2012 Food Leaders, feeling empowered!
 
F O O D  l e a d e r
certificate program 

 "The Food Leader retreat was a powerful experience. I learned so much about the failing food system in our country, but did not feel discouraged because of the tremendous positivity and hopefulness that was encouraged by the retreat leaders. A large group of like-minded people can sometimes tend to be judgmental and negative, however I found the Food Leader [program] to be different. I was inspired and empowered to change our community for the better!"
-Mary O'Connell, Wauwatosa, 2012 Food Leader


 

Emerging Food Leaders!

Join Victory Garden Initiative's 2013  Food Leader Class 


 Do you want to help your community grow its own food?  Does your workplace need a garden or a composting program?
 
Do you want to understand the industrial food system's effects on health and wellness?		   
Do you envision your home as the heart of your neighborhood?


2013 registration is closed. Please check back in October for information about our 2014 Food Leader Course.


Program Fee: $500 

Limited scholarships are available for low-income participants. 


For more information, please contact jazz.glastra@VictoryGardenInitiative.org


Overview:

The Food Leader Certificate Program is for people who want to:

  • Become leaders in the food movement, personally or professionally
  • Lead community projects that involve gardening or food issues 
  • Deepen their knowledge of food systems issues 
  • Learn how to grow food
  • Bolster their resumes

By participating in this program you will enhance your understanding of food systems issues and be introduced to solutions for yourself and your community. You will develop your leadership skills by participating in the planning and execution of a Food Leader Project, with support and guidance from instructors Gretchen Mead andJessy Servi. 


Through the whole process you will build community and a team of engaged leaders creating positive change in our communities!


Program Dates:

1) Kick off weekend retreat: March 2-3, 2013

2) Community Organizing Retreat: June 15th and 16th, 2013

3) Edible Gardening for Sustainability Series: 1x month

4) Home Events: 1x month – July / August / September

Garden Event: September 22, 2013 (rain date September 29)

5) Projects – Implement one food leader project for VGI

or in your community

6) Graduation Event – November 10, 2013


 

About your Instructors



Gretchen Mead - Executive Director


Gretchen founded Victory Garden Initiative in 2008. Throughout her career as a social worker she witnessed firsthand the negative impact that the current industrialized food system has on vulnerable populations. She observed that the poorest were the most susceptible to diet-related illnesses, especially where cheap processed foods are plentiful but fresh vegetables are all but inaccessible.


Gretchen’s outlook was shaped by her upbringing in rural Illinois, where her family harvested the bounty of nearby forests in addition to cultivating a family garden. Her approach to urban agriculture is informed by the principles of permaculture, a theory of ecological design that aims to work with nature instead of against it. Gretchen’s aspiration is to reintegrate our food ecology and our human ecology together in one system. She points out, “Our current agriculture system happens away from where people live; our goal is to reintegrate those systems.”


Gretchen received her BA from Clark College and a Master of Social Work from UWM’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. She has been awarded the 2012 GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) Award from UW-Milwaukee.




Jessy Servi - Food Leader Certificate Course Co-leader


Jessy is co-leading the 2012 Food Leader Certificate Program. She has background in design, education, nature awareness, permaculture (ecology) & community development. She integrates her formal training in interior design (BS, Interior Design from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities Campus) with life-enriching and community-building education from all around the globe.


Her experiences include life coaching, teaching English in Central and South America, building adobe structures on a seed saving farm in Thailand, studying spirituality and yoga in India and Guatemala, and finally, finding the solution based, whole systems design science, Permaculture!


Jessy spent three years at Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas, California, where she practiced and educated students on permaculture and environmental sustainability, on personal growth and leadership, as well as cultural mentoring and nature awareness. Jessy currently is the Vice President of her family’s business (Rawson Contractors) and earning an MBA with an emphasis on sustainable business management from Alverno College.


Jessy is passionate about building healthy relationships. She trusts that each of us could live happier and healthier lives if we believed in our selves deeply, living connected to nature and in alignment with our passions and our purpose.



The 2012 Food Leader Certificate Program was made possible in part by generous support from the Wisconsin Community Fund.
 
 

The Program:

Learn more about what the Food Leader Program includes 


k

 I dream of having the time to help my friends develop a one hundred and fifty acre permaculture farm on the outskirts of Chicago…
  My wonderful experience with the Victory Garden Initiative has given me the confidence and skills to pursue this. 
-Laura Herzog, Glendale, 2012 Food Leader
 
 

The Food Leader Certificate Program consists of the following elements (scroll down or click for details):


1. Leadership/Organizer Training Retreats

2. Gardening Classes

3. Community Building Home Events

4. Project Implementation

5. Graduation


 Program Requirement Details:

Leadership/Organizer Training Retreats

Food Leaders will complete two weekend retreats. During these sessions, we will cover food systems, community food issues, and effective community organizer training. 




 

1) Program Kick Off Weekend Retreat: March 2-3, 2013 (Overnight) 
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, East Troy

In this first session you will connect to your team, develop your understanding of food systems issues, and build community for the purpose of engaging people in growing their own food. You will also develop a vision for your self (and our community) for developing hubs of localized food projects. 

During this session, we will discuss facets of the food system including:

Social justice

Environmental degradation

Food security & food sovereignty

Health and wellness

Community-based food systems
 2) Community Organizing Retreat: June 15-16, 2013  (Overnight)

This session will be focused on learning community organizing techniques and theories. By developing your own "food story", you will learn how to effectively connect with and mobilize others.

Edible Gardening for Sustainability Class Series

Our Edible Gardening for Sustainability (EGS) series will teach participants how to grow their own food--from planning the garden to grafting fruit trees!

Class Details:

EGS classes are held the second Saturday of every month from February-November, 9 AM - 12 PM. We rotate between the Washington Park and Riverside Park Urban Ecology Centers. Full schedule here.
Participation:

 Requirement depends on your prior gardening experience
Topics include:

Urban permaculture design, garden planning, plant guild basics, organic pest & disease management, tree pruning, selection, and planting, growing greens, and succession planting.

Community Building Home Events

In the vision of creating home-based food leader hubs, participants will host an event in a garden or home that brings food leaders together in celebration of food.




Participants will be broken into three groups for Home Events. Home Events will take place once a month from July through September 2013. 


      Food Leader Projects

      Each food leader will choose a project to work with in partnership with Victory Garden Initiative. 




      Mentors: 

      Instructors Gretchen Mead and Jessy Servi will support Food Leaders as they implement their project throughout the program.
      Possible Projects 

      Food Leaders can choose to work on one of VGI's programs as their project, or they can start something in their own community.

      Victory Garden Blitz
      Fruity Nutty Campaign
      Concordia Gardens
      Milwaukee Public School Gardens
      Organizing an Event
      Eat & Meet Potlucks
      Past Examples 

       Starting a composting program at work
      Running a portion of the Victory Garden Blitz
      Assisting with the Edible Gardening for Sustainability series

      Food Leader Graduation: November 10, 2013

      Food Leaders come together to share their Food Leader Story that they have developed over the year with one another.  This is a graduation ceremony where certificates are awarded to those who complete program requirements.

       
       
       
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