Learning Community Garden at Faith Food Fridays to Educate About Growing Food

Jan 13, 2023

Jan. 13, 2023
For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

Quick facts:

  • 2 pm Thursday, Jan 26: Ribbon-cutting ceremony and plant giveaway at Faith Food Fridays’ new Learning Community Garden
  • Remarks from Faith Food Fridays’ Benjamin and Mary Ann Buggs, and Sustainable Solano’s Solano Gardens program managers Michael Wedgley and Lauren Gucik
  • Class on gardening in containers taught by Roxann Reyes, Beautification Commissioner for City of Vallejo. Participants will receive supplies and plants to take home with them.
  • This event is open to the public.
  • Please share news of the event in advance with your audience. We also invite media coverage of the event.

 

Learning Community Garden at Faith Food Fridays to Educate About Growing Food

Faith Food Fridays in Vallejo grew out of a mission to end hunger, with a focus on providing emergency food to families. But Mary Ann Buggs, Faith Food Fridays’ administrative director, says that food security needs to move beyond emergency food to sharing knowledge and skills to grow food within our communities.

That’s why the organization is working in partnership with Sustainable Solano’s Solano Gardens program to dedicate a raised garden bed and offer plants for those who want to grow their food at home at Faith Food Fridays’ Vallejo distribution location.

“This garden is extremely important to Faith Food Fridays, not just from a personal standpoint of continuing the tradition we grew up with of growing our own food, but really providing a means for sustainable nutrition for our community members to advance long-term health,” Buggs said.

The Learning Community Garden has been improved and expanded through the efforts of a number of community groups and organizations, with Vallejo Beautification Commission board member Roxann Reyes organizing volunteers to sheet mulch, install garden beds and plant those beds.

Reyes said she learned from her grandmother how tending a garden could offer freedom, and self-sufficiency, and she brought her own experience with facing hunger and the security of a garden to her efforts to start seedlings at home that she could share with others in the community through various organizations, including Faith Food Fridays, Angels With Heart and WAHEO, so they could grow their own food.

“I’m most thankful for Mr. Benjamin Buggs and Mrs. Mary Ann Buggs for gifting the community with a piece of property that will benefit Vallejo and the surrounding areas,” Reyes said.

At 2 pm Jan. 26, Faith Food Fridays and Sustainable Solano will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony and plant giveaway to recognize the addition of the Learning Community Garden while giving those in the community plants and supplies they can take home to start their own gardens. Leadership and community member volunteers will share their involvement with the Learning Community Garden, and elected officials, Vallejo business owners and other nonprofit organizations are invited to attend. Reyes will be offering a talk on container gardening that can benefit those who want to grow food at home but don’t have the space or live in temporary housing. The event is open to the public.

Faith Food Fridays and Sustainable Solano hope to combine their expertise and work with support from the community and other organizations to create a garden that is an example that can be used to inspire similar gardens throughout the county.

“The hardest thing with community gardens is harnessing the human power to keep it going long term and sustainably,” Buggs said. “We hope other cities/communities reach out so we can show them how easy it is to create a sustainable, healthy food source.”

 

About Faith Food Fridays

Faith Food Fridays began in 2011 under the guidance of Ministry Director Benjamin Buggs and Administrative Director Mary Ann Buggs, and helps those in need with free boxes of food, groceries and other necessities, along with resource referrals and positive encouragement. Distributions are on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays and serve more than 600 families each week. There are no requirements or qualifications people need to meet to receive fresh and non-perishable food items.

About Solano Gardens

The Solano Gardens program has grown this year beyond its original scope of creating and supporting gardens that provide access to fresh produce in communities that have historically experienced limited access to healthy food. With the expansion of the program, the broader goal is to help Solano communities regain control over the growing, sharing and preparing of food. The program will do this in three ways. Solano Gardens will establish garden Hubs that can support education, distribution and preparation of food; community gardens that continue to get fresh produce to local residents; and smaller satellite gardens that can serve as a network of support for home gardeners interested in producing their own food. Culinary training classes for youth will impart skills and understanding of how to prepare fresh food at home and in larger amounts to share with others. And the program is also managing a farm feasibility study to look at the best approaches to continuing to support farming and food production here in Solano County. Together, these three aspects of Solano Gardens work toward that broader goal of food sovereignty for Solano communities.

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization, now in its second decade, brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, youth leadership, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org 

Solano Gardens Seeks to Build Community Connection Through Garden Network

Nov 16, 2022

Nov. 16, 2022
For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

Quick facts:

  • Sustainable Solano’s Solano Gardens is building a network of community and backyard gardens that can support each other with education, garden supplies and shared food.
  • The program has a limited number of chickens, coops, vertical and container gardening and aquaponics kits to supply to community gardens. There are also chickens, coops and container garden kits for backyard gardeners who need assistance building their home gardens.
  • Anyone interested in support for growing food at home can fill out an interest form here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZVKVRH2

 

Solano Gardens Seeks to Build Community Connection Through Garden Network 

Sustainable Solano’s Solano Gardens program is offering garden resources to Solano County communities and aims to create a network of home gardeners to support one another.

Sustainable Solano intends to increase in-county food production, supporting communities to grow and process their own food and help eliminate food insecurity. Building community, health, wealth, and systems of care that are culturally responsive are at the heart of these efforts.

Solano Gardens, a partnership between Sustainable Solano and Solano Public Health, collaborates with community members and organizations to create edible gardens based on the principles of permaculture to serve as a source of fresh produce, inspiration and companionship for people in need across diverse communities. Each garden design is unique to the community it serves and cared for by community champions passionate about sustainable food.

Solano Gardens is offering a limited number of chickens, chicken coops, beehives, vertical or container farming, and aquaponics kits to community gardens, with the hope that some of these community gardens will eventually become “Hubs” around the county. Hubs would demonstrate different growing methods, host educational events and supplies giveaways, and have kitchen space to prepare some of what is growing for the community as part of education, sharing healthy food, and creating social enterprises.

Sustainable Solano will also cultivate a satellite network of home growers with gardens of any size. Solano Gardens will support this network through classes and circles of knowledge-sharing, so that these gardeners can lend support to each other. There will be a limited number of chickens, chicken coops, and vertical or container farming kits intended for satellite growers who need support establishing their home gardens. Sustainable Solano also welcomes donations to increase what can be offered.

Anyone who needs support in growing food at home can fill out an interest form here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZVKVRH2

About Solano Gardens

The Solano Gardens program has grown this year beyond its original scope of creating and supporting gardens that provide access to fresh produce in communities that have historically experienced limited access to healthy food. With the expansion of the program, the broader goal is to help Solano communities regain control over the growing, sharing and preparing of food. The program will do this in three ways. Solano Gardens will establish garden Hubs that can support education, distribution and preparation of food; community gardens that continue to get fresh produce to local residents; and smaller satellite gardens that can serve as a network of support for home gardeners interested in producing their own food. Culinary training classes for youth will impart skills and understanding of how to prepare fresh food at home and in larger amounts to share with others. And the program is also managing a farm feasibility study to look at the best approaches to continuing to support farming and food production here in Solano County. Together, these three aspects of Solano Gardens work toward that broader goal of food sovereignty for Solano communities.

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization, now in its second decade, brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, youth leadership, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org 

Community Forum to Gather Suisun City Residents’ Ideas on Climate Resilience

Oct 6, 2022

Oct. 6, 2022
For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

Community Forum to Gather Suisun City Residents’ Ideas on Climate Resilience

Suisun City residents are invited to a community forum on climate resilience to hear about the environmental challenges the city faces, specifically from flooding, and offer their voices and ideas to guide how the city responds to these vulnerabilities.

The Suisun City Climate Resilience Community Forum will be from 11 am-2 pm Oct. 22 at the Joseph Nelson Community Center. The day will start with a panel of speakers, including Mayor Pro Tem Alma Hernandez; John Durand with the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, who has been doing research on Suisun Marsh; Jacyln Mandoske of Bay Conservation and Development Commission; and Emily Corwin of the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District. Speakers will talk about the BCDC’s Adapting to Rising Tides report, the insights from the Community Resilience Building report from this summer, and ongoing resilience projects in the city.

Registration is required, with lunch provided for the first 30 participants who register.

After lunch, Suisun community members will be invited to engage with the panelists and discuss their thoughts on flooding risks and climate resilience, biggest worries and concerns, and how neighbors and city leaders can work together toward solutions.

The Forum is offered in partnership between the city and Sustainable Solano, which has looked at climate challenges in Suisun City through its Resilient Neighborhoods program, including monthly Flood Walks to inform residents about community flood risks. Suisun City faces threats in the years ahead from a variety of climate-related issues, most notably flood risk from sea level rise and more severe storms. During the summer, Sustainable Solano, city leaders and a core group of community members held a Community Resilience Building Workshop under the guidance of The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy created the summary report that will be discussed as part of the Oct. 22 Forum.

Suisun City residents are encouraged to read through the report and join the Forum to offer feedback and guidance to city and community leaders. Community members can also offer input through a simple feedback form that will be shared with city leaders.

After the Forum, Suisun City residents are invited to attend the city’s Environment and Climate Advisory Committee meetings on the third Wednesday of each month to stay on top of flood mitigation efforts.

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization, now in its second decade, brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, youth leadership, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org 

Sustainable Solano’s Resilient Neighborhoods program is funded through the Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation Foundation.

Learn more here: https://sustainablesolano.org/project/suisun-city-resilient-neighborhoods/

Quick Facts:

Relevant links:

Suisun City Climate Resilience Community Forum: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/suisun-city-climate-resilience-community-forum-tickets-427372050307

Suisun City Community Resilience Building Summary Report: https://tnc.app.box.com/s/wg7eby3hcn01ngvyon42rirm1srotw0d

Environment and Climate Advisory Committee: https://www.suisun.com/government/citizen-governance/environment-climate-committee/

Upcoming Flood Walks: Oct. 15: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1015-suisun-city-marina-flood-walk-tickets-431357029487

Feedback Form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BZQHSGW

High School Students Can Find Meaningful Opportunities with Sustainable Solano

Sep 12, 2022

Sept. 12, 2022
For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

High School Students Can Find Meaningful Opportunities with Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano will have numerous opportunities for Solano high school students to participate in internships and Fellowships starting this fall. Different programs will center around community resilience, urban agriculture and gardens, or local food and cooking.

Interns will support Sustainable Solano programs and gain valuable research and hands-on experience in these areas of interest. They also will build leadership skills around sharing what they have learned with the community, local leaders, peers and others. The internships include a monthly stipend of $150 for students who meet program requirements.

High school youth interested in participating in SuSol programs can learn more during an introductory certification session. Certification is required for any Solano high school student planning to join a paid internship, though students can attend a certification session even if they are not ready to apply for an internship.

The free certification sessions, offered online and in-person, explore environmental challenges at a global, community and individual level, bringing the discussion to bear on youth leadership and engagement around environmental justice. The next online session starts Sept. 22, and an in-person session is planned for Vacaville in October.

Upcoming Fellowship and internship opportunities include:

  • Youth Air Protectors (Fairfield): Air Protectors will research the air quality challenges for their communities, create outreach campaigns and support community-based projects centered around air quality, including air sensor installation and air quality mitigation projects, culminating in an air quality plan for the City of Fairfield.
  • Environmental Justice Leadership Fellowship (Vacaville): Fellowship participants will study environmental data for the local community, discuss the environmental challenges and potential solutions for their communities, and participate in hands-on workshops to help beautify the Rocky Hill Trail while planting native plants and capturing rainwater to mitigate some of those challenges.
  • Sustainable Landscaping and Garden-based internships (various Solano County locations): Depending on the program, interns will gain a basic understanding of permaculture, learn how to install and maintain sustainable landscapes or community gardens, build healthy soil, learn planting methods, capture rainwater, and participate in community engagement.
  • Culinary and Local Food internships (various Solano County locations): Depending on the program, interns will learn about the larger local food system, how to prepare healthy, seasonal produce, grow their comfort in the kitchen and learn basic food preparation skills, and teach others about local food. The first cohort will be in Vacaville, with others to follow elsewhere in the county.

Learn more here: https://sustainablesolano.org/youth-engagement/ 

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization, now in its second decade, brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, youth leadership, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org 

Suisun City Seeks Community Input on Addressing Biggest Local Climate Challenges

Aug 24, 2022

Aug. 24, 2022
For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

Suisun City Seeks Community Input on Addressing Biggest Local Climate Challenges

Suisun City faces threats in the years ahead from a variety of climate-related issues, most notably flood risk from sea level rise and more severe storms. A new report outlines some of these issues and will serve as a starting point for community conversations around risks and possible solutions for the city to pursue.

Details from the report and opportunities for community input will be covered in a presentation to the Suisun City Council at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 6. Alex Lunine, Sustainable Solano’s Resilient Communities program manager, will give the presentation.

The report comes out of a Community Resilience Building Workshop hosted by Sustainable Solano through its Resilient Neighborhoods program and under the guidance of The Nature Conservancy. This June workshop brought together city residents, business owners, city leaders and environmental professionals to talk over environmental hazards and outline some preliminary community priorities. The Nature Conservancy created a summary report from this meeting that will now be used by Sustainable Solano, the city, and a core team of community members and local officials to seek resident feedback and guidance.

Mayor Pro Tem Alma Hernandez, who also is a member of the core team, noted that Suisun City is the first West Coast city to host a Community Resilience Building Workshop with The Nature Conservancy. She said there is potential to help other cities in the region benefit from those efforts and find similar ways to connect with community members around climate challenges.

“Suisun City in Solano County is emerging as a leader in the environmental and climate space,” she said.

The United States Conference of Mayors recognized Suisun City this summer with a Local Climate Action Award for its city-wide energy and infrastructure program to curb greenhouse gases.

“We definitely have much more work to do, which is why we are proactively engaging with Sustainable Solano, BCDC [San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission], and other agencies to continue to work on pressing environmental concerns such as sea level rise,” Hernandez said.

Highlights of the report include identifying some high-priority areas for possible action, including

  • Access grants to install preventative flood infrastructure such as living-levees and critical pump stations;
  • Implement hazard and warning signs along flood-prone roadways to increase public awareness;
  • Bring findings to City Council to get flooding prevention measures enacted and to incorporate successful actions by neighboring Bay Area communities;
  • Secure funds to continue vulnerability assessments and planning over the next 10 years.

Other risks discussed in the report include wildfires, earthquakes and high wind events.

Suisun City residents are encouraged to read through the report and take advantage of a number of opportunities to engage around the environmental issues outlined.

These include attending the City Council meeting on Sept. 6; attending a meeting of the city’s Environment and Climate Committee, which meets on the fourth Monday of each month; or participating in a special listening session as part of the Suisun City Climate and Environmental Festival planned for Saturday, Oct. 22. The Festival will have a special focus on the report this year, with a speaker on the challenges Suisun City faces, presentations from Sustainable Solano’s Resilient Neighborhoods interns, and a listening session with city officials and community leaders around the report and community-directed action to address these challenges. 

Sustainable Solano will be at the #IARTSuisun community art event on Saturday, Sept. 17 — another opportunity to discuss the environmental challenges and the report in advance of the Festival. Community members are also encouraged to participate in a Suisun City Flood Walk offered from 4-5 pm on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, where they can learn more about the flood risks faced by the city and share their insight.

Sustainable Solano has also created a simple feedback form to gather community input or questions about the report that can be shared with city leaders.

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization, now in its second decade, brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, youth leadership, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org 

Sustainable Solano’s Resilient Neighborhoods program is funded through the Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation Foundation.

Learn more here: https://sustainablesolano.org/project/suisun-city-resilient-neighborhoods/

Important events to offer Climate report feedback:

6:30 pm Sept. 6: Suisun City Council meeting (with public presentation)

6 pm Sept. 26. : Environment and Climate Advisory Committee meeting

Oct. 22: Climate and Environmental Festival (with listening session on the report) (more details will be available soon)

Relevant links:

Suisun City Community Resilience Building Summary Report: https://tnc.app.box.com/s/wg7eby3hcn01ngvyon42rirm1srotw0d 

Suisun City Council: https://www.suisun.com/government/city-council/ 

Environment and Climate Advisory Committee: https://www.suisun.com/government/citizen-governance/environment-climate-committee/ 

Climate and Environmental Festival (2021): https://sustainablesolano.org/climate-environmental-festival-reconnects-community-to-create-change/

#IARTSuisun: https://www.facebook.com/iartsuisun/

Upcoming Flood Walks: Sept. 10: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/910-suisun-city-marina-flood-walk-tickets-406485467977

Sept. 24: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/924-suisun-city-marina-flood-walk-tickets-406485959447 

Feedback Form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BZQHSGW

New Program in Fairfield Will Tackle Poor Air Quality, Engage Youth

Aug 17, 2022

Aug. 17, 2022
For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel
805-512-0901
allison@sustainablesolano.org
Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

New Program in Fairfield Will Tackle Poor Air Quality, Engage Youth

Residents of Fairfield are dealing with an environmental burden that, in large part, remains unseen by the naked eye — poor air quality. Fairfield is affected by air pollutants from the traffic along Interstate 80 and Highway 12, as well as the seasonal damage to air quality from wildfires. City residents have increased rates of asthma and higher rates of cardiovascular disease, both of which are directly linked to poor air quality.

A new Air Quality program from Sustainable Solano, with funding from the California Air Resources Board, will collaborate with Fairfield residents to address these concerns through the establishment of a high school Youth Air Protectors program and an extensive community outreach campaign.

The Youth Air Protectors program will engage high school students around air pollution. Each team of students will make a five-month commitment to the program, with the first group starting work this fall. Youth Air Protectors will collect air quality data in Fairfield, analyze the sustainability of Fairfield’s urban planning, and reflect on how environmental hazards disproportionately impact different communities. Students will play a pivotal role in spreading air quality awareness in Fairfield through community education and air sensor distribution and will help spearhead the movement for a more walkable and sustainable future through city beautification projects.

Using direct community feedback and conversations, Sustainable Solano and the Youth Air Protectors will assist the people of Fairfield in shaping an Air Quality Action Plan that will serve as a blueprint for continued efforts in addressing air quality within the city and as a model for other cities.

The Air Quality program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.

For more information on the Air Quality program or to apply for the Youth Air Protectors, visit https://sustainablesolano.org/air-quality/

About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization, now in its second decade, brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, youth leadership, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org