Meeting2007–07

Meeting notes – 7/10/07 @ the Milwaukee Public Market

1. Introductions – 25 people in attendance!

2. Member presentation by Dennis Lukaszewski of UW Extension
· Overview of the challenges faced by urban gardening efforts since 1989.
· Losing access to land all over Milwaukee County.
· UW Ext’s expertise is around agricultural education, not in community organizing.
· 20 garden sites since 1989 have been closed down, mainly due to housing development.
· Alice’s Garden is still going strong despite threats from the Kmart and African Heritage Center developments.
· Now concentrating on county-owned land
o Costs around $3000 to $4000 to get a garden site started.
o UW Ext has …
o 2 sites devoted to developmentally challenged people.
o “Dirt training” for elementary schools and day care providers.
o Some school programs
o Home landscaping class
o “FEED” demonstration sites http://feeds.uwex.edu/
o Senior center programs
o Program with Cheney Correctional Facility and VISTA workers
o Lincoln Avenue Beautification Project on the South Side.
· Harvest Festival will be on 9/28 – 9/30 at the State Fairgrounds.
o Asked about the profile of urban garden plot renters –
o 50% are Hmong
o 50% are either younger gardeners (looking to grow organic produce for themselves) or retirees.

3. Food Policy Council – Marcia Caton Campbell reviewed the results of the initial meeting. Next meeting will be at Hunger Task Force (I-94 Hawley Road exit, south of I-94), 7/19 from 12 noon to 2 pm. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE! Lunch will be served but please RSVP to Martha Davis Kipcak at 414–628–3456.

4. Wiki Site Update Proposal by Jan Christiansen – Jan proposed a two-part enhancement to the current Wiki site: (1) Published interviews of the various MUAN people to give people an overview of what’s happening in Milwaukee and (2) collection of data on MUAN food producers and distributors. In the ensuing discussion a couple of points were made:
· Ron Doetch (MFAI) noted progress being made at the WI Ag Department to get a statewide inventory of farmlands and food production.
· Questions came up about the scope and breadth of the data collection effort.
· General consensus seemed to be that publishing the interviews was important, and that the data collection efforts should wait until the state decides what to do with their statewide inventory.

5. Milwaukee Urban Ag Conference presentation by Ron Doetch.
· Will be held on February 28th, 29th, March 1st, 2nd.
· SPIN (Small Plot Intensive) urban gardening workshop will take place on the 28th and 29th. This may be done in conjunction with the Milwaukee Domes. 3/1 devoted to workshops, morning of 3/2 for more workshops or action plans.
· Meeting attendees enthusiastically offered suggestions for conference urban ag related themes/workshops including:

• Immigrant Farmers – Land Access, Production Methods, Social & Land Justice, Land Tenure, Resource Sharing
• Food Security
• Zoning – City/County/State Planning and Policy
• Education – Youth and Adults
• School Curriculums – Meeting curriculum standards, Health, Environment
• Health & Nutrition
• School Lunch Programs
• Ecological / Environmental Literacy
• Sustainability of Farmers
• Community Gardens
• Food Utilization – Storage, Preparation
• Disabilities Gardening – People with limitations
• Economic Development – Entrepreneurship, Redevelopment
• Community Development
• Green Roofs / Green Walls
• Aquaponics
• High Cost of Cheap Food
• How to bundle agricultural value
• Soil, Water, Air Quality