Amid a federal disinvestment in technical support for environmental justice communities, four community-based organizations (CBOs) in Philadelphia are advancing their work to address the local impacts of climate change. Partnered with Drexel University’s Environmental Collaboratory, Esperanza, Mantua Civic Association, Overbrook Environmental and Education Center (OEEC) and SEAMAAC have released the findings of thorough community outreach
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In 2020, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to include a farm bill in its state budget. The bill invested in, among other priorities, urban agriculture, farmland conservation, workforce development and new market opportunities, including an unanticipated investment in organic agriculture. Given Pennsylvania vies regularly with Washington state for second in organic farming
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We at Soil Generation have been organizing for land justice for growers of color in Philadelphia since 2014. Community control of land is the foundation of our collective struggle toward liberation. Whether the issue is food, education or housing, community control of resources requires community control of the land. As rapid development displaces community gardens
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Successful businesses always start by filling a need or relieving a “pain point” for a target market. In Grid’s launch year 2008, when sustainability and “going green” were working their way into the common lexicon and Michael Nutter was elected Philadelphia’s mayor on a sustainability platform, the pain point was really located in the consumer’s
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On Saturdays the 12-by-20-foot shed on Old York Road in Elkins Park, known as “The Sugar Shack,” buzzes with activity. The evaporator is fired up and gallons upon gallons of tree sap are boiling. Much like a cider press model, community members bring their own sap to the shack to have it turned into syrup,
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The Cobbs Creek Foundation, the group clearing trees on the city-owned land where Cobbs Creek and Karakung golf courses are situated, has apparently suspended its attempt to get a zoning variance to clear some of the trees on the courses. Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve of last year, the foundation signed a lease with
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Grid has uncovered more donations made to Philadelphia City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr.’s campaign from people connected with the Cobbs Creek and Karakung golf course development. As Grid previously reported, Councilmember Jones received an illegal donation in September of 2021 from the Cobbs Creek Restoration and Community Foundation (aka the Cobbs Creek Foundation), as well
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For the past two years, Ray Daly has spent many of her days bouncing around Philadelphia’s parks. Pulling up to farmers markets and other events in her Ray’s Reusables van, outfitted as a mobile refill station, she’s made a name for herself by bringing low-waste, plastic-free lifestyle products to neighborhoods across Philly. This week she
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It’s a wet, snowy, bitterly cold Friday in January in Fishtown, as Roya Williams steps into a bright room, lined with colorful artwork. Her dog, Jack, immediately starts to bark and play with a French bulldog named Chuey, the cute, welcoming “guard dog” at Stash Spot. Williams is greeted by founder Debbie Anday, who gives
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The sound of trees being cut down woke Fred C. Cartwright on the morning of February 23. “Saw, crackle, then boom. Then a minute later, saw, crackle, boom. It had us all out of the house looking to see, ‘what is that noise?’” recalls Cartwright.. Cartwright lives on Wyndale Avenue, a well-kept one-block street of
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When the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020, entrepreneur Dan Tsao’s multiple businesses were devastated. As the owner of the restaurants EMei in Chinatown and General Tsao’s House in Rittenhouse and the publisher of two Asian weekly newspapers since 2007, Tsao sent out an email to his newspapers’ more than 43,000 email subscribers. The feedback
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