Congregation Emanu-El's Tikkun Olam Project
The Spokane Radish Initiative is a small step towards getting fresh fruits and vegetables into the hands and mouths of families in Spokane area food deserts. Large areas of Spokane are considered food deserts, areas where people live more than 1/2 mile from a grocery store where they can buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
In the 1600's the Russian Orthodox church banned potatoes simply because they were not mentioned in the Bible. A particular fan of the potato, King Frederick II of Prussia, fed them to his troops. However, when he offered them to his subjects during the 1774 famine, they refused this relatively unknown food from South America. Frederick's new approach was to declare the potato a royal vegetable and place guards around royal potato fields. Before long, there was a huge underground market in potatoes and everyone started growing them. Today, the relatively unknown, Sunchoke or Jerusalem Artichoke has the potential to feed many people in a nutritious way.
To learn more about this project initiated by Congregation Emanu-El, Initially we hope to serve 100 families and expect this program to grow in the future in terms of the number of families provided with the garden boxes and vegetables, as well as the number of volunteers from Spokane's various faith communities. To donate make checks out to Congregation Emanu-el, put Spokane Radish Initiative in the memo section and send to PO Box 30234, Spokane, WA 99223. For information or dirt, seed, or time donations contact Kimberly Burnham at [email protected].
To volunteer, let Kim know you are coming on Sunday April 30, 2017 at 1 - 4 pm (Spokane, WA). Volunteers will be asked to put dirt in boxes, plant sunchokes bulbs, radish seeds, strawberry plants, and mint and then deliver the boxes to recipient families.
In the 1600's the Russian Orthodox church banned potatoes simply because they were not mentioned in the Bible. A particular fan of the potato, King Frederick II of Prussia, fed them to his troops. However, when he offered them to his subjects during the 1774 famine, they refused this relatively unknown food from South America. Frederick's new approach was to declare the potato a royal vegetable and place guards around royal potato fields. Before long, there was a huge underground market in potatoes and everyone started growing them. Today, the relatively unknown, Sunchoke or Jerusalem Artichoke has the potential to feed many people in a nutritious way.
To learn more about this project initiated by Congregation Emanu-El, Initially we hope to serve 100 families and expect this program to grow in the future in terms of the number of families provided with the garden boxes and vegetables, as well as the number of volunteers from Spokane's various faith communities. To donate make checks out to Congregation Emanu-el, put Spokane Radish Initiative in the memo section and send to PO Box 30234, Spokane, WA 99223. For information or dirt, seed, or time donations contact Kimberly Burnham at [email protected].
To volunteer, let Kim know you are coming on Sunday April 30, 2017 at 1 - 4 pm (Spokane, WA). Volunteers will be asked to put dirt in boxes, plant sunchokes bulbs, radish seeds, strawberry plants, and mint and then deliver the boxes to recipient families.