The round up of Monday...

Now that we're back on campus students are writing thank you letters and answering food for thought questions but I took this time to interview 3 Paige, Brelyn, Julius about today's events and how they felt on the situation.

So how did you feel about Amber Nave's presentation on climate change and your role in the environment?

"I really enjoyed her presentation today and I think others did as well. She was very enthusiastic about what she does and she made me feel the same excitement that she did She me made me realized that I had an important role in the world and i could make a big difference by simply changing me habits."-Pagie Burton

Was it easier to understand your role from her using her power point?

"Yes, she broke it down in a way that made me understand just how important my role was."-Paige Burton

Did you learn anything you didn't already know before watching the video?

"Yes, it surprised me when she mentioned that my carbon footprint took up not only one but a few football fields."-Paige Burton

Earlier today we took a hike at Cascade Springs Nature Reserve and learned about many people do not know that such places exist in their neighborhoods.

How would you feel if you had a park or a spring in your neighborhood that you didn't know about? Would you fight to keep it clean and promote it so that everyone can use it?

"I would be ecstatic and would want to keep it clean."-Brelyn Barclay

What was most interesting about Cascade Springs?

"The waterfall"-Brelyn Barclay

What kind of appreciation do you have for the environment before the camp? Has that changed now? How so?

"So much and still so much because i learned how to help the environment." -Brelyn Barclay

After the Hike we ate food prepared by Chef Shayne. It was fish, chicken and vegetables and he explained that fish was a lot easier to digest than other foods.

Did you notice a difference in the food you ate from Food For Life Supreme versus anything else you eat at home?

"Yes, I did notice a dramatic difference in the Food For Life's food. It tasted fresh, and it was good for the body as well, not like the food at home."-Julius Emmanuel

Which would you say is better the food from Homegrown or the food from Food for Life Supreme?

"I think they're both great in their own way, but I  have to give Homegrown the edge. It was more in quantity and still great in quality."-Julius Emmanuel

Do you think you could eat food prepared this way ( a Healthy way) for the remainder of your life?

"Yes I can, it taste so delicious, and it would keep me healthy throughout my life."Julius Emmanuel

Food For Life Supreme

Now students listen to Chef Shayne From Food for Life Supreme. He's explaining what his restaurant does to enhance food from what people normally like to eat such as burgers and substitute it with Fish. Since a lot of foods sit on the stomach and are not good for the digestive track fish does a lot better.  So A person wanting a burger would instead eat a Cuban burger and they even bake their own bread making sure that the ingredients go more towards your health.

"Most of the sauces we make ourselves. we cal lit Tiki sauce, and we marinate it in that."-Chef Shayne

"one of the things we do sell is our salad dressing, but we don't sell our Tiki sauce as of yet."Chef Shayne

what are some of the other dishes you serve?

" The Cuban burger, the fiesta bowl, salmon Mignon, the royal burger, and The Decatur "-Chef Shayne

What made you want to be a cook with a spin on health while doing it?

" i was looking for  avenue as far as helping the community and started out as an intern Maryland and i started out in prep, and i traveled to the other food for life's to get more of the exp. and now I'm the head chef in Atlanta for a food for life. "-Chef Shayne
Do you serve healthy beverages as well?

" Yes, we serve fresh squeezed lemonade as well as a supreme tea which is like raspberry and blueberry. and we can put them together and call it the splash. "-Chef Shayne

Do you serve Deserts?

" that's one of the avenues that's more transitional cause we serve carrot pies , bean pies, chocolate cookies, pound cakes, carrot cake."-Chef Shayne

Fun & Learning at the Out Door Activity Center

We're back again at our favorite activity center! switching gears to learn about the plight of urban streams, we've head to the Out Door Activity Center in Southwest Atlanta to heat Darryl Haddock speak on Water Quality, Water Monitoring, and hopefully with the weather willing we resume our regular track and hike to a small waterfall.

Later students will learn about Sustainable Farming Systems, The Urban Forest and its invasive plants and threatened habitats. And the students will have fun learning to remove these invasive plants and installing native plants. More coming soon as we continue to learn, understand, and work toward a better, greener environment!!

Into a changing climate...

Today the students learn about climate change and urban ecosystems. Amber Nave, with the Alliance for Climate Education,  opened with a wonderful presentation on global warming talking about green house gases and the importance of recycling.

Next students broke up into groups consisting of their respective schools to come up with ideas on how to either rekindle the fire of their ET club or create one at their school. Tucker High School for instance has not ET Club however they have a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and Rivers Alive, so they have to approach creating a club in a different way.

Love is Love Farm & Farmers Market at Grant Park

Students headed to ''Love is Love'' farms where Farmer Erin gave us a tour of the garden. Students who were apart of the institute last year got to see how things have changed while new students to the program were able to learn that different crops grown every 12 years! Children got to work and understand first hand what an organic farm is and how to properly work and operate in one.

I asked a first time participant about her work in the green house cutting dead leaves off of garlic. Here's what she had to say:

Have you ever eaten organically grown foods before?

"Yes I have we eat apples and carrots and go to the farmers market to get food which is about all we eat in my house."-Caitlee Greene

How did you feel about the gardening at Love is Love farms?

"I actually really enjoyed seeing that cause it kinda gives me an idea about what I can do in my own back yard."-Caitlee Greene

Do you think you could run a organic farm such as this one?

"Absouletly I would actually love to participate in that activity. "-Caitlee Greene

Later we were able to travel with Mr. Robby Astrove to Grant Park and everyone was allowed to see the product portion of the organic foods sold to the public. I myself managed to get my hands on a few delectable  treats most notably Creamed Honey from 'Pure Honey', Greek Yogurt from 'Atlanta Fresh Artisan Creamery', and I saw one student eat a very strange meal that looked every well cooked but he was so flustered by the deliciousness of what he was eating I HAD to ask where he got it from so I interviewed them on their work:

After a day at the farmers market students filled their bellies with organic food from Home Grown on Memorial Drive. They later found out that the same food they ate came not from a farmers market but the very garden in the back of the restaurant itself! All in all each student was satisfied beyond words from the delicious foods! 

I talked to one student, Messiah Johnson, who had the pleasure of eating a second time around. Here's what he had to say:

How did you feel about eating at Home Grown again?

"it was definitely a good experience the food was great. It made me think about what I eat on a daily basis and alter that to something healthy even if its not organic, something that isn't so greasy like Mac'Donalds or fast food and with more vegetable and like 'real' food. "-Messiah Johnson

Was there anything different about the food that you didn't like?

"Well i don't really eat pork so i didn't have any of the pot roast but everything else was really good. "-Messiah Johnson

Finally students went to Wheat Street Gardens to learn even more about organic foods and how they tie in with historical aspects and what they do for the community today!

I managed to snap some photos of some of the things they managed to start growing and put them in a slide show for display. 

Team Building Exercises...

Students discuss their experiences from team building and leap into a discussion about the environment and the things that affect their way off life as they await a presentation from James King. I had a chance to sit with him and ask him a couple of questions. This is what he had to say to them:

1. Being that most of the students to the ET program are new do you think your presentation had an impact on the students today? 

“Yes, I received great feedback. I like the give and take conversations we had about diversity in the outdoors. The ET youth really did open up about the barriers they face in getting into outdoors.”-James King Jr. 

2. How did you get involved with Earth Tomorrow and the Environment and what is your occupation?

“Mrs. Na'Taki Osbourne-Jelks asked me last year to help with the ET program camp-out. Also to mentor the peer mentors in talking about diversity in the outdoors/job opportunities being a college students and the transition of the high school youth in becoming young environmentalist.”-James King Jr.

3. What is the coolest part of your job?

“I just started interning for the National Parks Service Southeast Regional Office Headquarters. The most intriguing part of my internship is learning about the National Heritage Areas. I am a huge nature/history buff.”-James King Jr.

Now we've moved from the home grown market to the Home Grown Foods a local restaurant that grows and serves its own foods.