PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 26, 2015 — Weavers Way Community Programs will officially open Hope Farm at Martin Luther King High School, and celebrate its horticultural therapy program for special students there, with a ribbon-cutting and garden party Thursday, May 28.
The party starts at 10 a.m. in the garden adjacent to MLK High School, 6100 Stenton Ave., at Stenton and Haines street in Germantown. (See map.)
The autistic and intellectually disabled students WWCP works with are making refreshments for the attendees, and will give tours of the MLK greenhouse and newly installed outdoor garden rows, plant seeds for guests to take home and display some of their projects from the school year.
The nonprofit WWCP, which provides urban farming and nutrition education for underserved children and families, partnered with MLK High in 2014 to launch the Hope Farm at MLK. Over the school year, WWCP educators worked with autistic and intellectually disabled students in the MLK greenhouse, helping them practice valuable life skills — following multi-step directions, completing tasks cooperatively, trying new things — by planting, growing and harvesting vegetables.
“In establishing the Hope Farm at Martin Luther King High School, WWCP and MLK teachers, aides and administrators have demonstrated what can be accomplished when we put the needs of students at the forefront of our thinking and then take action to meet those needs,” said WWCP Executive Director Jill Fink. “In a short period of time, we’ve seen students not only develop practical life skills that prepare them to live independently, but also gain more confidence as they learn new things.”
The program is the only one of its kind in a Philadelphia public school.
"I am so grateful for organizations like Weavers Way Community Programs that provide children in the 8th District with skills for life,” said City Councilwoman Cindy Bass. “Children with intellectual disabilities face a unique set of challenges, but thanks to partnerships like that between Weavers Way Community Programs and Martin Luther King High School, students are able to learn about healthy living and gain tools that will benefit them in all aspects of their lives."
The ribbon-cutting marks the official opening of the outdoor garden, which just went under cultivation this spring, greatly expanding Hope Farm at MLK, and also kicks off a fundraiser to build a shade structure and buy picnic tables for outdoor lessons and workshops.
Martin Luther King Principal William C. Wade and Councilwoman Bass will speak, along with WWCP Executive Director Fink. The public is invited, and WWCP staff, board and donors, Weavers Way staff and board and MLK students, teachers and administrators will be on hand to celebrate the occasion.
About WWCP:Weavers Way Community Programs empowers children, youth and families with the values and knowledge to be healthy, strong and informed through experiential activities centered on urban agriculture, nutrition and the cooperative economy. For more about WWCP’s other programs, visit www.weaversway.coop/wwcp.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 26, 2015 — Weavers Way Community Programs will officially open Hope Farm at Martin Luther King High School, and celebrate its horticultural therapy program for special students there, with a ribbon-cutting and garden party Thursday, May 28.
The party starts at 10 a.m. in the garden adjacent to MLK High School, 6100 Stenton Ave., at Stenton and Haines street in Germantown. (See map.)
The autistic and intellectually disabled students WWCP works with are making refreshments for the attendees, and will give tours of the MLK greenhouse and newly installed outdoor garden rows, plant seeds for guests to take home and display some of their projects from the school year.
The nonprofit WWCP, which provides urban farming and nutrition education for underserved children and families, partnered with MLK High in 2014 to launch the Hope Farm at MLK. Over the school year, WWCP educators worked with autistic and intellectually disabled students in the MLK greenhouse, helping them practice valuable life skills — following multi-step directions, completing tasks cooperatively, trying new things — by planting, growing and harvesting vegetables.
“In establishing the Hope Farm at Martin Luther King High School, WWCP and MLK teachers, aides and administrators have demonstrated what can be accomplished when we put the needs of students at the forefront of our thinking and then take action to meet those needs,” said WWCP Executive Director Jill Fink. “In a short period of time, we’ve seen students not only develop practical life skills that prepare them to live independently, but also gain more confidence as they learn new things.”
The program is the only one of its kind in a Philadelphia public school.
"I am so grateful for organizations like Weavers Way Community Programs that provide children in the 8th District with skills for life,” said City Councilwoman Cindy Bass. “Children with intellectual disabilities face a unique set of challenges, but thanks to partnerships like that between Weavers Way Community Programs and Martin Luther King High School, students are able to learn about healthy living and gain tools that will benefit them in all aspects of their lives."
The ribbon-cutting marks the official opening of the outdoor garden, which just went under cultivation this spring, greatly expanding Hope Farm at MLK, and also kicks off a fundraiser to build a shade structure and buy picnic tables for outdoor lessons and workshops.
Martin Luther King Principal William C. Wade and Councilwoman Bass will speak, along with WWCP Executive Director Fink. The public is invited, and WWCP staff, board and donors, Weavers Way staff and board and MLK students, teachers and administrators will be on hand to celebrate the occasion.
About WWCP:Weavers Way Community Programs empowers children, youth and families with the values and knowledge to be healthy, strong and informed through experiential activities centered on urban agriculture, nutrition and the cooperative economy. For more about WWCP’s other programs, visit www.weaversway.coop/wwcp.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 21, 2015 — Weavers Way Co-op is urging City Council to support a proposed law to require retailers in Philadelphia to charge 5 cents for single-use bags.
Citing the “Ends,” or tenets, Weavers Way leaders noted in a May 20 letter that protecting and restoring the local environment is one of the guiding principles of the 40-year-old cooperatively run grocery operation.
“Millions of single-use bags, especially plastic ‘T-shirt’ bags, end up as litter. They clutter gutters, clog waterways and threaten wildlife. They also snarl trash and recycling machinery. . . . They degrade our shared urban landscape without providing significant value,” the letter said, in part. “Charging 5 cents for each bag will help consumers consider the true cost of using these ubiquitous throwaways, and encourage them to skip unneeded bags and adopt sustainable, non-disposable alternatives.” (Read the full letter here.)
Weavers Way joined environmental organizations such as Clean Water Action, the Clean Air Council and the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership in praising the measure, introduced April 23 by First District Councilman Mark Squilla. The bill targets both paper and plastic and would require merchants to charge 5 cents for single-use bags. Two cents would go to the city, and the merchant would keep the remaining 3 cents to offset costs for signage and compliance reporting. The bill includes exceptions for certain types of merchandise and allows merchants to opt out if they don’t supply bags at all. (Read the bill here.)
According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. retailers go through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost of $4 billion. The “T-shirt” bag, handed out virtually everywhere, from corner stores to Toys R Us, for everything from a pack of cigarettes to a 20-pack of diapers, often end up in the trash — and that’s the upgrade, with discarded bags decorating trees, choking sewers and entangling wildlife.
As reported in the May Weavers Way Shuttle, the Philadelphia Streets Department already requests that plastic bags be kept out of recycling because of the problems they cause at the processing facility. “It’s common practice for the materials recovery facilities to use an hour during each shift to unwrap plastic bags off of equipment,” said Philadelphia Recycling Director Phil Bresee.
Anecdotally, consumers are said to repurpose plastic grocery bags for their own trash, and charging for them might be a hardship for some. “But consumers are already paying the cost of the bags as retailers pass on the costs of doing business via pricing,” said Weavers Way Purchasing Manager Norman Weiss. “It’s actually very easy to switch to reusable bags. They aren’t heavy, they aren’t expensive, they’re easily collapsible and can be re-used hundreds or even thousands of times.”
Weavers Way has never offered free grocery bags, although paper shopping bags are available for purchase at 15 cents each. The Co-op started charging 2 cents for all plastic produce bags in the 1990s. (Cellulose or paper bags for bulk food items are free, as are the discarded boxes kept on hand for shoppers to use.) Weiss noted that nevertheless, in 2013-14, Weavers Way shoppers used about 39,900 large paper bags and about 228,000 plastic produce bags, with 34 percent of shopping trips consuming a plastic bag.
About Weavers Way: Founded as a buying club in 1973, “the Co-op” now has grocery stores in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, two health and wellness specialty shops and a pet supply store. Owned by its 5,400 member households, “the Co-op” emphasizes products that are healthy, sustainable and local, and supports fair prices, fair trade and fair treatment of workers. At Weavers Way, anyone can join and everyone can shop. For more information, visit www.weaversway.coop.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, May 21, 2015 — Weavers Way Co-op is urging City Council to support a proposed law to require retailers in Philadelphia to charge 5 cents for single-use bags.
Citing the “Ends,” or tenets, Weavers Way leaders noted in a May 20 letter that protecting and restoring the local environment is one of the guiding principles of the 40-year-old cooperatively run grocery operation.
“Millions of single-use bags, especially plastic ‘T-shirt’ bags, end up as litter. They clutter gutters, clog waterways and threaten wildlife. They also snarl trash and recycling machinery. . . . They degrade our shared urban landscape without providing significant value,” the letter said, in part. “Charging 5 cents for each bag will help consumers consider the true cost of using these ubiquitous throwaways, and encourage them to skip unneeded bags and adopt sustainable, non-disposable alternatives.” (Read the full letter here.)
Weavers Way joined environmental organizations such as Clean Water Action, the Clean Air Council and the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership in praising the measure, introduced April 23 by First District Councilman Mark Squilla. The bill targets both paper and plastic and would require merchants to charge 5 cents for single-use bags. Two cents would go to the city, and the merchant would keep the remaining 3 cents to offset costs for signage and compliance reporting. The bill includes exceptions for certain types of merchandise and allows merchants to opt out if they don’t supply bags at all. (Read the bill here.)
According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. retailers go through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, at an estimated cost of $4 billion. The “T-shirt” bag, handed out virtually everywhere, from corner stores to Toys R Us, for everything from a pack of cigarettes to a 20-pack of diapers, often end up in the trash — and that’s the upgrade, with discarded bags decorating trees, choking sewers and entangling wildlife.
As reported in the May Weavers Way Shuttle, the Philadelphia Streets Department already requests that plastic bags be kept out of recycling because of the problems they cause at the processing facility. “It’s common practice for the materials recovery facilities to use an hour during each shift to unwrap plastic bags off of equipment,” said Philadelphia Recycling Director Phil Bresee.
Anecdotally, consumers are said to repurpose plastic grocery bags for their own trash, and charging for them might be a hardship for some. “But consumers are already paying the cost of the bags as retailers pass on the costs of doing business via pricing,” said Weavers Way Purchasing Manager Norman Weiss. “It’s actually very easy to switch to reusable bags. They aren’t heavy, they aren’t expensive, they’re easily collapsible and can be re-used hundreds or even thousands of times.”
Weavers Way has never offered free grocery bags, although paper shopping bags are available for purchase at 15 cents each. The Co-op started charging 2 cents for all plastic produce bags in the 1990s. (Cellulose or paper bags for bulk food items are free, as are the discarded boxes kept on hand for shoppers to use.) Weiss noted that nevertheless, in 2013-14, Weavers Way shoppers used about 39,900 large paper bags and about 228,000 plastic produce bags, with 34 percent of shopping trips consuming a plastic bag.
About Weavers Way: Founded as a buying club in 1973, “the Co-op” now has grocery stores in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, two health and wellness specialty shops and a pet supply store. Owned by its 5,400 member households, “the Co-op” emphasizes products that are healthy, sustainable and local, and supports fair prices, fair trade and fair treatment of workers. At Weavers Way, anyone can join and everyone can shop. For more information, visit www.weaversway.coop.
PHILADELPHIA, PA, (May 21, 2015) — The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education and Weavers Way Co-op announce “Food for Thought: Connecting with the Land of Philadelphia,” a unique event that explores the intersection between environmental issues and food justice on Thursday, May 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Participants are invited to spend the evening at the forest pavilion of the Schuylkill Center, taste an array of local cheeses, beer and wine, and enjoy a panel discussion focused on the power of highly innovative regional food systems to transform Philadelphia’s urban landscape.
The evening’s panelists share a common vision of Philadelphia as a place that’s not only beautiful, but that serves citizens in ways that promote health, education, civic engagement and environmental responsibility, recalling William Penn’s initial conception of a city set harmoniously within an expansive park.
From urban farms and community gardens to city-wide parks, creative and inspiring initiatives are empowering residents from all walks of life to grow food, strengthen community bonds and demonstrate new potential for positive change.
We'll learn how partnering with youth to use Philadelphia's urban areas to grow gardens also grows strong young people, and how two women have helped the city begin cutting-edge projects to re-imagine forgotten spaces throughout the city — and how others can get involved in taking back the lost corners of their own neighborhoods.
The Schuylkill Center is located in the wilds of Philadelphia's Roxborough neighborhood at 8480 Hagys Mill Road (map).
Tickets are $15 per person for the general public and $10 for members of SCEE and Weavers Way. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit Schuylkillcenter.org or call 215-482-7300, ext. 110.
About Weavers Way: Founded as a buying club in 1973, “the Co-op” now has grocery stores in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, two health and wellness specialty shops and a pet supply store. Owned by its 5,400 member households, “the Co-op” emphasizes products that are healthy, sustainable and local, and supports fair prices, fair trade and fair treatment of workers. At Weavers Way, anyone can join and everyone can shop. For more information, visit www.weaversway.coop.
About the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education: Founded in 1965, SCEE was one of the first urban environmental education centers in the country. As the founding families intended when they donated farmland and woods at Philadelphia's northwestern edge half a century ago, the Center has evolved into an "island of green" for the discovery, exploration and study of nature. For more information, visit www.schuylkillcenter.org.
