Blog Post #9

This was a very hard topic to talk about with my community engagement because they do so much without asking for funding from outside organizations. There is no application that I know of that helps them maintain what they are. Like I mentioned in a previous blog entry, the help of POST allows them to conserve their land and have some protection. Potrero Nuevo farm is a farm that is based on the helping of others. Potrero Nuevo helps places such as Table of Plenty. I am not sure if Table of Plenty provides them with any type of funding which was not clear or either websites. Since there is not as much outside funding they are not as equipped to hire other farmers to help them with the farm which is why they revolve to heavily on volunteers to help them with farming duties. 

Community Engagement : Day 4

The Final Day 

It has finally come to an end. This community engagement was the great way to end my undergraduate career at NDNU. I have started at Potrero Nuevo Farm since my Freshman Year Seminar class and had the privilege to complete my community service at the same place.  Meeting Jay and Suzie has been such a great experience and I know if I ever need them for a resource I can always contact them. On our first day of arriving to the farm we started the process of growing strawberries. They were already planted but it was our job to remove all the weeds around the plants, spray it with compost tea and make sure everything was well groomed. This was our little baby of the farm. Everyday we came to farm the first thing we would go do was to check on the strawberries. Well it was officially our last day on the farm and all I could think about was that this will be my last day seeing my babies. After removing some weeds around the mints and rosemary we went to see the strawberries. Suzie saying  "okay now I have a competition for you all, who can eat the most strawberries". Running inside of the field I picked my first strawberry and the taste was unbelievable. So juicy and red and the perfect firmness. This was the best strawberry I have ever had, and the best part about them was that I helped them to be so delicious.

Being able to farm these past couple of months really allowed me to appreciate the process of farming and the time it takes to make something that we eat on a daily basis taste so delicious. Below are some pictures of the strawberries that we not only help grow but our very own strawberries we harvest.

Blog Post #8

The Potrero Nuevo Farm is a non profit organization. One profit aspect where they receive their money is the U-Pick Club. This club is designed for residents to come and pick their own produce. This program is ran from June to November, where the members come to the farm and harvest their own vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers. This allows people to understand the process of farming and learning the essentials needed to grow and harvest food. A single payment which consist of eight visit run for $250, additional harvest visit are $25 each. Majority of  their services are strictly volunteer and since Jay and Suzie run the farm together, having volunteers really help them with building the farm. With the money they receive from this program they are able to purchase things that they need for the farm such as plants, tools and necessities for Jay and Suzie. 

Call to Action Day 2016

Call to Action Day was a remarkable experience. Being apart of the NDNU community I was able to speak to people I have never seen about a topic that has been so controversial. From listening to the wonderful message told by the keynote speaker, Dr. Bobby Vaughn. He expressed the importance that "All lives matter" but what people fail to realize is that people such as black people feel like they don't matter because of the way they have been treated. It was great hearing so many different personal experiences that people encountered pertaining to race. Signing up to be a facilitator I didn't quite know what to expect. I was afraid that everyone would be a afraid to speak up on the notion os Blacks Lives Matter. The most touching aspect of the day was to see the freshman class (especially in my group) speak so highly on the need for change and that racism is not okay and never will be. 

Looking at the hallmarks of SND this day of reflection really resonated with Hallmark 3: We education for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world. I believe this day of reflection was a good start on something big for the NDNU community. One big theme that was brought out from all groups was to converse, have more conversations regarding this topic. The more we share awareness the more we can make a difference. I really enjoyed my last Call to Action Day at NDNU. I was very shock to have not seen more people at this day. With looking at the climate survey it really shows the division that is on campus and there needs to be a way to resolve that issue. 

The first picture was the opening which was give by the Director of Diversity Lakiba Pittman. 

Dr. Bobby Vaughn giving the keynote message before students broke out into groups to discuss.            

Blog Post #7

Potrero Nuevo farm interacts with local governmental units through a protection firm known as POST. POST is an affirmative agricultural conservation easement that stands for Peninsula Open Space Trust. What the Post excels in is protection for natural resources of property and allows for a portion of land to stay in working agriculture production. This allows Potrero Nuevo farm to at least have two acres of row of crops in production and 100 acres gazed. With the notion of definite acre this allow for a community reliability for benefits. " Ours was one of the first such agreements created on the Coastside by POST's Farmland Futures Initiative and we are happy to be an early adopter of an easement that will guarantee agricultural land production in San Mateo County." POST is similar to COG'S which are councils of government who are intended to improve regional coordination. 

When researching more on the protection of land I came across:
"Local farmland is disappearing, fast. In San Mateo County alone, we have lost 35% of our farmland over the last 30 years. If it continues at this rate, there will soon be none left. At Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), we believe that it’s possible to save local farms for the benefit of us all. That’s why we are announcing the Farmland Futures Initiative (FFI). It’s a complex challenge that will involve a combination of land acquisition, legal land protection and strategic investments in farmland infrastructure. After nearly three decades of protecting working lands, POST is ready and we hope you are too. Join us as we celebrate the launch of this new initiative at A Taste of the Coast, on April 30, 2016." (farmlandfutures.org) 

Belmont City Village Remodeling Project

5pm-7pm

On Monday March 21st students of Notre Dame de Namur University had the opportunity to express their voice in the new model for the Belmont "downtown" city village. We discussed what places we go to the most in the village and majority related that they go to Safeway because it is open 24 hours. This was very interesting to see the new direction that the city of Belmont is hopefully striving towards. From the talk we had it seem like they want to direct the downtown setting for the younger crowd. They want to provide affordable housing for single home and college students. As well as bring in a "strip" that will have bars and live music. With this change of scenery for Belmont this will change the dynamics of the residents of Belmont.

http://www.planbelmontvillage.com/

Blog Post #6

Focus Questions: 1. What are three principal functions of legislatures?

The role of a legislature is to be responsible for making new laws and changing existing laws. They are elected by the public to work for the federal government or other various elements of the government.  They sit in at public forums to understand what to take back to government official meetings.  Public officials are also allowed to write letters or meet with their legislator to present concerns. The three principal functions are: policymaking, representation and oversight. Policymaking means to create laws or standards for government or business. Representation means to have a legislator represent constituents and people who live in their district. Oversight is where there is more of an administrative duty. Meaning if laws that were passed did not fulfill their duties then it it their job as legislatures to adopt a different method of approach. 

Community Engagement: Day 3

TASTE TESING 101

On February 26th my group and I went for our third day at the farm. This was our first day without one o the managers Jay. The main projects we participated in on this day were planting new crop. When we first got to the farm we picked up all of the old lavender that Jay pulled from the ground the day before. There was something very calming about picking lavender, probably due to the great smell that was coming from the plant. We pulled up old artichoke plants to plant new rhubarb plants. We also help with more production for the green house by planting onions. These onions will start their process in the greenhouse and later will be planted in the ground. We calculated that we will be planting around 8500 onion seeds.

Of course we had to have another taste test day as well. This time we all partake in the asparagus eating challenge. This meant that we would have to eat an entire asparagus from the ground without our hands. Now I am not a big fan of asparagus but after trying fresh asparagus I fell in love. I even ordered asparagus for dinner two days after doing this challenge. I HAVE FELL IN LOVE. We also pulled a carrot and picked two different types of lettuce.

Community Engagement : Day 2

                                  
                                                        

"Rain or Shine"

On Friday February 19th, headed to our second day of farming. This day was a little different due to weather conditions we bounced back and forth from different projects. We first began our day with picking weeds around the rosemary garden. This was a quick process that we just started. We then moved to another part of the farm. Here they plant cactus, artichoke, and rhubarb. One cool thing that we were able to do was to actually eat the stem of the rhubarb plant right from the ground. It was a mild sour taste that I can understand why it's used so much in jams and pies. We also picked weeds around the rhubarb and talked about cooking and animals. These are always my favorite times because we are able to really get to know Suzie and Jay. 

We went back to the strawberry field to the progress of growth since the week before. We were actually able to see little strawberries. During this time we met Christine who is also the owner of the farm. She was showing us the fresh asparagus she just picked from the garden and showing us the difference between the purple and green one. After we went to the orchids where they grow all types of plants ranging from oranges and apples. This reminded me of back home and my great-aunt use to have  orchid farm and my favorite time of the year was when I was able to pick my very own orange. Due to the rain we were quickly moved into the green house where we did some yard work. We swept, pulled weeds and made sure all tray tables were stable. This was a time to get prepared for Suzie to lay down knew crop that they will be growing in the next few weeks. 

The last assignment that we did involved me in to get in a rain suit, which included jacket, pants and boots. This is where me and Ahmed sprayed all of the trays that the crops will be placed in. Even though it was cold and raining outside something about putting on all of this gear made me feel like a real farmer. 

Blog Post #5

The case study that I picked was about the Seattle School District No 1 vs State. This case was about having funding for k-12 public schools to provide for textbook, supplies and staff and programs. They stated that the state was struggling in providing funding for education which was against the article IX sections 1 and 2. After many weeks of trial the ruling was awarded to the school district. One interesting quote that was said in the case study was " Further, we clarified that the State’s duty is not to provide all knowledge and offerings tangentially related to the central thrust of the educational concepts we had outlined—in other words, there is no obligation to provide “‘total education.’” " Earlier they stated that education was defined as " the basic knowledge and skills needed to compete in today's economy and meaningfully participate in this state's democracy.

What is said to see here is the states law on their view of "Education". The years of k-12 are the most prominent years for youth to understand what they want to do by learning different aspects in life. Not just focused on economics and governments but also things such as science, fashion design. Without funding was withholding public institutions to allow this diversity of knowledge for the students. This notice was then moved to the supreme court because the notion was declined in supporting funds for other interest group classes. This sadden me on the fight that the school district which under the local government level had to do ask for funding for proper education.

https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/843627.opn.pdf

Community Engagement: Day 1

On February 12th , my group and I went to our first day of community service. We were greeted by the beautiful couple who are also the farm managers, Suzie and Jay as long as their beautiful dog Bear. We were suppose to start at 12:30pm but due to our first time driving to the location we all kind of got lost. Once we arrived Suzie and Jay discussed what Potrero Nuevo Farm does for the community. Majority of their time is spent to grow vegetable for the Catholic Workers, help high school students as well as even have one profit project where local people are able to come and pick their on fruits and vegetables. After out tour of the very small vicinity of the entire farm we began to get down to work. We picked weeds that were growing ferociously and getting ready for the new season of vegetables and fruits that were inputed. While doing the yard work we also began to have conversations leading from politics, to Netflix series all the way up to what are future goals are. After our first day at the farm I am excited to continue my community service at Potrero Nuevo.

Blog Post #4

While reading this short passage one line stuck out to me, " you should have only the government you need, but also all the government you need". Subsidiarity to me is a notion that is controlled and prevailed by a small organization such as a neighborhood. When thinking of examples that pertain to me I thought of the block club meetings my neighborhood has. This is held on weekly basses so that the community as a whole can deliver there wants a needs without the help of the government beforehand. In the book devolution is stated  as a power change from federal to state and local governments. I believe this relies a lot on subsidiarity, with allowing the local government ( neighborhoods and communities) to make executive decisions.

When reading about devolution in Kenya , I saw that a lot of the changes of laws were designed by the local level. These are given to them to cater specifically to the people and give them what they need as individuals. Many things have improved since the devolution and hopefully it can stay that way.

Blog Post #3

My community partner is Potrero Nuevo Farm. The major component about this organization is giving back. One of their main relationships are through the Half Moon Bay Catholic Workers which is an organization that helps bring peace, food, care to people in need. At Potrero Nuevo majority of the harvest that is grown is dedicated towards low income and homeless families that are involved through the Half Moon Bay Catholic Workers. They also have a service called U-Pick Club, which is more geared to middle class families since there is a fee but it allows a person to come pick their own produced by hand in bulk. This process allows residents to know exactly where their food is being distributed from.  This makes their interaction on a business and personal side.

Citizen participation can affect my community partner by the high demand. Since they are so connected through organizations as well as business stand point this allows for a high demand of customers to supply for.

Blog Post #2

There is tension between state and local government for many reasons. One of the main reasons is with authority of power. Authority is different depending on the state and how they want to disrupt power with the local government. This leads to something called the " State-Local Tug of War", meaning shifting of power between state and local government. State government has the ability to regulate finances, structure, service structure, personnel, functions and processes. Few states allow local governments to have any type of authority when it comes to those restrictions. The second main reason is regarding money. A lot of local governments depend on states for some form of income. About 40% of all funding from state governments is given to local government. With much of the income from state governments attended for social welfare, education, hospitals, public safety and many more for the state the local governments has very little power on deciding where to spend money. In many aspects state and local government remind me of a child getting allowance from their parents. While their parents give them money for them to spend it on things it is very limited on what exactly those things are. This builds tension on not having flexibility in what they can they spend their money on. This is what I believe is happening with state and local government. Is not having the flexibility to spend their money from state governments.

This tension might be healthy due to stability. Due to a relationship between state and local governments they are able to have funding for communities. Since tax payers are the ones providing that financial stability the reason for such restrictions on money allow people to know exactly where their money is intended for.

Blog Post #1

My first choice that I chose was Maple Street Shelter. They aroused to proved shelter for people around the Silicon Valley and San Francisco. It was started by two non-profit organizations such as InnVision the Way Home (founded 1973) and Shelter Network (founded 1987). This was a decision to help the local community in need by asking for donations and volunteer workers. 

I believe that local governments did not fulfill this because of financial cost. To be able to house multiple people, feed them and give them guidelines is very costly. They feel that they help by having opportunities like welfare and free health care, which none of these results in a rood over their heads. When doing research on how they are funded I came across "IVSN is funded through a combination of foundations, corporations, individuals, federal, state, and city grants. Approximately 60% of our annual budget is publicly funded, and 40% is privately funded." This shows how much control is given through community perspectives. When it comes to federal policies much of it comes from the privacy and security of the families. They are referred to the shelter by hospital, police departments and agencies that are fund ended federally. This controls the types of families that are allowed to know about this wonderful opportunity.