Ann DeSanctis' April Update

The month started out very excitingly with my first conference, Brownfields 2011, in Philadelphia. It was a fabulous networking opportunity and I felt like I got a great taste of what is going on in urban farming in many other cities across the country.
Work for Penn State revolved mostly around getting our name out there. That included three blogs, including an in depth look at PA Act 106 and how Penn State can help farmers/vendors through the process, tabling at an EnviroFair, and starting to plan for the Value Added Conference in July.

Work with PGE focused on designing the 2011 bumper sticker but was augmented by a day of building raw compost beds, and several highly successful events including Veggie 101 and Vacant Lot Remediation.
Work with the Food Policy Council really ramped up in preparation for inviting new steering committee members. Heather and I have been meeting with Leah, from PASA, and Berry, from the Co-op, to strategize for membership recruitment and to plan the next two PFPC meetings. Also, my research continued in regards to the symposium in the fall of regional food policy councils and I made contacts with a grad student at Tufts and joined the Food Policy Council listserv.

The SCA trainings for the month were very informative (body mechanics/bike maintenance/marketing/grant writing) and I was also able to participate in various volunteer activities outside of SCA. This include tree plantings and reusable water bottle distribution. In addition I attended several lectures/symposiums on sustainability and food systems to further my repertoire on those subjects.