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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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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A few hours after our March 2 post (and four days after Grid initially emailed asking about the donation), the Cobbs Creek Community Foundation’s communications manager Michael Rodriguez, of Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, responded to our inquiry: “The donation to Councilmember Jones was made in error when it came from the CCF. Both the
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On December 28, 2021 a private foundation signed a 30-year lease with the City of Philadelphia and took control of 350 acres of Philadelphia park land with an assessed value of $92.7 million. The rent? $1. To supporters of the agreement, it is nonetheless a good deal for the city. Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who
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