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Sow What

Week 7 – Take Action Harvest Award

This week we’re going to identify and begin work on a take action project to earn the Harvest Award. Your project may take more than one week and that’s OK. When you finish your project you will report on what you’ve done in the comments and that will be the end of your Sow What Journey!

Take Action Harvest Award Project
One of the ideas of the Journey is to help you learn the steps that you need to take when you are working on a Gold Award Project. Discover, Connect, Take Action.

In the first few weeks of our journey we were Discovering about the local food scene, exploring markets, trying recipes, visiting farms, watching documentaries about the problems.

Then we Connected with people who are making a difference. We read about people all over the world who have found ways to help and maybe you visited a local farmer’s market or farm or food bank and talked to people there about the problems that they see in our local community.
Now it’s time to Take Action! You need to pick an issue, decide on a goal and figure out what to do as your project.
Name our Issue
Name Our Goal
What will we do and where and when
Why this matters and how it will benefit the planet and people
Read pages 86-93 in Sow What for ideas and inspiration.
If you enjoyed exploring local markets and thinking about your food print, maybe you could choose that as an issue.
Big or small, sustainable impact in local community..what could we do? Count bees? Grow food for a food pantry? Get the school cafeteria to serve more local foods or to label them? Help the homeless? Cut down on food waste at the school cafeteria or on local cruise ships? What are some of the local issues that we might be able to change?
At your High School (or on cruise ships or at girl scout camps) – Waste from meals, packaging, composting, serving local foods.

Local Farms- bees, fruit flies, worker’s rights, fair prices, water use, (**write a recipe book of dishes to cook using local foods in season. Send them in to a local paper for publication. Dig up some historical local recipes using produce found in your community.)

Local Land Trust – why don’t we have any in our area? What happened to the farms here?

Homeless and Hungry – what can we do to help? Community garden? Fallen fruit gatherers? Make a recipe book of things to cook from pantry foods? Did you enjoy cooking recipes in week 2? Maybe this would be a good issue to explore!

(**Emergency Foods – write a recipe book of foods to cook with pantry staples and foods to cook when the electricity goes out!)

Younger Girl Scouts – could we plan an event to teach them something we learned? Offer to cook local foods for a group and tell them about what we’ve learned?

Ronald McDonald House – could we put the ideas of cooking fresh healthy food into practice and come up with several menus of healing and healthy organic foods to serve to the group? Could we teach them what we’ve learned about eating locally and what’s good about it?

Did you enjoy the documentaries that we watched in week 4? Maybe you’d like to shoot your own documentary about one of these issues and upload it to YouTube or have a movie night in your community to show your film.

Do you like to write? Interview some of the farmers you met in Week 5 and write an article for the local paper or for your school paper on one of these issues. Encourage friends to make a change.

(**Design a t-shirt to promote Local Harvest, Slow Food, Eating more fruits & veggies..sell it on twitter or online, use proceeds to help support local sustainability efforts)

Plant something – March – next summer. Plant sunflowers to help trace the local bees The Great Sunflower Project http://www.greatsunflower.org/en/user , Victory garden for your family (give extras to a senior citizen or to the food pantry) Help other people in your neighborhood to start a little garden.

If you were really moved by the discussions about our relationships with food and how food choices are shaped by our families, culture and religion..maybe you can find an issue there to explore! Maybe you could hold a workshop for parents with babies to talk to them about making their own baby foods out of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, maybe a pediatrician could talk about breast feeding and about junk food, maybe a child psychologist could talk about the seeds of overeating and body image that get planted when children are very young.

Please email Debbie Lechner (debbie.lechner@gmail.com). Let me know you’ve finished the journey and your full name so I can send you a certificate of completion.

33 replies on “Week 7 – Take Action Harvest Award”

For my take-action project, I created an awareness video on food deserts and food insecurity in Southern Nevada. I was surprised to learn that thousands of people in the Las Vegas area don’t have enough food to eat. Kids and seniors go to food pantries or have meal delivered because they don’t have a store close to where they live or the food is really expensive. I am hoping to make more people aware of this problem in our community so we can solve it together.

I hope you like my video https://youtu.be/GMXejwiIPgg

For my Take Action Project, I worked with my composting club to set up a donation center for food scraps to support our composting efforts. By doing this, we were able to raise awareness about how composting benefits the environment and helps produce organic food that’s healthier for our bodies. It was a great way to engage the community and encourage sustainable practices that support both the planet and our health.

Issue: Bees
Goal: To create safe space for bees to pollinate

I planted sunflowers seeds in my yard. This is important because bees are responsible for pollinating and they are currently dying from pesticides. Creating a safe place for bees will allow them to survive in my community. I also placed a bee house in my back yard near the sunflowers.

I created a poster that talks about the importance of Farmers Markets and buying local produce. Some of the benefits listed were:
* Reducing Carbon Emissions within the supply chain and therefore is better for the environment
* Promotes Humane Treatment of Animals
* Promotes sustainability
* Helps with a diet of non-processed foods
* Stimulates local economy
I sent this poster to my family and friends to educate them on the benefits of Farmer’s Markets!

For my take action project I decided to utilize my video editing skills and create a short video on the importance of eating fruits and veggies, and how eating healthy benefits your mental health. I’m also creating an Instagram page on my upcoming gold award that will focus on wellness. The video will be posted on there.

Issue: people in need don’t have enough nutritious food
Goal: collect nutritious food to donate so people in my area have enough.

I worked with Dermer Dreams to collect and distribute food to people in need. I dropped empty bags around my community for people to fill with food. I also went the the grocery store and filled up some bags from my family. Then, I collected all of the bags and brought them to hand out. This helped the community of people who can’t afford high quality food by giving them healthier options.

Issue: People are unaware of the actual requirements for food labels.
Goal: To educate others on the actual standards for food labels.
How I accomplished this: I created a slide presentation that brought light to the actual requirements of the food labels that we see everyday. I showed this slide to my family and my friends. They were very interested because their expectation for the requirements for the food labels did not match the reality of what the requirements actually were. I think it’s important for people to learn about what’s in their foods and the “nutrition” they are putting into their bodies.
Link: https://tinyurl.com/mytakeaction

Issue: Reducing Carbon Footprint by Eating Local
Goal: Spread awareness about Carbon Footprint, and encourage people to eat local
I created and published a website that explained what carbon footprint was, how we left it, how we can reduce it, and a list of farms in North Georgia people can go to purchase locally grown produce and take on a larger role in the food chain.

https://mlosada25.wixsite.com/my-site

Issue: Food waste at school
Goal: Create a composting bin to help reduce partial food waste
Plan: I worked with my school environmental group during extra periods and we created an online prototype of the model of the compost bin. We ordered the materials, and we researched the effects of food waste and also the methods of effectively composting. We talked to one of my friend’s mom, and she thouroughly explained to us the process of composting. We found which materials we wanted and also got a sponsor teacher to help buy us the materials. We plan to collect fruits and vegetables waste at school, having a designated bin for the collection of the fruits and veggies and create a system with the environmental club members to create a effective rotation of workers. Planning occured over the summer, but we will take action as soon as possible.

This matters because every single day, the amount of food waste produced is immaculate. In a bad way.. Americans especially are a huge problem, as we generate huge amounts of food waste, and it really is a societal problem within America. But better is good enough, so we want to at least reduce some of the burden that the waste we produce has on the Earth. This is why it is super important.

Issue: Pesticide use in America
Goal: Inform others of the negative impact on ingesting pesticides and certain GMO’s
To accomplish my goal I created a post on my school newspapers Instagram account. In the post I included the side affects of pesticides, and why they can be harmful upon growing teenagers. I included links to verified sources backing my claims and extending upon my written concerns. Many people read this post and liked it, in total it was able to reach 872 people!

Issue: Meat Industry and Slaughterhouses
Goal: Inform friends and family about these topics
I created a slideshow about the documentary I watched (Food, Inc.) and elaborated on slaughtering systems. I shared facts about how our food is made and what it’s made of. I also summarized the movie and how the meat industry impacts America. I talked about Temple Grandin and how she changed the meat industry. My friends found it very fascinating and were interested in learning more.

Issue: Carbon Footprint
Goal: Get my family to reduce the carbon footprint
Food transportation from farms to table contributes to the greenhouse gas emission. in addition, meat and dairy products emit higher greenhouse gasses than fruits, vegetables, and grains because animals are bad at converting what they eat in to energy. Understanding how these gasses affect the environment can teach other families how to reduce our carbon footprint.

ISSUE: Bees
GOAL: To create more safe spaces for bees to pollinate and congregate.

What will we do and where and when
I will plant sunflower seeds in a community space. They will be planted next week, after I purchase the seeds.

Why this matters and how it will benefit the planet and people
This matters because bees are responsible for pollinating flowers, vegetables, and various other forms of agriculture. Currently, bees are dying from pesticides, pollution, and global warming. Creating another safe space for the bees to congregate will allow them to survive in my community. This will hopefully ensure that local farms have enough bees in the area to pollinate their crops.

Issue: Carbon Footprint
Goal: Get my family to help reduce the carbon footprint
Food transportation from farms to people’s plates considerably contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, meat and dairy products emit higher emissions than fruits, vegetables, and grains because animals are inefficient at converting the plants they eat into energy. Based on that understanding, previous studies proposed modifications that people or families may make to reduce the emissions caused by food production. I vowed to assist this issue by purchasing less tasty bread and ready-made dishes. Though certain foods have relatively low carbon footprints, the large quantities purchased result in enormous emissions.

Issue: Lack of recycling small metal
Goal: Get every cap and can tab recycled in all local American legion posts, and make a total of 50 pounds by November 2022.
How: I have representatives at legions, gathering tabs consistently from the bar areas, outdoor eating and drinking tables, and inside cafeteria/lounge. As most posts are fairly small in the locations, everyone brings in their bottle tabs, and gives them to the representatives which deliver in quart size bags of tabs, or small quantities almost every day. After this, I load all tabs and caps into gallon size bags, store them for donation to recycling foundations like Ronald McDonald, and store extras in large jars until the next shipping.
Why: 50% of all aluminum products are not reduced, which not only affects the environment, but also the amount of trash. The Ronald McDonald Pop Tab Foundation takes donated Pop tabs and sells them to local recyclers for money. This money is important because it provides extra revenue that can help makeup for the donations that families cannot make if they need to stay in at a Ronald McDonald 13 bed house. The cost for one family to stay at the Ronald McDonald house is between $100-$140 per night. If the family cannot pay this, they are still given a room and the revenue from the pop tabs are used to pay for their nights stay.
When: I have been collecting for a few months, storing, but just now figured out the best way to get consistent input flow of tabs, and the best intervals to donate.
Sustainability: After I am unable to directly collect and deliver pop tabs, the representatives will still be collecting, and directly shipping them to the foundation instead, not through me. Awareness among them has expanded, and most know to give my representatives pop tabs and my father is known as the dad to the girl who likes tabs, so getting them is very easy now that I have worked hard and have a reputation.

Issue: lack of awareness and big carbon footprint
Goal: Get my family to reduce our carbon foot print and to spread awareness to friends and other family members/relatives.

I plan to get my family to start a composter and to reduce our use of plastic. I plan to limit my use of single use plastics and to get my family members to be more conscious of things like that. My neighbours have a composter and so I was thinking about asking them for a few tips on that.

ISSUE: Homeless and hungry
GOAL: help in some way to feed hungry people in our community
My troop and I worked at THE FISH PANTRY which is a huge distribution center of donated and imperfect food items. we packed bags of food for the company to hand out to the hungry and homeless. We also labeled food cans that had lost their labels or were missed labeled. We also packed produce which was donated. The homeless and hungry in Knoxville benefited. Many of the volunteers and helpers at the food pantry were homeless themselves. I was surprised that this warehouse was so big and had so much donated food. I was glad my troop could help them out and they seemed grateful for our work.
tried to download pic. but wouldn’t work.

Hello, this is Brooklyn
Issue : We have barley fresh produce in our local food shelf
Goal : Getting local grown produce for our food shelf
What will we do and where and when : We will plant a local garden by our middle school and have it for the entire summer or as long as we can continue and get as much produce as we can
Why this matters and how it will benefit the planet and people : It matters because no one else is helping the food shelf. It helps the planet because the soil is getting used and other parts of the planet that are getting used constantly to grow produce can get used less if more people do this. It helps people because then the people that go to the food shelf can have fresh produce. They deserve that.

I really hope the garden works and helps people and make people smile.

My issue is the food waste at my school. My goal is to decrease the amount of food that is uneaten and thrown away when it could be donated. In order to solve this issue, I spoke to the cafeteria staff and administrators at my school. My schools requires everyone to get a fruit at lunch, but the majority of people end up throwing theirs away without touching it. At the end of each lunch period, the custodial staff pushes around trash cans and collects everyone’s trash. I implemented a project where they would also push around a bin for uneaten products. It collected cheese sticks, bags of chips, and fruit. At the end of the day, the things that could be reused by the school were put into the stock for the next day. The fruit was washed and donated to the local homeless shelter.

Week 7 I created a pollinator garden for my neighborhood. I planted two types of milkweeds, lavender, lamb ear and a verbena plant. It is very important to have a garden for bees to be able to collect the pollen and return to the hive. All the garden provides food and shelter for monarch butterflies and other types of insects. Planting perennial plants are good for the area because they come up each year. Many of the plants will multiple in the area and/or the seeds will be carried through out the neighborhood. Creating a pollinator garden helps insects, farmers and the community.

Name our Issue: Lack of Food Resources
Name Our Goal: Organize food donations for a local school
What will we do and where and when: Spend a weekend sorting donated food into categories before transport to a local school.
Why this matters and how it will benefit the planet and people: Will help school counselor deliver meals to families in need.

Name our Issue: Lack of Food Resources
Name Our Goal: Organize food donations for a local school
What will we do and where and when: Spend a weekend sorting donated food into categories before transport to a local school.
Why this matters and how it will benefit the planet and people: Will help school counselor deliver meals to families in need.

My issue is lack of awareness
My goal is to spread awareness and educate and then create small projects/ideas that people in my community can be a part of.
As I learned about how my eating habits affects my carbon footprint and how eating at certain places can affect it, I have learned to be more conscious about where I get my food from and how those places are contributing to the environment (whether in a good or bad way)
I have already informed people about composting and how using leftover food scraps is a good way to start. I have talked to people about seeing where their food has come from and getting them to think about how much it takes just to get the food to the stores. I created a small “field trip” and took people to the local farmers market so they can see the difference between how locally grown produce and how getting trucks to drive food from across the country to various retail chains impacts our community and food print.

For younger Girl Scouts, I think it would be fun to let them taste for themselves just how different local foods are versus foods from further away. We could gather ingredients for and cook different ethnic foods, then buy some of the same food from the store, and let them see how different they taste. The local ingredients will taste better because they’ll be fresher, and the food overall more healthy, because it doesn’t need preservatives to survive a trip over an ocean.

We have an apple tree at your house and every year there are so many apples that we cannot eat them all. We usually share some with friends and family, but this year I donated some to a local food bank so that the recipients at the food bank can have fresh organic apples along with their canned goods. I will be donating apples every year at this time to the local food bank.

I was very inspired by the food bank I visited at our local college. I decided to help with their lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. In my local community, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables that people grow in their homes, go to waste. I started a community drive to bring extra fruits and vegetables to the local college food bank.

I helped my family out with our garden and I planted my own area. It has a large array of fruits; which I will take care of. I felt like I should do more. and, because my family already has a garden, I wanted to help out in the community. Earlier this year I helped supply a local food bank, so I decided to do it once more.

For my family, I intend to start my own garden at home. I’m not sure what I’ll plant yet, but I’ve already planted some potatoes and green beans. Along with my own compost container, which I share with family members on occasion.

I remember when I was part of the first-generation Gardening club at my school. It started out small but around a year later we had almost 25 students in our club who helped plant veggies and fruits and along with planting a garden we also taught the students why its important to incorporate fresh food into your diet and to not always eat fast food or beans and rice. After my gardening club, I also joined the BPA club and introduced my classmates to the club for community hours. This was a 1-2 year process but it was worth it.

Title: Volunteering with Local Groups to Help the Food Bank
Goal: Have volunteer hours to help with our community and teach others
Last year and this year, I have helped volunteer with volunteer groups who were deemed “Essential Workers” because they were contributing to the local food banks during the pandemic. Friends & Family Community Connection was a group that hosted volunteer efforts to gather local volunteers to bring in donations of foods as well as pick produce from donating orchards/gardens where all contributions went to the food banks. I put in more than 100 volunteer hours. During this time, my sister and I also invited other girl scout troops to join us. We are still continuing with our volunteer hours and inviting others to join us. During the pandemic, many parents lost jobs and their families relied on the food banks for support. Local donated contributions help feed those in need but also bring awareness to this situation in our community. Picking donated produce is helpful as it is local fruit and gardens and that helps with generating trees, crop rotations, and lessening carbon emissions.

I plan to plant my own garden at home for my family. I am still unsure about what I’ll plant but I already got some potatoes and green beans started. Along with my personal compost bin, which I occasionally offer some to family members.

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