Pantry as Your Medicine Cabinet
Christy Bassett2022-03-30T16:26:03-04:00March 30th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, March 2022|
Kitchen medicine with the youth and residents of the Bay Street Neighborhood Council By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Director Nathalie Fischer-Rodríguez of the People’s Medicine Project speaks to the youth leaders of [...]
Book Review: Urban Ecosystem Justice by Scott Kellogg
Christy Bassett2022-02-24T13:09:14-05:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: February 2022, Food Justice|
By Mike Rice, NOFA/Mass Development Director. A decade ago Mike interned with the Radix Center, where he first met Scott Kellogg and spent many mornings hauling food scraps for Radix’s Community Compost Initiative in [...]
How Your Community can Benefit from the Bulk Order
Christy Bassett2022-01-27T19:27:03-05:00December 22nd, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Bulk Order, December 2021, Food Justice|
By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad and Christine Manuck The NOFA Tri-State Bulk Order can help you plan ahead for the upcoming growing season and save you money on supplies, while on a community level it can [...]
The Misnomer of the Commons: The History of Common Land in the Commonwealth
Christy Bassett2022-01-27T08:09:08-05:00January 27th, 2022|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, January 2022|
By Grayce Rose, recent graduate of the Farm and Food Systems program at Greenfield Community College and NOFA/Mass Intern. Amidst the modern functions of life in present day Massachusetts, there are symbolic structural and [...]
NOFA/Mass Food Access Program– 2021 in Review
Christy Bassett2021-12-22T13:58:04-05:00December 22nd, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: December 2021, Food Access, Food Justice|
The Home City Housing Youth Agricultural Program and Open Pantry Garden By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Director Anna Gilbert-Muhammad (center) gives planting instructions to youth participants in the Tapley Court Garden, Springfield, [...]
Oasis on Ballou
Christy Bassett2021-10-27T21:52:43-04:00October 27th, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, October 2021|
A Real Oasis of Healthy Food and Beautiful Gardens Oasis on Ballou's raised bed gardens in September 2021. Photo credit: Anna Muhammad by Anna Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Coordinator In the early part [...]
Dealing with Soil Contaminants in the City
Christy Bassett2021-10-27T21:00:46-04:00October 27th, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, October 2021|
By Andrew Laurion, NOFA/Mass Bioremediation Project Coordinator Behind the site of the Walnut Street community garden in Springfield Massachusetts, there’s a 25’ x 25’ section that hasn’t been developed or incorporated, due to a concern [...]
Introducing the Western Massachusetts Regenerative Food System
Christy Bassett2021-09-24T14:55:44-04:00September 24th, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Justice, September 2021|
By Hannah McDonald, NOFA/Mass Western MA Regenerative Food System Coordinator One of NOFA/Mass’s new endeavors for 2021 has been to develop the “Western Massachusetts Regenerative Food System” (or “WMRFS”). This intent for this program [...]
Youth Agricultural Scientists Visit The African Alliance, Bami Farms (Part 2)
Christy Bassett2021-08-26T13:59:09-04:00August 26th, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: August 2021, Food Justice|
By Ivanyliz Rodriguez and Anna Gilbert-Muhammad This article is the second part of our feature on the visit by Springfield Youth Agricultural Scientists from NOFA/Mass’s Food Access project to Bami Farms in Johnston, Rhode Island. Read part one here. The stevia plant grows well in well-drained beds [...]
Youth Agricultural Scientists Visit The African Alliance, Bami Farms (Part 1)
Christy Bassett2021-07-23T15:34:31-04:00July 23rd, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Access, Food Justice, July 2021|
By Ivanyliz Rodriguez and Anna Gilbert-Muhammad Youth Agricultural Scientist Ivanyliz Rodriguez (right) interviews Julius Kolawole (left), Executive Director of The African Alliance On July 16th, 2021, the Youth Agricultural Scientists from Home City Housing visited with Julius Kolawole, Executive Director of The African [...]
NOFA/Mass Food Access Project Community Gardens Open for the Season
Christy Bassett2021-06-23T12:32:17-04:00June 23rd, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: Food Access, Food Justice, June 2021|
By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Coordinator NOFA/Mass Food Access Coordinator, Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, plants vegetable starts in the Tapley Court Apartments Community Garden with one of the area youths. Preparations at the community gardens that we [...]
Arise for Social Justice Links Up with the Open Pantry Community Garden
Christy Bassett2021-06-07T12:16:33-04:00April 28th, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: April 2021, Food Access, Food Justice|
By Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Coordinator Everyone is looking forward to spring and the fresh air that the season brings. The smell of compost and soil is in the air seems to bring [...]
Introduction to the NOFA/Mass Bioremediation Project
Christy Bassett2021-06-07T12:16:03-04:00April 28th, 2021|Categories: Newsletters|Tags: April 2021, Food Access, Food Justice, Soil Health|
Healing the Soil ~ Healing the Community ~ Feeding the Community by Anna Gilbert-Muhammad, NOFA/Mass Food Access Coordinator Growing food in urban areas like Boston, Newark or Springfield where soils are depleted and contaminated with lead and/or other heavy metals can be [...]