We had a great time this past Saturday at the Produce Safety Training and MapJam workshop in Philly! We had a wonderful group of urban growers, beekeepers, farmers, educators, advocates, and nature lovers from the Philadelphia area. The first part of the day was led by amazing teachers: Dr. Melvina Brown, Chef Laquanda Dobson, and Lindsay Gilmour from Chesapeake Ag Innovation Center. They enlightened us about the significance of food safety and taught us various techniques and tools to maintain cleanliness in our farm and garden operations. We also had a tour of One Art Community Center and conducted a hands-on risk/safety assessment of the area. Lastly, we learned about sanitation practices and how to devise our food safety plans.

We took a break from the program (and the sun!) to have a delicious farm-to-table lunch provided by Ms. Beverly from One Art. The second half of the day was spent working on a MapJam session facilitated by NESAWG. We spent time collectively envisioning “a food system rooted in love”, and participants shared their community’s needs. We identified the top priorities in our work and talked about the barriers we often face. We ended the day by sharing our community’s offerings and resources.

We’re grateful to be in community with these beautiful changemakers and are excited to continue this MapJam project in more cities!

Join us for a FREE workshop led by a team of community-based Produce Safety Educators and participate in a regional mapping project with NESAWG!

This event is in collaboration with the Chesapeake Ag Innovation Center and One Art Community Center. 

Where: One Art Community Center | Philadelphia, PA
When: Saturday, July 15th, 9-5pm

Registration has closed.

Produce Safety Training

Join us at One Art Community Center for a day of learning and community food systems visioning. First, there will be an interactive workshop where you will learn from a team of Produce Safety Educators. Laquanda Dobson, Dr. Melvina Brown and Lindsay Gilmour bring years of experience in teaching and farming in the Philadelphia region to help answer questions specific to your operation and give real world examples of some of the best practices in produce safety!

There will be hands-on-demonstrations of practices that you can implement on your growing space and with your volunteers and staff. This workshop is helpful to all farmers and gardeners but especially those who are interested in selling produce to the public or who are looking to create a food safety plan and/or obtain GAP Certification. Come prepared with questions!

Learn more about the Chesapeake Ag Innovation Center here.

MapJam

The second half of the day will be facilitatd by NESAWG. We invite participants to a discussion focusing on:

• How can we leverage our knowledge, our skills and our networks to create long-term farm and food systems change?
• How can we create a system that is regenerative, replicable, and scalable?
• How can we support each other’s work as we build a food and farm system for all?

During this session, we will also map local organizations and resources; share needs and priorities; and have conversations about movement building. The data from this session will be mapped out and shared publicly as a resource for the Northeast region. This will be a great opportunity to network and build new relationships with Philly folks!

Learn more about NESAWG here.

Venue: One Art Community Center

1433 N. 52nd St. Philadelphia, PA 19131

Our mission at One Art Community Center is to provide an inspirational experience and a safe space for marginalized communities in Philadelphia so that we may all connect, heal, learn, and incubate projects together through the arts, culture, educational programming and events. Our programs facilitate holistic healing, foster environmental sustainability, cultivate collaborative partnerships, and promote collective growth and unity within the community.

Learn more about One Art Community Center.

Click here for a downloadable PDF flyer.

Please email [email protected] or [email protected] if you have any questions!