Grid Magazine February 2016 [#82]

FASHIONABLE IN PHILADELPHIA C I T Y N I N JAS , BOSS L A D I ES & MOR E

SIX GREAT PLACES TO START RUNNING TODAY ARE CUBANS HEALTHIER THAN AMERICANS? CLEAN AIR ADVOCATES CALL FOR A “RIGHT TO BREATHE”

WELLNESS WITHIN REACH breaking down barriers to health and wellness

PLANTING THE SEEDS OF WELLNESS. THE DELEMA G. DEAVER WELLNESS GARDEN AT LANKENAU MEDICAL CENTER

At Lankenau, we are committed to fostering a healthy and sustainable community.

In collaboration with Greener Partners, we have planted a half-acre, year-round, organic garden—the only one of its kind in the Philadelphia region. The Wellness Garden will serve as a source of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs for our community, and serve as a hands-on classroom for thousands of students. Because teaching children where wholesome food comes from not only encourages healthy eating habits, it plants the seeds of wellness for life.

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Greener Partners Connecting communities through food, farms & education

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What is the image of yoga? How do you visually represent something that can only be felt?

If yoga is accessible to anyone with a body and breath, why are our images of it so limited?

This summer, JJ Tiziou Photography began creating images of Philadelphians who practice yoga. Who would you like to see represented in this project? To get involved, sign up at www.jjtiziou.net & follow @jjtiziou. For a recap of the first shoot, see TheImageOfYoga.com

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CONTENTS D EPA RT M E N TS

08 To-Do List Start some seeds indoors, and begin exercising outdoors. You’ll impress your friends

10 Comings and Goings Find out which doors are opening and closing, and who deserves kudos

12 Opinion The Philly Thrive coalition demands a right to breathe for all Philadelphians

14 Made in Philly The blue hues of indigo inspire Honest Alchemy’s line of hand-dyed clothing and accessories

17 Shop Local Philadelphia fashion designers play it close to the vest by keeping control of their design and production

22 The Right Question Health care in America is a big business with big environmental impacts—and too little improvement to public health

24 The Big Picture Texas clean air advocate turned EPA administrator Matthew Tejada explains what Philadelphia can learn from Houston’s experience as a petrochemical hub

“If we have a huge patient population that has diabetes and who are overweight… then maybe we prescribe healthy eating.”

– Chinwe Onyekere, administrator at Lankenau Medical Center

I N SI DE T H E I SSUE

37 Home Brew Random Tea Room’s Rebecca Goldschmidt shares secrets on brewing the perfect cup of tea or herbal infusion

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One Foot in Front of the Other

Events

Philly Runners gets you started on a new February fitness routine with six great places to run

What to see and where to go

51 Dodgeball: Not Just for Kids

38

Read our intramural sports listings, and find a league of your own

Your Own Private Spa

52

The Herbiary’s Maia Toll shares two easy exfoliating scrub recipes

Homestead Acts

40 Open Doors, Open Hearts West Philadelphia’s Studio 34 provides a welcome refuge for wellness seekers of all kinds

45 Is An Apple a Day the Way?

Mending projects provide personal satisfaction and extend the life of your favorite clothes. And it’s easy to do

57 Market Watch Carrots and parsnips are on the farmstand. Here’s how to get them on your plate

64 Dispatch A chance to play sports transforms a shy young woman

ON THE COV ER

28 Health Care for All The controversial Affordable Care Act is still making waves in Washington. In Philadelphia, it’s making environmental advocates out of big hospitals—and breaking down barriers to care

Farmers are getting to know the neighborhoods they serve, and how to grow healthy food that suits different palettes and budgets

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EDITOR’S NOTES

by

HEATHER SHAYNE BLAKESLEE

THE SMOG OF WAR Will hospitals become allies in the fight for clean air?

I

n Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 2013, a giant digital television was broadcasting pictures of a blue sky and white clouds: The toxic smog over the city prevented people from seeing the actual sky.

For years, some weather forecasters said the opaque skies were caused by “fog,” without alerting the public to the deadly cocktail of air pollution that had descended upon them. It’s a little like Chinese censors using the official phrase “political turmoil between the Spring and Summer of 1989” to describe a time that included the June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre, when the government executed an untold number of unarmed pro-democracy protesters in the middle of the nation’s capital.

Political turmoil is plausibly benign.

Massacre is decidedly not.

Smog, likewise, is not fog. According to the documentary “Under the Dome,” released in February 2015 by Chinese journalist and environmental activist Chai Jing, incidence of cancer in China is up 465 percent during the economic boom of the last 30 years. At one point, Chai urges that China must think of itself as at war with pollution.

There are already casualties: According to Chinese health officials, 500,000 people are dying from poisoned air each year. Independent studies, including by the World Health Organization, put that number between 1 million and as many as 2.8 million.

In the U.S., the death toll is 200,000: We’ve exported some of our manufacturing and pollution to China, but not all of it.

Some of it is in Michigan’s Flint River, poisoning the people of Flint for the last several months despite ongoing complaints and concerns about the safety of the water. The city, long a center of heavy industry, can’t receive a federal disaster declaration to give it more aid because, according to federal and state authorities, what’s happening is, officially, a manmade catastrophe—disasters are from storms like Katrina. It is a distinction without a difference for the afflicted, most of whom are poor and black, some of whom will suffer a lifetime of health consequences from drinking their tap water.

Some of the pollution is in the City of Philadelphia. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation tells us that Philadelphia County has the worst air pollution in the state.

The American Lung Association ranks the city the 11th most polluted in the nation.

The number of Pennsylvanians who die prematurely each year from air pollution is approximately 5,000.

But it’s hard to call a slow and ongoing event an emergency, even if it is one. It’s easier to call it the status quo.

We should be calling it a public health crisis. One of the benefits of using those particular words would be that clean air advocates, including those who are opposed to further endangering our air by making Philadelphia a petrochemical hub, would gain a particularly powerful ally in the region: hospitals.

While many environmental organizations have tiny budgets and staffs—or operate on a volunteer basis—of the top 10 employers in the region, four are health care systems. Nearly one in four of our jobs are in the larger industry. Imagine if the veritable army of the health care sector was enlisted in the war against pollution?

Due to the Affordable Care Act, the question may not be if they join the fight, but when. The ACA requires hospitals to assess which illnesses are particular to the population they serve, and to invest in public health interventions that may prevent them. Here in Philadelphia, respiratory illnesses will be at or near the top of that list. Our asthma rates are twice the national average.

If Philadelphia’s health care systems prescribed clean air to our population and put their muscle behind it, our chances of filling the prescription are exponentially higher than if the traditional environmental community stands on its own. It would certainly be one way to win the war.

editor-in-chief Alex Mulcahy managing editor Heather Shayne Blakeslee heather@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 107 designer Kathleen White kathleen@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 112 copy editors Andrew Bonazelli Walter Foley editorial assistant William Beisley writers Patrick Ammerman Marilyn Anthony Peggy Paul Casella Miyah Davis Rebecca Goldschmidt Anna Herman Emily Kovach Jerry Silberman Emily Teel Maia Toll Alex Vuocolo Seth Weiss illustrators

Shawn Hileman Narrator Laura Weiszer photgraphers JJ Tiziou

___________ Sales & Marketing Manager Claire Margheim claire@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 103 ad sales Wesley Kays-Henry wesley@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 100 distribution Megan Matuzak megan@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 106 published by Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107

heather shayne blakeslee Managing Editor

heather@gridphilly.com

215.625.9850 G R I D P H I L LY . C O M

TO-DO LIST 1. keep your

blood pumping Join a yoga studio or look into Grid’s list of intramural sports leagues on Page 51 to find the perfect low-key workout. It’s never too cold to run or bike.

2. plan the

3. test old seeds

It might not be warm enough to put a shovel into the ground, but you can crack open your seed catalog and let your imagination run wild.

Place 10 seeds in a folded, damp paper towel. Keep the wrapped seeds in an open plastic bag placed in a warm area.

After a week, if fewer than half have sprouted, buy new ones.

perfect garden

6. clean your

4. save your soil

cleaning tools

Water outdoor container gardens; dry winters are unkind to your soil.

In preparation for spring cleaning (spring is on its way, right?), replace your vacuum filter, soak your mop head in hot water and wash your broom bristles.

5. start your starters They’re just seeds now, but if you plant them inside, by the spring you can have broccoli, cabbage, onions and leeks ready to plant.

7. maintain your resolution to eat healthy

Enroll in a cooking class at your local food co-op and explore foodfitphilly.org for more ideas about your healthy lifestyle.

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8. replace your air filters

Replace any air filters from your heating system before the end of winter to prevent mold, pollen and other allergens from entering your home.

9. shop locally for valentine’s day Surprise your sweetheart and support the local economy with that one-of-a-kind, personalized gift that only a neighborhood merchant can provide.

10. start planning a neighborhood cleanup

Contact organizations such as Keep Philadelphia Beautiful and borrow tools from the Philadelphia Managing Director’s Office at the Community Life Improvement Program, where you can also coordinate trash pickups with the Philadelphia Streets Department.

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NEWS

disturbed state,” and intends to perform an assessment of the property’s natural resources. They will then develop a management and stewardship plan in accordance to the needs of the ecosystem.

POST BROTHERS APARTMENTS RECEIVES CITY’S FIRST LEED GOLD CERTIFICATION FOR A RESIDENTIAL HIGH-RISE

news from around town

MATT RADER IS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE PHILADELPHIA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Matt Rader, an accomplished nonprofit leader and management consultant, is now the 37th president of the Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS). Rader brings with him experience in urban parks, neighborhood revitalization, historic preservation and strategic management. A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Rader was most recently at global firm McKinsey & Company, and has also served as executive director of the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust and of East Passyunk Avenue’s Business Improvement District.

“I am honored to lead PHS in continuing its 189-year track record of connecting people with horticulture,” says Rader, “and using horticulture to make Philadelphia a healthier, more beautiful, more dynamic place.”

ANDREW STOBER HIRED AS A VP AT UNIVERSITY CITY DISTRICT Andrew Stober, former chief of staff for the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and 10

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Utilities (MOTU), is the new vice president for Planning and Economic Development at University City District. In his new role, Stober will oversee public space development and management, commercial corridor development, and pedestrian and transportation movements for University City, along with continuing UCD’s mission of promoting the neighborhood’s vibrancy and ensuring public safety. Stober sees “an important opportunity to use new public spaces, improved transportation options and commercial corridor support to make University City an international model for inclusive development.”

80 ACRES OF CROYDON WOODS TO BE PRESERVED On Jan. 6, the Heritage Conservancy in Doylestown was named as steward of an 80-acre parcel of Croydon Woods.

The land is one of the last undeveloped expanses of wooded wetland forests in the region, and it was transferred to the conservatory for preservation purposes from the prior owners, Rohm and Haas Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company.

The Heritage Conservancy plans to maintain the site in a “mostly natural, un-

Post Brothers Apartments, a real estate company that specializes in urban residential communities, was awarded LEED Gold certification for its Goldtex apartment complex from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Chinatown project, a 13-story former shoe factory, is the first apartment high-rise to achieve LEED Gold certification. The zero-carbon-footprint facility runs entirely on wind-generated power, a staple of the Post Brothers’ design elements.

“After the warmest December on record, environmental issues are top-of-mind for many of us,” said Michael Pestronk, CEO and co-founder of Post Brothers.

He added that their approach was helping to “reverse the trend of building pollution in our cities.”

REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY RECLAIMS EASTWICK LAND The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) and developer Korman Residential have reached an accord, terminating the 50-year-old Eastwick Redevelopment Agreement, and returning control of approximately 135 acres of land to the PRA. The land, which neighbors the Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, was protected by the Eastwick Friends & Neighbors Coalition and the broader Eastwick community in 2012, when it was discovered that Korman Residential intended to develop 722 rental units and 1,034 parking spaces. The land transfer to the PRA has a four-year purchase option to the City of Philadelphia, subject to the results of a planning process that will be led by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

PHILADELPHIA STUDENTS COMPETE IN WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPETITION Since returning to school this fall, middle school students from the Philadelphia region have been developing waste management solutions for the 2015–2016 Future City Competition. The nationwide contest’s theme is Waste Not, Want Not, in which students will design a virtual city using “SimCity” video game software to analyze waste management systems and develop real-world solutions. After the virtual model is completed, teams bring their ideas to life by building a tabletop scale model of their city using recycled materials.

Students from the region are competing with more than 40,000 participants from 1,350 schools across the nation. First-place winners from the regional finals will compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 13 to 17, and prizes for finalists include a trip to Space Camp and more than $15,000.

GAS FROM ORGANIC WASTE OFFERED AS ALTERNATIVE TO FRACKING A new program from Philadelphia’s Energy Co-op aims to incentivize landfill operators to distribute biogas produced by decomposing organic waste at their landfills to local businesses as an alternative to fracked natural gas.

“This new RNG product has the potential to change how natural gas is produced in the region,” said Eric Kravitz, director of business development at the Energy Coop. “When you purchase the RNG product, you’re taking a stand against fracking, supporting the development of renewable natural gas and helping to achieve a cleaner, healthier future for Pennsylvania.”

The system is similar to Renewable Energy Certificates, which monetize the environmental benefit of using renewable electricity. Members of the Energy Co-op can now purchase the Renewable Natural Gas Credits, although they will continue to receive pipeline natural gas from PECO to their homes.

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GU E ST EDITOR IAL

CHOKING ON THE PAST Philadelphia won’t thrive if we continue to pollute the air we breathe by patrick ammerman

T

he city of Philadelphia is at a crossroads: We must choose between our past and our future.

We are still struggling to fill the most basic needs of our residents: From grossly defunded public schools to the 25 percent unemployment rate among young adults of color, inequality is rampant. The same inequality that plagues our city’s economic well-being can be seen in our health.

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Though you may rarely come across an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer or hear City Council candidates debate the issue, Philadelphia regularly receives “F” ratings from the American Lung Association for our air quality. Twenty-three percent of our children have asthma—a rate that is almost three times the national average. The poorest neighborhoods suffer higher rates.

We need to develop a path forward that

meets the needs of all Philadelphians. We can’t continue down the same road and expect to remedy our glaring problems and disparities.

That, however, is what Phil Rinaldi, the CEO of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, operator of the Point Breeze-Girard Point oil refinery in South Philadelphia, seems to want to do. Over the past year, Rinaldi has been selling a vision of Philadelphia as an epicenter for oil and gas processing, a socalled “energy hub.” It’s been tantalizing for many who want to create jobs in the city that look like those of its bygone industrial economy. In January, PES submitted a proposal to expand their refinery into Southport—the most recent manifestation of what this energy hub would look like. The project is now on the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority’s short list of contenders.

To get a sense of what Rinaldi’s vision would mean for the stewardship of our home, we can look to the impacts of current PES refinery operations.

The South Philadelphia refinery is the dirtiest polluter in the city of Philadelphia.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the PES refinery is responsible for 72 percent of Philadelphia’s toxic emissions, making it the biggest reason why our city has some of the worst air quality in the nation. If you’re wondering how that level of pollution could be legal— it’s not. The EPA has slapped PES with several violations over the past few years, and has classified the refinery as being in violation of and noncompliant with federal clean air and water regulations.

Rinaldi’s business also threatens nearly all Philadelphia residents with the fleet of oil trains that keep Bakken shale oil from North Dakota flowing to the refinery. The tracks leading to South Philly pass through downtown, and trains come and go every day. If the volatile oil were to catch fire and explode on any one of these trains—as has happened recently in Quebec and West Virginia—hundreds of thousands of people would be harmed, and lasting damage would be done to our environment.

Processing fossil fuels in such close proximity to so many people is not effective city management, nor does it put Philadelphia on the path to a healthy future—it sends us back to our even more polluted past, and it continues to put our economy and health at risk.

IL LUSTRATIO N BY N A RRATOR

Impacts from the refinery are felt by all, but they are also disproportionately experienced by some Philadelphians based on race and class. The neighborhoods immediately around and downwind of the refinery are predominantly black and working class. They have to deal with foul smells coming from the refinery, the alarm of frequent fires, staggering rates of childhood asthma and other insidious impacts—such as cancer—that are harder to explicitly connect to a source.

When members of Philly Thrive started asking questions about the plans for a refinery expansion, we listened to our neighbors in Southwest and South Philadelphia. Many families have one or more members suffering from asthma and other afflictions. Many people said they weren’t going to sit idly by. We are ready to take action: As a community, we call for a Right to Breathe.

Philly Thrive demands a halt to any expansion of the PES refinery, a cap to its toxic emissions and no further investment in Philadelphia’s fossil-fuel infrastructure. Future investments made by PES should not be in outdated, dirty infrastructure but in renewable energy and climate-friendly jobs for Philadelphians, such as installing solar panels and making wind turbines. We also ask that the Kenney administration produce a health study to document any harm caused by the refinery to surrounding communities.

If a link is found, PES should pay health reparations to affected Philadelphians as compensation for decades of chronic health issues and expensive medical bills.

We don’t have to give up the most enticing part of Rinaldi’s vision: a brighter future. We can pool the ingenuity, hard work and brilliance of the people in our city to reimagine industries that have been linchpins of Philadelphia’s economy in the past and build on the parts of our economy that are already taking care of people and planet.

Philadelphia’s future—and our own lives—are at stake.

Patrick Ammerman is a member of Philly Thrive, which regularly holds movement trainings for people of all levels of experience.

To get involved or find out when the next training is, visit phillythrive.org

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MA D E IN PH ILLY

Pillows from the Dye Garden collection

MOOD INDIGO Forests and fields provide the color behind the Honest Alchemy line by emily teel

E

lizabeth McTear of Honest Alchemy spends her days dipping into pools of color: salmon red from madder root, mustard yellow from fustic wood, and rich cranberry from brazilwood.

The deep blue from indigo—and a desire to get away from commercial toxic dyes— was what started her down the garden path of making a line of natural, hand-dyed clothing, accessories and housewares in her Germantown studio.

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She first learned her techniques while studying textile design at Moore College of Art & Design, but in the classroom she only learned how to work with synthetically produced dyes.

These dyes, like oil paints, are high in heavy metals, and McTear couldn’t reconcile her lifelong environmentalism with pouring a spent vat of commercial dye down the drain.

“I needed to find a way to continue,” she

said, “but not necessarily participate in the toxic side of it.”

That’s when McTear started experimenting with indigo, that color in the rainbow between blue and violet. It comes from a leafy plant that naturally yields that deep blue color when processed for dye-making.

“Where the fun comes in,” she says, “is that indigo on wool, cotton, [or] silk… it’s all from the same vat, but the resulting colors are completely different based on the fiber itself. On silk, I get Aegean blues; on wool, I get deep, inky blues… the range of colors is so wide, and that’s just one color!”

Come spring, she’s planning her very own backyard dye garden with flowers like goldenrod, coreopsis and marigold.

“The more I learn,” she says, “the more I realize the color that could come from flowers that you or I can get at the farmers market.”

Local makers supply Honest Alchemy with the scarves, pillowcases, sweaters, tote bags and bandanas that McTear dips into her dye vats. The earthy and richly hued results take their texture from the wool, silk and cotton of the original items, and have helped McTear build a loyal following on Etsy and through national retailers such as Anthropologie.

In her work, McTear employs the ancient Japanese fabric dyeing practice called shibori, a method of pleating fabric and securing it with string or wooden blocks. Just as with tie-dye, whatever space is bound remains the original color of the fabric and whatever is exposed picks up the color of the dye it’s submerged in.

In addition to dyeing, McTear is exploring eco-printing, a process whereby she lays natural materials like leaves onto treated fabric, which she then steams. The plant materials leach their natural hues directly into the fabric, and the resulting silhouettes of leaves appear as though they were woven into the fabric itself.

While she finds her methods and materials less toxic, it’s challenging.

“It’s completely different,” McTear says, laughing. She explains that using natural dyes is “a lot more fickle and in some ways difficult, [but] it’s also really satisfying.”

Honest Alchemy products can be found online at etsy.com and at Philadelphia retail locations such as Moon + Arrow.

P HOTOS BY E RICK ST ERNBERG

The eco-print process before (top) and after

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Philly Fashion by emily kovach

A glimpse into the creative process of four eclectic studios Our burgeoning fashion scene bears all the hallmarks of the Philadelphia spirit: authenticity, cooperation, grit and ingenuity. Pia Panaligan, a co-owner of the local line Senpai + Kohai, gets to the heart of it: “Philly isn’t thought of as a big fashion city, but that’s OK with most of us because we get to define it,” she says. “Fashion isn’t just about fashion shows and Fashion Week—it’s about having your line, owning your quality control, coming together, pushing each other. Everyone we meet is open about experiences, and learning from each other.”

This month, we get to know a few of the designers helping to define what Philly fashion is, and where it’s going.

A look from Senpai + Kohai's Collection IV

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SHOP L OCAL

Clothes for the City Ninja Technical fabrics and sleek designs from NINObrand

L

ife for the city-dweller can be a harrowing hustle, and Bela Shehu, owner of NINObrand, designs garments as protection for what she calls the City Ninja. Her clean, almost severe shapes in a muted palette—mostly black—are constructed with technical fabrics that possess antibacterial properties, wick moisture, insulate, and protect from water and wind.

“Women who wear these clothes transform,” says Shehu. “It’s not a harness you strap yourself into—it allows you to be fluid and protected.” Plus, the pieces can transition through the many moods of a long day. With her designs, she says, “You don’t look like a fool in the morning, but you’re not underdressed in the evening.”

Shehu has been making clothing since she was a child in Albania. She came to the U.S. as a high school exchange student and, due to political instability in her home country and other factors, made Philadelphia her home. As a young adult, she dabbled in designing and making clothing, gained a cult following, opened a flagship boutique on 13th Street in 2004 (shuttered in 2008), and founded NINObrand in 2011.

Her coveted line is not available for retail in shops or boutiques—customers must schedule an appointment at her Rittenhouse atelier/showroom space. “Wholesale is not my strategy,” she says. “I want to keep what I do close to heart.” All of her pieces are hand-sewn by a team of seamstresses in Center City, and range in price from $180 to $600. The advanced fibers she uses are extremely durable, meaning the pieces are true investments—the Asher Jacket, one of the line’s most popular items, has a 15-year guarantee.

She’s doesn’t sew much herself these days—she’s too busy being the “boss lady” of NINObrand and her fashion consulting business, Shehu. But the South Philly resident has a softer side, too, just like her clothes. “I still do therapeutic things, like iron my handkerchiefs and make jams,” she says. “I like tending to things.”

A modern jacket from NINObrand

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To schedule a private appointment, visit ninobrand.com P HOTO BY SO P HIE S EC I LE XU

S H OP L OCAL

Secret Sweatshirts An interview with Nicole Haddad of Lobo Mau

What’s your overall design style?

NH: I like to work with stretchy fabrics because it fits a lot of bodies. Our last collection was about torn paper and collage: We’re always taking things to a more artistic and less predictable place. My customer base is mostly women between the ages of 40 and 70. I love when the mom and daughter come in and both shop. I want to design things that all women want to wear, not just the thin 20-year-old woman!

How did Lobo Mau begin?

NH: In 2009, I got a small loan from a friend, bought fabric, made things in my house, and just showed up at boutiques like, “Hi, I’m a designer!” A lot of Philly shops gave me a chance. I wasn’t making enough to pay the bills, so I went back to work for two years, making jewelry for John Wind and working in my studio in Northern Liberties on nights and weekends.

In 2011, when I was ready to quit my day job, I serendipitously met Lele Tran, a designer who was starting a co-op called US*U.S. in Old City. I moved my studio to their basement and was able to grow my business incrementally.

Last year, I was approached by some major investors, one of whom was my third cousin I’d never met before. My great grandmother was a Philadelphia bridal and evening gown designer—she made dresses for Grace Kelly! She taught her little brother how to sew, and he went on to start Alfred Angelo, the biggest bridesmaid company in the world. He was the one who helped me. I was able to really get off the ground.

What’s next, then?

NH: I’m keeping it manageable and local. I just moved my studio into the Bok building—I am the first tenant! I’m helping to open a new boutique, and working on projects with Betabrand and Nineteenth Amendment.

Available in select local boutiques, at lobomau.com and other online shops.

Looks from Lobo Mau's Secret Sweatshirt collection

PHOTOS BY ROSS ER ICSSO N ( TO P) ; A N N I E V I CKR E Y ( BOTTO M )

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SHOP L OCAL

Pastel Eclipse scarf collection

A full-length vest from Senpai + Kohai's Collection IV

Matched Set Senpai + Kohai's international inspiration and modern silhouettes

W

hen Melissa Choi and Pia Panaligan met in a fashion illustration class in 2004 at Philadelphia University, their creative chemistry was immediate. They spent hours in the studio sewing side by side, sharing what inspired them.

“I always wanted to find someone to design with,” Choi says. “I felt like Pia was the only person who could be that for me.”

They reconnected in 2012 after separate

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post-college adventures in the fashion industry—Panaligan pursued internships in Manhattan and worked her way to head stylist at Anthropologie, while Choi designed for Free People and then lived and worked in Thailand and India. The pair now share a home in South Philadelphia that is also their studio for Senpai + Kohai, a Japanese term that refers to the relationship between apprentice and mentor.

When Choi returned from India, she

brought back beautiful handmade fabric, trim and carved wooden blocks that became the basis for their debut collection of oneof-a-kind garments. Classes at the Fashion Incubator helped them realize that creating unique pieces wasn’t particularly sustainable. In the winter of 2013, they switched gears and designed a wholesale collection, but they quickly realized that they’d swung too far in the opposite direction.

“We love the slow fashion feel of things, and making things really special, as opposed to the fast pace of wholesale,” Choi says. “It’s not what we’re passionate about—it doesn’t tell the story we want.”

Choi and Panaligan have now found a middle ground that speaks to their vision.

Their pieces still have that distinctive feel—they feature hand-embroidery, dyeing and printing—but the silhouettes are consistent, and garments are available in multiple sizes.

Some of their fabric is made especially for them by a Burmese weaver in South Philly, and their most recent collection features hand-dyed silk tunics in marbled indigos and muted neutrals, knee-length quilted vests and gorgeous silk scarves.

“My experience with Melissa opened my eyes to a more colorful palette,” says Panaligan. “I tend toward neutral hues, but that’s what makes the balances—the bold and the classic neutral colors.”

Choi agrees, adding, “Working together, we grow in our design aesthetics.”

For more information, visit senpaikohai.com

P HOTOS BY AN THO N Y N O CE L L A (L E F T & P. 17 ); M AN UE L D O M IN GUEZ, J R. ( RI GHT)

S H OP L OCAL

Becoming An interview with Ty Antoine DeSouza of Suddenly Fem When did you first become interested in clothing, fashion and design?

TD: My mother is quite the fashionista.

She was keen on outfitting my sister and me with new fashions each school season.

She taught us a lot about style and finish...

I look back now and those are some of the foundations of how I style.

A little black dress from Suddenly Fem

P HOTO BY A M A NDA RO B ERTS

How did you get your start in fashion design?

TD: I was self-taught. I hit the streets of NYC in the ’90s knowing nothing. I tend to be more technical in nature, and I was drawn to the production process.

Suddenly Fem started as a family venture.

My mother was a hairstylist, and was often hired to do cross-dressing transformations and makeovers, but could never find any clothing to fit her clientele. So, with her design sense and my technical ability, we created the first production line of clothing for

the cross-dressing and trans communities 15 years ago.

Our first design was our little black dress made to fit the biological male form, designed with high neck and long sleeves, of course, to hide any arm hair or chest hair.

We have improved on this design with better fabrics and an almost seamless design now. It has always been one of our best sellers!

What has the response been?

TD: We have been around for over 20 years and launched a fall and spring line each season... It has become a full-fledged fashion line catering to transgendered and cross-dressing shoppers.

Available through crossdresser.com and through occasional pop-up shops.

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the RIGH T QUE STION

FIRST, DO NO HARM Our health care industry is poisoning our planet and failing the public by jerry silberman

Q

uestion: How can our health care

system develop the technology to cure illness?

The Right Question: How can we build a system that maintains health for people and planet?

When we think about making changes to limit the poisoning of our environment and the intensification of climate change, we usually don’t think about health care.

It doesn’t make sense that protecting our health would be helping to make our planet unlivable—or does it? Let’s compare two national models of how health care is organized: the United States and Cuba.

In the United States, health care is big business, and that business is increasingly organized for profit. Individuals, even those with insurance, often bear significant—even crippling—costs for their health care. The industry accounts for 17 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); $3 trillion of annual revenues ($9,500 per person annually), and employs 15.3 million people.

All of these numbers are rising quickly.

Since there is a rough correlation between GDP and energy consumption, we know that health care consumes about 17 percent of all the electricity, gas, oil and coal used in

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our society. According to the World Health Organization, every hospital and nursing home bed in the U.S. generates about six pounds of waste daily, one pound of which is classified hazardous because it includes infectious materials, potent chemicals and drugs, or radioactive material. This understates the problem, because much of the rest of the waste is plastics, which slowly release other toxins as they decay. (Many disposables have replaced reusable tools because the subsidized cost of petroleum chemicals is cheaper than cleaning.)

Despite these massive expenditures of money and energy, America has epidemics of obesity, diabetes, cancer, autism and a host of lesser-known diseases that—like those just mentioned—were rare to unknown a century ago. Higher disease rates are partially due to better detection methods; some of it is our own doing.

Our cultural attitude toward health care reflects the dominant meme of favoring technological progress over prevention: We spend billions developing ever more expensive cures for the diseases we are creating, and we expect a techno fix for any injury we may sustain or any abuse to which we may subject our bodies. Only recently

have we begun to understand that extending life at any cost and any quality is not a universal good, deserving of an unlimited investment of resources. Prevention of disease and disability is, unfortunately, a trivial part of our approach to health care.

In Cuba, by contrast, good health is considered a right; a social good that is provided at no charge to the individual. The costs, including the education and medical support to maintain the system—are borne by society as a whole. Cuba uses about 9 percent of its GDP for health care, which amounts to a per capita rate of about $605 per person per year. With such minuscule health care spending, Cubans must be a lot sicker and die younger than Americans, right?

Wrong. According to Cuban public health statistics, life expectancy and infant mortality rates are as good or better than in the United States, and, unlike in the U.S., there are no differences based on income or race. At the heart of their system is something called the polyclinic, which the World Health Organization describes as “the organizational hub for 20 to 40 neighborhood-based family doctor-andnurse offices, and... accredited research and teaching centers for medical, nursing IL LUSTRATIO N BY L AURA WEI SZER

and allied health sciences students.” These doctor/nurse teams are members of the communities they serve, and each hub pays close attention to prevention of disease and to treating ailments by the simplest and most effective means, drawn from many traditions and technologies. All Cubans have a head start on good health, because guarantees of prenatal care, maternal education and healthy food for infants are universal. The Cuban diet generally also lacks the chemicalized junk food so dominant in the U.S., where rates of cancer and obesity are 50 percent greater.

While it is difficult to get more detailed comparisons of the health and incidence of disease between the U.S. and Cuba due to their antagonistic history, there is certainly enough to make the point: High-quality, universally accessible primary and preventive care, health and nutrition education— as well as public health measures that include eliminating poverty—are an efficient and effective use of time, money and energy, both for individuals and for our planet.

Not so for the billions of dollars Americans spend on drugs and medical technology.

As our ability to exploit cheap energy resources continues to diminish over the next several decades, the resources available to invest in health care will diminish. As in every other sector of life, we will face hard choices, which will be made easier if we make the choice now to eat well and avoid environmental risks; we must also critically explore the effectiveness of relatively inexpensive, low-tech medical interventions compared with expensive, high-tech ones.

In much of the world, for example, rather than surgery, non-invasive external cardiac pulsation is the treatment of choice for clogged arteries. For pain relief and musculoskeletal problems, the low-tech, low-energy therapy of acupuncture can be as—or more—effective than many expensive drug treatments or surgical interventions.

We must move our society as a whole toward prevention and low-cost, effective treatments rather than the most profitable interventions, and toward health care for all. It may be time to demand an end to for-profit health care altogether.

Real. Innovative.

Collaborative. Design.

“The move from environmental friendliness to the higher bar of integral sustainability and regenerative design demands a new type of design professional, one who is deeply collaborative, ethically grounded, empathically connected and technologically empoweredour M.S. in Sustainable Design program will prepare you to be that kind of professional.”

–Rob Fleming, Program Director

We are currently accepting applications.

For more information, please contact us at 215.951.2943 or by email at GradAdm@philau.edu.

Jerry Silberman is a cranky environmentalist and union negotiator who likes to ask the right question and is no stranger to compromise.

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the B IG PICTUR E

PHILADELPHIA, WE HAVE A SOLUTION Siting a petrochemical hub in a city causes problems. Here are some lessons from Houston interview by heather shayne blakeslee

M

atthew Tejada, a former clean air advocate in Houston, is now the director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Tejada spoke with Grid about his trajectory from community organizer to federal appointee, lessons learned along the way, and the link among strong environmental regulation, public health and a thriving economy.

There are forces in Philadelphia that would like to make us the next Houston. You were involved in helping to ensure that the petrochemical industry kept environmental and public health in mind in their operations in your work at Air Alliance Houston.

What were some of the environmental justice issues in Houston around this work?

MT: Houston is the largest energy hub in the entire United States, and the immensity of heavy industry there can be overwhelming: oil, chemicals, petrochemicals, manufacturing, shipping, transportation, storage, agriculture, technology, medicine, aerospace. Houston also has no zoning or traditional form of city planning to speak of, both elements that are essential to its personality as a “make it happen if you can” kind of town.

It’s also, by at least one measure, the most diverse city in the entire country, but those populations tend to be very segregated.

There are a lot of reasons for this; whether as a result of historic policies such as redlining or more recent immigration trends and socioeconomic pressures, along with having very few space constrictions in a city of its size, Houston is very much a community of separate communities. So, you have all of this industry in all of its different stripes—a huge, sprawling metropolis. And that’s combined with all of the minor sources of pollution and environmental threats.

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Taken with extraordinary diversity— and also stark segregation and separation of different populations—there are no end to challenges and no end to opportunities to work on issues that can have a real positive impact on people’s lives. So many issues there are big, and have national connections and implications, but at the same time are hyperlocal.

What should Philadelphia be on the lookout for?

MT: The biggest lesson to me is that engagement, relationship building and collaboration are absolutely crucial. Those are central to everything we do with environmental justice here at EPA, and they

were lessons I learned first-hand working around the Texas Gulf Coast. It was really illuminating to me during my time there because I worked with a lot of different communities from Port Arthur to Corpus Christi; and each community, of course, was completely unique and different, but, at the same time, they all had the same issues and actors involved.

But the places that were making progress were always the places where, at the end of the day, folks could talk to one another. They could walk around the corner to actually look at and have a conversation about the problem and what they might be able to do about it. That doesn’t mean they always agreed. Everyone understood

IL LUSTRATIO N BY S HAW N HI LEMA N

when they went back to their separate places that some would draft lawsuits and others would get ready for quarterly earnings meetings and others to fundraise for their next election. But they were able to talk and search for areas of commonality, so they could collaboratively move the ball forward and actually make change happen.

What were the challenges of working with the petrochemical industry?

MT: Folks understanding one another. Being able to build relationships and trust with folks from industry is one of the things I’m most proud of from my time in Houston, and also one of the most valuable things that I learned. It doesn’t matter who you are or what side you’re coming from— just about everyone walks into a room and has a preconceived notion about what everyone else is walking into that room looking for. And it’s hard. But it’s absolutely essential that folks don’t become preoccupied with those notions.

Just because someone comes in representing industry doesn’t mean they are a bad person; they’re human beings like everyone else there, and their job is to represent the business interest of the company they work for. The community members, likewise, are human beings who are looking out for the best interests of their families and communities. That sets up a complicated dynamic, of course, because you have one side looking very pragmatically at their economic interest, and the other side looking very passionately at the health of their children and the value of their homes.

But those interests do not have to be incompatible with one another.

It’s really incredible when you actually see places in this country where folks have gotten past these notions and start to work together. It’s not some big love fest and everyone is best friends and spends their holidays together—there are still tense interactions and tough conversations and plenty of confrontations, but when they have gotten to the point that after the confrontation they can take a breath and restart the conversation, those places can really start to do good things with and for the community.

Can you talk about some of the community organizing strategies that were successful,

or things you might have done differently?

MT: I went into community organizing and working on the community level as a complete unknown. I had studied social movement theory and the role of civil society as academic disciplines, but when I got to Houston, all of a sudden there was a community in front of me that needed help.

I really had no idea what to do other than to start showing up, talking to people, and then promising that I’d show up again next week. And it took some time and I definitely made my share of mistakes along the way, but there are some basic things I learned which, no surprise, plenty of other people

absolutely the hardest work there is. But it’s also the most meaningful and rewarding when you do it right.

Countries like China and India, which don’t have the protection of laws like the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act, are really suffering. How directly linked are America’s environmental protections to our economy?

MT: At the EPA, we think that the choice offered between environmental protection or a healthy economy is a false choice. Since 1970, air pollution has decreased by nearly 70 percent while the economy has tripled in size. The economic benefits of protecting

“This is the hardest work you can do. ...

It’s also the most meaningful and rewarding when you do it right.”

have learned and been sharing as central truths for decades before I ever showed up.

One is that the community speaks for itself—it doesn’t need someone else speaking for it. Another is that you can’t show up and want the community to just work on your issue. If you want to work with the community, you have to engage them and try to do what you can on all of their issues. In Houston, my organization would partner with communities, because we were focused on air quality and health, but we wound up working on issues of education, health care access, transportation and transit, local food, land use decisions—all sorts of things. Because if they were going to partner with us and raise their voices for air quality improvements, then my organization had to be willing to partner with them and raise our voices for a different bus stop and a new grocery store.

This is the hardest work you can do. Engaging a community, being a partner, doing the legwork, showing up every time, building trust and keeping that trust, putting your heart and passion into it—and dealing with all of the struggles and challenges—is

T HIS EXC ER PT ED INT ERVIE W H AS BE E N E D I TE D FO R CLA R I TY

health and the environment, based upon sound science, while providing an even playing field for industry, has time and again proven to be a winning combination for our country, its people and our economy.

Are we just exporting our pollution as manufacturing moves abroad?

MT: We are also a global leader in protecting the environment and health. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has called for a new era of partnerships at the agency. Just this past year, our head of enforcement and compliance spent two weeks in China and Thailand for this very purpose—to share with our partners what we have learned and where we are headed, and why it is such a benefit to the health and economic prosperity of our country. Our environment in the U.S. is a part of the global environment, and it takes partnerships and collaboration to protect it.

Matthew Tejada is director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

CROSSING THE LINE Philadelphians are plagued by poor health—heart disease, diabetes and respiratory illnesses, among other conditions. But big changes to federal policy are cascading into local programs and breaking down barriers to healthier lives for some of our most vulnerable residents by alex vuocolo

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Chinwe Onyekere, an associate administrator who works on public health issues at Lankenau Medical Center FEBRUA RY 2016

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Lankenau Medical Center’s Delema G. Deaver Wellness Garden, slated to open in February 2016, will provide food to be used in the cafeteria, local food banks and patient kitchens

L

ankenau Medical Center, a 93-acre hospital complex, is located just across the border of West Philadelphia in the Main Line community of Wynnewood. For a patient crossing the city line, the transition is almost immediate: The auto shops and fast food joints that line Lancaster Avenue fade into green suburban neighborhoods. Corner delis and discount grocery stores give way to high-end supermarkets and boutiques.

The sidewalks and bike lanes taper off into narrow road shoulders.

There is another, less visible difference between the two communities straddled by Lankenau in Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which tracks public health metrics nationally, ranks Montgomery County the sixth healthiest county in the state out of 67.

Philadelphia County ranks dead last.

Reckoning with that divide is part of Chinwe Onyekere’s job. As associate administrator at Lankenau, she heads up community programs focused on meeting the health needs of all patients. In her view, hospitals as institutions have a clear mandate to serve the communities around them.

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address health care, but to address social issues,” says Onyekere, 40.

One of her latest projects, the Delema G. Deaver Wellness Garden, is a community garden and learning center now under construction on the outskirts of the hospital’s main campus. The half-acre plot, situated next to a helipad, will feature 20 raised garden beds, a high tunnel greenhouse and an organic composting area. Once the garden opens in February of 2016, a professional farmer and educator will teach classes at the garden for community members to learn about fresh food and healthy eating. As for the produce, some of it will be used in the hospital cafeteria, while the rest will go to local food banks and into patients’ kitchens.

The idea behind the garden, Onyekere says, is to help improve the health of community members before they ever have to enter an emergency room or doctor’s office. She is focusing on nutrition because a number of the hospital’s low-income patients suffer from conditions such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which are related to poor eating habits.

A growing body of research, including a 2010 report from the Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit with a national focus

on food access, shows these health disparities may be the result of a lack of access to healthy foods. On the Montgomery County side of Lancaster Avenue, for example, residents can choose among Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and GIANT, all located within a mile of one another. On the Philadelphia side of the avenue, options are limited to corner delis and small discount grocery stores.

“The thing that gets highlighted for us is that there are a diversity of needs,” Onyekere says, “and so we really need to think creatively and innovatively on how we can develop interventions that meet the needs of our patients.”

The garden is part of a broader effort by Lankenau to embrace preventative health measures in creative ways. Lankenau has also partnered with the Food Trust to offer patients $6 vouchers, called Philly Food Bucks, which they can use to buy fruits and vegetables at select farmers markets.

The hospital is also sending nurses out to the farmers markets to offer free blood pressure testing.

“I think we’re changing the paradigm that health is just about sick care,” says Phil Robinson, 59, president of Lankenau Medical Center.

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Individual treatment or community intervention? The historic divide between health care and public health While it may seem like an obvious step for a hospital to promote nutrition, or any public health benefit for that matter, the connection between health care and social and environmental factors has not always been so clear.

“Historically, there’s been a disconnect between public health and the medical profession,” says Erin Johnson, 40, professor at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. “They are not well-integrated.”

Health care is built to respond to individual needs, Johnson explains. When a person shows up at the hospital with a broken bone, a clogged artery, or even just an ache or pain, health care is at its best. That’s when the whole apparatus of modern care—the nurses, the screening tests, the drugs—kicks into gear. But understanding the environmental, behavioral or social reasons why someone got those aches or pains in the first place is where public health comes in.

“You have the upstream perspective, which is public health, root causes, context,” Johnson says, “and then you have the downstream perspective, which is treatment at the individual level.”

The problem, she adds, is in how those two sides of the health world coordinate.

On the ground, the difficulty is often in getting health care providers to look beyond treatment and into the communities that shape the health needs of their patients.

Lankenau, like most hospitals, spent most of its 150-year history sticking to what it did best: treating the sick and injured.

“We were very much just looking at what got [patients] into the hospital and fixing that and then sending them home,” says Robinson, a veteran in hospital administration. “That’s how we got paid.

That’s how the whole health care system has been for the past 100 years.”

With a quarter of its population below the federal poverty level, the relationship between individual health and public health in Philadelphia is hard to ignore.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health found in a 2013 community health report that 15 percent of premature deaths are related to social circumstances, such as

neighborhood safety, occupational health or access to healthy food, and five percent are related to environmental exposures, such as air, housing or water quality.

These negative effects often fall along racial lines. About one-third of black and Hispanic Philadelphians self-report that they are in poor or fair health, nearly double what the city’s white population reports, according to a 2012 survey from the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation.

“In terms of the social determinants of health, the single biggest driver is poverty,” says Dr. James Buehler, 64, former health commissioner under the Nutter administration, now a professor at Drexel University.

“For just about any disease or public health

One impact of the Affordable Care Act: prescriptions for vegetables One policy change that has edged hospitals toward focusing more on public health is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the much-debated health care reform bill drawn up by the Obama Administration and passed by Congress in 2010. Much of the focus on the ACA has centered on its expansion of Medicaid and creation of health insurance exchanges. But the law also made a series of regulatory tweaks that have made hospitals devote resources to public health.

Among those tweaks is the requirement that nonprofit hospitals carry out a community health needs assessment every

“I think we’re changing the paradigm that health is just about sick care.”

– Phil Robinson, president, Lankenau Medical Center

concern, when there is more poverty, the problems tend to be more severe.”

Meanwhile, public health has gotten short shrift at the state level as well. A 2013 report by Trust for America’s Health, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group, ranked Pennsylvania in the bottom 10 states in terms of how much it invests in public health.

And yet, Lankenau is one of a number of local hospitals that are taking the problem into their own hands with programs aimed at addressing the needs of the region’s most vulnerable populations. As a result, the divide between public health and health care is steadily closing.

Getting to this point, however, required a culture shift that is still very much in progress, including getting regional health care providers to work together.

three years, or else be subject to a $50,000 excise tax. Hospitals are also required to produce an implementation plan to address the needs they have identified.

Lankenau implemented its first community health needs assessment under the ACA in 2013, pulling together basic income and population data from the surrounding areas and combining it with key health statistics. As Lankenau quickly found out, there was a lot to learn in the numbers. “It provided this whole new realm of data,” Robinson says.

The assessment broke down Lankenau’s service area into four main geographic sections, including Delaware and Montgomery counties and Northwest and West Philadelphia. By a number of measures, from hypertension to diabetes to obesity, West Philadelphia ranked the worst. A measure looking

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at nutrition found that West Philadelphians consumed the least amount of vegetables, the majority eating just one to two servings per day.

“If we have a huge patient population that has diabetes and who are overweight, and they’re only getting one to two servings of vegetables, then maybe we prescribe healthy eating,” Onyekere says.

The concept of prescribing healthy eating has been shown to improve consumption habits. A 2013 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture looked at the effectiveness of nutrition education programs on youth and seniors that received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and found that “well-designed” programs did encourage people to eat healthier.

Another major aspect of the ACA is its requirement that all hospitals use an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to track patients’ medical histories.

“The EMR, to me, was probably the most transformational thing, because without

Allison Hilaire, BSN, RN, clinical manager of Lankenau Medical Associates, and Bill Surkis, MD, review a packet of Philly Food Bucks

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that, you’re still relying on paper charts,” Robinson says, and “if the patient doesn’t tell you they’ve seen three other doctors, been in to two other hospitals—and they often don’t—you only have a little sliver of information instead of everything.”

This silo effect made preventative care more difficult because a doctor had to piece together a patient’s medical past, not to mention any social or environmental factors that may have shaped it. The EMR program has made doctors more accountable to their patients, according to Buehler, because they can now set health benchmarks based on that history.

“The ACA, in many ways, is a formal declaration of alignment between health care and public health objectives,” Buehler says.

Walking the talk Even as the ACA drew more attention to public health, hospitals were undergoing their own evolution in how they define their role in the community. In part, that evolu-

tion was spurred by a desire to become healthier, more sustainable institutions.

For Lankenau, its focus on environmental issues such as food access grew, in part, out of a process that began nearly 10 years ago with the construction of a new building on its main campus.

“Some of this awareness began on the facilities side, when we looked at what it would take to become LEED certified,” says Robinson, referring to the voluntary, international green building design standard of the U.S. Green Building Council. “It sort of got us into that mode of thinking.”

The initial idea for the garden, he adds, came from conversations about potentially putting a farm on a green roof.

For other local hospitals, the push to become better institutions, while also improving public health, has taken different forms. The University of Pennsylvania Hospital System, for example, banned smokers from its work force in 2013 in an effort to encourage healthier behaviors among its employees—who ultimately

h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

“The [Affordable Care Act], in many ways, is a formal declaration of alignment between health care and public health objectives.”

– Dr. James Buehler, professor, Drexel University

make up the surrounding community— and to set an example for the public.

The issue with arguably the most interest from local hospitals would be local food sourcing. In 2014, four regional hospitals— Einstein Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Temple University Hospital and Jeanes Hospital—made a pledge to adhere to voluntary nutrition standards for their own food systems.

The initiative, called Good Food, Healthy Hospitals, is spearheaded by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and supported by Common Market, a food distributor that draws most of its product from within the region. Last fall, the Department of Public Health held a symposium around the initiative that attracted 20 hospitals and a number of food advocates and public health organizations.

From the health department’s perspective, hospitals are a natural place to try and push for better nutrition and food sourcing.

“Hospitals serve a lot of food,” Buehler says. “They serve food to their patients.

They serve food to their visitors, and they serve food to their employees.” Many of their employees, he adds, have the same health problems that the rest of the public faces. As some of the region’s largest employers, hospitals have an added responsibility to change their own practices.

While a number of programs have begun in the last few years, there has been at least some interest in public health issues—particularly food access—for longer than that.

“Hospitals have been doing environmental things for a long time, looking at their practices, looking at efficiencies in heating, landfill practices, recycling,” says

Rickie Brawer, 63, associate director at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Center for Urban Health and longtime public health expert.

In the early 2000s, for example, there was a big push by hospitals to encourage community members to bring in their mercury thermometers, which had long been considered an environmental and health hazard, in exchange for digital thermometers.

What’s changed, according to Brawer, is the scale and focus of hospitals’ engagement with public health. “The food piece of it is newer,” she says, adding that it grew in concert with a national awareness of the health implications of obesity.

Brawer adds that Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals have implemented a number of public health programs, including free blood pressure testing at corner stores in partnership with the Food Trust and the Department of Public Health’s Healthy Corner Stores initiative. First piloted in 2004, the initiative has evolved into a citywide effort to deliver healthy foods and preventive health care through the corner stores ubiquitous in urban neighborhoods.

Many hospital-led initiatives are still in their beginning phases, however, and some public health professionals argue in favor of more focus and collaboration among hospitals.

“There are a lot of efforts going on, but they’re a little bit scattered,” says Johnson, who recently joined the Philadelphia chapter of the advocacy group Physicians for Social Responsibility. “We still don’t have an overall, coordinated plan that takes into account the huge diversity of needs for health services.”

In Johnson’s view, it’s not lack of data or support, but the challenge of getting the health care community to work together more effectively.

Hospitals as advocates for clean air, indoors and out In order to facilitate collaboration among Philadelphia-area hospitals, the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) launched a project last September to unite partners around tackling a single set of public health issues. So far, the Philadelphia and Montgomery County health departments, the Health Care Improvement Foundation, and eight hospitals and health systems are onboard, including Aria Health System, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Einstein Healthcare Network, Holy Redeemer Health System, Jefferson Health, Mercy Health System, Temple Health, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

The current goal is to figure out which public health issues will be prioritized and how exactly the collaborative will work together.

“As one of the public health people in the room, I can tell you these are really productive discussions,” says Cheryl Bettigole, 50, director of the Department of Public Health’s Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and head of the city’s own public health initiative, Get Healthy Philly. “We have people thinking very seriously and thoughtfully about how we can improve the health of the city.”

For Bettigole, the collaborative is exciting for the mere fact that hospitals are in

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the same room together.

“As someone who has been a part of the health care scene in Philadelphia since my training in the late ’90s, I don’t recall ever seeing the hospitals work together,” she says.

What has been decided among the partners, according to Bettigole, is that hospitals can no longer operate in silos, as they have in the past, which has led to overlapping, yet uncoordinated efforts.

What kinds of issues are they likely to address?

Michael Consuelos, senior vice president of HAP and head of the collaborative, says the choice of environmental issues will be focused on related illnesses “that hospitals have a great amount of competency in treating.” As an example, he explains, “Because hospitals treat a lot of respiratory diseases, you’ll see activity around clean air, improving air quality around the hospital, and trying to work with stakeholders and public officials at improving air quality.”

Public health issues that would be more difficult to address, according to Consuelos, include crime, transportation and education problems, which are largely in the hands of government agencies. The effect of housing quality on health, on the other hand, is an area in which he thinks hospitals can be impactful.

“Hospitals are starting work now to improve housing options,” says Consuelos, in part because the IRS has opened up housing improvement as a form of community benefit under the ACA. In fact, the Healthy Rowhouse Project, a nonprofit aimed at increasing housing quality throughout Philadelphia, has drawn a number of hospitals to the table.

Though still in its beginning phases, the initiative is looking directly at the health effects of bad housing, such as asthma and lead poisoning.

Bettigole says the city has made a lot of progress in terms of providing healthier food options and arguably even more progress in altering the built environment of the city so that it encourages more physical activity. She cites the increase in cycling and a number of the recent trail projects as examples of this. Her goal is to get similar support for other issues.

“I’m hoping that the collaborative has a really significant effect on whatever public

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health issue they decide to tackle, but I’m also hoping it’s the start of them working together for the foreseeable future,” Bettigole says. “Because this is a group that together could have a lot of leverage and a real impact on health across the city.”

Bringing it home Annie Stewart, 71, was diagnosed with

it brings the classes into the communities where the information is needed most, according to Michelle Faulkner, director of the program.

As much as hospitals or health care centers are crucial to public health, they are still seen as places to get treated for acute illnesses, not as community centers.

“When people go into a health center, they want to get treated and leave,” she says.

“As someone who has been a part of the health care scene in Philadelphia since my training in the late ’90s, I don’t recall ever seeing the hospitals work together.”

– Cheryl Bettigole, director, Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Division of Chronic Disease Prevention

borderline diabetes and morbid obesity in 2014. Today she is a healthy weight—down to a size eight from a size 12—and she is no longer diabetic.

“I don’t have to stick myself no more,” she says. “I watch what I eat, and I exercise.”

Stewart attributes her turnaround to the Adult Senior Nutrition Education Program, which is funded by the state and run by the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative, a program of the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships.

For the last five years, the program has sent registered dieticians into West and Southwest Philadelphia communities to teach residents about nutrition. The classes range from cooking demonstrations to discussions about how to read labels and diversify your grocery list.

The strength of the program is in how

Jerome Shabazz, executive director of the Overbrook Environmental Education Center, which runs its own community garden and nutrition programs and is just down the road from Lankenau Medical Center, says that hospitals should be “exporting” public health initiatives into communities instead of trying to bring the community to them.

“I think the most effective model is to export talent” into the community, Shabazz says. He adds that while hospitals have the health care expertise, community organizations ultimately know how to best engage with a community.

For Stewart, the fact that the program was available within her home at the Greenway Presbyterian Apartments was crucial.

“Bringing this class in here was the best thing they could have done,” she says.

h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

FAC T S HEET

1

Poverty significantly affects health. The stressors of poverty, including daily insecurity about food, housing and medical care, take an enormous toll on a person’s well-being. The combination of food insecurity and lack of access to healthy food is one of the biggest problems facing Philadelphians.

2015 Federal Poverty Level Guidelines:

philadelphia ranks

NUMBER ONE in deep poverty among america’ s largest cities .

Deep poverty is measured as 50 percent or less of the poverty rate. For a family of three in 2015, that means househould income of $10,045 or less.

12.3% of philadelphians live in

household size

income

1

$11,770

2

$15,930

3

$20,090

4

$24,250

5

$28,410

6

$32,570

deep poverty.

Health Insurance Coverage in Philadelphia:

1 in 5

Changes after passage of the Affordable Care Act adults without coverage

children without coverage

2012

2012

the highest rates in the u . s .

18.5%

4.6 %

572,000

2015

2015

12.3%

3.9%

philadelphia county residents in

2013

were food insecure , one of

philadelphians helped by food

pantries and soup kitchens in

2015

References: Coalition Against Hunger; The Philadelphia Inquirer; Public Health Management Corporation; 2015 Federal Poverty Guidelines; “Shared Prosperity Philadelphia 2015 Progress Report: The City of Philadelphia”

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Contact John Wylie MS RYT: johnwyl@gmail.com | 267-467-6250

h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

OVERDRINKING REJUVENATOR INFUSION: This blend of

yerba mate, peppermint, lapacho, licorice, kudzu and fresh ginger is designed to put a spring back in your step. The mate has a compound similar to caffeine, and lapacho may reduce inflammation. An important ingredient in this blend is kudzu root, in which daidzein and daidzin are the main compounds that may curb alcohol cravings, according to some studies.

TEATOTALER’S TODDY: A combination of

tulsi, kudzu, licorice, marshmallow, slippery elm and honey make an excellent alcohol-free hot toddy.

OVEREATING Chai tea

TEA PARTY If you’ve gone a little overboard, it’s time for teas and herbal infusions by rebecca goldschmidt

F

or many of us, this is a time of year for healing, growth and the reintroduction of ritual to everyday life. Luckily, all of these needs can be accomplished by heating up a kettle of water. At the Random Tea Room, we believe that there are an abundance of herbs and teas that can improve day-to-day existence.

First, know the difference between true tea and herbal infusions. All tea comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The various ways it’s processed lead to the vast array available, which is also influenced by where the tea was grown, the altitude, rainfall, season it was plucked, and even drying and fermenting processes. In contrast, medicinal herbs come from many genera and species of flora that make each unique. When water is added to herbs, it’s referred to as an infusion.

Be mindful of the water needs of your tea or infusion of choice. Black and red teas tolerate being steeped with water just shy of boiling; overly hot water loses oxygen, which makes a flat tasting brew. Green and white teas are best with spring water at cooler temperatures (around 170 F) to prevent scorching and bitterness.

Most herbal infusions benefit from high temperatures and long steep times, especially hardy roots. Herbs, unlike teas, which can become bitter when steeped too long, have less tannic content, and therefore can steep for extended periods or multiple times. At the Random Tea Room, we leave the herbs in the cup and serve with a filtered straw called a bombilla, traditionally used in drinking yerba mate.

Here are some of our favorite teas and infusions if you've gone a little overboard.

BELLY BLEND INFUSION: A soothing

blend of peppermint, wild yam, chamomile, fennel, licorice and ginger for upset stomachs. If you suffer from acid reflux, order a custom blend without peppermint, which may relax the esophageal muscles and worsen the situation.

PU-ERH: During the fermentation process

used to make pu-erh tea, it develops living enzymes that can help aid digestion. This is one of the oldest forms of tea.

OVERTHINKING SIMMER DOWN INFUSION: A blend of

chamomile, lemon balm, motherwort, peppermint, lavender and passionflower designed to assist the body in alleviating stress and worn nerves.

KAVA KAVA: This is a ceremonial drink

in the South Pacific. Its main compounds, known as kavalactones, have in some studies been shown to improve feelings and emotions, but consult your doctor if you have a liver condition. The kavalactones break down when your water is hotter than 160 F, so be mindful when brewing.

Rebecca Goldschmidt is the proprietress of the Random Tea Room, a tea shop and art and music space in Philadelphia.

P HOTO BY JESSE H A L E M O O R E

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Salt scrub made with Himalayan pink salt

SOAK IT IN

EXFOLIATING BODY SCRUB yy 1 tablespoon colloidal oatmeal

Do-it-yourself home spa pampering

yy 1 tablespoon brown sugar

by maia toll

yy 2 tablespoons ground apricot kernel yy 2 ounces oil (try jojoba, sweet almond oil,

A

trip to the spa can be the pinnacle of relaxation, but you don’t always need to outsource your pampering. It’s easy to make your own bath scrubs and soaks, choosing the scents that appeal to your sense of inner peace. Ingredients are widely available—even at some chain drug stores or your neighborhood supermarket.

Scrubs are composed of two parts, an exfoliant and an emollient. The exfoliant sloughs away dead skin cells and creates an irritant which draws blood to the area. Examples of exfoliants are ground apricot kernels, sea salt, almond meal or corn meal. The emollient smooths and soothes the skin. All oils, aloe, some hydrosols and some teas have emollient properties.

Hydrosols are a byproduct of the essential oil distillation process. While they contain compounds found in specific plants, the levels are gentle enough for use when an essential oil may be too irritating. They are water-based, as opposed to essential oils, which are oil-based. Both essential oils and hydrosols will come from specific plants like rose, lavender, lime or orange.

In addition to being used for skin care, scrubs are great for the circulatory system.

The act of gentle scrubbing can be used to move your blood and lymph, and to loosen tight muscles.

Remember that water + plant material + time = mold. If you want to create a scrub that has a water part in it (aloe, tea, a hydrosol), you will need to make a fresh batch each time.

Maia Toll is an herbalist with the Herbiary, which has a location at Reading Terminal Market.

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apricot kernel oil, or olive oil) yy 1 tablespoon honey yy 2 teaspoons aloe or hydrosol yy 10 drops essential oil Mix everything together and enjoy your scrub!

SALT SCRUB yy 1 cup salt (sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, Epsom salt) yy 1/3 cup oil (olive oil, jojoba or almond) yy 1/8 cup honey yy 10 drops essential oil Mix honey, oil and essential oil together. Pour the mixture over the sea salt.

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STUDIO 34’S BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE Finding self-acceptance and healing at an inclusive community wellness hub by marilyn anthony photos by jj tiziou photography

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A yoga class at West Philadelphia’s Studio 34

“O

ur mind will deceive us,” says Angie Norris. “Our body will not.”

Norris, 45, is the studio manager at West Philadelphia’s cherished health, wellness and community center, Studio 34.

Soft-spoken, but full of thoughtful passion, Norris says that she sees too often how people fail in their resolve to create a healthier life, undermined by the relentlessly critical mind we all harbor. She compares this scolding voice to an overbearing boss we have to teach ourselves to ignore.

“People will beat themselves up more than any other person in their life, and that

is one of the greatest barriers to healing and wellness,” says Norris. “Self-compassion is one of the most important aspects of wellness, along with developing an awareness of our body. An awareness of how we feel— and allowing that to guide us.”

Yoga forms the core of programming at Studio 34, and manifestations are many: beginner classes, queer and trans yoga, yoga for recovery, chair yoga, and multiple forms of yoga teacher trainings. But Studio 34’s offerings also include Pilates, talk therapy, massage, a breastfeeding support group, African dance, and art and music shows.

Named for the trolley that rumbles past its location—and a nod to the glamour-filled haunt of Andy Warhol, Studio 54 in New York—Studio 34 began in 2008 as a vision shared by Norris and two other co-founders, sculptor James Peniston, 42, and yoga instructor Stephen Fisher, 47. Citing the growing feeling that Western medicine was focused more on disease than on wellness, Norris stepped away from her 20-year nursing career specializing in HIV treatment last September to join the staff full time.

One of the group’s chief aspirations was

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inclusivity, so they situated Studio 34 “halfway between those with resources and those without,” says Peniston. They strive to make wellness inviting to a population diverse in age, race, ethnicity and ability, and they want everyone who walks through the door to feel as though they belong.

When Norris hires a yoga instructor, she says she looks beyond their certification to a “vibe” that indicates a willingness to serve every person who may come to their class, whether they are 6 or 60. Norris admits they would like to attract even more people of color. “Your blind spots are your blind spots,” she says, “and you just don’t know what they are. ” The neighborhood continues to evolve, and Norris and Peniston (Fisher has since left) want to make sure the studio keeps pace with changes. So far, membership growth has been organic, powered by people who find their first community here and then invite their friends in. Norris wants to figure out how to reach others, especially those “who never felt they belonged.”

When longtime Studio 34 members talk about their experiences, you get the sense that Norris’ message of self-acceptance and the studio’s conscious effort to create community is working. Instead of words like “pounds lost” or “inches trimmed,” you hear “beautiful,” “sweet,” “accepting,” “transformative” and “fun.”

One life center, many transformations Former yoga teacher Jess Radovich, 33, who recently moved to Seattle, gets teary when she talks about her experience at Studio 34. She was a yoga novice when she first stepped through the doors, looking for help dealing with emotional turmoil.

“It’s the first place I learned how to relax, the place where I worked through grief about losing my father, confusion about getting married, issues of body image and injury, and major life issues,” she says.

“The yoga practice that I developed at 34 changed my whole life, and I mean that in a very deep way.”

What distinguished Studio 34 for Radovich was the genuine sense of welcome and belonging. She valued practicing yoga in classes offering modifications and variations intended to accommodate different bodies, different abilities, and different backgrounds. In her view, Studio 34 offers a rich cross-section of the diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic elements of Philadelphia.

In 2010, Qui Alexander, now 29, was also looking for a place to reconnect with his life and body.

“As a queer and trans person of color,” Alexander says, “to see myself reflected in yoga was very hard to find.”

He thought a yoga studio would be in-

A Studio 34 yoga instructor assists one of his students with Pigeon Pose

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timidating, upscale and “fitnessy,” and, like most people, was nervous at the prospect of trying something new. In 2010, a friend encouraged him to take a yoga class at Studio 34, and he found “a place where you can go and take a deep breath and not have to worry.” More than that, Alexander found inspiration in the power of yoga. He is now an instructor at Studio 34, teaching what he believes is the only queer and trans yoga class in Philadelphia.

“When you see the changes in your physical body, you realize that you have power over your own body, and you can apply that power to other parts of your life. People have unhealthy habits—we’re human, that’s OK—but when you want to shift, yoga can help you do it at your own pace and do it in your own way. Yoga is for lots of different bodies. You can be fat and be healthy,” he says. His advice for all his students is simple: “I’m going to tell you to breathe and to take care of yourself in a way that’s genuine.”

Studio 34 also restored Jacques-Jean “JJ” Tiziou, 39, to mental and physical health by encouraging time for reflection. A professional photographer whose work was used to create the highly visible “How Philly Moves” mural at the Philadelphia Airport, Tiziou recalls how the transition from film to digital changed his working life.

“The darkroom used to provide me time to slow down,” says Tiziou. When digital photography eliminated the need for developing film, his life became an endless pursuit of images. He needed a way to break what had become an exhausting routine.

Before coming to Studio 34, Tiziou considered yoga a competitive activity. His new instructors offered a different, richer experience.

“The emphasis is not on some outward performance of twisting yourself into a pretzel,” he says. His instructors gave options enabling beginners to set their own limits and move at a safe, comfortable pace.

“That ideally should be everyone’s experience with yoga practice,” Tiziou adds. He notes that the healing opportunities at Studio 34 go beyond yoga. “The intentionality of the lounge available for people to have a quiet safe space to sit and have a cup of tea, having acupuncture, massage therapists, wellness rooms for people to use,” he says, all demonstrates that, “a lot of heart equity

h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

Children play with hula hoops at Studio 34’s Sojo Groove Night, a benefit for Camp Sojourner, a girls leadership camp

has gone into that place.”

He’s now an avid Studio 34 member and a believer in spreading the message of wellness and inclusivity. “Yoga is a practice that by definition is—and should be—accessible to anyone who can breathe.”

In a conscious effort to eliminate the perceived exclusivity that often surrounds yoga, mats are free, water is free and the studio does not sell yoga clothes. Prices are inexpensive, membership options are flexible, coveted work exchange positions are sometimes available, and anyone can drop in for a class. Norris laughingly admits that she is “always looking for new ways to give yoga away.”

Circles of support, sweat and laughter On Sundays, the African Dance class is the big draw at Studio 34. Since 2009, it’s been taught by professional dancer and drummer Anssumane Silla. Originally from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Silla offers weekly dance instruction accom-

panied by a cohort of drummers playing traditional African drums such as djembe, dundun and kenkeni. He uses laughter, song, gentle teasing and a relaxed attitude to disarm his students and foster unselfconscious participation. Classes run for 90 minutes, long enough to work up a sweat and practice some moves in small groups.

According to his wife, Nikki Silla, who attends every class with Jeneba, their 2-andhalf-year-old daughter, participants come from across the tri-state area to enjoy the dance workout. “It’s all about having fun,” she says, and the small group size, ranging from six to 23 dancers, allows for a lot of interaction and personal attention.

Much of the programming here revolves around strong community. On the Wednesday before Christmas last year, 12 young women, many with infants, sat comfortably in a loose semicircle of armchairs and loveseats for the studio’s Mother-Baby Breastfeeding Connections sessions, which offer women a safe place for what can be difficult conversations about their lactation experience. Under the kindly direction of Patty

Siegrist, staff nurse with the Birth Center in Bryn Mawr, the Studio 34 meeting room took on the feel of a cozy living room. Frequent laughter, occasional baby squawks and earnest talk characterized the session.

This support group, running since 2009, is open without appointment and accepts donations as payment.

The studio owners believe that healing comes from surrounding yourself with others seeking their own wellness, whether that’s weight loss, playful relaxation or a sense of belonging.

Peniston says the energy people bring to Studio 34 is like having “hundreds and hundreds of workout buddies.” Norris adds that fun is always at the center of Studio 34, since for her and Peniston, it’s their “clubhouse” where they work to keep things light.

Norris and Peniston view their roles not as healers, per se, but as facilitators.

“We don’t heal anyone,” says Norris, “but we hold space for them, where they feel safe enough to do that work. You offer the space and the tools, and then people find that healing for themselves.”

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Family shopping at Clark Park

MIXED GREENS What Philadelphians want at the farmstand changes block by block— and pocketbook to pocketbook by marilyn anthony

F

armer Anita McCann Hepler piled bushels of freshly picked sweet corn on her table at the 4th Street and Lehigh Avenue Food Trust farmers market and watched, puzzled—week after week—as none of the mostly Hispanic shoppers bought a single ear. One day, Hepler peeled back a few corn husks for a Food Trust photo shoot. Suddenly, a young Hispanic woman called out, “Maiz, maiz!” and shoppers descended on the table. They had not recognized that corn was behind the leaves, an insight Hepler found shocking and motivating.

P HOTO BY T Y RO NE T U R NE R

Finding the right farmers with the right products at the right price—and then effectively marketing to shoppers—are ongoing challenges addressed by the Food Trust and Farm to City, organizations that collectively manage 43 farmers markets in the Philly region.

Nicky Uy, the Food Trust’s senior associate for farmers market programs, attributes Philadelphia’s increase in farmers markets to two key factors: The city’s diverse populations all like to eat good food, and federal health programs now support farmers markets as “public health inter-

ventions.” According to Uy, “80 percent of our 28 market locations are in neighborhoods with the highest need [for food access], such as 4th and Lehigh, Strawberry Mansion, Hunting Park and Germantown.” Farm to City, by contrast, tries to place markets in mixed income locations such as Dickinson Square in South Philadelphia’s Pennsport neighborhood.

Uy believes lack of access is the greatest barrier to healthy eating in low-income communities. But product familiarity, affordability and lack of convenience pose significant challenges as well.

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A young shopper picks up fresh asparagus at Headhouse Farmers' Market

“I stopped listening to what food trends The New York Times was predicting and listened instead to our neighborhoods.”

– Deirdre Flemming, operator at Two Gander Farm

Rural farmers can be unfamiliar with the food preferences of diverse urban populations. To convey customers’ requests to growers, market managers can act as translators. Their advice may require simple adjustments for the farmers, like leaving the turnip greens on the turnips, selling pumpkin as a staple vegetable— not just a seasonal pie ingredient—or harvesting okra at “thumb size” for the most culinary appeal.

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meant learning what—and also how—to sell at eight ethnically distinct farmers markets in Philadelphia. African-American shoppers at her 26th Street and Allegheny Avenue market, for instance, asked for products that McCann Farm had never grown: collards, sweet potatoes, okra, kale and squashes. Because Hepler and her sister, Nancy McCann Foy, strive to become part of the communities they sell to, they expanded their vegetable line.

At all their urban markets, Hepler finds that shoppers are often limited by their rudimentary cooking ability. She believes

that teaching very basic cooking skills, such as peeling and cutting, would enable more shoppers to buy raw foods. Unable to use their portable stoves one day, Food Trust educators demonstrated how to peel and slice Hepler’s fresh peaches.

Sales soared, Hepler says, because buyers did not like the peach fuzz or know how to skin a peach.

Stringent food safety regulation, however, undermines the intent of cooking demonstrations at markets. For example, Philadelphia Department of Health regulations prohibit on-site cutting of raw P HOTO BY JAM ES J ENNI NGS

h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

vegetables for inclusion in raw dishes. For a salsa demonstration, canned tomatoes had to be substituted for fresh. The way Hepler sees it, “we’re teaching people to use a can opener” instead of promoting fresh food consumption.

Farmers Trey and Deirdre Flemming operate Two Gander Farm, and grow organic vegetables on 10 acres in the Downingtown area. They sell at two markets managed by Farm to City: one in Bryn Mawr and the other at Philadelphia’s Dickinson Square. The Flemmings base their product line on eight years of farmers market experience and a careful analysis of what is profitable. “I stopped listening to what food trends The New York Times was predicting and listened instead to our neighborhoods,” Deirdre says.

Trey reflects on the disparate food needs of the affluent Bryn Mawr “foodies” and the polyglot shoppers who frequent the Dickinson Square market in the way he retails his organic vegetables: The Main Line shopper looks for pristine appearance and unique flavor profiles, purchasing specialty items such as heirloom tomatoes, fennel and radicchio by the piece. Two Gander’s urban customers are more likely to buy in bulk, looking for half bushels of sauce tomatoes or bunching greens such as kale, and quarts of broccoli.

Up to 25 percent of Two Gander’s sales at the Dickinson market are from Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) vouchers. Hepler says that most days she takes in as little as $30 in cash at her Food Trust markets. All the rest of her “considerable” sales are through subsidies, including assistance programs such as Philly Food Bucks and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Funded through the Federal Farm Bill, FMNP provided $19 million worth of coupons in 2014 to low-income seniors and eligible women with infants and children.

FMNP coupons can only be exchanged for fresh foods at farmers markets. This may sound like a considerable amount of money, but it’s barely a trickle. The federal FMNP program allows “for a household or individual... no more than $50 per each farmers market calendar year.” The Flemmings and Hepler cite customers who save up their season’s worth of FMNP coupons just to purchase vegetables for Thanksgiving.

PHOTO BY A L B ERT Y EE

Peppers at Headhouse Farmers' Market

Federal programs exclude the purchase of any processed foods. Hepler knows her customers would buy more vegetables if they were lightly processed—such as cut collards or peeled and cubed butternut squash—a convenience trend already established in mainstream grocery stores, but denied to FMNP and SNAP shoppers.

Despite the challenges and the significant time and labor involved in farmers markets, the Flemmings and Hepler value their urban customers.

“We farm because we want to be stewards of the land and do something good for the local economy,” Trey Flemming explains. “We also want to see that our organic food is getting to people that need and appreciate it. That includes Bryn Mawr

customers and our Dickinson Square customers, too.”

Hepler, whose family has farmed since 1951, says, “On the farm, you don't see where the need is until you’re there in the city and you see the people who are going to buy it and eat it. It makes a huge difference in your heart. You kind of love what you do again when you see what people need.”

For more information about nutrition assistance or local farmers markets please visit the Food Trust at www.thefoodtrust.org

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THERE’S MORE THAN JUST A CREEK RUNNING THROUGH HERE.

There are over 50 miles of trails criss-crossing the 1800-acre Wissahickon Valley Park. From the flat, gravel-covered terrain of Forbidden Drive to the rugged, winding upper trails, it’s no wonder it’s one of the best places to run in Philadelphia.

You love running here and so does our creek.

Let’s be friends.

fow.org

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h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

SIX PACK 5

The six best places to run in Philadelphia by seth weiss

4

P

hiladelphia is a great running city, with many easily accessible paths waiting to be explored. The Philly Runners group, established in March 2002, can help you plan your run, give you safety tips and identify others who want to get outside year-round. Philly Runners organizes three weekly outings, and all fitness levels are welcome. (Runners meet on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.) Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned strider, get the lowdown at phillyrunners.org

3

1

6

2

Here are some of their recommended routes to help you reach that runner’s high:

1.

The most popular running route in the city is the 8.5 mile loop formed by MLK and Kelly drives with the Philadelphia Museum of Art on one end and Falls Bridge on the other.

2.

The Schuylkill Banks Trail, which feeds into the loop above, can be accessed from all bridges from South Street to JFK Boulevard. There are also grade level crossings at Locust and Race streets.

3.

The Schuylkill Towpath can be accessed from Lock Street in Manayunk, just off of Main Street. The trail heads west to Valley Forge and beyond, and now connects to a bridge that leads to Bala Cynwyd, which can be accessed from the corner of High and DuPont streets.

4.

For runners in Northwest Philly, Forbidden Drive, a relatively easy trail, can be accessed from Lincoln Drive, Northwestern Avenue and points in between. For serious trail runners who want lots of rocks, mud

and hills, there are trails that run along the ridges above Forbidden Drive.

5.

Pennypack Park runs west to east in Northeast Philly. One good place to access the park is from the parking lot at Pine Road, at the western end of the park, near where Pine crosses Pennypack Creek.

There is a paved path that runs the length of the park alongside the creek, and other

trails that come off this path.

6.

For runners on the eastern side of the city, the Ben Franklin Bridge offers a nice hilly run that also provides great views of the city and the Delaware River.

Seth Weiss is the leader of Philly Runners, an all-weather, year-round running club that is open to everyone.

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h e a lt h & w e l l n e s s

GAME ON The city is your playground by william beisley

I

t’s 8:30 p.m. and you’re walking home from dinner. You’re approaching a baseball field and, from a distance, you assume it’s a little league exhibition.

As you get closer, however, you notice the first baseman has a beard, and the player on deck holds a thinly veiled beer can in their hand. “What on earth are these kids doing?” you think to yourself. Then it sets in: They’re adults playing kickball.

There is a wide variety of intramural

sports leagues in our city. Some leagues cater to the casual crowds, while other leagues are for born competitors. There are small do-it-yourself organizations that host only a few teams for one specific sport, while there are also larger clubs that host an array of activities, indoor and outdoor, for multiple skill levels. Here’s Grid’s list of 12 clubs, leagues and groups to get your fitness on while still having fun.

The Philadelphia Bicycle Club

Philadelphia Sports Network

Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League

philadelphiasportsnetwork.com

phillyflagfootball.com

Indoor and outdoor seasons of basketball, bowling, broomball, cornhole, dodgeball, field hockey, flag football, floor hockey, kickball, soccer, softball, tennis, Ultimate and volleyball.

A league dedicated to flag football for the LGBTQ community and straight ally players.

phillybikeclub.org

Bicycle rides for cyclists of all skill levels. $15 per year; $10 per year for students

Philly Runners phillyrunners.org

Group runs at all skill levels, all year round. (See Page 49 for more details and favorite routes.)

Free

Philly Kickball phillykickball.net

Full seasons and tournaments of kickball for adults.

Various prices

ZogSports

Year-round indoor and outdoor Ultimate. $55 per player

Various prices

Out Philly Athletic League www.opalsports.org

Manayunk Sport and Social

Philly Sport & Social

Football, softball, volleyball, kickball, dodgeball, darts, soccer, floor hockey, ultimate bocce, baggo, lacrosse, roller hockey, shufflebowl, Ultimate and wiffleball.

Various prices

www.pada.org

Indoor and outdoor basketball, dodgeball, kickball, soccer, softball and volleyball.

manayunksportandsocial.com

Full seasons and tournaments of basketball, football, cornhole, kickball, dodgeball, soccer, floor hockey, softball and volleyball.

Philadelphia Area Disc Alliance

zogsports.com

$25 per player

playphillysports.com

Various prices

Various prices

Casa Soccer League phillysoccer.org

Indoor and outdoor soccer.

Various prices

Basketball, bowling, dodgeball, football, running, softball, soccer, tennis and wrestling for LGBTQ participants.

Various prices

PEP Bowl pepbowl.com

A handicap-scored bowling league. Proceeds from league and non-league bowling go to Programs Employing People (PEP), a nonprofit that provides vocational and education opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities. $14 per game

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HOM E STEAD ACT S

MEND YOUR WAYS A needle and thread are simple tools with big impacts by anna herman

B

uttons pop off. Sweaters snag.

Jeans wear out. So, unless tattered clothes are your fashion preference, resolve to get to know a needle and thread.

(Way) back when I was in junior high school, one was required to take sewing, home-ec and shop classes. At the time, it seemed pointless to select and follow sewing patterns or turn wood blocks into cutting boards—things we could buy so easily. Looking back, those might have been the most practical classes I ever took.

One or two stitches are all you need for most repairs—easily learned via an online or in-person show-and-tell. A sewing kit with several needles, a few buttons, safety pins and various thread colors can be purchased at the hardware store, most bigbox department stores and every pharmacy chain for $5 to $10. Many of us benefit from a good pair of reading glasses when threading a needle, and I highly recommend the little wire needle-threading tool that is always included in even the most basic sewing kit.

The trick with most clothing repairs is to work on the inside of the garment so the repair is hidden. Pin the hole or rip carefully, and then view it from the outside and make your adjustments before you start stitching. If the rip is too large or wide to join together, a patch of some sort can be purchased or made.

I keep sections of favorite clothes of varied weights and colors that are well beyond repair to use for patching. I took two pairs of jeans so well worn that my thighs felt a breeze and turned them into one well-patched and perfectly broken-in pair, with patches to spare.

Buttons are simple to replace—just line up the new button on the old spot. The little buttonholes are your guide to affix the button to the cloth. Go back and forth

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through the holes six to 10 times, alternating and crisscrossing if there are four holes, until the button seems tight. In the space between the button and the cloth, wrap thread to reinforce the shank (the little loop on the button) before the final few stitches. Tie off a knot, trim extra thread, and you are done.

Clothing companies even provide extra buttons with new garments because they know you’ll need them. Stash these random buttons in a jar in your sock drawer until needed. If you don’t have a perfect match for color, match the button for size because it needs to fit with the existing buttonhole.

Holes in sweaters can be sewn or darned with thread or, better yet, darning yarn. For a sweater with many moth holes, consider using contrasting multicolored yarns to create a new patchwork look, while retaining the coziness that only a favorite sweater can offer.

If you’ve got a stack of clothes needing repair, make an evening of the task. Handwork lends itself to socializing with family or friends—you will have to look regularly at what you are doing, but there isn’t much concentration required.

Just starting? There is surely someone in your family or on your block to show and tell. Don’t ask your parents to sew on your button—honor their knowledge by giving them a chance to share it. Lacking a personal mentor? The internet is rife with advice and how-to pictorials.

The adage about a stitch in time is apt.

That small gap in the seam of your pants will just get wider the next time you bend over. You can only sew on the button that popped off if you can still find it when you are ready to do so.

Your local dry cleaner can surely do these tasks for you—but consider mending your ways and trying to do it yourself.

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The Art of Fermentation S T U D I O S 1314 S. 47th St., Philadelphia, PA 19143 215-755-4556 1447 N. American St., Philadelphia, PA 19122 215-596-5408 info@phillyhomebrew.com Monday - Friday 11am-7pm Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm

WWW.PHILLYHOMEBREW.COM

NEW WEST PHILLY LOCATION!

o t n r Lesaew!

Sewing classes for adults and kids.

Bright, modern, fully equipped sewing studio available by the hour.

Sewing.

D esi gn .

Classes for all levels starting March 5th made-phila.com 855-MADEPHL old city / Philadelphia

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fabric boutique & sewing studio 7224 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, PA (215) 247-1440 www.handcraftworkshop.com /HandcraftWorkshop

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Dr. Elkins’ Beef B R F, C, P 30 years of experience in producing locally grown, 100% grass-fed beef from our Chester County Pastures No artificial growth stimulants, hormones or antibiotics www.buckrunfarm.com • 610.486.0789 or 610.384.6576

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Values-driven baked goods Biked fresh to your door fikirabakery.com 267-304-3855

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1429 Wolf St Phila

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Connect to Your Food.

Connect to the Co-op.

When you shop at Weavers Way, more of your money stays local, through our partnerships and our very own farms. For 40 years, we’ve been owned by our members, the people who shop here every day.

Chestnut Hill

Food Market 8424 Germantown Ave.

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Next Door

Wellness & Beauty 8426 Germantown Ave.

F EB RUA RY 20 1 6

Mt. Airy

Food Market 559 Carpenter Lane

Across the Way

Wellness & Pet Supplies 610 Carpenter Lane

Community-owned, open to everyone.

www.weaversway.coop/connect

MAR KET WATCH

PARSNIPS AND CARROTS Get to the root of the season

T

hese earthy-sweet cousins have a lot in common: They both belong to the Umbelliferae (or Apiaceae) family of plants—along with parsley, fennel, celery, cumin, coriander and dill—which are characterized by feathery leaves and umbrella-shaped clusters of flowers. They both grow wild in Europe and West Asia, and they were both used for centuries as aromatic flavorings before being cultivated to produce larger, edible roots. In fact, according to the Oxford Companion to Food, ancient writers did not distinguish between carrots and parsnips at all, using the same Latin word pastinaca for both.

Though parsnips and carrots are considered fall vegetables, light frost actually intensifies their sugar content. That’s why many farmers store them in the ground after the growing season has ended and bring them to market throughout the winter, when fresh, locally grown vegetables are hard to find.

In terms of nutrition, parsnips and carrots are rich in dietary fiber, antioxidants, potassium, manganese, B vitamins, and vitamins K, C and E. Carrots get the prize for immune-system-boosting beta-carotene (they’re the nutrient’s namesake, after all) and more than 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A. Parsnips contain high levels of folate, which aids in heart health and helps boost metabolism.

While all common parsnip varieties are icicle-shaped with thin outer skins and creamy, off-white flesh, carrots come in a rainbow of colors, including white, yellow, orange, red, magenta and purple.

Choose parsnips and carrots that are firm with no obvious blemishes or hairy rootlets. If you buy them with their tops still intact, clip off the greens before refrigerating and use them in pesto, or sprinkle them over salads and other dishes in place of fresh herbs. (If the greens are not detached, they will suck the moisture out of the roots over time.) The parsnip and

by peggy paul casella

carrot roots will keep in a loosely closed plastic bag in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer for about two weeks.

USES: Roast them, add them to soups and stews, slice them for gratins and other casseroles. Cut them into sticks to

make oven fries. Shred them for quickbreads, cakes, muffins and other baked goods. Shave, shred or chop them into raw salads and slaws. Pickle them. Boil and mash or purée them as an alternative to mashed potatoes.

Carrot and Parsnip Oven Fries Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients yy 1 pound medium carrots, scrubbed, peeled and cut into 3 x ½-inch fries yy 1 pound medium parsnips, scrubbed and cut into 3 x ½-inch fries (peeling is optional) yy 2 garlic cloves, minced yy 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil yy 2 teaspoons smoked paprika yy Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper yy 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions 1.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

2.

In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, parsnips, garlic and oil. Sprinkle the paprika over top and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss well, then spread the mixture out in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.

3.

Roast the fries for 10 minutes, then flip the fries and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are tender and caramelized.

4.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Then toss the fries with the parsley and serve hot.

Peggy Paul Casella is a cookbook editor, writer, urban vegetable gardener, produce peddler and author of the blog Thursday Night Pizza.

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EVENT S

F ebruary 6 Handmade Paper Valentines Reuse newspaper and craft paper to blend your own paper pulp at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve. Then mold the pulp into fun Valentine’s Day-inspired shapes.

Supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring your own colorful scraps to repurpose. bhwp.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon COST: Members prices are $6 for adults and $4 for children; non-member prices are $10 for adults and $8 for children.

WHERE: 1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa

Composting for Healthy Soil Learn how to transform your kitchen waste and plant debris into living black gold for your garden. Primex Garden Center’s Dennis Reil will discuss the ins and outs of backyard composting. Registration required

by Feb. 4. primexgardencenter.com WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m. COST: $10 WHERE: 435 W. Glenside Ave., Glenside, Pa

Wagner’s Winter Wonderland Celebrate winter at the Wagner Free Institute with themed family activities and arts and crafts. Partner Tree House Books will give a special story presentation at 1 p.m. and again at 2:30 p.m. Activities are geared toward children ages 6 to 12 and their families, but their museum will be open to visitors of all ages during the afternoon. wagnerfreeinstitute.org WHEN: Noon to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1700 W. Montgomery Ave.

Materials Science & Engineering Day at Drexel University Science enthusiasts of all ages can learn about the science of “stuff” at the sixth annual Philly Materials Science & Engineering Day. Activities include high-speed ice cream making with liquid nitrogen, robotics demonstrations and “walking on liquid” in a pool of oobleck. phillymaterials.org WHEN: 1 to 5 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 3126 Market St.

Winter Birdseed Sale Choose from various sizes and types of birdseed at the annual Winter Birdseed Sale of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Members receive 20 percent off and non-members receive 10 percent off regular store birdseed prices. schuylkillcenter.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 8480 Hagy's Mill Rd.

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Your Small-Space Garden

Green Cleaning Supply Workshop

Even the smallest patches of soil can produce vegetables, a beautiful floral display or both. Assess your site for potential, then learn how container gardening, vertical gardening and specific plants can be deployed in small spaces in the first session of a two-class workshop instructed by Kathy Salisbury at the Barnes Foundation.

Join United by Blue for a class that teaches you how to make your own safe and eco-friendly cleaning products at home.

Participants will learn about the dangers of conventional cleaning products. All who participate will create non-toxic cleaners to take home. unitedbyblue.com

barnesfoundation.org

WHEN: 3 to 4:30 p.m. COST: $10 WHERE: 144 N. 2nd St.

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. COST: $67 for members; $75 for non-members.

WHERE: 2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.

Beck’s King Cake Party

Chinese New Year at the Reading Terminal Market The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation is partnering with the Reading Terminal Market in a celebration to kick off the “Year of the Monkey.” Buildings will be adorned with festive decorations, food vendors will be present and there will be activities available for the whole family. There will also be demonstrations by Joseph Poon, Sang Kee and Tea Leaf, and a performance of the Lion Dance by the Philadelphia Suns. chinatown-pcdc.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 51 N. 12th St.

F ebruary 7 Winter Lecture: Increasing Biodiversity in the Home Landscape Dr. Mary Myers transformed her property by removing lawn, adding rain gardens, and planting native plants to create beauty and increase biodiversity. Her garden was featured in The New York Times in 2014. Join her for a lecture on increasing the biodiversity of your home landscape. bhwp.org WHEN: 2 to 3 p.m. COST: $8 for members; $12 for non-members.

WHERE: Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, 1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa

WinterFest The Briar Bush Nature Center will host a winter activity day featuring crafts, games, animal programs and other free outdoor fun. briarbush.org WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1212 Edge Hill Rd., Abington, Pa

Mardi Gras comes early this year with a free N'awlins brunch at Reading Terminal Market prepared by two-time James Beard guest chef Bill Beck of Beck's Cajun Cafe. Attendees can also enter a King Cake decorating contest judged by Philly favorites Tony Luke, Jr., and Marilyn Russell to raise money for the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance. readingterminalmarket.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 51 N. 12th St.

F ebruary 9 Monarchs and Milkweed; Pollinators and Plants The Horticultural Society of South Jersey’s February meeting will feature a presentation

by Keara R. Giannotti, educator at Camp Creek Run Nature Preserve. She’ll discuss the various types of milkweed needed by monarch butterflies to survive, the nectar plants they prefer, and a review of other pollinators and their plant needs. hssj.org WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Carman Tilelli Community Center, 820 Mercer St., Cherry Hill, N.J.

‘Just Eat It’ The Pennypack Farm & Education Center’s Sustainability Film Series presents “Just Eat It,” a film that dives into the issue of food waste from farm to retail to your fridge. Visit the Sustainability Expo in the lobby before the film. Stay for a panel discussion immediately after. amblertheater.org/pennypack WHEN: 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. COST: $10 per film; $24 for the three-film monthly series WHERE: Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, Pa

EVENT S

Career Wardrobe Mainline Clothing Drive Every second Tuesday of the month, stop

by Athertyn at Haverford Reserve to donate your new and gently used clothing and accessories. All styles, including menswear, will be accepted year-round. Ensure that items are clean, on hangers or folded neatly in paper shopping bags. careerwardrobe.org WHEN: 5 to 6:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Athertyn at Haverford Reserve, 7700 Parkview Dr., Haverford, Pa

F ebruary 10 Green Garden Cents The Homeowner Series will be presented

by Rutgers Master Gardeners of Camden County. In this first session, learn how to save money sensibly in your garden. The presentation will include a talk given by Becki Szkotak, program coordinator of the Master Gardeners program. Pre-registration suggested. camden.njaes.rutgers.edu/garden WHEN: 7 to 8 p.m. COST: $10 per household WHERE: Camden County Parks Environmental Center, 1301 Park Blvd., Cherry Hill, N.J.

Career Wardrobe East Falls Clothing Drive Stop by Falls Presbyterian Church to donate your new and gently used clothing and accessories. Volunteers will be on hand to assist. Ensure that items are clean, ready to wear, and on hangers or folded neatly in paper shopping bags. No plastic trash bags. careerwardrobe.org WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Falls Presbyterian Church, 3800 Vaux St.

Home-Schooler Days: The Anatomy of Sound Bartram’s Garden will serve home-schooled students with this informative session on sound and answer questions such as: How can a small bird make such a big sound?

How does lightning make thunder? How do ears work? Lessons are appropriate for children ages 5 to 13. bartramsgarden.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m. COST: Free for members; $12 for non-members.

WHERE: 5400 Lindbergh Blvd.

F ebruary 11 Handcrafted Chocolate Tasting Satisfy your sweet tooth and sample a variety of handmade, locally sourced chocolates served on handmade ceramic plates from the Clay Studio’s shop. Kym Silvasy-Neale of the Chocolate Clinic will host the event.

Learn about the craft of chocolate making while pairing each chocolate with craft beer samplings. theclaystudio.org WHEN: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. COST: $30 for members; $35 for non-members.

WHERE: 137-139 N. 2nd St.

The Art of Gardening at Chanticleer Join the Delaware Center for Horticulture for a lecture on the creative gardening exhibited in every corner of Chanticleer’s celebrated grounds. thedch.org WHEN: 7 to 8 p.m. COST: $10 for members; $15 for non-members.

WHERE: 1810 N. Dupont St., Wilmington, De

F ebruary 13 Berries, Brambles & Grapes Anne Myers comes to us with years of experience on her family farm. Learn how to maintain your small fruit orchard including advice on planting, pruning, and pest and disease control. Registration required. primexgardencenter.com WHEN: 10 to 11 a.m. COST: $10 WHERE: 435 West Glenside Ave., Glenside, Pa

I Heart Winter Birds Photo Hike Hike the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in search of picturesque scenery and feathered inhabitants as you learn tips and tricks for capturing the perfect shot. Pointand-shoot digital cameras and tripods will be available to borrow. bhwp.org WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m. COST: $15 for members; $20 for non-members.

WHERE: 1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa

Trek 4: A Divine Saunter at Peace Palace Mission Mother Divine leads a peaceful stroll across the rolling hills surrounding Woodmont, the home of Peace Palace Mission, the 1892 mansion of steel magnate Alan Wood, Jr. The building is a certified National Landmark and member of Lower Merion Conservancy’s Architectural Hall of Fame. Claimed as the highest spot in the county, this historic property provides participants with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. lmconservancy.org/ WHEN: 10 a.m. COST: Free WHERE: Peace Palace Mission, 1622 Spring Mill Rd., Gladwyne, Pa

Kitchen Science: Grocery Shopper Challenge The Franklin Institute continues its Kitchen Science program with an informative lesson on food types, balanced eating and why you can’t just have ice cream for dinner. fi.edu WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. COST: Free with admission.

WHERE: 271 N. 21st. St.

Wine and Chocolate Pairings at Penns Woods Winery February is the month of wine, chocolate, romance and fun at Penns Woods Winery.

Look for new pairings of wine and chocolate, including the creations from Tradestone Confections, Taste Artisanal Market and Waffatopia. Reservations required. pennswoodsevents.com WHEN: 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. COST: $25 WHERE: 124 Beaver Valley Rd., Chadds Ford, Pa

F ebruary 14 Blue Cross RiverRink Sweetheart Skate Sweetheart Skates at Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest feature a romantic setting to share with that special someone. Admission includes chocolates, flowers, a photo booth and a DJ taking your special requests. delawareriverwaterfront.com WHEN: 5 to 10:30 p.m. COST: $25 WHERE: 101 S. Columbus Blvd.

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EVENT S

The Philadelphia Suns Lion Dance Parade

GMO Free NJ presents the Pulse of the Future

Chinese New Year festivities continue throughout Chinatown with fireworks, martial arts performances and the Lion Dance, performed by the Philadelphia Suns.

2016 has been designated the Year of the Pulse by the UN General Assembly. Celebrate with GMO Free NJ by learning why eating lentils, beans and seeds can improve your health and the environment.

chinatown-pcdc.org WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Events start at 10th and Spring St.

gmofreenj.com/events

F ebruary 15

Big Ideas: Invention, Environment and You

Vaccines: To Mandate or Not?

There are some concepts that demand a good drink, so join the Schuylkill Center at Bourbon & Branch in Northern Liberties to quench your thirst and spark your curiosity.

Leading thinkers in science and the humanities will discuss big ideas all evening, asking questions such as, “What inventions were worth their cost to the environment?”

The Franklin Institute Speaker Series presents several voices to discuss the cultural shifts that have given rise to the “anti-vaxx” movement and its ramifications, including the possibility of lower immunization rates. fi.edu WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 271 N. 21 St.

F ebruary 17 Native Evergreens at Mt. Cuba Center Learn the identifying characteristics, classification and habitats of approximately 20 native conifers and broad-leaved evergreens.

Gain a working knowledge of the best species to incorporate into your own ecologically diverse landscape. First of a two-session course. The second session meets on Feb. 24. mtcubacenter.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. COST: $75 WHERE: 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Hockessin, De

F ebruary 18 When Bugs Outsmart Drugs: The Effects of America’s Antibiotic Obsession Bacteria are everywhere. While most are helpful, hype about a few disease-causing bacteria has fueled mass “germophobia,” leading us to overuse antibacterial disinfectants to the point that some are failing. Hear Temple University chemistry professor Bill Wuest discuss the future of microbiological and biochemical approaches to fighting bacteria. wagnerfreeinstitute.org

WHEN: 6:30 to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 771 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, N.J.

schuylkillcenter.org WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. COST: $10 WHERE: Bourbon & Branch, 705 N. 2nd St.

F ebruary 19

Trek 5: Hike the Rolling Hills Join Lower Merion Conservancy staff on a hike back in time. Discover the mills, mansions and farms that once existed in this 103-acre township park. Moderately steep trails will lead hikers downhill on an old ghost road to a creekside path beside towering stone ruins. There, the staff will discuss how we can connect our community’s waterways to over 250 years of human and natural history on the Main Line. Registration required. lmconservancy.org WHEN: 10 a.m. COST: Free WHERE: Rolling Hill Park, 1301 Rose Glen Rd., Gladwyne, Pa

Beekeeping Class Don Shump, president of the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild and owner of the Philadelphia Bee Co., will be on hand to share his years of experience as an apiarist in Philadelphia. He will walk you through a beekeeper’s typical first year so you know what to expect, and he will tell you what local resources are available to help you succeed. awbury.org WHEN: Noon to 2 p.m. COST: $35 WHERE: Cope House at Awbury Arboretum, 1 Awbury Rd.

Winter Nature Play Day Ward Lecture with Gretchen McClain Business and thought leader Gretchen McClain will speak on “The Doors Technology Can Open” as Villanova Engineering’s 2016 ward lecturer. McClain’s 25 years of global experience include serving as founding CEO of an S&P 500 global water technology company and as NASA’s chief director of the International Space Station. villanova.edu WHEN: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Villanova Room, Connelly Center, Villanova University, 800 E. Lancaster Ave., Villanova, Pa

F ebruary 20 Intensive Vegetable Planting Break out of gardening in rows and learn how to maximize your garden space for increased vegetable yields. Sally McCabe of The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will teach you vertical, interplanting and succession planting techniques for continuous production. primexgardencenter.com

Drop in for an afternoon of play in nature.

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve’s Visitor Center will be filled with thematic self-guided activities, art projects and guided hikes. bhwp.org WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. COST: Free for members; $3 for non-members.

WHERE: 1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa

Family Terrariums: Miniature Worlds Bring your smallest found objects and props to design your own live, miniature moment.

Plant materials, jars and direction provided.

Just bring your imagination and any fun props you come across to create an unforgettable miniature garden under glass. Open to adults and children ages 5 and over with caregiver. mainlineart.org WHEN: 10 to 11 a.m. COST: $36 to $39 WHERE: 746 Panmure Rd., Haverford, Pa

WHEN: Noon to 1 p.m. COST: $10 WHERE: 435 W. Glenside Ave., Glenside Pa

WHEN: 6 to 7:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1700 W. Montgomery Ave.

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EVENT S

Marvels of Migration Discover the world of bird migration with naturalist and author Scott Weidensaul.

Learn how scientists study migration and the many conservation issues facing declining populations of migratory birds.

Explore simple, effective ways we can help sustain migrants, starting with planting gardens that support their seasonal travels. mtcubacenter.org WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m. COST: $30 WHERE: 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Hockessin De

Mushroom Crochet Workshop Learn how to make your own fiber fungus creations in this hands-on workshop. “The Foragers” gallery artist Melissa Maddonni Haims will guide you through an exploration of crochet-in-the-round and hyperbolic crochet, resulting in your own mimicked yarn mushroom that you can take home. schuylkillcenter.org WHEN: 2 to 4 p.m. COST: $20 WHERE: 8480 Hagy's Mill Rd.

Winter Witch Hazel Tours at Morris Arboretum Knowledgeable guides will lead visitors on tours throughout the garden, searching for witch hazel bushes. Discover more than 70 varieties of these colorful and fragrant harbingers of spring, ranging in color from yellow and orange to pink and red. morrisarboretum.org WHEN: 2 to 3 p.m. COST: Free with admission WHERE: 100 E. Northwestern Ave., Flourtown, Pa

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F ebruary 23 CultureWorks Monthly Happy Hour Join CultureWorks for their monthly meet, greet and eat. CultureWorks members and Philly’s community of arts/heritage/cultural folks join forces each month for a fun, relaxing evening. Local brews and snacks provided. cultureworksphila.org

riverbendeec.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon COST: Free WHERE: 1950 Spring Mill Rd., Gladwyne, Pa

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WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. COST: $60 WHERE: 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Hockessin, De

Sip & Dine for Awbury

Partners in Public Greening: The Many Benefits of Public Landscapes

Show support for the Awbury Arboretum by joining them at Earth Bread + Brewery where a portion of the sales will be donated to the 55-acre, free arboretum. awbury.org

Delaware Center for Horticulture instructors Vikram Krishnamurthy and Martha Stephens host a workshop on the many ways to get involved in creating beautiful and sustainable public spaces. dehort.org WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1810 N. Dupont St., Wilmington, De

F ebruary 24 Cultivars, Roadside Restorations and More “Do cultivars of native plants provide the same ecological services as straight species?” and “Are roadside restorations helpful or are they ecological traps?” Doug Tallamy has recently researched both questions and will share the results, as well as other insights on the movement to restore the ecological integrity of human-dominated landscapes. mtcubacenter.org WHEN: 6 to 7:30 p.m. COST: $30 WHERE: 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Hockessin, De

F ebruary 25 Chinese Auction South Jersey Organic Gardeners' Club will hold its annual Chinese Auction at its regular monthly meeting. Please bring new or gently used items to donate, especially if they are of a gardening nature. This is the club’s fundraising activity for the year. Find them on Facebook at South Jersey Organic Gardeners’ Club.

WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Barrington, N.J., Senior Center, 109 Shreve Ave., Barrington, N.J.

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In this hands-on workshop, learn basic pruning principles including how to make proper cuts, the best times of year to prune different species, and how to select and maintain tools. Gain the ability to shape and form your plantings in a more naturalistic and appealing way. mtcubacenter.org

WHEN: 5 to 7 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1315 Walnut St., Ste. 320

Goodness Gracious Gravity Gravity is an amazing force that affects us all the time; it keeps us on the ground and creates waves and even wind. Join the Riverbend Environmental Education Center for a family friendly evening of gravity-defying experiments and demonstrations, including the exciting egg drop experiment. Teamwork will be key as you work together to create, problem-solve and test your theories.

Fundamentals of Pruning

WHEN: 6 to 9 p.m. COST: Pay as you go WHERE: 7136 Germantown Ave.

30th Anniversary Energy Coordinating Agency Gala The Energy Coordinating Agency is celebrating 30 years of stabilizing families and communities by helping Philadelphians with low incomes save energy. Join them for an evening of food and music. ecasavesenergy.org WHEN: 5:30 to 8 p.m. COST: $100 WHERE: Drinker Biddle & Reath, 1 Logan Sq. #2000

F ebruary 27 Repotting and Basic Care for Houseplants Learn the basic techniques for proper transplanting of your houseplants. The Primex Garden Center will demonstrate the proper ways to move your plants from one container to another, including picking which pot size to use and what kinds of fertilizer will promote healthy growth. primexgardencenter.com WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m. COST: $10 WHERE: 435 W. Glenside Ave., Glenside, Pa

Winter Wonders: Winter Birds Meet Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve’s resident feathered friends and then make a tasty treat to take home for your own backyard birds. Program includes a story, an outdoor walk, and crafts appropriate for children ages 3 to 8. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Register by Feb. 25. bhwp.org WHEN: 10 to 11:15 a.m. COST: Free for members; $7 for one child with adult and $3 for each additional child.

WHERE: 1635 River Rd., New Hope, Pa

EVENT S

Build Your Own Cold Frame Workshop Winter got you down? Defrost those cold thoughts by planning for spring greening.

Get your garden off to an early start with this cold frame workshop produced in collaboration with Penn State farmers and educators. Participants will leave with a completed cold frame. schuylkillcenter.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon COST: $45 WHERE: 8480 Hagy's Mill Rd.

Maple Sugar Day on Forbidden Drive Wissahickon Environmental Center will present a day of demonstrations and activities that celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of maple syrup season.

Participants will help tap the trees, collect the sap, and see how it is cooked into syrup and candy. Taste pure maple syrup over pancakes. Pennsylvania syrup and candy will be for sale. fow.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 200 W. Northwestern Ave.

Pancake Breakfast and Maple Sugaring Celebration Walk through Tyler Arboretum’s maple sugaring stations to explore how maple sap gets turned into syrup. Then, chow down with their all-you-can-eat pancake and sausage breakfast. tylerarboretum.org WHEN: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: $12 for adults; $8 for children.

WHERE: 515 Painter Rd., Media, Pa

F ebruary 28 Maple Sugaring Festival Learn how maple syrup and sugar are made in this family friendly winter event. Guides take small groups through the woods to see the tapped trees, watch it get boiled into sugar, and then enjoy hot cocoa and treats.

Birding & Bagels at the Bend Join Riverbend and the Valley Forge Audubon Society for this birding 101 class and catch birding fever. Learn tips and tricks to finding and identifying our local winter birds. Enjoy bagels, muffins and socializing before and after birding. riverbendeec.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1950 Spring Mill Rd., Gladwyne, Pa

wvwa.org/maplesugar WHEN: Noon to 3 p.m. COST: For members, $5 for adults and $3 for children; for non-members, $10 for adults and $5 for children WHERE: 12 Morris Rd., Ambler, Pa

M arch 5 Annual Sapsucker Festival Explore the world of maple sugar on the historic Mill Grove grounds. Tree tapping demonstrations, sample stations, live owl presentations, and kids games and crafts will take place throughout the day. Learn how birds such as the yellow-bellied sapsucker rely on Pennsylvania’s forests for food sources, including sap.

Exploring Cold Mountain: Behind the Scenes of William Bartram’s Travels The hero of Charles Frazier’s “Cold Mountain” relies on a tattered copy of “Bartram’s Travels” during his arduous trek through war-torn Appalachia. Dig into a fresh perspective on the adventure by exploring the real stories behind “Travels.” William Bartram’s influential and idiosyncratic travel memoir was a bestseller in the 18th century, not only for its vivid descriptions of Cherokee country, but also for its more colorful claims (fire-breathing alligators, anyone?).

Refreshments provided. bartramsgarden.org WHEN: 2:30 to 4 p.m. COST: Free for members; $15 for non-members.

WHERE: 5400 Lindbergh Blvd.

johnjames.audubon.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 1201 Pawlings Rd., Audubon, Pa

Paleopalooza Every year, the Academy of Natural Sciences celebrates all things prehistoric during Paleopalooza, a two-day festival of fossils.

They offer new and exciting activities each year, along with ongoing attractions and exhibits. ansp.org WHEN: March 5 and 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

COST: $14.95 to $18.95 WHERE: 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.

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DIS PATCH

PEOPLE LIKE ME A young girl steps onto a tennis court, and finds out who she really is by miyah davis

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f I hadn’t walked onto a tennis court five years ago when I was 10 years old, Lord only knows what I’d be doing.

Who knows who I would be.

I am 15 now. I have a lot of childhood friends who are doing great—and I have a lot who aren’t doing so well. There are some who are expecting children, some with children, some in prison, and even some who are dead. I may have been in the same situations. Not that having children is a bad thing; I just feel that it would be too much responsibility for a 15- or 16-year-old to handle.

Where I’m from in West Philadelphia, playing sports is usual, but it’s only usual if you play a usual sport. Basketball and football are common, but tennis? Tennis was something totally different. When I was first introduced to tennis through Team Up Philly—an organization here in Philadelphia that helps girls like me get involved in sports—my life changed.

When I started the program, I was in the fifth grade. I was shy, overweight and reliant on a diet of junk food—and I wasn’t really open to trying anything new. I think my teacher realized that many of us might

go down the wrong path, and asked Team Up Philly to come work with us. At first, I took the game for a joke. I never believed that it was a real sport. I mean, how hard could it be to hit a ball with a racket?

It turns out it was harder than I thought.

But over the course of the next few years, tennis became my best friend. Every chance I got, I was on the tennis courts.

I also learned that to be healthy I had to exercise and eat nutritiously. Changing what I ate was also extremely hard for me: I didn’t like fruit, I didn’t like vegetables, and I loved junk food. Now, I love fruit and vegetables. I still love junk food, too, but I eat less of it. My tastes have changed, and I transformed my body.

I also transformed my mind. I found out a lot about people, including myself. I learned how to deal with people properly.

I learned that I will not particularly like everyone I come across, but that I have to treat everyone the way that I would like to be treated. I learned how to speak to people as well: I learned how to “switch it up” because you can’t speak to everyone the same.

The way I talk to my friends is completely different from the way I talk to my mother,

or the way I speak to my boss.

I speak to myself differently, too. If before I was shy, now I have confidence— courage, even—to do great and be great.

Through playing tennis, I have been exposed to things that I didn’t even know existed and encouraged to do things that people like me don’t always have the opportunity to do. Being a part of Team Up Philly has opened so many doors. The last five years has been a life-changing experience.

After spending so many years with Team Up Philly, the main thing that I learned was that the choices I make mean everything.

No matter how much someone tells you what’s right and what’s wrong, as a human being, you will always make the choice you want to make.

I choose to play tennis. For me, it’s the right choice. I have a feel of the real world, and I am heading down the right path. I will always be grateful to the sport and to Team Up Philly for helping to make me the person I am today.

Miyah Davis is a student at Central High School in Philadelphia, a junior coach for Team Up Philly and a tennis player.

Each month, Dispatch features personal reflections on adventures in sustainability. Have a story you’d like to share? E-mail getinvolved@gridphilly.com

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