Let's get going on the upcoming garden season for 2024!Bill of Health  Food is Medicine Approaches to Address Diet-Related Health Conditions. Take a look for yourself and study how your food choices may be good for you and the environmental health of the planet. Some cities while not banning meat, want to encourage us to eat more plants and have signed on to the Plant Based Treaty, see information about the treaty. The Gardening Channel Seed Starting,  MIGardener seed starting. Chicago Gardener March Tasks. Chicago Gardener flower variety for containers to start seeds for now. MIGardener starting potatoes in containers. Search the keywords, “seed potatoes for sale” for vendors for seed potatoes. See the Chicago Grows Food website to register for the monthly Lunch and Grow program at noon, the second Wednesday of the month.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

Since discovering the Food Institute website I have spent considerable time reading through the offerings and found the following to share: Food Institute Food as Medicine Conundrum https://foodinstitute.com/focus/the-food-as-medicine-conundrum/ No surprise here but the Food Institute shares insight about the causes of the global Type-2 Diabetes pandemic. The Food Institute research found that food as medicine initiatives do improve health and save household consumer dollars. The conundrum is related to the impact of food insecurity.  Find the True Cost of Food: Food as Medicine Case Study report here. There are three new books on our bookshelf:  Grow Big In Small Spaces: The Urban Gardeners Guide to Container Gardening & Home Canning by  Luke Potter. The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War  on Pollinator Decline by Kim Eierman Forager’s Garden by Anna LockeMy fellow gardeners are anxious to get going so you may want to do the following in February. Videos produced by Chicago Gardener on garden tasks and planting schedule for February. The Chicago Gardener channel has videos specific to Chicago. Also see: MIGardener The Gardening Channel is located in USDA Zone 7 but the information is still valuable I would wait about 3 weeks or so to adjust to our zone 6 requirements. Check out the information you should know before buying seeds. I am excited to let you know that the March episode will include a session my co-host and co-producer soil enthusiast and scientist Dr. Akilah Martin and I did last year currently going through postproduction. Also, I will have more details about how you may participate in the African Diaspora Collection and Collard Project collaboration we are organizing with the Urban Growers Collective, Community Food Navigator, Chicago Grows Food, Stein Learning Garden, Gardeneers, Openlands, Healthy Schools Campaign and the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at UIC, among others.Contact: orrinw@uic.eduThe views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is about food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

The Roots Watering Hole podcast series is back after some life issues that kept us from publishing except for our food literacy podcast for several months. We return with a compelling interview with Dr. Gerald that we think you will enjoy,Bio: "Dr. JPB Gerald is an educator and theorist with a day job in non-profit education management and a side hustle trying to dismantle these systems we're all in. He writes and speaks about the intersection between racism, language education, and ability, and lives on unceded Munsee Lenape territory (aka NYC) with his wife, toddler, and dog." Dr. Gerald came to the Roots Watering Hole podcast series after my co-host and co-producer Dr. Akilah Martin shared a podcast episode where Justin appeared as a guest on the Integrated Schools podcast. To say the least, I was intrigued and picked up Justin’s book, Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness. Dr. Akilah and I both read the book and reached out to Dr. Gerald, and he graciously agreed to be a guest on the RWH podcast. Thank you again, Justin! Tune in now for our episode with Dr. JPB Gerald. Book: https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/?K=9781800413269Podcast for All of Dr. Gerald’s Episodes: https://radiopublic.com/unstandardized-english-G27J3n/episodesWebsite: https://jpbgerald.com/Indie Bound Book Sellers Additional Dr. Justin Gerald Podcasts Language Teaching and the white Working Class, with Nicole Pettitt Podcast Dr. Justin Gerald on Linked in  Again, thank you to Dr. Gerald, the aftermath of the episode led to an exploration of linguistics, especially as it relates to the use of language and dialects. The exploration that had its antecedents in earlier explorations of topics such as Ebonics and Black English also led to the exploration of how people speak in places such as Appalachia, the Caribbean communities, Gullah communities on the Atlantic coast. Think deeply about language and words as it is important to how WE tell OUR stories.  “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”― Chinua AchebeThe views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the Center for Urban Transformation or the Roots Watering Hole podcast series. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only.

The Roots Watering Hole Podcast Series returns to full-time regular programming with at least one episode per month in addition to the food literacy podcasts. Listen to the trailer, thank you for listening.Please look for information coming up about supporting our work via Patreon...

It is the beginning of 2024 and we embark upon a new trip around the sun. This is the first episode of the 2024 food literacy podcast and we will be providing a brief overview of what the upcoming season will include. Thank you for listening and may we provide you with a wealth of information for building healthy individuals and communities.In this episode, we give our decidedly grassroots definition of food literacy. Well, there is no set definition of the term and if you want to dig into the weeds do a keyword search, but here is a good starting point for defining food literacy.The food literacy podcast will kick off in full swing with the February 2024 episode. However, we know many of our gardening people are ready to get going but slow down just a bit and whet your appetite with these video offerings from MIgardener. We like their information and find it useful because they share the same USDA Hardiness Zone with Chicago. MIgardener discusses the new hardiness zones and their implications for your gardening adventure in 2024. Then check out their episode on seeds you may want to consider starting in January.If you are going to start your seeds indoors and use grow lights here is some information you may find useful, The world of grow lights is extensive so be sure to search the keyword "indoor grow lights" and do your research.That's all we have for now, HAPPY NEW YEAR and HAPPY GARDENING, COOKING, and EATING!If you would like to recommend topics, guests, etc, here is the contact information you need orrinw@uic.edu.For information about the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at UIC program mentioned in this episode go to the website. Consider reaching out about potential partnerships with one of their interventions.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

A wide-ranging conversation about being human and co-creating with Nature/Mother Earth. I think you will enjoy this sonic experience!

This is the final food literacy podcast for 2023. Please listen in and check the show notes for important season-ending information.As is stated in the trailer there is some news on the gardening front that I wanted to mention. There is a recently released USDA Hardiness Zone map. Check out Gardener Scott’s YouTube video about the new USDA Hardiness Zone map, who lives in a similar climate in Colorado and who was also part of the advisory team that put the new map together. Check out the USDA website to see the map and for more information, you may find useful for the 2024 gardening journey.Winter is an important season for the plant world, and it should be for us according to the Horticultural Therapy Institute as related in an article that I will read a bit from that was published in their blog entitled, “Dormancy: Nature’s Answer to the Dark Days of Winter.” Here is a link to the article.Remember there are two key ways to think of winter in the Northern Hemisphere if you are a gardener, the lunar winter season, and the meteorological winter season check the link for an explanation of the difference.Well since I mentioned seeds and seed catalogs check out these sites with important information about seeds from Gardener Scott and Epic Gardening sites. Stay tuned for more information about starting seeds and direct sowing in the upcoming early 2024 episodes.See the following links for winter recipes, and seasonal produce for winter.Bonus links:Midwestern Seasonal ProduceBest Winter Vegetables for Seasonal EatingThat is all for now as we wrap up 2023, celebrate the holiday or holidays of your choice and happy new year, food literacy and gardening for 2024. For more information contact Orrin Williams at orrinw@uic.edu, especially if you want to discuss seeds and seed companies. Please note that we have no endorsement deals and receive no compensation from seed companies. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

November typically marks the end of the growing season for most of us in the Chicago region. However, there are some gardeners who may apply season extension strategies that carry them through the winter. If that is not you do not fret, it is time to close out the 2023 season, get some rest, and begin planning for 2024.We will not cover much at all regarding gardening tasks for November but in the show, notes please find information about garden tasks for our hardiness zones USDA zones 5 and 6. Please share our podcast with your network regardless of what hardiness zone they live in because the link covers all of the November tasks for the USA found on the Sow True Seeds website. Also, please note the 2022 November podcast for information. It is the season where we may be tempted to overeat and eat things that may not suit our health and well-being, so I offer a cautionary tale and remind you that food is a core element in our health and well-being. No judgment though just be mindful... Check the show notes for tips on mindful eating from Psychology Today and see Mindfulness Exercises and remember to apply mindfulness eating strategies beyond the holidays into our daily lives. Remember in the last episode we covered ultra-processed foods well a recent article in the Washington Post indicates the new dietary guidelines to be published in 2025 may include a warning about ultra-process food and their impact on our health. The article also indicates the food industry has already begun to push back on warnings regarding ultra-processed food in the next dietary guideline go figure... We are complete beings and there should be no separation between, physical or mental health. On that note check out this article on ultra-processed food and mental health. So, check out keywords such as ultra-processed food and health, ultra-processed food, and mental health, define ultra-processed food, and the true cost of ultra-processed food. Hopefully, your journey will assist you and your family in living healthier lives. Check out this article on why you should do your research before embarking upon any strategy that will hopefully make us healthier.I want to let you know that in the December 2023 episode, we will give you an overview of what to expect in 2024, including changes to the Chicago Grows Food program offerings. Check out the Chicago Grows Food newsletter to hear about the book club being planned. I will not reveal the book title here but know that it will be related to rest. So, if you want to get a jump start check out Pause, Rest, and Be by, Octavia Raheem.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

This is the October 2023 Food Literacy Podcast episode. The weather is cooling and it is time to prepare for the winter though it may seem strange you also want to prepare for the 2024 growing season. Check out the episode and accompanying show notes for what we believe are pertinent issues for October.  Check out this article by the Piedmont Master Gardeners about nutrient density and leafy green vegetables. Consider applying the information to your garden plan for the 2024 season. Here is more information about seasonal eating and a seasonal eating chart. In deciding what topics to cover in this episode something that has been of interest in our quest to assist with the development of healthy communities is ultra-processed foods. One of the simplest and most elegant definitions that I heard about processed foods is that they cannot be produced in your kitchen. Here is https://www.verywellhealth.com/defining-ultra-processed-foods-is-debated-5509462 for you to ponder. Also, check out this Center for Food as Medicine panel discussion on ultra-processed foods and consider removing them from your diet. The National Institute of Health National Library of Health provides a scientific review of the topic that like many others in the food policy realm is subject to being confusing. That said the bottom line is to avoid ultra-processed foods as they are associated with negative health outcomes. Now, October offers many opportunities to work in your garden whether it is to clean it and prepare for the Spring 2024 season and/or to establish your season extension strategy of choice. There is no need to spend a lot of time on October gardening, instead, I direct you to the October 2022 episode. If you are going to overwinter crops this fall, and winter see the video produced by Chicago Grows Food and the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion at UIC. Also, see the Illinois Extension website for more information, and scroll down for keywords if you would like to expand your search. The Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion has community-based programs for neighborhoods in need of programs to increase diet quality, movement, and saving food dollars for more information go to the CPHP website. Contact: Orrin Williams at orrinw@uic.eduThe views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

September is here and fall is upon us. How quickly things turn as it seems that May and June were just a few days ago. See the show notes for more details and you will find a link to the September 2022 Garden Education episode for information still relevant in 2023. Thank you for listening in!I will start by reminding our listeners that we are no longer doing a strictly gardening podcast, We shifted our format several months ago to cover food literacy which has as an element, gardening. The link for the September 2022 episode is here. You will find that the garden information for September 2022 is still relevant so our gardening information will be limited in this episode. Fall is here, that is correct even though the first day of autumn will not arrive until September 23, 2023. There are meteorological seasons as well as astronomical seasons so see an explanation here.I have the opportunity to work with different partners that were highlighted in a local news segment and a print article. Dr. Saria Lofton is an assistant professor in the College of Nursing at UIC as well as a key member of the Chicago Grows Food coalition worked to develop a 12-week program called “Food is Medicine: Healing Together” to use cooking as a key component in an intervention to combat hypertension.Similarly, our partner Growing Home was featured in an article appearing in Civil Eats discussing their organic farm and community programs. I read an article about a 100% plant-based grocery store in Australia named Greens. Do you think something like that would work in Chicago? Personally, although I am not 100% plant-based, I would shop in a store like that particularly because over 90% of my diet is from plants.Renewing soil came up in an inquiry that Chicago Grows Food received, and Elizabeth will be posting information about how to save money by renewing your soil. We will cover the topic in later episodes, especially as the 2024 season approaches. Again, review the link above for tips on gardening in September and into the fall.Do you want to try your hand at indoor vegetable gardening? I think I will create a small pilot indoor vegetable gardening project at my house, and I will keep you posted on our progress throughout the winter.See, the Ripe Tomato Farm Indoor Garden episode. For more resources search keywords indoor vegetable gardening. A couple of sites I reviewed talked about bringing plants indoors from your garden, however, I DO NOT recommend bringing soil or vegetable plants indoors to avoid pest infestations.Contact Orrin Williams at orrinw@uic.edu The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

This is the August Food Literacy Podcast done in partnership with the urban gardening and farming community in Chicago and posted via Chicago Grows Food. There is still time to plant certain crops for a fall garden and harvest, check the show notes for more details...August 2023 Food Literacy Podcast Show NotesPlanting for a fall crop? Do not be deterred, go for it. In our home garden, we have crops planted from seeds including some unusual varieties of kale such as Ethiopian, Contralto, and Portuguese varieties as well as Alabama Blue and Morris Heading collard varieties.  Check out the following links for what to plant in August for if you want to experience fall growing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi6IadbVXDo&t=12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqbCyaq63cM Of course, speak with your healthcare provider for more information. If your physician does not seem to have much nutrition or dietary information, ask if there are nutrition and dietary services where you receive your care and how you may access dietary and/or nutrition services. Diet and Mental Health  https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/slideshows/foods-and-beverages-that-may-promote-mental-health Heart Health Study Shows Plant-Based Diets Are Good for Heart Health—Do You Need to Go Entirely Vegan?https://www.health.com/plant-based-diets-good-for-heart-health-7505166Research Suggests Eating These 6 Foods May Lower Your Risk for Heart Diseasehttps://www.health.com/plant-based-diets-good-for-heart-health-7505166 One of our objectives is to save you money on your grocery bills while assisting you in your quest for a healthier, higher diet quality. One way to do that is by storing your food properly to extend shelf life.https://health.usnews.com/wellness/food/slideshows/ways-to-keep-veggies-fresh-longer Berries are a great addition to a high-quality diet. Blueberries are in season through September for more information see:https://blueberry.org/about-blueberries/seasonality/ If you get some blueberries at a great price while shopping at your favorite farm stand, farmers market or grocery store consider freezing some for future use. Beginning in November blueberries are imported from other countries so if you want blueberries from a seasonal source freeze them or buy them frozen.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whDisfziTMU Contact Orrin Williams at orrinw@uic.edu The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

Short and sweet food literacy podcast episode for July 2023. Topics include what to plant in July as well as what seeds to start indoors for those interested in fall gardening. Food literacy topics include food fraud and the high cost of food, the health impacts of ultra-processed foods on our health, and eggs as an example of the confusion often swirling around food, health, and "healthy" eating.  Happy Summer and Enjoy the episode!Topics of Interest for the July 2023 Food Literacy Podcast Episode Seeds to Plant in July and August:https://youtu.be/NTVVALLPZHw https://youtu.be/ELM5f8qSLIM Zone 6 Vegetable for Planting in Julyhttps://youtu.be/jCSdphFbfYs Thinking Fall Gardening and Indoor Seed Starts in Julyhttps://youtu.be/DiUvm7qP5lo Food Fraud and the Cost of Food and the Potential Impact on Your Healthhttps://youtu.be/SaCg7t9sMZgEggs https://youtu.be/4l8GT9FXI3Y Ultra Processed Foods: Article- https://www.wired.com/story/tyranny-ultra-processed-food-van-tulleken/ Video- https://youtu.be/uMv2TZUSPdg Information about some of the terms mentioned during the podcast: Agronomy https://www.agronomy.org/about-agronomy/ What is STEAM education? https://artsintegration.com/what-is-steam-education-in-k-12-schools/ Succession Planting Guide https://morningchores.com/succession-planting/ Determining Your Average Frost Dates https://morningchores.com/frost-dates/ Chicago Grows Food https://www.chicagogrowsfood.org/ Gardeneers https://gardeneers.org/The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

June in Chicago is the kickoff of the primary gardening season in Chicago. In this episode, we address some of the concerns of participants in the Chicago Grows Food constellation about fabric grow bag and container vegetable gardening. Special thanks to Elizabeth Berkeley, executive director of Chicago Grows Food, Marjorie Kersten graduate student at UIC, and Taylor Swenski graduate student at DePaul University for assisting with the development of this episode. This episode has content that responded to some of the questions participants in the Chicago Grows Food survey and focus groups had regarding in particular fabric grow bag gardening. Participants wanted to know about reusing or revitalizing potting soil so here are a couple of videos that offer some ideas about how to do that, Epic Gardening and The Ripe Tomato Farm. Epic Gardening also briefly discusses the benefits of grow bag container gardening. Additional topics included, Growing in the Garden on companion planting, as well as Next Level Gardening discussing the best flowers for companion planting. Participants expressed interest in seasonality, so we chose from our USDA Zone 6 hardiness zone Growfully with Jenny planting suggestions for June.  Our research for the episode uncovered content from a local gardener in Chicago, B Betta Garden growing in 30+ containers, as well as June container vegetable gardening. The second part of the episode is devoted to Food as Medicine content. From Oldways we have a webinar titled Putting Plant-Based Diets on the Menu in Health Care. Medical News Today, offered a conversation asking Is Diabetes Reversible? Of course, we do not offer medical advice or diagnosis so please discuss this with your health care provider. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder printed an article about food insecurity and the mental health outcomes of Black women. Given the food apartheid situation in predominately Black communities that limits the availability to access healthier food options, this should be a topic of concern. Is high cholesterol a concern for you? Then perhaps vegetarian or vegan diets may be helpful in lowering your levels.  Finally, check out this article about Dr. William Li the author of Eat to Beat Disease and Eat to Beat Your Diet, that is something else you may want to discuss with your healthcare provider.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

Episode description not available.

Hello, food literacy podcast listeners. Please find and listen to the May 2023 episode. You will receive a lot of information this month including an episode on soil done in session with our co-host and co-producer soil enthusiast and soil scientist Dr. Akilah Martin. Rather than essentially repeating ourselves you will receive the encore episode of the May 2022 garden education podcast that has information regarding May gardening in Chicago.On the food literacy front, we are focusing this month on basic cooking and cooking vegetables as an adjunct to increasing diet quality for our communities. Tune in and enjoy the episode and the additional content to get you going for the 2023 gardening season.Let’s get cooking for ourselves and the environment...The Harvard Health blog offers information about the benefits of cooking, be sure to check out the links within the blog post.Check out how various cooking techniques affects the nutrient content of food. Then dig into the links about the Cooking Matters program at CPHP and basic guides to cooking and cooking vegetables. You will find links to basic cooking classes and the Cooking Matters program in the show notes. In the future, we will be asking our listeners to provide their favorite recipes for distribution with the podcast. The cooking information in the show notes will focus on vegetables for this episode as it is important to increase produce consumption for our listeners and communities. Also, see the show notes regarding an essential for cooking, knife skills. Cooking Matters Basic Knife Skills Pro Home Cooks Beginners Guide to Cooking Pro Home Cooks Guide to Cooking VegetablesI mentioned food, cooking, and the environment.  A critical issue for us to confront as a society is food waste. According to the USEPA Reducing food waste presents opportunities to: Address climate change; Increase food security, productivity, and economic efficiency; and Conserve energy and other resources. In the U.S., 30 to 40 percent of the food supply is never eaten, wasting the resources used to produce it and creating many environmental impacts. Food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the U.S. More than 85 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from landfilled food waste result from activities prior to disposal, including production, transport, processing, and distribution.1 In order to reduce these emissions, we need to prevent food waste from being generated in the first place. Cooking and eating what we grow, and purchase contributes to reducing food waste and increases food security.https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/united-states-2030-food-loss-and-waste-reduction-goalThe views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from the healthcare providers of their choice.

Self-described soil enthusiast and soil scientist Dr, Akilah Martin is in her co-host and co-producer seat for a lively conversation about soil. Dr. Akilah is not as expansive as she could be regarding soil, and the time allotted is not enough. However. we endeavored to provide some useful information and I think we hit our mark.As always I refer you to the show notes accompanying the audio for more information on the topic of soil.Dr. Akilah Talks Soil Show Notes April 2023 SOIL MOISTURE/DRAINAGE: https://plantcareforbeginners.com/articles/how-to-make-your-soil-retain-more-water SOIL TEXTURE BY FEEL: HTTPS://UKNOWLEDGE.UKY.EDU/CGI/VIEWCONTENT.CGI?ARTICLE=1139&CONTEXT=ANR_REPORTS  LUSTERLEAF SOIL TEST: http://www.lusterleaf.com/nav/soil_test.html   SOIL JAR TEST: HTTPS://HGIC.CLEMSON.EDU/FACTSHEET/SOIL-TEXTURE-ANALYSIS-THE-JAR-TEST/ WATER FILTER: HTTPS://WWW.H2ODISTRIBUTORS.COM/PAGES/INFO/HOW-TO-MAKE-A-WATER-FILTER.ASP Dr. Akilah and I want to share some United Nations reports on soil and water that speak to our concern for two of the most important components of the life support system for all life on Mother Earth. UN FAO TOPSOIL AT RISKhttps://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1123462 UN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF SOIL POLLUTIONhttps://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-assessment-soil-pollution UN WATER PARTNERSHIPS AND COOPERATION FOR WATERhttps://www.unwater.org/publications/un-world-water-development-report-2023 For more information or to contact me or Dr. Martin email: orrin@cutchicago.orgThe views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from the healthcare providers of their choice.

It is April here in Chicago and excitement is at a fever pitch in anticipation of the gardening season for our community and home gardeners. This is the first installment of the April food literacy podcast. This episode is short but the second installment will be devoted primarily to soil with two programs featuring our co-host and co-producer, soil enthusiast and scientist, Dr. Akilah Martin. In this short episode check out the announcement for the 2023 Illinois Hunger and Health conference. Find the registration link for the May 1, 2023 event below in the show notes. If you do not already please consider growing herbs, this season, find out more in the links in the show notes...This is the first installment of the April food literacy podcast. You will receive a link to an encore of the April 2023 garden education podcast. Shortly, you will receive the second installment of the food literacy podcast specifically focused on soil. Our co-host and co-producer, soil enthusiast and soil scientist, Dr. Akilah Martin will do a soil workshop and a podcast with me about soil. Stay tuned for that. Register for and attend the 2023 Hunger and Health Illinois Regional Conference at Kennedy-King College, on May 1, 2023, hosted by Illinois SNAP-Education and Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion. Registration is open until April 21. Register here.Event Address:740 W 63rd Street U buildingChicago, IL 60620Registration at 9 am Time: 10 am– 3:20 pm For the upcoming garden, season consider growing herbs in your vegetable garden. Herbs can be used in your cooking and herbs are excellent companion plants that deter pests. For information about starting your herb garden go here. To find a list of herbs to consider growing and how to cook with them go here.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from the healthcare providers of their choice.

We are kicking off the gardening season with some tips and things to consider fro the upcoming gardening season. To deepen our discussion about food literacy we will be providing links for general cooking as well as using herbs and spices to create tasty meals.Food Literacy Podcast – Garden Education Show Notes In addition to the March 2023 food literacy podcast find a link to a clip and show notes from the  February 2022 Garden Education podcast, covering topics such as hardiness zones, first and last frost dates, seed starts, etc to get you started for this season. The 2023 episode will offer more information but there is no need to, as they say, re-invent the wheel.  On a similar note, the March 2022 Garden Education episode offers more information about hardiness zones as well as topics such as sun exposure or the photoperiod for your site. How much light your site receives during the season should be a primary consideration when developing your site plan. In the simplest terms, a site is considered a full sun site if it receives 6 to 8 hours of full sun.  Not receiving full sun does not deter you from gardening successfully. 4 to 6 hours of sunlight or a shady site can yield a nice crop. The difference? Your full sun site is perfect for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and many other crops including your flowers to attract pollinators and beneficial insects. Shady sites on the other hand are ideal for green leafy vegetables and many herbs. So let us get started with planning your garden for 2023 and beyond.Check out our partner Chicago Grows Food which distributes the podcast in their monthly newsletter and is a coalition of various organizations we work with on CGF programs. See the website for a list of coalition partners. During the podcast, I mentioned the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion (CPHP) see the website about CPHP programs. I have proudly worked for nearly two years on the Community Food Navigator project here in Chicago. The project is about all things food in the Chicago area, please check out the website and the app, great work CFN team! Explore the Spruce Eats website that I enjoy for information about cooking. In the future, we will cover and include other websites with information about cooking and food literacy.  Stay tuned! Again, the links at the top of the page cover many of the topics you should consider during this garden and crop planning time before really jumping into gardening from April thru June.  Excitement reigns please reach out to orrinw@uic.edu. Stay tuned for the April Food Literacy podcast with more food literacy information and a segment with soil enthusiast and soil scientist Dr. Akilah Martin.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from the healthcare providers of their choice.

This is a very short trailer and announcement about Leah Penniman's new book out February 28, 2023. The full episode of our session won't drop until May 2023 when Dr. Akilah and I will devote the entire month to Black farmers and gardeners. Leah's new book is so exciting we wanted to let our audience and networks know that is coming out soon. Please share with your networks and consider purchasing this important new work,   Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists.For more also see the Soul Fire Farm website. Scroll down while you are on the site and find a book entitled A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing From Soil to Stars, edited by Erin Sharkey. I just added the book to my reading stack and there you will find an excellent collection of essays including one by Naima Penniman of WILDSEED Community Farm and Healing Village, entitled Concentric Memory: Re-membering Our Way Into the Future.  Consider picking up this book as well...The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, the CPHP, the Center for Urban Transformation, or the Board of Directors. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from the healthcare providers of their choice.

Well, spring is on the mind of many people here in the northern hemisphere, especially here in Chicago. This particular episode is devoted to getting our home veggie gardeners off to a rousing start by planning for the upcoming gardening season. While the audio portion is great the show notes will be full of information and resources to kick off the season.Let us kick off the 2023 gardening season! We are going to focus this episode on planning your gardening season. I hope you have had the opportunity to get into the seed catalogs and start buying your seeds or supplement your seed collection if you are a seed saver. If not it is not too late. Keywords, vegetable seed companies, organic vegetable garden seeds, flower seeds. pollinator seeds, etc. There are many seed companies to choose from, explore your options and look for seed companies in your region as they may specialize in seeds adapted to your region. I will not offer specific seed company recommendations here but if you contact me at orrin@cutchicago.org I am happy to discuss seed companies based on what you may want to grow.Seed starting if you have the interest, space and are so inclined may begin about now. See the following: Almanac Seed Starting 101 or The Spruce How to Start Seeds Indoors. You are not limited to these sites, just search keywords such as indoor seed starting, indoor vegetable seed starts, etc. More importantly, you must base your seed-starting activities around the last frost date here in Chicago (or wherever you live).  Search for frost dates in your area by zip code. Include in your garden planning flowers and herbs,  for attracting pollinators and/or companion planting that may assist in deterring pests as well as other benefits.Other things to prepare for our soil temperature will be really important when transplanting seedlings or sowing seeds directly. Check out the temperature chart and unless you have season extension capacity you will see that you probably want to wait until April to get started. Do not forget sunlight when doing your plan we will get into more detail in future episodes.Before we run out of space here I have a couple of food-related articles to share with you. Lifestyle and Alzheimer's and reading bioengineered or GMO food labels.More on gardening and food literacy next month including information about soil.orrin@cutchicago.orgThe views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from the healthcare providers of their choice.