The Farm Bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool in the United States. This Bill touches the daily lives of all Americans.  It impacts the environment, public health, access to healthy foods, local economies and much more. Please join us for a Farm Bill Advocacy training to learn more about why this federal legislation matters so much to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio and how you can be a part of creating a transformative and equitable Farm Bill that works for ALL of us.

What to Expect at the Farm Bill Advocacy Training?

• Hear from diverse voices about why the Farm Bill matters for our region
• Learn about hot issues in the pending legislation
• Take action to advocate for a just, equitable, healthy, and sustainable food system

Space is limited. Please RSVP by June 8, 2018

 
For more information, please contact FPC Co-Chairs:
Nicole Debose (debose.8@osu.edu) or Darcy Freedman (daf96@case.edu)

 
Organized in partnership with:

• The Centers for Families and Children
• The FARE Project
• Policy Matters Ohio
• Greater Cleveland Food Bank 

HIP-Cuyahoga's Healthy Eating and Active Living Subcommittee

Click here for full event information.

Hosted by the City of Solon. Park at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church.

Volunteers will help clean up trash from the creek and the streamside land at the Hawthorne Creek restoration site.

Dress for the weather, Bring water, long sleeves and pants, boots or work shoes, and work gloves are recommended. Trash bags will be provided.

All groups welcome, but parents must complete waivers for those volunteering under the age of 18, and provide adult supervision.

Click here to register. 

Cape Town, South Africa, one of Africa's most affluent cities, may be the first city in the world to run out of municipal water. Population growth, overdevelopment, and climate change, coupled with rising inequality and political dysfunction, have converged to create an imbalance between water use and supply.

Cape Town's countdown to"Day Zero," while dire, is not unique. Faced with increased periods of drought, many urban centers around the world are confronting diminished water supplies and struggling to balance the demand for drinking water and our agriculture needs. Cleveland, situated on one of the Great Lakes, home to a seemingly endless supply of fresh water, is not immune to this trend. Last July and August, less than one-quarter of an inch of rain fell at Spice Acres farm, located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, causing the staff to contemplate their own "Day Zero."

Join us for a tour of Spice Acres, a three-course vegetarian Plated Landscape dinner, and a panel discussion on the efforts to manage Northeast Ohio's own water crisis.

Click here to register.

When we speak of place, it’s easy to imagine and discuss the physical structures we inhabit - the parks, streets, and buildings we encounter every day. But while these physical manifestations of place are integral to the notion of placemaking, it can be argued that what is most powerful about place is not the structures themselves, but the stories we tell about them.

The stories that matter most are the ones we tell ourselves. What stories are we telling about Cleveland? Are we the Rust Belt or the Medical Capital? Are we a segregated city or one teeming with diversity? What does it mean if we’re both? How can these stories either hold us back through isolation or propel us forward through connection and shared humanity?

Join us for the final forum in our For the Love of Cleveland: The Power of Place series, a conversation in Public Square with voices from the media on how narrative contributes to a sense of place. The conversation among our speakers is just the beginning of this dialogue - a booth will be placed in Public Square where all can share and record our stories to be archived with the City Club.

Click here for more information.

A few years ago, the country watched in horror as the national media descended on Flint, Michigan. A switch in drinking water sources - from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River - had caused nearly 100,000 residents to be exposed to dangerous amounts of lead. Those most affected were children whose lead blood levels doubled or, in some cases, tripled after the switch was made, resulting in developmental and behavioral problems.

That research, conducted by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a first generation Iraqi immigrant and Detroit-raised pediatrician, paved the way for government officials in Flint to acknowledge the extent of the water crisis, resulting in $100 million in federal and $250 million in state funding to clean the water and combat the effects. Personally, she remains committed to ensuring the health of Flint's children as the director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative and founder of the Flint Child Health and Development Fund

For her efforts, Dr. Hanna-Attisha has received countless awards including being the co-recipient of the first MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award for embodying the idea that "science and scholarship are as powerful tools for social change as art and protest."

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Hanna-Attisha, author of What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City, on her fight against environmental injustice, how the residents of Flint have prevailed, and what we can do to prevent future public health crises.

National Geographic, the official magazine of the National Geographic Society, debuted in 1888 as a professional publication for scientists and geologists. Over the decades, the magazine evolved, moving from technical articles to narrative to storytelling - and including stunning photography - exposing its readers to new places and cultures. But, in doing so, it also contributed to furthering racial stereotypes, according to a report from a University of Virginia researcher.

In April, 2018, National Geographic dedicated an entire issue to race in which editor in chief Susan Goldberg acknowledged the magazine's history of racism in reporting, including its subject matter and photography. "The magazine's self-reflection was among the most direct admissions of past sins from media organizations, which have occasionally wrestled with their complicity in injustices," according to a subsequent article in The New York Times.

This admission has stimulated a larger conversation on the importance of diversity in newsrooms and role of the media in perpetuating racial stereotypes. Join us as Goldberg, the 10th editor in chief of National Geographic - as well as the first one of Jewish descent and the first female - discusses the importance of diversity in storytelling.

Click here for more information.

Historically, the term health often referred to simply the presence or absence of disease. Today, it is commonly recognized that health encompasses not only physical components, but social, economic, and environmental ones as well. Urban communities often face higher health risks partially as a result of how our cities are built. Design shortcomings can lead to issues like greater exposure to toxins and pollutants as well as physical isolation which can create or exacerbate common health challenges such as obesity, chronic disease, depression, and other mental health issues.

The answer may lie in parks, not prescriptions. Well-designed parks, playgrounds, and public green spaces provide a free place for moderate physical activity, mindfulness, and play, access to healthy food and clean water, and offer opportunity for neighborhood interaction. However, green space in the urban core is limited and where present, is often perceived as unsafe due to a lack of people, activity, and connection with the neighborhood.

Northeast Ohio may be home to a Great Lake, a national park, and the Cleveland Metroparks, but urban access to outdoor spaces – especially in poor neighborhoods of color where chronic disease rates are higher – is limited. Why? What can and should be done to create or activate more green spaces so all have the opportunity to thrive?

Join us for the third forum in our For the Love of Cleveland: The Power of Place series, a free conversation in Public Square on how parks can help improve public health.

Click here for more information.

If streets are the medium that connect us to place, it can be argued that the physical structures that comprise our neighborhoods– homes, libraries, office buildings, stores and restaurants, and theatres – provide the anchor. However, there is often an imbalance between the form and function of new structures.

In some cities, the architecture and design of new structures is prioritized over function, devaluing how they shape the human experience and how they interact with the existing neighborhood and streetscape. Rather than creating or enhancing an overall sense of place, these structures, while beautiful, exist in isolation rather that contributing to overall urban vitality. In others, function and activity prevail, but those structures fail to provide a sense of creativity, imagination, or inspiration for the residents who use them.

Cleveland is in a unique situation. Migration and economic development in the urban core has led to new construction projects alongside the renovation of existing historic buildings for new purposes, creating tension among existing residents and those who seek to capitalize on economic opportunities. Can city-building be a shared experience between developers, architects, and residents? How can we balance form and function – the design of beautiful, iconic structures with the creation of authentic, meaningful places that all can use and enjoy?

Join us for the second forum in our For the Love of Cleveland: The Power of Place series, a free conversation in Public Square with local leaders exploring some of Cleveland’s current design projects.