Affirm This: Helping Children THRIVE by Sparking Joy through Nature!💚

Dear Friends,

As I prepare to welcome my first child into the world this month, I’ve been reflecting a lot on what children need to grow & THRIVE. They need a community of supportive adults and peers; they need access to healthy foods, fresh air, and green space; they need a safe place to be kids; they need JOY and AFFIRMATIONS of their JOYOUS EXISTENCE. They need — the programs and opportunities that Acta Non Verba provides, with YOUR help!

One of my favorite memories occurred during Summer Camp ANV 2021. One of the campers ran up to me and said, “Ms. Sydney, Ms. Sydney! I just tried a blueberry for the first time!!” Echoing his excitement, I responded, “Oh my gosh, how exciting! Did you like it?” And he said, “YES! I think I’m going to go get another one!” The look of pure joy on this boy’s face as he tried something new, while in a safe and supportive environment like Camp ANV, will forever stick with me.

Donate to Acta Non Verba Today! https://bit.ly/ANVKids2023

Another favorite from my 3+ years at ANV happened during our 2022 Camp ANV Family Camping Trip. At the end of the summer camp season, we headed up to Mt. Diablo State Park with 50 kids and their family members. On our first night, we watched the sunset over the valley, and the kids all waved goodbye to the sun. As the sun disappeared below the horizon, one young camper exclaimed, “I just saw the sun go down, it was so cool!! It was my first time seeing that!”

It’s these little moments of joy that children (and adults!) will remember for the rest of their lives. It’s these moments of connection that spark young leaders to care about nature, about food justice, about each other.

EVERY child deserves access to experiences in nature, healthy foods to nourish their growing bodies, and safe and supportive spaces to just be kids. This is what I wish for my daughter, as she enters the world; this is what I wish for ALL kids. Help ANV provide this access across Oakland:

     🍅 $200 sends one child to a week of After School Program
     👩‍🌾 $750 sends one child to a week of Camp ANV
     🌟 $4,500 sends one child to an entire SUMMER of Camp ANV, where the only limit is IMAGINATION!!

Donate to Acta Non Verba Today! https://bit.ly/ANVKids2023

Together, we can affirm and grow the next generation of farmers, environmental stewards, and changemakers.

Thank you for your affirmation of JOY and Discovery in the world!

In Joy and Hope,

 

 

Donate to Acta Non Verba Today!
https://bit.ly/ANVKids2023 

Affirm This: Strengthening Food Sovereignty & the Local Food System by Elevating BIPOC Small Farmers!

Aaron De La Cerda in a red button down shirt and green/ tan park-rangers hat.
Acta Non Verba’s Deputy Director, Aaron De La Cerda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

As we enter an abundant harvest and come to the end of yet another beautiful growing season we celebrate the strides we’ve taken in building food sovereignty within our community. We thank the land for providing for us, as well as our team, our volunteers, and supporters like you that have affirmed and allow Acta Non Verba’s teams to continue our critical work.

2023 presented yet another year of challenge, opportunity, growth and celebration; in this we were able to welcome another four young farmers and 1.4 acres in West Oakland into the ANV family, partner with three new family owned and operated Farms, and distribute over 30 tons of organically grown produce to East Bay communities. 

Donate to Acta Non Verba Today!
https://bit.ly/ANVKids2023

Working with Acta Non Verba and our vibrant community has taught me a variety of ways that we can impact change within the larger food system starting right here in Oakland. Coming from Fresno, California where large scale agriculture reins supreme, I never imagined it was in East Oakland that I would come to learn so much about farming and what is needed to build food sovereignty.

To us, food sovereignty looks like the community’s deepening connection to fellow farmers like Maria Morales and Juan Silva of J&M Farm.

Maria M. of J&M Farm

Maria began farming organically 15 years ago and has come to steward 15 acres in Gilroy, California with her family. Through building Acta Non Verba’s BeetBox CSA program in relationship with farmers like Maria we are able to ensure there is a reliable means of getting healthy foods to our community.

When farmers faced hardship due to flooding rains earlier this year we were able to lean on our combined networks to ensure her family had the supplies they needed while continuing to ensure their farm had income. ANV and its supporters rallied to provide necessary supplies which we personally delivered to their home. Because of you we were able to be a support to the very people who grow our food, who protect our land, and share their knowledge with the next generation. 

Donate to Acta Non Verba Today!
https://bit.ly/ANVKids2023

In the 2020 pandemic we learned just how fragile our food system really is; that allowing large scale agriculture which fosters no human connection is not reliable or sustainable. The farm to consumer pipeline fell apart and so many people were without access to essential foods. Our work facilitates a direct connection between local farmers and families in the East Bay. We are building a replicable model of food sovereignty and we need your support. 

Maria and Friend at J&M Farm

We are able to accomplish such things due to the deep affirmation and contributions of supporters like you and we look forward to deepening the impact of our work in the coming year; to do this we need your help to raise 250k. This will allow Acta Non Verba’s Farm and Food teams to continue their work of educating, organizing, and taking action to strengthen our communities resilience through food sovereignty.

 

 

Thank you for your continued support and affirmation of good in the world.

Forever In Community, 

Donate to Acta Non Verba Today!
https://bit.ly/ANVKids2023

 

Meet the ANV Community

Our community is diverse, resilient, creative, and powerful! Together, we are working hard to create a better world for Oakland youth where they can learn valuable skills, engage with nature, and live healthier! 
 
Check out this wonderful short video produced by Youth Beat, a non profit that offers free media training to Oakland youth through after school and in school programming. Every year their beginning film making students head out into the world to create short promo/news pieces on Oakland organizations such as Acta Non Verba.  They then edit it together into a short business profile video. This project is the second unit within the youth’s training and it is always a pivotal moment for them.  They get to go out into the world and produce a short film while also learning about all the amazing work being done in Oakland.  
 
Thank you for the feature, Youth Beat!

Acta Non Verba announces RJ Martin, AAMS® as ANV’s Youth Financial Investment Advisor

RJ Martin began his career at Edward Jones in 2012. As the son of an educator that taught special-needs children for over 20 years, he has taken the same care and attention he learned from his mother and has applied those skills in guiding his clients as a financial advisor. He is a true educator at heart, and his first and foremost goal is to provide financial education for my clients and his community. He does not believe there is a one-size-fits-all investment strategy, so I work to create a customized strategy to fit the needs of his clients who are at various points of their personal and financial lives.

RJ’s interest in entrepreneurship began at an early age. When he was a teen, he ran a profitable online business selling merchandise, and paid his way through college by investing in the stock market and operating his own landscaping business. His commitment to the community began as an undergraduate when he developed a financial literacy campaign designed to educate and inform under-served communities and individuals.

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from North Carolina State University. After graduation, he spent the early years of his career as a revenue agent for the United States’ Department of Treasury, an internal auditor for RBC Bank and a fraud and investigations associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC. He received his AAMS designation in 2018 and also holds an insurance license.

RJ loves his work and helping clients develop financial literacy and build financial wealth. Building trust and long-lasting relationships with his clients is of the utmost importance to him.

Acta Non Verba is excited to have RJ as a resource to help our youth and their families navigate the sometimes murky world of investing and financial literacy. We are grateful to RJ Martin for assisting ANV in its mission to try to break the chains of generational poverty and underinvestment of the youth in our community and make a brighter future for all children for their futures.

Phat Beets CSA Program is Becoming ANV’s BeetBox CSA (Letter)

 

 

 

 

August 11,  2020

Dear Phat Beets Community,

We thank you for your support of the Beet Box CSA, and want to give our community an update on the future of the Beet Box.  Since 2011, you have supported so many of our programs, farmers and communities, with your donations, purchases, and your volunteer time. It is without a doubt you have been the engine that has kept our CSA program alive, and allowed us to fulfill our mission: connecting small farmers of color to flatland communities and creating equitable access to healthy affordable produce.  Phat Beets has decided to move forward with a transition of our Beet Box CSA to Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project (ANV).

Acta Non Verba is an organization based in East Oakland, focused on serving youth and their families through urban farming.  We are confident that ANV will use the Beet Box to increase food access, support our farmers, patients and families at La Clinica, and low income Beet Boxers. At the same time, all Beet Box CSA profits will be deposited into local youth’s educational savings accounts; bridging the generational wealth gap and saving for their individual educational pursuits. 

In hopes of making the program better than ever before, we’d really appreciate it if you complete a short survey (https://bit.ly/ANVBeetBoxSurvey) letting us know how we can make your CSA subscription even more enjoyable. 

Here are some fast facts you need to know:

  1. There will be a price increase for Full, Half, Fruit and Fruit, Honey, & Nut Shares starting September 1, 2020.
  2. All CSAs will be picked up at OMNI until deliveries begin again – we will reach out when they do.
  3. The missed pickup window for CSA shares is 10am-12pm the following day (Wednesday or Sunday). Any shares not picked up will be donated to a local women’s shelter.
  4. Emails will be responded to within 2-3 days.  For urgent questions, you can reach us at BeetBoxCSA@anvfarm.org or call 762-BEETBOX (762-233-8269).

The Beet Box CSA distribution will continue at the Omni Commons in North Oakland, and ANV will maintain offices at the Omni. The CSA program is currently in transition until August 24th- and we thank you for your patience as we undergo this exciting time.   

Now, more than ever, our communities need health, power, and solidarity. Lettuce turnip ‘dem beets! 

In Gratitude,

Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project

Phat Beets Produce

ANV Brunch Challenge! Meet the Commentators

Meet The Brunch Commentators!

Kana Azhari (Coach Kay) is a healing artist, organizer and vegan chef.  She loves working with young people and believes in the infinite value, beauty and greatness of their spirit. Coach Kay is constantly finding gratitude in daily meditation, healthy diet, fasting, culture, dance/ movement and relaxation.  She works professionally with clients from around the world to improve their diets, lifestyle choices and self care practices.

Chef Liesha grew up in Oakland and began cooking at the age of nine. She joined the Navy when she was 17 years old and traveled the world cooking for thousands of sailors. After leaving the Navy she went on to work in restaurants and hotels before starting her personal chef service. She went on to earn a bachelors degree in nutrition from Arizona State University. She is a master food preserver, and an advocate for culturally relevant representation in health and wellness.DeAngela Cooks, M.A. is the co-founder of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) firm The Mosaic Collaborative, LLC.  DeAngela is a passionate public speaker of 20 years, professional master of ceremonies, an acclaimed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion workshop facilitator, and educator

Hailing from Southern California, she embraces her intersectional identities.  As a Black, queer, woman, who is a parent, and has been a minister and stand-up comic, she brings a wealth of experiences to her work; infusing education with elocution, wit and a splash of sarcasm. She has collaborated on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives with The County of Alameda, BayLegal, FoodCorps, Facing History and Ourselves, Chico State, Designory, Golden Crown Literary Society, San Francisco Department of Probation, the western regional housing authorities, and the Pacific Center for Human Growth, just to name a few. She has also been a guest lecturer and keynote speaker on the topic of multiculturalism for various organizations and conferences.

After knocking out her Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Religion, she decided to graduate with her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. I guess it’s safe to say she’s a sap.

During her downtime, you can find her encouraging parents to stop counting their toddler’s age in months and devising a scheme to become unidentifiable by her student loan providers. Her superpower is utilizing her humor to help people reflect their sameness while appreciating their differences.

To find out more about DeAngela’s speaking engagements,  workshops and event hosting, visit her website at www.TheMosaicCollaborative.com.

Matthew Raiford Grew up breaking the dirt and trading crookneck squash for sweet potatoes, raising hogs and chickens, and only going to the grocery store for sundries. After a military career then graduation from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Raiford returned to the farm in 2011 to continue the traditions of his Gullah-Geechee heritage and to create an authentic farm-to-fork experience for locals. He received certification as an ecological horticulturalist from the University of California’s Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

He served until recently as the program coordinator and associate professor of culinary arts at the College of Coastal Georgia. In 2015, Raiford, the former executive chef at Little St. Simon’s Resort, and his partner, Jovan Sage, a food alchemist, opened The Farmer and the Larder on Newcastle Street, helping jumpstart the revival of Brunswick’s historic downtown. Raiford has appeared in Southern Living, Golden Isles, Paprika Southern, and Savannah magazines, and is a frequent presenter at food and wine festivals throughout the country.

ANV Cooking Challenge: Brunch! Celebrity Chef, Alice Waters & Griselda Cooney

Alice Waters is a chef, author, food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California, which first opened its doors in 1971. She has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995 she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for a free organic school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school. She has been Vice President of Slow Food International since 2002. She conceived and helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project in 2003, and the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome in 2007. Her honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007; the Harvard Medical School’s Global Environmental Citizen Award, which she shared with Kofi Annan in 2008; induction into the French Legion of Honor in 2010; and induction into the National Woman’s hall of Fame in 2017. In 2015 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is a political act, and that the table is a powerful means to social justice and positive change. Alice was most recently awarded the honor of “Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” in 2019.  Alice is the author of fifteen books, including New York Times bestsellers The Art of Simple Food I & II, The Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea, and, a memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook.

Griselda Cooney

The Edible Schoolyard Project

Senior Chef Teacher & Family Engagement Manager 

At the age of seven, I immigrated to the United States from Mexico. I moved to a farm in Sonoma County, and realized the new environment wasn’t so different from my old home in Jalostoticlan, Jalisco. My parents still planted, grew, and harvested the familiar foods from my homeland; from cactus, chili peppers and aloe to corn and tomatoes.

As a cook, I am self-taught and learned traditional Mexican cooking from my mother. I learned how to plan and prepare meals from fresh, humble ingredients, and to make use of everything in order to maximize flavor and minimize waste. I am a mother of three and come from a large family where cooking is shared and enjoyed by all ages. Within the past 12 years, working with The Edible Schoolyard Project, I have seen many different age groups, races, and backgrounds collaborate and have learned that teaching and learning in the kitchen is intertwined with all aspects of life.

Get your tickets here: bit.ly/ANVBrunch-Cooking-Challenge

ANV Cooking Challenge: Brunch! Celebrity Chef, Bryant Terry

Bryant Terry is a James Beard Award-Winning chef, educator, and author renowned for his activism to create a healthy, just, and sustainable food system. Since 2015 he has been the Chef-in-Residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco where he creates public programming at the intersection of food, farming, health, activism, art, culture, and the African Diaspora. In regard to his work, Bryant’s mentor Alice Waters says, “Bryant Terry knows that good food should be an everyday right and not a privilege.” San Francisco Magazine included Bryant among 11 Smartest People in the Bay Area Food Scene, and Fast Company named him one of 9 People Who Are Changing the Future of Food.

Vegetable Kingdom, Bryant’s fifth book, will be published by Ten Speed Press/Penguin Random House in February 2020. His last book, Afro-Vegan, was published in 2014. Just 2 months after being released, it was named one of the best cookbooks of 2014 by Amazon.com. That December it was nominated for an NAACP Award in the Outstanding Literary Work category. Bryant is also the author of the critically acclaimed Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine, which was named one of the best vegetarian/vegan cookbooks of the last 25 years by Cooking Light Magazine.

Bryant graduated from the Chef’s Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City. He is a Ph.D. dropout who holds an M.A. in History with an emphasis on the African Diaspora from NYU, where he studied under Historian Robin D.G. Kelly. He lives in Oakland, California with his wife and two brilliant and beautiful children.

Get your tickets here: bit.ly/ANVBrunch-Cooking-Challenge

ANV Cooking Challenge: Brunch! Celebrity Chef, Nikki Shaw

Bringing her passion for food and appetite for adventure, celebrity Chef Nikki Shaw is committed to spreading awareness of and preventing heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. She is a partner for the restaurants and concessions at Oakland International Airport. In addition to that, Chef Nikki is a trained media spokesperson specializing in recipe development and product endorsement for major corporations. She has been a featured chef for the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and Kaiser Permanente. She conducts healthy cooking demonstrations and educates communities about the importance of making smart food choices and staying physically active, on TV and in-person. 

Chef Nikki is a featured Media Chef for the Oakland A’s, promoting the teams Community Wellness Campaign. She is a featured Chef/Instructor for the Golden State Warriors community outreach programs, offering information and recipes to help prevent childhood obesity. She is the Chair of the Oakland Teen Empowerment Program, which teaches inner-city girls valuable life skills and helps them get into college. 

Chef Nikki has appeared on Food Network as a finalist on The Next Food Network Star and she was also featured on the hit VH1 show Basketball Wives

Chef Nikki graduated with honors from Howard University in Washington D.C. with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism. She graduated as a Chef from the Southeastern Culinary Academy and completed her internship at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She and her husband, former NBA player, reside in California with their children.

Get your tickets here: bit.ly/ANVBrunch-Cooking-Challenge

ANV Cooking Challenge: Brunch! Celebrity Chef Jennifer Booker

Southern-born, Jennifer Hill Booker traveled to Paris to study French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts only to discover that rustic French and Southern dishes use many of the same ingredients. Using this as the basis for culinary exploration in her second cookbook, Dinner Déjà Vu: Southern Tonight, French Tomorrow. The author of Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent, uses one list of fresh ingredients to create two meals, one Southern and one French in her latest cookbook, resulting in less food waste and fewer trips to the market. Combined grocery lists also provide time-saving tools for recipes from cocktails to desserts and everything in between, drawing on the strengths of both regions makes recipes like Southern Berry Bramble Cocktail, Brown Butter Banana Pound Cake with Crème Anglaise, and Pimento Cheese Stuffed Deviled Eggs both approachable and delicious. A charming personality, she is also a mother of two who knows exactly what it takes to create enticing meals with limited time and ingredients.

Chef Jennifer’s culinary path has not always been a linear one. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Tulsa; eighteen months later graduated first in her class with an Associate of Occupational Science from Oklahoma State Institute of Technology. Extensive travel while married to a United States Army Officer pushed Jennifer to blaze a trail that fit her unique situation-a female African American chef, living abroad. As a result, her first culinary company Your Resident Gourmet was born. During her time living in Germany, Jennifer honed her culinary talents by providing cooking classes for both military and German families. She was also able to fulfill a lifelong dream of attending Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Paris, where she proudly graduated top of her class. Twenty years later Jennifer finds herself once again blazing culinary trails as she wears many culinary hats as chef, reality TV personality, culinary educator, business owner and cookbook author.

She is an Impact Fellow with the James Beard Foundation, a Georgia Grown Executive Chef for the GA Department of Agriculture, the Culinary Explorer for the Georgia Department of Tourism and Travel, and is the founder of Cast Iron Chronicles dinner series. Chef Jennifer is an active member of the prestigious Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, a member of SlowFood-Atlanta and of Atlanta’s No Kid Hungry Atlanta Society. Chef Jennifer currently sits on the James Beard Foundation Scholarship Committee.

Weaving her love of traditional Southern cuisine with her belief in incorporating healthy, seasonal foods and her classic French training, Chef Jennifer created a unique style of cooking that she terms Modern Southern Healthy Cuisine with a French Accent. Chef Jennifer shared this brand of cooking through her cooking segment ‘Chef Jenn to the Rescue,’ on CBS46’s Atlanta Plugged In, many television appearances, with original recipes in such publications as Waste Not Cookbook, Southern Living Magazine, Garden & Gun and Essence Magazine as well as her Food Network debut as a finalist on Cutthroat Kitchen. She has worked with such renowned chefs as Jeff Henderson, Tyler Florence, Tiffany Derry, Giadia Laurentis, Patrick Neely, Master Chef Daryl Shular and Mashama Bailey. Her website, ChefJenniferHillBooker.com provides information about healthy eating, food trends, culinary travel, and recipes that reflect her unique culinary point of view of Modern Southern Healthy Cuisine with a French Accent. Her cookbooks, Dinner Déjà Vu: Southern Tonight, French Tomorrow, and  Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent, are available at many national retailers including Pelican Publishing Company, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Chef Jennifer spends her free time in her kitchen, vegetable garden, or at her local farmers market. She currently resides in Lilburn, Georgia with her two daughters Jenelle and Regine and their KorgieJack, Pudge.

Get your tickets here: bit.ly/ANVBrunch-Cooking-Challenge