Gardening workshop welcomes new community partners!

ARISE staff, parents, and neighbors came out for a free workshop at the Sankofa Learning Garden this Wednesday afternoon. The workshop was led by experienced gardener Pam Broom. The information at the event ranged from planting beds out of ground, how to transplant plant starts, and getting involved with the community partner spaces. Workshop members planted garlic, lemon mint, and various other herbs. Attendees left the event with some plant giveaways and a new earned knowledge of gardening! Check out some pictures of workshop attendees gardening.  Sankofa is excited to welcome our new friends and community partners to the space.

Our Lead Gardener Pam Broom kicks off the garden workshop

ARISE Staff and neighbors listen as Pam talks about planting in raised beds. 

Christopher Ingham, Special Education Teacher at ARISE, helps Pam plant herbs. 

Ms. Morris, Kindergarten Teacher, plants the final herbs. 

Steffany Bernstein- Pratt, neighbor,  plants garlic bulbs.

Gearing up for the New School Year!

This past Saturday we held a volunteer event at the Sankofa Learning Garden at ARISE Academy in order to get the space spruced up for student use. We had twenty- plus wonderful volunteers who worked for four hours to beautify the space. In the end, we were able to pull up all of the weeds, add a pop of color to the Garden, and bring new soil, all while having a good time. Sankofa can't thank all of  the amazing volunteers enough for giving their time and energy to the school garden. They have truly planted the seeds of positive energy and care that will make this Learning Garden a successful space for students! Here are some photos of these lovely folks hard at work!

Fixing up our community garden beds pictures from left to right: Diane Deroog, Whitney Shields, and Rebekah Mende.

 Ronnie King, Urban League New Orleans  does some much needed weeding of the community garden beds. 

 Joya Phillips, ARISE Academy student brightens up a garden bed with a coat of paint. 

Shelby Hollenbeck and Nicole Marby,Wilson Academy gardeners putting a fresh coat of paint on a garden bed.  

Shelly Gomez and Zach Gomez, community volunteers sprucing up a garden bed.

 Rashida Ferdinand, Founder and Executive Director transplants some rosemary in a garden bed. 

Mary Dumler, community volunteer wheels some soil to a garden bed.

The final results of volunteer day!

It's Strawberry Season! - Part 1

Get 'em while they're hot folks! As many of you may know strawberry season is in full swing here in Louisiana. The season peaked in March/April and will continue throughout the month of May. Be sure to stock up while they're still fresh and local.

These berries are packed full of good for you nutrients, making the sweet juicy fruit that much more rewarding to eat. One cup has only 55 calories, lots of vitamin C, and loads of cancer-fighting antioxidants.

Sweet Louisiana Strawberries

Want some strawberry fun facts? Here are five!

The average strawberry has 200 seeds 

94% of US households consume strawberries

The strawberry is the most popular berry in the world

It's a member of the rose family

Belgium has a museum dedicated to strawberries

Information gathered from: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/strawberries/facts.cfm

Strawberries are only in season for a few months of the year. Here at Sankofa we have several tips to make those local strawberries last all year round. There's no need to buy frozen strawberries flown in from another country in December, when you can use local strawberries from your freezer.

To make the most of berries in season...

1. Buy in bulk - Stock up while the berries are in season
2. Wash your berries in a water/vinegar solution - The vinegar acts a disinfectant which cleans your berries and helps keep them fresh longer. 
3. Freeze whole or sliced strawberries to use in smoothies or baked goods all fall and winter long. When freezing, lay the berries out on a baking sheet. Place them in the freezer until firm to the touch, then add them to a freezer bag. 
4. Preserve them as jams

Be sure to rinse all fresh fruit and vegetables you purchase!

The culinary opinions for strawberries extend far beyond adding them to fruit salad. Below we've listed six recipe ideas to get you started.

1. Sweet Strawberry Salsa - strawberries, fresh basil leaves, lemon zest, balsamic vinegar
2. Creamy Strawberry Smoothie - strawberries, kale, banana, almond milk
3. Strawberry Spinach Salad - spinach, strawberries, pecans, balsamic vinegar
4. Refreshing Strawberry Popsicles - strawberries, yogurt
5. Strawberry and Mint Infused Water - strawberries, mint, water
6. Sugar-free Strawberry Oat Bars - strawberries, rolled oats, dates, almonds (come back next week for the full recipe!)

Visit Sankofa's mobile market every Saturday from 11am - 2pm at 5030 St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans to purchase some local strawberries from Johndale's Farm in Ponchatoula Louisiana.

Come back to the blog next week to see how Sankofa does dessert with our delicious sugar-free strawberry oat bars!

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day first began in April of 1970. This now yearly holiday occurs every April 22nd as a day to put the environment first. Celebrations around the country focus on key environmental issues and ways to tackle them. Although a lot of change needs to occur at the policy level, there is a tremendous amount we can do as individuals!

Sourced from: www.involvement.mtu.edu

Show your support for local food and other local products by visiting a market. If you have children consider taking them to a local farm so they can see where their food comes from. Have a picnic in the park. Whatever you do, go outside and enjoy the beautiful earth we live on!

New Orleans celebrates Earth Day in a big way

This past Saturday Louis Armstrong Park hosted the 2014 New Orleans Earth Day Festival and Green Business Expo.

The festival brought together local food vendors (selling things like solar-powered drinks), sustainable clothing businesses (using bamboo, organic cotton, and natural dyes), alternative energy companies, environmental clean-up organizations, committees petitioning for more bike lanes, several demo booths, and of course live music. It was truly a celebration of environmental progress, and instilled a sense of empowerment.

Five ways to celebrate Earth Day everyday

1. Buy only what you need, from local and sustainable sources when possible.

2. Think before you throw away. STOP and think about how you can reuse it (or compost it, see our post on how to compost here: http://sankofacdc.blogspot.com/2014/03/composting-part-2-of-2-how-to-compost.html)

3. Recycle as much as you can. For a list of acceptable curbside recyclables in New Orleans visit: http://www.nola.gov/sanitation/recycling/sort/

4. Eat more plants. Meat production is a large contributor to global warming.

5. Waste less electricity and water by turning off lights when you leave a room, turning off appliances and electronics when not in use, taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth.

Re- Opening of Sankofa's Mobile Market

After a few months closed due to the freezing weather, we officially re-opened The Sankofa Mobile Market this past Saturday April 5, 2014 at 5030 St. Claude Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward.

Produce in the market included : hydroponic tomatoes, radish, turnips, Ponchatoula strawberries, collard, mustard greens and fresh herbs from our garden.

Plump tomatoes from Cajun Growers

Turnips and Radishes from Frank Fekete Farms

Juicy Ponchatoula strawberries from Fletcher Family Farm

Through the Mobile Market, we are bringing fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs to the Lower Ninth Ward every week. We are currently developing plans to expand to additional stops in the neighborhood during June. Through offering low-cost produce sales we are working to address the ‘food desert’ problem , a major issue in New Orleans, address some of those barriers that affect access to fresh fruits and vegetables in low-socioeconomic communities.

We recently started a new Rewards Program for our loyal customers to continue to support healthier eating. Many shoppers signed up for the Rewards Program and will receive a free item when they purchase vegetables and fruits at the Mobile Market at least two times a month.  

Sankofa is working to improve health and wellness in our community and create progressive programs that bring quality of life resources to the area. Community collaborations are critical to our work and the success of the Mobile Market. We appreciate the support of Reverend Dyson and Mr. Parther for their support in hosting the Mobile Market at St Paul Church of God in Christ at 5030 St Claude Ave.

Community members picking out local strawberries

Please come by and visit us for fresh local produce, and join us in this movement to improve community health and wellness. We hope to see you this Saturday, April 12!

HEAL Project Celebrates National Nutrition Month

In honor of National Nutrition Month, Sankofa's HEAL enrichment class and after-school club have been focusing on nutrition awareness and ways for students to improve nutrition in their own lives. By providing students at a young age with the knowledge and tools they need to make healthy choices, we believe they will be more likely to make those choices throughout the life-cycle.

Our most recent classes have been about the food groups and sugar content in beverages. We utilized MyPlate (shown below) as a tool to demonstrate how students should be eating. There was a focus on eating more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These three food groups should comprise most of your plate. Students learned about the process of refining grains and the nutrients which are lost during processing (ie. fiber, vitamins, and minerals).  For this reason it's crucial to eat your grains in their whole form (oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa) or eat products made from whole grains (whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta) for the best nutrition. We discussed different protein and calcium sources from both plants and animals. Ample protein can come from legumes (beans + lentils), nuts, and seeds, as well as animals. Dairy is a recommended part of the diet for the calcium it contains. Dark leafy vegetables (kale, broccoli, spinach) and soy products are also great sources of bone-strengthening calcium.

Sourced from: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

To bring National Nutrition Month to a close, we had a Smoothie Day with the enrichment students. Prior to this class, the students learned about the high amounts of sugar in commonly consumed beverages. Highly sweetened beverages include soft drinks, most iced teas, sports drinks (Gatorade), energy drinks (Red Bull), and juice that isn't 100% fruit juice.

To show the students how to choose a healthier alternative, we helped them create one. The class was first divided into two teams.







Each team was provided with healthy ingredients from which they could choose to add to their smoothie. There were strawberries, blueberries, and bananas for them to choose from. Ice and 100% cranberry juice were also added to the smoothies to cool down the drink and add some liquid.

Bright red smoothie from the strawberry group

Deep red smoothie from the blueberry group

National Nutrition Month Fruit Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice
• 2 cups frozen strawberries (or frozen blueberries)
• 2 bananas, peeled
• 1/2 cup ice

Directions: 

• Add juice, strawberries, bananas, and ice to a blender. Blend until smooth.

Lots of fruit about to be blended

The final product about to be enjoyed!

Happy National Nutrition Month! 

Welcome to Sankofa Speaks Blog

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."  - Harriet Tubman.  Sankofa Speaks, the new Sankofa blog space will include diverse community perspectives on health and provide a platform for Sankofa HEAL students to share the work they are doing with the Mobile Market and Learning Gardens. This blog will be a space for HEAL students to both learn and share information, and speak on issues that are important to their development and self-empowerment as leaders in our community. Additionally, the blog will promote health and wellness by sharing healthy cooking recipes, link to information on nutrition and health, and provide current updates on the Sankofa Mobile Market. Please join us at Sankofa Speaks to work with us to positively impact our lives and work with us to bring our dreams to reality as the creators of our future. 

Warmly,

Rashida Ferdinand

Founder and Executive Director

Sankofa Community Development Corporation