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All Together Now: Sunday Suppers seeks to revive the lost practice of the family dinner.

It can be tempting to reduce the issue of hunger to a statistics game. For example, the 1st Congressional District (which includes Kensington, as well as parts of North and South Philadelphia and Chester) is the fourth hungriest in the nation, and in 2010, some 31.2 percent of residents reported difficulty feeding themselves or their

May 26, 2011

1 min read

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Serve Philadelphia

In September 2010 the city launched SERVE Philadelphia, an online database that allows users to enter their age, interests and skill sets to find volunteer opportunities that are personally fulfilling and beneficial to the community. The site is part of Mayor Michael Nutter’s SERVE Philadelphia Act and his role with the Cities of Service Coalition,

May 26, 2011

1 min read

#027 June 2011

Getting There: Drexel’s Ridaroo makes carpool connections.

The brainchild of Drexel grads Aksel Gungor and Andy Guy, Ridaroo is an online application that solves one simple problem: carpool coordination. After spotting an on-campus “ride board” where students and faculty would tack Post-it notes offering and requesting transportation, Gungor had the idea to streamline the process—eliminating the time needed for the board’s one-woman

May 26, 2011

1 min read

#027 June 2011

Growing Grayer? A crucial state environmental fund is in danger of withering away.

Think of Growing Greener as the massive invisible partner to Pennsylvania’s environmental movement. Hardly anyone has heard of it, and yet the state granting program supports countless local organizations—including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Penn Future and The Pennsylvania Environmental Council—with thousands of conservation, recreation and educational projects. Now, as the natural gas industry takes hold,

May 26, 2011

2 mins read

#027 June 2011

Race to the Harvest

The farming collaboration between Marathon Grill and Emerald Street Urban Farm’s Patrick Dunn [Dec. 2010 Grid, Agriculture p.18] has come to fruition in Brewerytown. In March, Marathon Farm hosted five workdays that attracted more than 60 volunteers, who transformed a vacant lot into a promising agricultural haven. On March 21, Mayor Michael Nutter himself hosted

May 26, 2011

1 min read

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Grow This Block: West Rockland Street’s street-wide growing effort

image via rocklandstreet.com Germantown’s West Rockland Street wants you to help grow their block, literally. This Saturday, the street will play host to its first planting day and challenge each house on the street to participate. Residents and interested volunteers are invited to join in and get their hands dirty planting annuals, perennials, shrubs, herbs,

May 26, 2011

1 min read

#027 June 2011

Farm profile: Snipes Farm & Education Center

Tucked between routes 1 and 13, Morrisville’s 25-acre Snipes Farm & Education Center is rich in history. The land has been in the Snipes family since 1848, when it got its horticultural start as a nursery; trees grown here were uprooted and taken by horse-drawn cart to Chestnut Hill, the Main Line and Fairmount Park.

May 26, 2011

1 min read

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WAKE UP CALL: Start your day right with GRID’s grab bag of sustainability news

Greenpeace protesters climbing 450-ft smokestack | Image via www.treehugger.comSmokestack Protest Tuesday morning, Greenpeace activists began their descent down from the top of a smokestack at Chicago’s Pilsen coal-fired plant, reaching an arrest once they arrived at the bottom. After spending their time at the top to hold up “quit coal” signs, the protesters felt as

May 26, 2011

1 min read

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“Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Mercury Has Got To Go”

Marchers outside of the Liberty Place | Image via Sierra ClubYesterday, environmental groups, protesters, families, doctors, religious leaders, students, concerned citizens, and doctors gathered at the Westin in downtown Philadelphia to participate in a day long EPA public hearing and thirty minute press conference focused on the need for protection from mercury.
Mercury and air toxins,

May 25, 2011

3 mins read

#027 June 2011

A Farewell to Pork… and Beef… and Chicken…

The last time was a pork sandwich, with greens, from the local pizza shop. The sandwich arrived soggy with grease; the pork, a glum gray; the broccoli rabe limp and lifeless. It was, for all intents, a waste of my 10 bucks. That was a Friday. April 8. I’d come home from work feeling tired,

May 25, 2011

2 mins read

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