Posts from the “Community” Category

Hopeful and Determined

Posted on June 1, 2024

I posted this photo and caption to Instagram today. “Oh, hey Instagram. I just want to post this here for those of you who have had a particularly hard time this week. I’ve been saying at work that my words this year are “hopeful” and “determined.” I think it is the perfect combo for how I am feeling about all the things right now (mixed with a healthy dose of discomfort, disappointment, and heaviness from the world around me). I had a pain block on Tuesday and had hoped to wake up this week with a body ready to get back to walking and that wasn’t the case. So after a day of feeling frustrated and sad and worried and all the other things,…

Categories: Community, Uncategorized

13 years later and the CSA Challenge is back.

Posted on June 1, 2024

FoodRevival started when I was laid off from my publishing job. I had a 3-month severance and started volunteering with what was then known as Jones Valley Urban Farm. In exchange for my work each week working on their paypal accounts, newsletters, and coordinating events, I got a box of food. That was the very first time I was introduced to the idea of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. I started FoodRevival as a way to keep my publishing world alive (the layoff was a bit of a shock and I wasn’t sure what this magazine major would do with her life). I decided to start documenting what I did each week with my CSA box. I called it the “CSA Challenge.” From…

Categories: Community, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, meal prep

Tagged: community-supported-agriculture, CSA, CSA Challenge, farming, Fresh Produce, local-farmers

Using Food as a Foundation to Be Nobody But Yourself…

Posted on February 28, 2024

“To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.”- e.e. cummings

This week has been an incredibly rewarding week for me because I have had the opportunity to see first-hand how our work at Jones Valley Teaching Farm impacts our community, our city, and yes…I believe it impacts the world.

On Monday, I spent the day with our Youth Pathways and Experiences team, which includes 10 interns and 3 apprentices. We toured HudsonAlpha and learned about plant genomics (along with many other things). Learning with and from young people continues to drive me and I was inspired by their questions, interest, and openness.

Mid-week I had the opportunity to test out a food truck concept with our Instructors. As part of the test, I interviewed our middle school culinary club members how they thought we should use the truck. Although they were impressed by it, they were more interested in how the truck could serve other schools without teaching farms and/or take meals to people who need them in our communities. Not surprising at all, but a reminder to me as I continue to think about how yes, it is important to give the young people we work with the best experience we can offer and sometimes that means that the best experience matters when it is shared with others. Phew. Lessons every day.

I also had a chance to spend some time at our teaching farm at Woodlawn High School in conversation with our farmers. While I was there, they left to visit a neighbor because he had stopped by the farm earlier in the week. He helped move some tarp, showed great interest in what we were doing, and invited them to his house to see what he was growing. They came back impressed with his backyard garden and had a bag full of greens in their hands – something he wanted to share with them.

Yesterday, I had the honor of participating in our Good Community Food Fellowship orientation. I watched as 30+ diverse individuals filled our classroom. Some brought young people with them so that as they could experience a field trip with one of our Instructors. It was full circle for me – we were all united in dreaming of communities that are reliant on themselves and each other, full of fresh food, designed by and for the individuals living in them, and willing to go against what the world tells us so that we can create a better future.

There are systems all around us that encourage us to take the easy route. What I loved about being with the fellowship yesterday was that these were individuals from so many different backgrounds, communities, beliefs, and perspectives ready to challenge the easy route. They are, in fact, living out the quote I used earlier and refusing to let the world make them everybody else. They are willing to be vulnerable and learn how to grow, cook, and share food with each other and create a new way to live in community and with each other.

And finally, as we closed out the day, I was reminded of why Jones Valley Teaching Farm must start with young people. We want them to know that it is possible to create new ways of being in community, taking care of ourselves and each other, participating in the educational system, learning, questioning, growing, and everything in between. I hope that in the upcoming years our Fellowship orientation will include many of the young people going through Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s Good School Food model. I envision them sharing their expertise with others and celebrating the ways they recreated systems to work in favor of community with fresh food, resiliency, land stewardship, and care for others at the heart of it all.

To close, I thought I’d include something I saw at Putnam Middle School’s Teaching Farm because I think it perfectly captures our work so well:

Categories: Community, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Uncategorized

Tagged: Birmingham City Schools, Center for Food Education, community, Education, farming, Fellowship, Food, Food Resiliency, gardening, Good Community Food, Good School Food, Growing, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Learning, news

Connections

Posted on January 27, 2024

I’ve been thinking a lot about connections lately and the algorithm picked up on that and decided to send me this quote recently:

I am thankful to have many people in my life that exemplify this definition. They are life-long friends, family, partners, colleagues, new connections, and loved ones who know me inside and out.

Almost two years ago, I stopped drinking completely. I was tired of feeling bad and something tugged at me to look at my drinking as one of the reasons for that. In true Amanda Storey style, I decided to just do everything all at once. I started following a strict diet plan and eliminated pretty much every kind of liquid (except for the 100 ounces of water I ingested daily) for months and months and months (8 to be exact). I gained a clarity I didn’t know was missing. You get very clear on things when you aren’t busy looking for other ways to fill you up.

The clarity opened my heart and mind up to new things – new experiences – new people – new parts of me. It is/was exhilarating and scary. It is/was filled with certainty and uncertainty. It left me wide open to the world.

One of those connections was Maria Popova and her website, “The Marginalian.” It is as if Maria was hand delivered to my heart. I can’t even really explain the depths of her connection to me and my heart and my mind in this phase of my journey right now. I am fine with the wonder of it all. I mean, I think am.

When your heart is wide open though, you can get disappointed. You can get taken for granted. You can scare others. You can also leave everything on the field (isn’t that what they say in the sportsball world?). I do feel like I’ve left a lot on the field. I used to feel depleted by this, but I’m practicing the true and deep art of grace, vulnerability, and wrapping my arms around myself when I’m feeling a little bruised.

And then I thought about connections and Maria Popova arrived like she always does in my inbox to soothe, acknowledge, and see me. By sharing, she makes me feel less alone in my big feelings. By sharing, she helps me connect with others. By sharing, she provides a space for us all to be seen in the ways we most need to be seen at just the right moments. Here’s a link to her website: https://www.themarginalian.org/

And so today I am thankful for Maria Popova and the way she quiets my fears, acknowledges my pain and joy, and writes about the truth of life. It’s hard to find people like this and for whatever reason, I found her at the exact right time.

I am also thankful for all of my many wonderful connections and the way I continually learn from them.

Categories: Community, Uncategorized

Tagged: Connections, Inspiration, Love, Marginalian, Maria Popova, poetry, The Marginalian

Courage

Posted on December 26, 2023

When I first created this food blog 15 years ago, I had no idea the impact it would have on me and my career. For one, I had just been laid off from a job I thought I’d have for the rest of my life (Spoiler Alert: I’m a Gen Xer and an only child of a mother who had a 42+ year career at one place). I had no idea what I was a) going to do and b) doing. And now, as I look back over this 15-year journey, I still don’t always know what a) I am going to do and b) am doing. I reckon that’s the same for most of us if we are being honest with ourselves and…

Categories: Community

Tagged: Courage, David Whyte, Food

Joy, Wonder, and Awe

Posted on November 21, 2023

I’ve been holding a friend gently hostage with my thoughts/musings/fascination with stardust, presence, consolations, words, meanings, wonder, and connection. It has been a season of personal and professional discovery, and it has made me brave and tender at the same time. I kind of like being brave and tender at the same time, so I am going to try to post some things here – you know, on the BLOG I created – to maybe release some of my grip. If I had to pick a theme for this year, it would be “joy, wonder, and awe.” If you look back at my post in March, I was talking about it then. Today, we are releasing Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s Impact Report and it…

Categories: Community, Jones Valley Teaching Farm

Words

Posted on November 19, 2023

I’ve been thinking a lot about words lately. Maybe it is because of how present I’ve tried to be (a relatively new approach). Maybe it is because when I am present, I want to tell you all about it (not so new for this external processor, but still…)? Maybe it is because when the world feels like it is on fire all around us (and it is), words help us heal and soothe and connect? I don’t know the answers to any of it, but words have been getting me through lately – in poetry, songs, articles, quotes, and emails.

Perhaps all of these words also help us make sense of our feelings so they don’t just live inside of us ready to burst out at any moment? I, for one, am thankful for that (and you should be too if you to spend any length of time with me).

I posted on Facebook that my favorite word right now is “tender” or/and “tenderness.” Something about that word helps me think about the way I want to show up for others and for myself. Tender isn’t soft. It’s something bigger and deeper and more intentional and I’ve landed there many times lately (thankfully).

I was so pleased to see others responding to my post with their favorite words. Here’s what they said:

Thoughtful

Intentional

Grateful

And.

Grit (healthy) vs Grind (unhealthy)

Lovely

Grateful

Curiosity

Behold

Grace

Yet.

Peace

I even received a book recommendation: “The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness” by Father Greg Boyle.

Just an incredible list of words for this really hard time and a belief that words can connect us with others and all that is living inside of our minds and hearts. A reminder to use our words as acts of love in rebellion of hate, war, and suffering.

And the algorithm sure works because I found this article in my newsfeed: 18 Beautifully Descriptive Words That You’ll Want to Learn and Use in Your Life

Now I think I have some new favorite words.

Sending love and gratitude,

Amanda

Categories: Community

Northern Lights

Posted on March 31, 2023

“I have noticed that when all the lights are on, people tend to talk about what they are doing – their outer lives. Sitting round in candlelight or firelight, people start to talk about how they are feeling – their inner lives. They speak subjectively, they argue less, there are longer pauses. To sit alone without any electric light is curiously creative. I have my best ideas at dawn or at nightfall, but not if I switch on the lights – then I start thinking about projects, deadlines, demands, and the shadows and shapes of the house become objects, not suggestions, things that need to done, not a background to thought.”— Jeanette Winterson

Lately I’ve been drawn to wonder and awe and adventures. There is a part of me that wonders if this is the post-Covid phase we anticipated. Remember in March 2020 when the world stood still and many of us (not all of us, that’s for sure) were at home trying to figure out how to make sense of any of it? Some of us were in pajama pants for weeks or months (or… years?). Some of us were baking bread and tending gardens. Some of us were zooming every hour on the hour. Some of us were managing child care and workloads and virtual assignments of all sorts. Some of us were cooking and walking more. Some of us were working harder than ever before. What a strange time it was and still is.

One of my biggest fears at that time was that I would settle back into the frenzied, disconnected, distracted, and busy-to-be-busy energy that consumed my days pre-COVID. I don’t think that has happened just yet, but I feel something settling that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t ever want to go back to COVID life as we knew it, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss some moments of it. Perhaps some of it has to do with the fact that it is March again and I can feel the energy and remember some of how I felt back in March 2020 because outside kind of looks and feels the same?

In this weirdly reflective time, I’ve been watching A LOT of videos about the Northern Lights, Svalbard, Swedish vegan channels, and drawn to any and all things cozy. I want twinkle lights in every room. I want fires and darkness. I want pastries baking in the oven. I want flickering candles and to hear the crunch of snow under my feet. I want a big, star-filled sky with Northern Lights. I want to experience the inexplicable. I am craving awe, wonder, and joy. I am kind of reveling in uncertainty.

And so as I make my way through this strange time, I wonder if I’m alone in this? I hope we can hold on to that creative part of ourselves long enough to make something awe-inspiring with it. I believe that each one of us — no matter who we are — needs to know that awe-producing part of ourselves. Or, maybe for those of us who don’t want to produce it, that we may find the time and space to experience it.

In the work I do every day, we talk a lot about numbers. We talk a lot about impact. We talk a lot about many things, but we rarely talk about wonder and awe. My work revolves around young people and they have shown me that awe, wonder, and joy can be found every day if we just look for it. I think we adults have some big work to do in that department,

As for me, I’m going to find those Northern Lights. The real ones and the inner ones. Sending big love to y’all.

Categories: Community

Tagged: awe, nordic, northern lights, svalbard, wonder

Stop Making Me Like You, Social Media

Posted on December 23, 2022

I’m in the middle of making some decisions about my own level of screen time and every single time I get to this point, social media goes and does something great. A few weeks ago, I posted a simple question: “How many of you grew up eating oatmeal with salt and butter like I did?” I received 80+ comments highlighting the many different ways we all eat oatmeal. I spent a lot of time thinking about this (probably more time than I should admit). How can the world be filled with so many different oatmeal variations (especially considering all I’ve ever known is butter and salt)? Guess it explains a whole heck of a lot about this big, wide world. I ended up trying a few of the suggestions and decided to mix up my oatmeal strategy and added in some almond milk, cinnamon, bananas, peanut butter, blueberries, and more. There are days I only want the butter and salt, but I’m thankful for the new variations as well. Well done, social media.

I decided to try another question this week: “What’s your favorite holiday treat?” I received plenty of links to recipes, photos of recipe cards, and I found some new ones to try on my favorite blogs. After a busy year, it was nice to stand in the kitchen and bake. As I made some of the recipes recommended by others, I also thought about them! See? Social media has done it again. Now, I just need to figure out how to find some balance (with everything, right?)! Until that happens, here are a few recipes to inspire your holidays!

Alexandra’s Kitchen’s Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

I fell in love with this website during quarantine and since I had to quarantine myself this week (don’t ask), I decided to revisit why I fell in love with this website in the first place. Look no further than these Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread. Bonus: I dusted off the cute cover I ordered from her website (see here) way back in 2020 and used it again. If you want the satisfaction of feeling like you are making bread from scratch successfully without the hassle of actually making bread (ha), this is your recipe. I accidentally snacked on a few before I took a photo of the finished product. Ooooops.

Alexandra’s Kitchen’s Better Than Classic Pound Cake (One Bowl, Hand Mixed)

Yep, you heard that one right. One bowl? Pound cake? Mini loaves? Why not? That’s the blurb and all there really is to say about this situation. I probably should have left them in 10 minutes longer, but who doesn’t love a gooey middle? Here’s the recipe!

Robyn Hyden’s Contribution: Betty Crocker’s Classic Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

My friend, Robyn, commented on my thread that it isn’t Christmas unless her mom makes these Classic Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t trust Robyn on many things (including policies to make our state better) so I’m sure not going to question her recipes. I’m glad I didn’t because these were fun to make and absolutely delicious. Thanks, Robyn! Adding this recipe to our list and will think of you every time we make them!

Carol’s Contribution: Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies

Another friend, Carol, posted a link to these Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies! Carol also works on policies to make our state better. She has been a pioneer for all things food access and has been an inspiration for so much of the work so many of us do around food equity! I thought about all of her work as I made these cookies and am so glad I decided to make them. They are perfectly sweet and savory and the orange zest is everything. Super festive and fun and easy. Thanks, Carol!

Pillsbury Chocolate Cake Mix with OREO Cookie Pieces

Shout out to Pillsbury for this inspiration! The branding called to me from the shopping aisles and it went in the cart. Mae picked cupcakes and they didn’t let us down!

Simple, Classic Shortbread + A Ted Lasso Biscuit Box for Gifting

I’m going to be honest, this recipe was just me wishing Ted Lasso was back. What can I say? I was browsing away on Alexandra Cook’s blog and I saw the little boxes and it was a done deal. That’s the blurb. And I mean how can you go wrong with shortbread? Here’s the recipe.

Chickpea Magazine’s Everything Granola Bars

Alright stay with me, okay? If you’ve talked to me over the last few weeks or months, you know I’m in a weird Nordic phase. First, I found Cecilia Blomdahl’s youtube channel (linked here) and I can’t stop watching. I also randomly found ANOTHER youtube channel (or maybe it wasn’t so random, right algorithm gods?) featuring Malin Nilsson, a vegan blogger in Sweden (linked here). Next thing you know, I’m searching airbnb’s and plane tickets and Christmas markets and polar nights and confusing everyone close to me. Anyway, hopefully you are still following all of this. Malin mentioned Chickpea Magazine and I downloaded a free issue and the magazine major in me (yes, I was a magazine major before the internet blew up that dream hence my love/hate relationship with the screen) found a JOY I haven’t had in quite some time. It’s the magazine of my dreams (even if in virtual form). The Everything Granola Bar recipe turned out great and I’m excited to try more. Here’s the link to their website and I’m asking Santa for a subscription: https://chickpeamagazine.com/

In Summary…

So, I guess I’ve got some more thinking to do when it comes to screen time. As you can see in this post, the screen had a positive impact on me this week. I connected with others, searched for some new adventures, found the inner nordic in me, discovered things I never knew I liked, and this magazine major is sitting here in front of this screen sharing it with all of you. Ah, I guess that’s how it goes. Wishing all of you peace and love wherever you are. P.S. If you have an airbnb in Sweden or Svalsbard, I’ll be right here waiting. xo

Categories: Community, Recipes, Uncategorized

Tagged: Alexandra's Kitchen, Cecilia Blomdahl, Chickpea, cookies, Epicurious, Food Blogs, Good Eatings, Holidays, Magazine, oatmeal, Pillsbury, Shortbread, Sweden, Ted Lasso

Consistency, Discipline, and Execution

Posted on October 16, 2022

Alright y’all, I’m three (maybe four?) weeks in and maintenance is working. I am convinced that it’s because of the internal work I’ve been doing alongside Optavia. I am remaining consistent and disciplined while also creating space for the unexpected, but what’s been so interesting is that I prefer to make choices that I know will make me feel better. This is a completely different mindset so I often feel like I’m on a bike with training wheels these days. I’m also realizing that this is not just a “diet phase,” but a daily choice I’m making, which is also a very different mindset than I’m not necessarily used to. For example, I used to go on diets that I would think were temporary and I’d lose the weight during that temporary time period and exercise while in that phase, but internally believe I could just “go back” once I hit my goals. I think going through COVID-19 impacted this mentality more than I even knew because I realized that “going back” might not be the answer. What does “going back” even mean if it wasn’t working in the first place? Still tying to understand ALL of that — personally AND professionally.

I’m also learning as I go. This past week was definitely one of those weeks where I could have gotten completely consumed by our Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s annual Twilight Supper. In years past, I would operate without a lot of boundaries because hosting 350 people on the downtown farm just isn’t an easy thing to do. But, this year was a completely different experience. I managed to stay true to my plan while enjoying the treats my friends brought by. I welcomed Rob McDaniel’s Angel Biscuits Friday morning and Emily Nabors-Hall’s Breakup Cookies Friday afternoon. I also normally rely on wine to get me through this event as well, but guess what? This year I preferred Harvest Root’s Kombucha instead and then quickly found myself on the dance floor.

More about the Twilight Supper a little later because it was absolutely incredible. So incredible that I still haven’t found the words. We were wrapped in love and support from so many people and we felt every single bit of it.

Now here’s a curve ball so get ready: I was listening to Nick Saban’s press conference today (I’m not sports ball person, but I always like to listen to his press conferences even though I can’t understand 3/4 of it what with all the receiver, safety, tackles, tips, running and blocking talk). Told you it was going to be a curve ball. I heard him say this: “You can’t have consistency without discipline and execution.” And so after feeling rather proud of my balancing act during such a stressful time last week, I got back in the meal prepping and planning game today. I was short on lunches a few times last week and needed more gas in my tank, honestly, so I’m taking Nick Saban’s advice and working on the discipline and execution part even when it is hard.

Lunches will be a spinach salad with orange bell peppers, feta, sunflower seeds, quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes, a sprinkling of cooked center cut bacon, and vinaigrette. Got it all prepped and ready to go.

For dinner, I made Green Healthy Cooking’s Low Carb Spaghetti Squash bowls and they were delicious. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buvE9NpT_Hs

Feeling grateful after a very full week!

Categories: Community, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Lunch Adventures, meal prep, Prioritizing Me, Uncategorized

Tagged: recipes