N. Diane Moss, Project New Village CEO, announced that the 12th Annual Cesar E. Chavez Community Tribute will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Educational Cultural Complex located at 4343 Ocean View Blvd. from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The event will feature a “day of dialogue” focusing on the opportunities and benefits of urban agriculture in Southeastern San Diego.
“Since 2010, Project New Village and other food justice activists have been working to build our good food legacies campaign in Southeastern San Diego,” Moss said. “Our campaign is dedicated to providing opportunities for community members to reclaim a local food and agriculture history that includes growing, growing, sharing, selling, distributing, and eating healthy food from the backyards and undeveloped lots of Southeastern San Diego.”
According to Moss, this year’s community tribute has two main emphases: to honor the life, legacy and lessons of Cesar E. Chavez and to commemorate of World Earth Day.
“We believe that our stewardship of the earth begins and ends with our efforts to build and sustain healthy communities and as such we believe that it is our time to discuss food equity and urban agriculture as catalysts for job creation, better health and community building,” explained Moss. “This is the essence of what we are calling the good food legacies mobilization campaign.”
Organized under the auspices the People’s Produce Project, the signature initiative of Project New Village, the day of dialogue will convene experts featuring members of academia, the county’s Health and Human Services agency, the local economic development corporation, and a local food buyer, who will talk about the benefits of the production, selling and consuming of locally grown produce. Additionally, there will be cultural expressions, a healthy lunch provided by the owners of Alchemy Restaurant, an organic eatery located in South Park and a community awards presentation.
“The culmination of the day’s activities will be a community dialogue, whereby community members and local food justice advocates will weigh in on the discussion. We will then ask for a commitment from those in attendance to support urban agriculture – related issues in the upcoming months, “she said. “Our overall goal is to develop opportunities to build on and build up the land in our community.”