Groundwork Somerville’s antique press was put into service as participants contributed to the cider production on Cider Day, a prelude to the National Food Day observance.

By Haley ED Houseman

Celebrated on October 24, National Food Day is a national day of awareness of American eating habits. This year’s theme was “toward a greener diet.”

Observing Food Day is a chance to spark dialogue about our diet, especially as it relates to support sustainable and organic farms. Thinking about these issues is also an opportunity to make plans for reducing hunger and improving food access.

In Somerville, celebrations of Food Day were lead by Groundwork Somerville, in partnership with a variety of local nonprofits and citizens. The environmental organization centers around urban farming, education and food access, a mission that dovetails with the priorities of Food Day.

The celebrations kicked off with a Cider Day on Oct 15, using the Groundwork Somerville’s antique cider press. While volunteers pressed nearly 20 gallons of cider, they also celebrated their hard work and the local harvest season, nearly over. The apples were from local Somerville streets and farms in Western Massachusetts.

The celebrations included music and fun for 60 people. Members of the youth program made homemade tea bags as thank you gifts to volunteers.

Groundwork Somerville’s South Street Farm. — Photos by Haley ED Houseman

As Groundwork’s Program Manager Jess Bloomer describes, the event “celebrated local harvest from the neighborhood or just a few miles away”.

The second major event sponsored by the organization was the “Valuing Our Harvest, Combating Food Waste” event on October 17, which included a few hours to bring in the season’s last harvest for the Mobile Market farmers’ market truck. Later, in partnership with Green City Growers, Shape Up Somerville and Ross Richmond of the Somerville Backpack program, volunteers and youth program participants were then invited to join the community in a series of interactive talks to learn more about reducing food waste. According to the organization, nearly 40% of food in America goes to waste. Local chef Peter Unger of the Tasting Counter restaurant spoke about ways to prepare food to reduce waste, and offered tips. There were also vermicompost and compost demonstrations, in order to show how to recycle waste into gardening material.

The final event was a scavenger hunt on Food Day spanning the Union Square, Davis Square and East Somerville neighborhoods. It was also the final day of Mobile Market truck for the season.

A winter farm is still a busy place, with planning for next season and analyzing data from the harvest and market. In the off season, youth volunteers will be experimenting with ways to extend the growing season, including experimenting with hydroponics once a week at the STEM institute through a partnership with Groundwork Somerville. They will also continue vermicomposting at the farm sites, as well as working on social entrepreneurship and financial literacy projects. The youth volunteers will halve from 20 to 10 but they’ll be tending to grow covers and tending winter crops to take home, distribute to shelters sell to local chefs interested in the truly local.

More information can be found at http://somervillefoodday.blogspot.com/