It’s hard to believe, but it is exactly a year ago that the move was made from Philadelphia to Portland. I’m feeling a bit nostalgic so today, here’s to recognizing just a few of the many amazing people and projects going on in that city.
Philly Stake is the city’s iteration within an international network of micro-granting programs to support creative, community-engaged projects via locally-sourced public dinners. I am so pleased to have been apart of a small group of co-organizers that, after consulting with the folks at FEAST Brooklyn and months of planning, the first dinner ended up being scheduled for the weekend after I moved. I headed back south to help prep for and attend the first event, which was beautiful, delicious, exciting, well-attended and well-funded. Philly Stake continues to grow and is supporting folks and ideas that contribute to making Philadelphia such a dynamic place to live.
I actually befriended Mira Adornetto while working on Philly Stake. Mira was in the beginning stages of forming a new company, a design and natural dye house. It’s amazing to see how far she and her business partner have come in the past year. Mira’s passion for supporting local agriculture is tremendous and this is clear in BLUEREDYELLOW's thoughtful, hands-on approach to sourcing their materials.
Urban farming is alive and well in Philadelphia so I couldn’t name just one. Some farmers have been at it for a decade and others, for a couple of years. These are just several initiatives which I have had the opportunity to be acquainted with, people who are working hard to fill a void of urban vacancy by replenishing it with education and nutritious food for their communities.
