Grid Magazine June 2018 [#109]

PLUS Bikes, bees, and bustling burial grounds

JUNE 2018 / ISSUE 109 / GRIDPHILLY.COM

T O W A R D A S U S TA I N A B L E P H I L A D E L P H I A

Can sustainable eating be convenient, too?

THE NEW

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Local ice cream, the full scoop p. 14 America's Garden Capital roundup p. 28 #SaveStoneleigh A newly opened public park threatened p. 26

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Lighting Things Up Former college roommates unite to innovate emergency lighting Chris Hariz and Utkarsh Shah were roomates for four years at the University of Pennsylvania, and upon graduation, each went to work for tech companies. They began to miss the creative ways in which they collaborated as undergrads, and soon realized it would be more fun to work for themselves—together.

They went looking for problems to solve and, after some market research, discovered a need to innovate how emergency lights are tested within institutional settings.

These emergency units must be checked regularly, which can be a considerable chore in a large facility with hundreds of lights. Typically, it involves someone reaching up with a broomstick to push a button for each unit. “In a country where robots perform surgery, that’s ridiculous,” Chris says.

Utkarsh and Chris had always wanted to work with IoT (Internet of Things) products, but they knew that a Bluetooth system wouldn’t be able to connect to a fleet of devices over a broad range. So, they created a system using LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) as a remote trigger to test emergency lighting, and the University of Pennsylvania agreed to purchase some pilot units once they had been developed.

“However,” Chis says, “we found a gaping hole in our competencies. Utkarsh is a software engineer. I have experience with startups, fundraising and electrical equipment. Neither of us had anything but a cursory education in hardware.”

On a friend’s recommendation, Utkarsh and Chris visited NextFab and applied for its 12-week RAPID Hardware Accelerator program. They were soon developing ideas for their new company, Hexmodal. “We went from some props and a napkin sketch to a completely functioning first version of our product, which we’ll spend the next few weeks assembling and installing,” Chris says. “All in eight weeks.”

They graduated from the RAPID program in May, but they plan to remain members and continue to work and develop their business at NextFab. “Things have been fantastic—when troubleshooting bugs or deciding long-term strategy, having someone at the table next to you with years of experience has helped tremendously accelerate our progress.”

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EDITO R ’S NOT ES

by

alex mulcahy

#SaveStoneleigh, #SaveOurselves

T

h is past weekend, my family and I went to New York City to visit the Museum of Natural History. My wife’s birthday was the reason for the excursion, but in many ways the trip was designed with my son in mind. Like a lot of other kids, he’s a dinosaur enthusiast, so he was very excited to see what is perhaps the museum’s biggest exhibit: the Titanosaurus.

This model of a dinosaur is so big that it fills the whole room, and then its head peeks around the corner into another.

My son’s interest in the natural world has been piqued, too, so exhibits on biodiversity in the (fast disappearing) rainforest and (endangered) giant blue whales, were consumed eagerly and with a sense of awe.

As a parent, especially one who had little interest in faraway lands and the wonders of nature, it’s thrilling to see that connection. It’s also frequently quite depressing.

He’s not quite 6 years old, but he knows things I wish he didn’t. He’s aware that many of the animals he sees in zoos and reads about in National Geographic Kids are under threat, and that human beings are the cause. He inspects the ingredients on snack food for palm oil, because he knows that acres and acres of rainforests have been–and are being–leveled to produce it.

Every day, there’s a little less of the habitats that support the animals he loves so dearly.

I wish he didn’t know these things, but I wish more deeply that they weren’t true.

Surely, there are some unrepentant villains, driven by greed and cruelty, who plunder the Amazon for their personal gain, but I believe the majority of people causing so much damage are just like you and me, and they do it for reasons–sometimes financial, and other times just to eat– that are easy to understand.

Similarly, some parents who live in Lower Merion are driven by the impulse to

deliver the best for their kids. They want spacious schools to develop their kids’ minds, and sports fields for the joy of competitve sports. Who doesn’t want that?

Unfortunately, these well-intentioned people are making plans to build a school and a sports field where there is the newly-opened public garden, Stoneleigh.

Stoneleigh isn’t the Amazon, and, as far as I know, it isn’t home to any endangered mammals, but, wow, those beautiful unpruned trees! Admission to the garden is free, which means anyone who needs a break from the steel and glass of the city has access to a beautiful, natural sanctuary.

Conservation competes with our human wants and needs, and these conflicts must be addressed. However, as our population increases, we need to be resourceful and make do with less. The kneejerk solution of taking undeveloped land doesn’t work anymore. We will, if we continue down the path we are on, destroy the ecosystem of the Amazon and countless little patches like Stoneleigh. The lemurs, the rhinos, the tigers, the gorillas and the historic trees will all be gone, no more alive than the Titanosaurus. Museums will tell the story of nature in the past tense.

Parents of Lower Merion, give your kids the best education you can by prioritizing something beautiful that belongs to everyone. Show them examples of creativity and generosity, of putting others before yourself. It will inspire them, and it will inspire you, too.

publisher Alex Mulcahy editor-in-chief Alex Mulcahy alex@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 102 associate editor Walter Foley copy editor Cara Stefchak art director Michael Wohlberg michael@redflagmedia.com 215.625.9850 ext. 113 writers Bernard Brown Constance Garcia-Barrio Akbar Hossain Alex Jones Emily Kovach Andrea Krupp Randy LoBasso Justin Klugh Paige Wolf photographers Kriston Jae Bethel Andrea Coan Rachael Warriner illustrators James Olstein Jameela Wahlgren advertising Santino Blanco santino@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 112 distribution Alex Yarde alex.yarde@redflagmedia.com 215.625.9850 ext. 106 published by Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.625.9850 G R I D P H I L LY. C O M

ALEX MULCAHY Editor-in-Chief alex@gridphilly.com COV E R P HOTO BY AN D R EA COA N

ACT I O N MOM

by

paige wolf

An Inclusion Revolution

S Mt.Airy South Philly

West Philly South Jersey

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everal years ago, Chinatown resident Anna Perng was grappling with her child’s autism diagnosis.

For friends of hers in similar situations who had language barriers, access to information was even more challenging to find. When people started asking her for help, she became involved with a support group and decided to serve on the Philadelphia Autism Project committee.

“Raising my kids has made me aware of barriers, both physical and programmatic, which are rooted in the historic segregation of disabled people,” Perng says.

She was a member of the Philadelphia Autism Project, which, in 2015, established a continuum of care for families who needed services for their children with disabilities.

At their workshops, they provided families with translated documents and language interpretation. This effort evolved into the Temple University Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Project, which offers families access, opportunities and community support.

This March, Perng helped organize Philadelphia’s first Disability Inclusion Summit.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell, Rebuild Executive Director Nicole Westerman, and other community leaders met with 150 disability rights advocates and residents.

“At the summit, a Chinatown resident who used a wheelchair spoke about how he can’t participate in activities with his 8-year-old son,” Perng says. “No matter our age, our race or our Zip code, we had one message: We need an inclusion revolution.”

Perng continued advocating for the Chinatown community and became aware of Rebuild, the city-led initiative to invest in parks and recreation centers. Her excitement was dimmed when a map of approved sites eligible for the money was published.

“There was a map with this huge spray of dots across the whole city, but Chinatown remained a blank space,” Perng says. Chinatown doesn’t have any parks or recreation centers to improve.

When she saw that local news organization PlanPhilly was asking readers to vote on a Rebuild question they wanted investigated, Perng organized people to “upvote” her question: What can the city do about neighborhoods like Chinatown that didn’t have rec centers at all?

Her question won. Reporter Malcolm Burnley ended up writing a story, interviewing representatives at Rebuild and City Hall, as well as giving voice to Perng and residents. Perng noted that Franklin Square, which is privately run, was the only green space available to residents and hundreds of children who attend Head Start and pre-K count programs.

Perng shared the PlanPhilly article with Councilman Mark Squilla, who represents Chinatown, and asked whether Franklin Square could be considered for Rebuild.

“I pointed out that the historical lack of investment in Chinatown is not anyone’s fault, but we are now in a position to correct this injustice,” Perng says. “We can make a difference for residents and for hundreds of Head Start children from around the city.”

Squilla invited Perng to meet with Rebuild and Franklin Square, and, over the past year, they have worked together to address these issues.

Perng says she credits Lovell and Westerman for not only listening, but taking action on these concerns and planning a follow-up meeting with the community.

“I’d like to see residents and advocates serve on a community advisory board with voting power over the coming years,” Perng says, “to ensure residents aren’t displaced and these benefits aren’t erased in 10 years.”

paige wolf is the author of “Spit That Out!: The Overly Informed Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy Kids in the Age of Environmental Guilt.” Follow @paigewolf on Twitter.

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BI K E TA LK

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randy lobasso

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t was a hot August morning when Suzanne Hagner joined the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia for a ride from the art museum to the airport. They took off behind the museum and onto the Schuylkill River Trail, riding single-file, calling out, “Passing on the left!” as they rode by other cyclists and joggers.

But one jogger, wearing earbuds and apparently not paying attention, didn’t notice the group passing her.

The jogger turned into the cyclists, Hagner hit her, and they both tumbled onto the pavement.

“I knew I was going down and tried to hit the grass,” Hagner recalls. “When I got up, I was shaken up but thought I was okay until one of my friends, who had come back, told me that my hand was twisted sideways from my wrist. I looked at it and knew it was broken.”

The jogger went to the emergency room, but had no major injuries. Three weeks later, Hagner had surgery on her hand, and she now has a permanent plate screwed into her wrist.

That was two years ago.

“Fortunately, it healed well, and I only notice some stiffness if I don’t ride regularly,” she says. “Riding and using my hand definitely helps keep the wrist flexible.”

Hagner’s story is not uncommon. Millions of people use the Schuylkill River Trail every year, and as crowded as it is, incidents occur. Everyone notices it, and some have abandoned the trail altogether.

“It’s been more than a year since I tried riding on the trail,” says Shannon Wink, a content strategist who lives in Fishtown and commutes by bike, train and foot.

“Each and every time it was the same thing: being passed last-minute with zero warning by some guy acting like it’s a race.”

Riding the Schuylkill River Trail, she says, “is more stressful than riding in the

street. I’m afraid of being hit and of hitting someone else while trying to dodge one of these racers.”

As the Schuylkill River Trail has expanded, to South Street in 2014, and to Christian Street this April, it has become increasingly popular.

With that popularity, the 12-foot-wide trail has to accommodate a million users each year, according to Parks and Recreation.

And it’s probably not wide enough for all of us—especially those who use the trail as a training ground for bike racing.

The biggest critics of these fast cyclists and ear-budded joggers: other cyclists and joggers.

“I do feel that some riders, mainly male, ride the trail way too fast,” says Stephanie Ford, the leader of Pedal Posse Divas, a women’s cycling group in the city. “They also expect you to know they are coming up behind you without using the proper trail etiquette.”

The Schuylkill River Development Corporation has noticed the dangerous speeds, lack of attention, and resulting incidents and has begun taking precautions.

Most notably, 5-mile-per-hour speed limit signs adorn the Center City portion of the Schuylkill River Trail, and new security cameras were recently installed. According to Zoe Axelrod, design assistant and outreach coordinator of the Schuylkill River Development Corporation, such cameras could also be used to figure out who is at fault if and when a crash occurs.

“In terms of design measures, the boardwalk deck was scored in order to imitate wooden planks, but also to slow down cyclists,” notes Axelrod. “We use cones to slow down traffic during movie nights and other events… And of course, yelling after cyclists to slow down as they whiz past us is always fun.”

randy lobasso is the communications manager at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

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akbar hossain

A Case for Fair School Funding

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an the legal system improve the quality of public education? A Pennsylvania Supreme Court case gives cause for optimism. But first, let’s review how the system works now.

In the United States, your Zip code determines whether or not you have access to high-quality education. According to an NPR investigative study, a wide disparity in educational outcomes across socioeconomic lines remains the norm.

This disparity is largely due to a national trend of over-reliance on local property taxes to fund schools. State governments provide minimal funding to public schools, leaving individual districts to tax local homeowners to make up the difference.

One problem with this system is that property values vary drastically from one locality to another and so do tax revenues.

Pennsylvania has a higher difference between well-funded schools and poorly funded schools than any other state in the country. Pennsylvania also ranks 47th out of 50 states, according to U.S. census data, in the portion of education spending that is covered by state funds. This scheme is fundamentally unfair to students living in low-income districts.

I attended one of these poorly funded public school districts. Both of my younger siblings and I graduated from the Norristown Area School District. We shared textbooks, did not have access to quality after-school programming and constantly had substitute teachers. Meanwhile, I could walk less than 2 miles, to Methacton and Upper Merion school districts, where my peers in their well-heeled neighborhoods had the best of public education.

It’s been 10 years since I graduated, but not much has changed. A recent presentation at the school board meeting in Norristown confirmed that 71 percent of its funding is local, while only 24 percent is state-fund-

ed and 5 percent comes from the federal government. While the state gives less, it demands more. Pennsylvania requires that districts comply with various mandates like pension costs, special education, counseling and services for homeless youth, which are all severely underfunded across public school districts. On average, states across the country cover 45.2 percent of school funding costs. However, our commonwealth currently covers only 24 percent of NASD’s costs.

Pennsylvania is breaking new grounds with a major state Supreme Court opinion, ordering the Commonwealth Court to hold a trial for William Penn School District, et al. v.

Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, et al. In this landmark case, plaintiffs are challenging the Legislature and the governor, claiming that the current funding formula violates Pennsylvania’s Education Clause, which requires the General Assembly to “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education.”

Pennsylvania is in a unique position to demand these changes. We have some of the best-performing schools in the country and, unfortunately, some of the worst. We know the difference between these schools is not the quality of students, or their educators, but rather the opportunities available for them. I know personally because I had some of the most caring teachers who wanted nothing but the best for me and my classmates. But they can only do so much with good intentions. Increased investments from the state can help provide much needed after-school programming and support staff for poor school districts like Norristown, while remaining true to the Legislature’s constitutional obligations.

We can only succeed as a society if our kids have access to the opportunities they were promised. It should be illegal to shortchange our kids by underfunding schools, and, with a little luck, pretty soon it may be.

akbar hossain writes about community engagement, immigrants’ rights and access to education.

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IN TERV I E W

poet

Francis Daulerio (left) and the late Scott Hutchison (1981–2018)

just this month, at the age of 36.

“I think,” Daulerio says in an interview, two days before Hutchison’s suicide, “the overall arc of this is to take things that you love and hold onto them for as long as you possibly can.”

Packets of Hope Local poet Francis Daulerio’s final collaboration with by justin klugh Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison

T

he first thing you notice about “Please Plant This Book,” a collection of poems by Francis Daulerio with illustrations by Scott Hutchison, is that it is not a book.

It’s eight packets of heirloom seeds, rubber-banded together. The fronts of each packet bare a drawing by the hand of Hutchison, the former lead singer and guitarist of Frightened Rabbit. On the reverse side is a series of verses from writer and teacher Daulerio that evoke flashes of seasons and soil, rain-soaked windows and 10

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whistling tea kettles; a flickering set of images pulled from dreams, intersecting parts of dozens of stories.

Seeds are the most minute, but still visible, components of nature. Yet, Daulerio and Hutchison let their book carry so much: the legacy of Richard Brautigan, who wrote the first version of “Please Plant This Book” 50 years ago on packets of carrot and wildflower seeds; their love of the outdoors on a swiftly deteriorating planet; and the mission of preventing suicide. Brautigan took his own life in 1984. Hutchison did as well,

daulerio roo st s in what he calls a “random set of houses… Just us and some trees” in Blue Ball, Pa., away from the buzzing lights, sweaty bodies and sticky concourses of the venues in which Frightened Rabbit played when their tours would bring them through Philadelphia.

It was in his forested hideaway that Daulerio began a rough draft of “If & When We Wake” and in October 2013 pursued Hutchison to do the illustrations by sending his band a message through Facebook.

“I said, ‘I’m a huge fan of you guys, and I’m working on a book that I would love it if you illustrated,’” Daulerio recalls. “And I figured, ‘There’s no way in hell he’s ever getting back to me.’ A couple of days later, I had a notification that said, ‘Yeah, here’s my email address. Send me your stuff and we’ll see what we can do.’ Total shot in the dark.”

Hutchison, who attended the Glasgow School of Art, had released a calendar featuring images of what Daulerio calls “weird dudes with beards on them” through Frightened Rabbit’s social media accounts;

Henry Wilde Sunflower We exist for a season then turn our soil over to new blooms.

Feel yourself— finite and brilliantly purposeless, lungs fat with oxygen, unaware and so bright.

There is still room for us here.

Do not let your eyes adjust to the darkness.

an output of leftover art school instincts.

“I became disenfranchised about the institution of art school being [to] just [make] work to entertain the people in my class that doesn’t have any relevance to the outside world,” Hutchison explained.

Still, he maintained an openness to find meaningful outlets for his artwork. Daulerio’s book idea was an opportunity to do so, one that jumped out at him when he received the request.

“It’s such a pleasure to re-enter that world for reasons that aren’t the artistic metric of being in art school,” Hutchison expressed. “This is illustration with a purpose, and it contributes to someone else’s work in a collaboration. I was very, very insular in art school; I just made my own work and didn’t really connect with others. But this kind of collaborative method of working has really brought back a lot of the love I had for it before all of it was beaten out of me at art school. Stuff like this lets me step away from the band for a moment and focus on other stuff that I love. It had been a long time since I’d really done anything

that was a focused project like this. I think Fran probably expected to get no answer whatsoever. But I think I was pretty quick to get back, wasn’t I?” “Yeah, I think it was like a day or two,” Daulerio replies.

After their initial communication that year, Frightened Rabbit came through Philadelphia, and Daulerio met Hutchison at the Electric Factory with an unfinished copy of the manuscript. The two sat down to map out how the final product would look.

Each poem, flowing with ambiguity that allows a reader to slip in and out seamlessly, is accompanied by Hutchison’s art; simple sketches reflecting the subject matter of the poems and the seeds inside.

“The overwhelming goal was to induce a state of calm,” Daulerio says. “I think it’s easy when talking about heavy, heavy, heavy topics like suicide to lean on the darkness. But the goal of this was to help bring people to a state when they could relax, and be outside and breathe.”

Daulerio drew from his personal experience with weeks—“sometimes months”—of

“These poems aren’t therapy or medicine; I’m not healing anybody with this, but what can I do to just help somebody calm down a little bit if they are having a rough go at it?” —francis daulerio

crippling anxiety and depression. “What do I need when I’m there?” he asks. “What brings me back to baseline? That’s what I was thinking about when I wrote this. Obviously, these poems aren’t therapy or medicine; I’m not healing anybody with this, but what can I do to just help somebody calm down a little bit if they are having a rough go at it?”

Daulerio had been initially introduced to Brautigan through one of the students in his creative writing class. “This book is weird, I think you’d like it,” they told him.

It was “The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster,” a collection of 98 of Brautigan’s poems, in which the titular work compares his lover’s birth control pills with an infamous series of mine explosions in Nova Scotia.

“I totally fell in love with it,” Daulerio says fondly.

“I’m not as into Richard Brautigan as Francis is,” Hutchison said, “but in becoming familiar, I’ve really come to enjoy it.”

Brautigan’s most famous works, “Trout Fishing in America,” and “In Watermelon Sugar,” continue his overall usage of ambiguous narrative elements and abstract imagery through the lens of black comedy and satire. It is “Trout Fishing” and another work, “Revenge of the Lawn,” which Brautigan’s daughter, Ianthe, says best allow her to “hear [her father’s] voice on the page,” after his suicide in 1984.

Daulerio was able to get Ianthe Brautigan to pen the foreword to “Please Plant This Book,” for which the proceeds benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She used the space to relate the heartbreak in the fallout of her father’s suicide, wishing she “...could just pick up the telephone, wait for him to come on the line, and share something funny or perhaps relate a story about his granddaughter, whom he would have adored.”

Brautigan’s original work contained passages on California native flowers, carrots, lettuce, calendula, squash, shasta daisy, parsley and sweet Alyssum royal carpet.

The book, which preceded “The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster” in his catalog, found a way of capturing the imaginations of crowds with its unorthodox medium and the fact that it was freely distributed.

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11

IN TERV I E W

poet

Brautigan’s work reflects the popularity of “Please Plant This Book” on a college campus in 1969—once people figured out what it was: I set up a table and started yelling “Free books. Free books.” Some people were immediately attracted but many of the staff personnel looked questioningly at me when they first went into the cafeteria.

They might have thought I was handing out pornography or left-wing radical political material. But, after having seen what some of their friends had gotten, they mobbed the table on the way out. “Please, for my grandchildren, for my neighbors.”

One minister wanted (and got) 40 copies for his congregation. Within two hours all copies were gone. It was one of the best days of my life.

Brautigan was a writer whose work has been characterized by themes that some debate are either optimistic or cynical on the fate awaiting Earth and humanity. In com-

posing “Please Plant This Book,” Daulerio and Hutchison bring together two sides of Brautigan’s work: the brutality of an unknown future and the flowing verse with which to convey it.

There is still room for us here, Daulerio writes on a packet of Henry Wilde sunflower seeds. Do not let your eyes adjust to the darkness.

Hutchison’s accompanying illustration shows a sun with a human face; tired, expressionless, with the slightest hint of a smile.

“The worst thing that I envisioned happening was something [being] misinterpreted to come across as insensitive or offensive or making light of a situation that there’s no room for making light of,” Daulerio explains. “I definitely was more careful with these poems than I am with my regular writing. I didn’t want to get into a realm that could be misinterpreted.”

“It’s funny that you said that, Fran,” Hutchison replies. “That you tried not to be insensitive when writing this. I would say

there’s a lot to be gained from being brutally honest.” hutchison slipped away from his hotel in South Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland, at 1 o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, May 9. His death was confirmed the following day.

One of life’s unfair inevitabilities is that loss sprouts intrusively into parts of our lives that had once felt impenetrable to suffering, leaving us with what remains to get us through. And all we want at the end of the day is exactly what Ianthe Brautigan writes in the foreword of “Please Plant This Book”: to punch in a number and hear the voice of someone we’ve lost.

It is common to be told that, in many ways, someone who makes an impact is never really gone. But regardless, another life is now tragically departed from an earth that so benefited from their creations, their words, their passions. But one thing we can do in their absence is plant the seeds that keep their memory alive.

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B U Y LO CA L

ice cream

Future’s So Bright Ice cream startup Bright Yellow Creamery represents a new by emily kovach wave of mobile vending

I

ce cream trucks may be an iconic symbol of summer in the city, but are they really worth celebrating? Nostalgia may inspire a moment of happiness, and there is something wonderful about being out in the world and having dessert come to you, but the ice creams vended from the small windows are rarely of quality, and let’s not even get started about the maddening music on loop.

Bright Yellow Creamery, a Philly-based company in its second year, takes everything that’s great about an ice cream truck and ditches the rest. From the cutest little 14

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daffodil-yellow pop-top vending mobile, its cart-on-wheels hits a glorious retro-future aesthetic note with its sweet curves and simple design. The ice creams scooped from the refrigerated interior follow suit: all-natural, unfussy flavors that speak to times passed, with a focus on ingredient sourcing that’s thoroughly modern.

“I try to keep it as classic at possible; we don’t do any eccentric flavors,” says owner Steve Dorcelien. “[Our flavors aren’t] breaking the mold, but I’m trying to use the best ingredients to bring out that pronounced flavor. I want it to be like a shot in the mouth.”

Dorcelien’s journey began a few years ago when his girlfriend, Rachel Hunt, gifted him a consumer-model Cuisinart ice cream maker. At the time, the couple was living in New York City, and Dorcelien was working in marketing. For fun, he’d whip up batches of homemade ice cream and bring them to parties and potlucks, and soon enough, friends and family were clamoring for more.

In January 2017, the couple relocated to Philadelphia for Hunt’s work, and Dorcelien decided that his new city was the right place to launch an ice cream company. He enrolled in an ice cream making course at Penn State (a popular program for local dessert artisans), which he said was integral in making the leap from home hobbyist to professional culinary creator.

“I’m not a chef by background,” he notes, “but my food knowledge stems from my mother’s cooking, and she was all about taking what she grew in the garden and putting it into food. That’s where my passion comes from.”

The choice to operate Bright Yellow Creamery out of a unique vending cart was one of economics and aesthetics. “I couldn’t afford a truck at the time and didn’t want a massive unit,” he says. “And I wanted something that would stand out.”

Every week during warm weather, you can find it at farmers markets: Saturdays at Rittenhouse, Thursdays at University City and Wednesdays at 10th and Chestnut streets, as well as occasional smaller festivals. In its second year, the brand is growing: Pints of its ice cream, made with milk from Trickling Springs and as many local products as possible (like honey from Fruitwood Orchard and fruit from Taproot Farm) are for sale in Green Aisle Grocery; it’s in the process of adding a second cart to the fleet; and Dorcelien recently hired his first employee. They also get plenty of catering gigs for special events and weddings.

He loves the way the cart allows him to be on the ground, mixing it up with his customers. “I want to be on the ground and be able to really talk to the people … the cart allows that intimacy,” Dorcelien notes. “I love people and I love food, so it’s a great opportunity for me.” brightyellowcreamery.com P HOTO G RAP H BY RACHAE L WARRI NER

Grid_May_Key-Trolley-OneOnly_4.5x9.75_4.13.18.pdf 1 4/13/2018 3:10:48 PM

Booze Meets Ice Cream There once was a time (a sad, sad time) when ice cream and booze only met via ill-advised flavor combos—yes, rum raisin, we’re talking about you—or at kids’ birthday parties where the hosting parents were kind enough to provide adult libations. Then, a few years ago, spiked milkshakes and beer floats became a thing, and suddenly, we had many more fun ways to enjoy our two dearest vices together.

Here are three of our favorites: Sgroppino at Capofitto •• Sgroppino is a classic Italian pre-dinner or dessert cocktail, a cool concoction of blended lemon sorbet and vodka. In its “Summer of Sgroppino” Capofitto will offer the standard version, as well as seasonal specials, all made with Bluebird Distilling’s local craft spirits. Think: an old fashioned Sgroppino with Bluebird 4 Grain Bourbon and orange sorbetto and bitters, and a mint slushy sipper with Juniperus Gin and cucumber sorbetto. 233 Chestnut St.; capofittoforno.com

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Buddy Holly Milkshake at Charlie Was a Sinner Y •• It’s no shocker that this all-vegan-all-the-time cocktail bar would come up with a boozy milkshake CM that makes other versions look positively junior varMY sity by comparison. The Buddy Holly Milkshake starts with a dairy-free vanilla bean ice cream, and adds a CY shot of spiced rum, cherry liqueur, orgeat (a type of CMY syrup made from almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water) and garnished with an almond K cookie. 131 S. 13th St.; charliewasasinner.com Amaro Float at a.kitchen •• Many American drinkers have been slow to come around to amaro.

After all, bitterness—the Italian herbal liqueur’s definitive characteristic—isn’t often approached in mainstream cuisine with open arms. That said, amaro is definitely having a moment, championed by mixologists and beloved by diners with adventurous palates. The Amaro Float at a.kitchen makes a friendly introduction to this category of spirits. 135 S. 18th St., akitchenandbar.com

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B U Y LO CA L

ice cream

9 Cool Treats to Get You Fired Up for Summer A double scoop on a cone is all well and good, but thanks to our city’s innovative chefs—and their near-psychic level of understanding our appetites—there are so many interesting ways to enjoy ice cream.

Here are some frozen treats we’ve got our eye on this summer.

1

Mini Swedish pancake ice cream sandwich at Danlu •• This sleek University City newcomer is known for Taiwanese street food, but don’t fill up on too many pot stickers—save room for this new Euro-inspired dessert on the menu: little Swedish pancakes with Yellow Springs Farm goat cheese ice cream and scratch-made lingonberry jam. 3601 Market St.; tastedanlu.com

2

Tahini milkshakes at Goldie •• As if Goldie didn’t bless this city enough with perfect falafel and shawarma spiced fries, it offers not one but four flavors of vegan tahini milkshakes. Choose from original, banana, mint chocolate and Turkish coffee.

1526 Sansom St.; 2101 Pennsylvania Ave.; 3401 Walnut St.; goldiefalafel.com

3

Pretzel sundae at High Street on Market •• The pleasures of pretzels mixed into sweets are not new, but leave it to this posh Old City cafe, where even bread is elevated to an art form, to perfect the pretzel sundae: scoops of salted pretzel ice cream are drizzled with whiskey butterscotch and topped with cream cheese mousse. 308 Market St.; highstreetonmarket.com

4

Cracker Jax sundae at The Love •• Sometimes, childhood-inspired dishes can miss the mark, coming off as too cutesy or contrived. This dessert from The Love, however, is a total home run. Two scoops of buttered popcorn ice cream with peanut popcorn toffee: a grown-up take on a ballpark classic. 130 S. 18th St.; theloverestaurant.com

5

Homemade buttermilk soft serve at Redcrest Fried Chicken •• Soft serve aficionados, rejoice! After you’ve indulged in the crispy golden fried chicken at this East Passyunk joint, cool off with smooth swirls of tangy housemade buttermilk soft serve. Rainbow sprinkles/jimmies are optional, but really, they aren’t. 1525 S. 11th St.; redcrestfriedchicken.com

6

Ice cream hoagie at Tubby Robot •• We’re not sure what kind of crazy geniuses are working in the kitchen at this Manayunk scoop shop, but they’ve truly outdone themselves with the ice cream hoagie. Puff pastry dough is baked into “shorti”-shaped rolls that are sliced and filled with the ice cream and the toppings of your choice. It’s like a love letter to Philadelphia foodways and ice cream all in one.

4369 Main St.; tubbyrobot.com

7

Honeysuckle ice cream at Weckerly’s •• This is Weckerly’s fifth year offering its hyper-seasonal and limited honeysuckle flavor. In May, its team spent a few days hand picking honeysuckle flowers, gently cleaned, and then cold steeped the blooms for 36 hours in sweet cream. The result is a lightly perfumed ice cream with the distinct sweet, floral flavors of honeysuckle. Wait for the announcement via Instagram then

N E A L S A N TO S

Fresh-picked honeysuckle flavors a seasonal ice cream from Weckerly’s

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hustle over to its Fishtown scoop shop—last year, the honeysuckle flavor sold out in 24 hours. 9 W. Girard Ave.; weckerlys.com

8

Baked Alaska at Urban Farmer •• A retro classic is reimagined at this swanky farm-to-table restaurant tucked into the Logan hotel. Vanilla ice cream, made from farm-fresh dairy, is adorned with delicate bronze swoops of marshmallow meringue and fresh berries. 1850 Benjamin Franklin Parkway; urbanfarmerphiladelphia.com

9

Halo-halo purple sweet potato ice cream sundae at V Street •• Ever since opening this casual vegan street-food restaurant, plant-based powerhouses Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby have been rocking radical dairy-free ice cream flavors. Not to be missed is the riff on the Filipino dessert halo-halo: purple sweet potato ice cream, orange granita, coconut whip and pickled pineapples. 126 S. 19th St.; vstreetfood.com

Margot & Camille we make awesome dads handsome 47 North 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 215-923-0508 • margotcamille.com gift certificates available online

Flow State CoffeeBar in Kensington Melanie and Liz Diamond-Manlusoc and Maggie Lee have been working to open a coffee/ gelato shop in Kensington since hatching the plan nearly three years ago. After rounds of crowdfunding and a buildout of a storefront on Frankford Avenue, Flow State is slated to open early this month. “We envision Flow State CoffeeBar to be a perfect marriage of cafe and co-working space that harmoniously and simultaneously foments productivity, freshly made food, and an energetically stimulating environment.

‘Work. Play. Enjoy.’ is our motto,” says Lee. The shop will offer Square One Coffee, light lunch options and all sorts of from-scratch

treats, crafted by Melanie, who was classically trained as a pastry chef.

Among these will be six rotating flavors of gelato and sorbetto, made in small batches onsite. Flavors like orange cardamom, honey cashew and sweet corn, lean toward the “cheffy,” but will be approachable enough to appeal to an array of tastes. All of the sorbetto flavors (think: mango togarashi and pineapple Thai basil) will be vegan, and you can bet that affogato (a scoop of gelato “drowned” in espresso) will make an appearance.

“The first time I had gelato was on a college trip to northern Italy. From the moment the gelato hit my tongue I was

utterly shocked by how flavorful it was,” Melanie remembers.

“This memory is what drives me each day.” She says Flow State’s gelato program will be special because of her uncompromising commitment to quality: Everything is made by hand over a three-day process, corners are never cut, and everything uses real ingredients without one drop of manufactured flavoring powders or syrups.

“I don’t rely on food fads or ‘bells and whistles’ like kids’ cereal, ridiculous amounts of chocolate, or manufactured cookies and candy,” she asserts.

“My gelato has nothing to hide.”

2413 Frankford Ave.; flowstatecoffeebar.com

Farm-to-Table Fresh Organic and Local Outdoor Seating by the River 1 Boathouse Row 215-978-0900 Corporate & Private Events 7 Days a Week • 8 AM–Dusk

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urban naturalist

EN V IRO N M E N T

Beetective A Penn State researcher learns what bees can teach us about urban ecology by

bernard brown

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n entomological research project might bring to mind expeditions through far-away jungles or at least meadows out in the countryside. It probably doesn’t conjure up an Old City chocolate factory rooftop.

But to reach this field site we walked into Shane Confectionery. From there we hiked up the stairs through one of the most delicious-smelling buildings in Philadelphia.

We reached the fourth floor, ascended a ladder to the roof, and emerged to collect data.

Bee researcher Doug Sponsler, based out of Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research, grew up in Philadelphia. He completed his doctorate at Ohio State University, but, “what I’ve always wanted to do is to come back to study plants and insects in the place I grew up and learned to love nature.” Beyond just wanting to come back home, Philly bee research offers a chance to investigate urban ecology, “the relationship between human land use in cities and the plants and animals that can coexist. Studying plants and pollinators gives you a really broad swath of the ecological relationships in the city.”

The apiary (a site with one or more bee hives) we visited is owned by the Philadelphia Bee Company, which, in addition to producing seasonal and regional varietal honeys, provides educational programming and removes problem bees and wasps, “anything that flies and stings,” said owner Don Shump, who handled the bees on our visit.

In addition to flying and stinging, you probably know bees for producing honey from nectar that they collect from flowers and then regurgitate back at the hive. They also gather pollen for food. Incidentally they 18

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Doug Sponsler of Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research

spread that pollen around, which helps flowers produce fruit and the seeds inside.

Bees can also tell us about the plants they visit, and thus about the ecology of the 1.5 square miles or so that in which they forage.

“What we want to do is sample honeybee colonies and wild bee nests throughout the city, identify the plants used by the bees to produce the honey and pollen that we sample from them,” Sponsler explained, “and

Doug Sponsler of Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research

then try… to see if there are certain characteristic floral communities associated with different land use types, ultimately with the idea of being able give concrete recommendations to people, say, trying to decide what

kind of street tree to plant or how to repurpose a vacant lot.”

Up on that Old City roof, Shump used a small pry bar to remove the roof of the hive and puffed some smoke at the bees to calm

them. He then removed the vertical frames that the bees use to build cells for either storage or raising babies. Sponsler scraped some of the honey into test tubes for lab analysis. He also removed trays below the hives scattered with pollen pellets, looking like yellow or tan Nerd candies. Bees pack pollen into baskets on their legs, and Sponsler and Shump had installed special narrow hive entrances to force out the pollen as the bees squeezed through.

Back at the lab, Sponsler identifies pollen from those pellets as well as pollen removed from the honey. Some pollen gets mixed in with nectar that bees collect from flowers, which indicates the source of the honey.

Early observations have yielded some interesting findings. Some particularly dark honey collected from the Shane Confectionery roof last fall revealed Chinese elm pollen. These are wind-pollinated trees, so their flowers don’t produce nectar to attract insects such as bees. Where was the honey coming from? Sponsler’s leading hypothesis is that it’s not nectar the bees were gathering.

Elm trees are commonly infested by aphids and other small insects that feed on their sap and produce droplets of “honey dew” as a byproduct. Bees collected that honey dew, a calorie source that got them through an otherwise slow season for local flowers.

“So we’re turning aphid pee into bee vomit,” Shump summarized. “Light went to die in this honey… it was like motor oil, but it was absolutely delicious. We did honey/ chocolate tastings downstairs.”

Sponsler will learn more about Philadelphia bee/plant relationships as he conducts further analysis on the honey and pollen samples. He and Shump have also begun setting up bee hotels—blocks of wood with tubes drilled out to provide nests for native solitary bees—to learn about the relationships between other bee species and plants.

A city is full of interesting ecological relationships, but bees might be a particularly easy place to start.

“People tend to like bees, so it’s more accessible to the public,” Sponsler said. “We have something as beautiful as urban beekeeping on top of a chocolate factory in Old City where we get a chance to talk to people about plant/pollinator interactions.”

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21

GA RDE N I NG

historic fair hill

Reviving History Historic Fair Hill burial ground again fulfills its Quaker ideals

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ome might say that lingering spirit energy has helped the Historic Fair Hill burial ground become a fount of goodwill, good food and learning in a struggling neighborhood.

The 4.5-acre cemetery and gardens at 2901 Germantown Ave. sit on land that William Penn gave to his friend and fellow seeker of religious freedom George Fox, founder of Quakerism. Freedom fighting has become emblematic at Historic Fair Hill (HFH). Today, rows of kale, carrots and marigolds lie not far from the graves of Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott (1793–1880), grandmother of the women’s movement, and Robert Purvis (1810–1898), a black businessman and activist. Mobs threatened to kill these two 22

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antislavery stalwarts because they supported the Underground Railroad, the secret network of blacks and whites that helped slaves reach freedom.

In the 1980s, the burial ground changed hands and slid into neglect. “It was ugly,” said Elizabeth Gutierrez, 60, a neighbor who has lived across the street for almost 40 years. “There were rapes, deaths, drugs, trash and dead chickens, probably from Vodoun rituals,” she said. “My husband, Genaro, and I had three young sons then, and I was pregnant with our daughter. The situation put our kids at risk. I called the Friends Center on Cherry Street and asked them to do something.”

The conversation bore fruit. In 1993, a

by

constance garcia-barrio

group of Quakers formed a nonprofit to purchase and restore the site. The burial ground didn’t bloom overnight into a refuge in a rough North Philly neighborhood.

“It took years for volunteers to cut back brush and trees, haul away trash, and raise money to repair and replace the historic fencing,” said Jean Warrington, 67, current director of HFH. She had to quell rumors first. Some people thought that Fair Hill was a pet cemetery because the headstones are small. “Quakers believe everyone is equal in the sight of God, so the headstones have only the name and two dates.”

By the 1990s, the neighborhood, a former drug-war zone, had started to heal, Warrington said.

P HOTO G RAP H BY RACHAE L WARRI NER

Sechita Elliott gardens at Historic Fair Hill

Now Fair Hill’s gardens are lush with rhubarb, peas, bok choy, blueberries and more, but gardeners have additional plans.

“This year we’ve focused on making the garden more kid-friendly,” said Sechita Elliott, 35, a neighbor who began as a volunteer and became a gardener in 2015. Proposed projects include a tire swing and perhaps a teepee. “Thirty to 40 kids a day play here in summer, climbing trees, weeding, and eating fruit and vegetables right out of the garden. We want to keep them hydrated and give them spots to cool off.”

George Fox, who willed this land to American Quakers, would approve. He envisioned it for “…a meetinghouse, burying… place and a playground for the children… and a garden for lads and lasses to make simples… and oils and ointments.” Once the kids arrive, the teaching starts naturally.

“Kids ask a million questions… They like to learn about insects and how earthworms help the soil,” said Alida Aponte, 32, a mother of three who grew up on a farm in Puerto Rico and has been an HFH gardener since 2017. “Last year, we did a little barbecue with hamburgers, and garden peppers, tomatoes, onions and chards for the kids.

They loved it.”

Some children coax their parents into the garden. “My son, Amir, would come home bubbling with info about the vitamins, minerals and flavors of different plants,” Elliott said. “This is a kid who eats rutabaga raw!

He began here as a volunteer and then became a leader in the summer youth group.

Amir talked so much about the garden that I had to come see it. That was four years ago.

Now I love this place.”

“The kids play here, and they help, too,” said Tom Grabe, 74, member of Germantown Friends Meeting and a volunteer gardener since 2013. “You talk with them while they do weeding or water the plants.

They’re great.”

Most of the kids who get low-key lessons about the burial ground’s history and pointers about the nutritional value of plants attend Potter-Thomas Elementary School or the largely Hispanic Julia de Burgos Elementary School. HFH provides crucial support not only through onsite gardens and nature study, but also by providing reading helpers for these struggling schools. “The schools need community partners to maintain the gardens,” Warrington said. “If not,

what would happen in summer?”

Meanwhile, Elliott and the garden team aim to expand the educational program at the burial ground. “We want to have workshops on how to grow vegetables, cook them, and use them in salads,” she said. “We’ll also have a pickling day to familiarize people with this way of preserving vegetables. In addition, volunteer Joy Robinson, who’s growing a women’s health herb garden, will do a presentation on medicinal and culinary herbs.”

Other events draw neighbors. HFH took part in April’s Citywide Star Party, in which Franklin Institute astronomers brought two large telescopes for community stargazing. “On Juneberry Day, people come with bowls and buckets to harvest blueberries, raspberries and juneberries,” Elliott said.

“One lady made blueberry ice cream. Maybe we’ll have a workshop on making freshfruit smoothies.”

Children also extend the gardens’ reach with their summer produce stand at Germantown and Cambria. The fruit and vegetables are free, but a donation is requested.

They also take produce to seniors to ensure that they have fresh organic food. In addition, HFH partners with a nearby halfway house. “The residents water the garden next to their building and the cook uses produce in her meals,” Warrington said.

HFH offers free guided tours every second Saturday of the month. Tour groups arrange for a donation. HFH welcomes volunteers every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to learn and help in the garden.

Warrington and the garden team are delighted with HFH’s progress, but for them, it all goes back to the burial ground’s roots.

“We’re here to honor great champions of human rights,” she said. “We want to carry forward their work. If Lucretia Mott and Robert Purvis were here, they would roll up their sleeves and join us.”

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M EET YOU R M A KE R

remark glass

Taking Shape Glassblowers make functional keepsakes from special days paige wolf

t’s easy to just toss your champagne and wine bottles in the recycling bin.

But what if you have a bottle from a very special occasion you’d love to keep around after the contents have been consumed?

Remark Glass captures memorable moments like the champagne toast at a wedding by repurposing the bottles into glass tabletop décor, home furnishings and keepsakes.

The company is a collaboration of two mothers who built a shared business out of both necessity and passion. Danielle Ruttenberg, 34, had her own business since 2008 doing a combination of glass fabrication and custom commissions. Rebecca Davies, 30, had been working for another glass and furniture company in Philadelphia and started working with Ruttenberg in 2015.

As the two women’s family lives evolved, they wanted to change their work practices and find spaces closer to home.

“Our decision to start a company together was initially to support each other through the various transitions of pregnancy and motherhood,” Ruttenberg says. “Just try blowing glass and standing in front of 2,000 degrees while you’re six months pregnant, I dare you!”

They both recognized that business owner, shop manager and mother was not an easy path to manage, but if they were able to tag team responsibilities, they would inevitably be more successful.

So, in 2016, the two women combined their studios and moved into a space in the 24

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Bok Building.

“Becky and I both live in South Philadelphia, so when Bok opened for occupancy, we jumped on it the first chance we could get,” she says. “Besides location, glassblowing is really a team activity, so we decided to join efforts and take what were two individuals doing contract work and design our own line.”

By reheating and shaping bottle glass, Remark is able to artistically capture the

color palette while simultaneously showcasing the history of each piece of glass. From glassware and vases to light fixtures, Remark’s products bridge high-end design, sustainability and functionality.

Built on a sustainable model and housed in a repurposed building, the company strives for zero waste and lowering energy use, constantly assessing how to improve their processes.

“Traditional glassblowing uses a lot of

STEVIE CHRIS

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by

A M B E R R U T T E N B E R G ( 2 ) ; E M I LY W R E N ( L E F T )

Danielle Ruttenberg (p. 24, left) and Rebecca Davies of Remark Glass

energy and can create a great deal of waste,” Ruttenberg says. “The raw materials to make molten glass are mined and shipped from different parts of the world. By utilizing bottle glass, we are not only removing from the waste cycle, we are eliminating an additional need for sourcing raw materials.”

She says their process is also more energy efficient, as many glass facilities have a need to remain “hot” 24/7 (this means a molten pot of glass is at working temperature of 2,000 degrees all the time). Remark utilizes electric kilns for preheating its bottle glass starts, and then individually heats and shapes each bottle to make a new form.

Ruttenberg says she has always been the type of artist to utilize whatever scraps were left around. “Some say scavenger, I say resourceful!”

The idea of designing and fabricating from bottle glass gave them a process that

was both economically and environmentally sustainable. They were able to utilize a lot of their existing shop supplies for their initial prototyping phase and then slowly bootstrap the studio to function for smallbatch manufacturing. They designed a plan that would grow with their production needs as their products gained traction.

This was true for their bottle sourcing as well. Since Remark’s conception, friends and family were personal suppliers to their mission, bringing bottles that they had used in their home to the shop and then in turn using their repurposed glasses and bowls back in their home.

As active members of the Sustainable Business Network and the Bok artist community, they are constantly building partnerships, especially in the food and beverage industry, for the collection of waste bottles. During the summer, they collect bottles from Bok Bar—the easiest of their collections since all they have to do is roll a cart up to the 8th floor. Throughout the rest of the year, they receive larger donations from places like Tria and the hotel bar at the Sheraton.

“Oftentimes, these partnerships evolve into what we like to call recycling programs, and our goods will move back into the marketplaces of the donors,” Ruttenberg says.

“For example, Art in the Age in Old City saves all their glass bottles from their tasting room and sells Remark barware made from those bottles in their boutique.”

Remark recently launched new lighting designs as sustainable options for interior designers and architects.

“I love that there is a strong focus on LEED certified building in Philly, and with the housing boom, we are eager to have Remark lighting become a standard in many new construction and rehab projects,” Ruttenberg says.

She says they are also developing a process for sheet glass made from bottles, which would open avenues for the stained glass industry as well as other architectural applications.

“The cycle is really lovely and personal,” Ruttenberg says. “Though we have grown into wholesale and larger accounts, we always intend for our products to be a part of everyday life for the people who value what we are doing.”

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stoneleigh

Gardens vs. Schools Stoneleigh, the region’s newest public garden, faces a possible seizure by the Lower Merion School District just by alex jones as it opens its doors

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toneleigh: a natural Garden—the Villanova estate turned rustic public green space profiled in Grid’s May 2018 issue—is the most recent addition to the 36 public gardens that earned Philadelphia the moniker of America’s Garden Capital.

But the uniquely beautiful green space wasn’t even open to the public yet when Natural Lands executive director Molly Morrison found herself sending an impassioned plea to the garden’s contact list—with the words “Save Stoneleigh” in the subject line.

The historic, 42-acre property is now at the center of a conflict between two greater goods: Natural Lands, the nonprofit conservation organization that owns and manages Stoneleigh, and the Lower Merion School District, one of the better-funded school districts in the country.

LMSD is seeking to build a new school in response to growing enrollment numbers projected over the next several years. “[I]n order to continue to provide a high-quality [education] for every child, the district needs more classroom and co-cur26

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ricular space, in a township where very little space is available,” wrote Amy Buckman, director of school and community relations for the LMSD, in an email to Grid.

Back in March, Natural Lands received a letter from the school district expressing interest in inspecting a 6.9-acre portion of the property for possible condemnation in order to build fields for a new school through eminent domain rights.

“It was completely unexpected,” said Morrison. Natural Lands responded in the negative.

Then, the school district sent a letter expressing interest in inspecting all 42 acres.

That’s when Natural Lands called on its followers for help.

The same question would arise in this situation, Morrison said, if the Haas family still owned the land, as the preservation easement existed for about 20 years before the property was transferred to Natural Lands.

“The difference in this case is that Stoneleigh is open to the public,” she explained.

“So the public benefit has been amplified and expanded exponentially, because people now

have direct access to the property and our educational programming, free of charge.”

The LMSD has looked at other sites that could work for an additional school in an area in which large tracts like Stoneleigh are rare. One, a property owned by the Foundation for Islamic Studies that includes the historic Clothier Mansion, is currently up for sale and adjacent to Stoneleigh.

Expanding the existing schools is also an option, but some parents oppose that plan, arguing that their children would be underserved in these “megaschools.” According to the LMSD website, the district’s average classroom size is 21 students. LMSD’s interest in the 6.9-acre parcel—which is designated as an “additional development area” in the conservation easement, meaning that the owners of the property have the option to sell it for residential development—would be for playing fields adjacent to that property.

“The school district continues to refer to those 6.9 acres as developable and not part of gardens,” said Oliver Bass, director of communications at Natural Lands. But neither of those things are true, he said.

“The entirety of Stoneleigh is covered by a conservation easement. When Natural Lands owns something, it’s for preservation, not development,” Bass explained. The area in question is home to a state champion ironwood tree and was specifically designed as the “Meadow Vista” by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

“Until and unless another option becomes available, there are no other options,” said the school district’s solicitor, Kenneth Roos. “It’s something that the residents of Lower Merion are going to be given full opportunity to weigh in on. It’s a policy decision by the school district.”

But Morrison and her team are determined to keep Stoneleigh open, untouched and accessible to all. The real question is whether the school district is entitled to seize this parcel of preserved land under eminent domain.

“That’s a determination that will happen in the courts,” said Morrison; Natural Lands is fighting a similar legal battle in Cumberland County. “We will defend Stoneleigh against a taking by the school district.”

MAE AXELROD

PU B L IC GA R D E NS

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public gardens

GU IDE

Gardens from

to Z

A

Philadelphia is America’s Garden Capital, with a whopping 36 public gardens within 30 miles of the city—a distinction that no other city in America can claim. Peruse our guide to these glorious green spaces to plan your next garden trip. by

alex jones

Ambler Arboretum Temple University’s satellite campus in Bucks County doesn’t just train students in the school’s highly rated horticulture programs on 187 acres. The historic garden was established as a horticulture school for women in 1910; today, the grounds include spaces dedicated to medicinal and culinary herbs, native plants, perennials, and wetlands plants in addition to formal gardens. Free admission; 580 Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, Pa. ambler.temple.edu/arboretum

Andalusia This historic property overlooking the Delaware River in Bucks County boasts not just the ornate, historic Big House, built in the early 19th century, but also 225 acres of grounds. Garden highlights 28

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include rare trees and plants, peonies, azaleas and graperies, plus a walled garden planted with a wide variety of roses. $20 per person; 1237 State Road, Andalusia, Pa. andalusiapa.org

Arboretum at the Barnes Foundation Although the property of the original Barnes Foundation is only 12 acres, its collections are expansive—more than 2,500 varieties. Some of the trees there were planted way back in the 1880s, so it’s a great place to see century-old and rare specimens, like the South American native monkey puzzle tree and an actual redwood, plus more than a dozen varieties of magnolia. Pay what you wish; 300 N. Latch’s Lane, Merion, Pa. barnesfoundation.org

Awbury Arboretum This Germantown enclave showcases the beauty and life of urban agriculture, wetlands and meadows. Last year, it opened AdventureWoods, a natural materials space where kids can play and explore.

Right now, they’re celebrating Year of the Pollinator, a slate of workshops, art and events all about the beneficial insects that shape our world. Free admission; One Awbury Road awbury.org

The Barton Arboretum & Nature Preserve of Medford Leas Located in conjunction with the Medford Leas retirement communities, Barton combines formal gardens with preserved natural space between properties in Lumberton and Medford, totaling 200 acres.

The nature preserve offers visitors the chance to explore marsh and forest lands on the outskirts of the Pine Barrens in addition to manicured gardens featuring mini waterfalls and groves of native trees.

Free admission; One Medford Leas Way, Medford, N.J. bartonarboretum.org

Bartram’s Garden Bartram’s Garden is an oasis of history and nature in a post-industrial environment that’s working to reclaim the riverfront for nature and its neighbors in Southwest Philly. In addition to an array of rare, medicinal and historic plants— like camellia sinensis, aka the tea plant, cranberries and bloodroot—the garden boasts trails for walking and biking, a community garden and free kayaking on Saturdays in season. Free admission; 5400 Lindbergh Blvd. bartramsgarden.org

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve As the nation’s only accredited botanical museum dedicated to native plants, this Bucks County preserve showcases 134 acres of plant life; more than 700 of Pennsylvania’s 2,000 native species grow at Bowman’s Hill. Head here for guided wildflower and birding walks and native plant lectures. Adults $6; seniors and students $4; children $3; 1635 River Road, New Hope, Pa. bhwp.org

MT. CUBA CENTER This vast, du Pont-owned garden and nature preserve just increased its holdings to include the nearby Red Clay Reservation, adding another 500 acres of natural land.

Visit and tour the formal gardens, woods and meadows, or head there for Twilight on the Terrace for live music, food trucks and lawn games on select summer evenings. Adults $10; children 5-17 $5; children 5 and under free; 3120 Barley Mill Road, Hockessin, Del. mtcubacenter.org

Brandywine River Museum of Art

Chanticleer

Grounds for Sculpture

This historic mill-turned-museum in Chester County is famous for its galleries dedicated to the acclaimed Wyeth family of artists, but don’t miss its wildflower and native plant demonstration gardens and river trails on your visit.

You can even take a tour of the nearby Kuerner Farm, which inspired many of Andrew Wyeth’s works. Adults $18; seniors $15; students $6; One Hoffman’s Mill Road, Chadds Ford, Pa. brandywine.org

This Main Line estate-turned-garden is home to more than 5,000 plant species, grouped by setting: the Gravel Garden replicated a Mediterranean desert climate, the Serpentine is where vegetables and cut flowers are grown, and the Asian Woods highlight specimens native to Japan, China and Korea, maintained by a team of seven horticulturists. Adults $10; children 13 and under free; 786 Church Road, Wayne, Pa. chanticleergarden.org

The 42 acres that make up this arts and nature destination were once the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Today, Grounds for Sculpture features multiple indoor art galleries, restaurants, and outdoor gardens that display massive sculptures, many of which depict familiar American figures larger than life. Adults $18; seniors $15; children $10; 5 and under free; 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton, N.J. groundsforsculpture.org

The Gardens at Mill Fleurs

Hagley Museum and Library

One of the more unique sites on the list, Mill Fleurs is a revamped mill turned furniture showcase, rare plant nursery and garden. Visits are guided tour only, but they’re typically led by owner Barbara Tiffany, who will spend a full two hours with you talking and teaching about plants as she leads you through her collection—and feeds you home-baked cookies, too. $25 per person; 27 Cafferty Road, Point Pleasant, Pa. thegardensatmillfleurs.com

Once the site of the original DuPont Powder Works, Hagley’s 235 acres on the Brandywine River features exhibits on the site and the company’s history, including reenactors living early 1800s-style in the Workers’ Hill Community. The original du Pont home and garden are open for tours, too. Adults $15; seniors and students $11; children 6-14 $6; 5 and under free; 200 Hagley Creek Road, Wilmington, Del. hagley.org

Camden Children’s Garden On the other side of the Delaware River, this garden features tons of activities and attractions for kids—a butterfly house, a dinosaur garden, and rides like the Arrow River Train and the Garden Carousel—plus lots of workshops and events to keep the little ones entertained. Adults $9; Camden residents $6; 3 Riverside Drive, Camden, N.J. camdenchildrensgarden.org

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public gardens

Henry Botanic Garden Visits to this “wilderness garden,” begun by botanist Mary Henry, are by appointment only—but guests won’t be disappointed, with collections of rare and native plants on display in addition to the natural beauty of the landscape. While there are designated walking paths, guests are encouraged to wear long pants and sturdy shoes. $10 per person; 801 Stony Lane Gladwyne, Pa. henrybotanicgarden.org

Henry Schmieder Arboretum Located at Bucks County’s Delaware Valley University, this century-old, 40-acre space includes collections and gardens centered around herbs, conifers, roses, irises and peonies. For the past two years, planning has been underway for a restoration of the garden that will include interactive and educational exhibits. Free admission; 700 E. Butler Ave., Doylestown, Pa. delval.edu

The Highlands Mansion & Gardens This 18th-century summer-residence-turned-public-garden features verdant, rolling hills, 2 acres of formal gardens and a restored, 1920s-era greenhouse. Tours of the gardens and mansion are offered at 1:30 p.m. most weekdays or by appointment.

Adults $5; seniors $4; students $3 7001 Sheaff Lane, Fort Washington, Pa. highlandshistorical.org

in 1897. At only 3 acres, Kaskey Park is home to more than 500 trees, serves as a teaching garden for biology students at the university, and provides a home for wildlife including birds, crayfish and frogs.

Free admission; 433 S. University Ave. bio.upenn.edu

formal French gardens in North America.

Come for the Maze Garden and Sunken Garden, stay for the grand fountains and ornate sculptures. Adults $18; seniors/military/students $16; kids 5-16 $8; 4 and under free; 850 Alapocas Drive, Wilmington, Del. nemoursmansion.org

Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens

PHS Meadowbrook Farm

This Main Line estate-turned-publicpark and botanical garden is known for its azalea gardens, with more than 5,000 azaleas, rhododendrons and hybrids, in bloom from March through July, in addition to woodlands, wildflowers and a historic house. The bog garden, the arboretum’s most recent addition, is home to moisture-loving species such as cranberries, the endangered swamp pink and carnivorous plants such as sundews.

Free admission; 631 Berwyn Baptist Road, Devon, Pa. jenkinsarboretum.org

The onetime home of J. Liddon Pennock, Jr., was bequeathed to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society after the florist and gardener passed away in 2003. Now, it’s where specimens for the organization’s annual Flower Show are grown and a 25-acre public green space with formal and informal gardens and ornate features, many of which were added over the years

by Pennock after exhibiting at the Flower Show. Free admission; 1633 Washington Lane, Jenkintown, Pa. meadowbrookfarm.org

The Philadelphia Zoo Laurel Hill & West Laurel Hill Cemeteries The nation’s first historic landmark cemetery, Laurel Hill is the resting place of famous Philadelphians like Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane and beloved Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. Its 32 acres are also the home of more than 300 species of rare trees and shrubs. Free admission; 3822 Ridge Ave. thelaurelhillcemetery.org

An attraction in its own right, Philly’s zoo—the first in the nation—was originally conceived as a botanical garden with exotic creatures. Today, its animal residents are more of a draw, but it’s still home to 42 acres of green space, including a massive English elm that’s said to have been planted by John Penn, son of William, around 230 years ago. Adults $24.95; kids 2-11 $19.95; kids under 2 free; 3400 W. Girard Ave. philadelphiazoo.org

Longwood Gardens Hortulus Farm Garden & Nursery Built on an original William Penn land grant property in Bucks County, Hortulus has a long history of dairy farming. Today, it’s still a working farm and nursery, with 24 gardens spread over 30 of its 100 acres that guests can tour on their own. For an additional donation, you can get a tour from the founders themselves. $15 per person; 60 Thompson Mill Road, Wrightstown, Pa. hortulusfarm.com

Perhaps the best-known of the Philly region’s botanic gardens, Longwood has it all: formal gardens, ornate architecture, meadowlands, greenhouses, and ponds full of exotic tropicals over more than 1,000 acres. The garden’s blooms and light shows draw guests from all over the region year-round, especially at Christmastime.

Adults $23; seniors and college students $20; kids 5-18 $12; kids 4 and under free; 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, Pa. longwoodgardens.org

James G. Kaskey Memorial Park Better known as the Biopond, the small pond and greenhouses that make up this petite garden are tucked away on Penn’s campus—and the oldest green space on the campus, begun as a research garden 30

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Nemours Estate Apart from attractions including a 77-room Victorian-era mansion and a collection of vintage cars once used on the estate, this du Pont property is home to the largest

Shofuso Japanese House & Garden While Shofuso House itself has been in place since 1953, the 17th-century-style garden harks back to Philly’s 1876 Centennial Exposition, when it was first planted—the first Japanese garden ever in North America. Today, the grounds feature a koi pond, viewing garden and a tea garden, with events like tree pruning workshops and tea ceremonies taking place throughout the year. Adults $12; seniors and children 6-17 $8; children 5 and under free; Lansdowne and Horticultural drives, West Fairmount Park japanesehouse.org

Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden The newest addition to the 30+ gardens

MORRIS ARBORETUM

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA The official arboretum of Pennsylvania, Morris is home to several state champion tree specimens such as ginkgo, giant sequoia, and a 250-year-old Bender Oak. Don’t miss the Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery, the only remaining freestanding Victorian fernery in North America, with a koi pond and unique, outsized specimens of ferns like bird’s nest, maidenhair and bear paw. Adults $19; seniors $17; walkers/cyclists $10; youth 3-17, military and students $10; children under 3 free; 100 E. Northwestern Ave. morrisarboretum.org

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GU IDE

public gardens

HAVERFORD COLLEGE ARBORETUM

OF SWARTHMORE COLLEGE

Haverford’s collection of trees is another historic gem on the list, with a unique design including rings of five and seven trees that were planted as far back as the 1830s, when the Quaker school was first founded.

Don’t miss the Smith-Magill formal flower garden, the Asian gardens, or the natural meadow, a more recent addition. Free admission; 370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, Pa. haverford.edu/arboretum

This “garden of ideas” covers all 425 lush acres of the school’s campus in Swarthmore. In addition to providing work-study and learning opportunities for the college’s students, Scott Arboretum boasts 4,000 plant varieties well-suited to our growing zone and offers paid tours and programming with a goal of supporting home gardeners in the area. Free admission; 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, Pa. scottarboretum.org

list is this Villanova estate, easily accessible by regional rail. It’s unique in that its previous owners wanted to preserve the property’s natural beauty—that means enormous trees unpruned for a century, twisting into unique shapes and contours you won’t see at other public gardens.

And at 42 acres, it’s small enough to see the whole thing in one visit. Free admission; 1829 East County Line Road, Villanova, Pa. stoneleighgarden.org

SCOTT ARBORETUM

Tyler Formal Gardens at Bucks County Community College

WELKINWEIR The name of this northern Chester County green space means “where sky meets water”— and with a stepped waterfall and riparian forests on the banks of French Creek tributary Beaver Run, you’ll see why. In addition to wetland, meadow and forest, Welkinweir features walking and hiking trails and rare plants donated by award-winning plant breeder Lloyd Partain. Pay what you wish; 1368 Prizer Road, Pottstown, Pa. welkinweir.org

The Woodlands

Look for the French and Italian influences in this four-tiered formal garden, built in the 1930s to decorate the landscape of one of the last great estates built in the U.S., as well as bronze sculptures by onetime owner and horticulturist Stella Elkins Tyler.

The garden boasts impressive specimens of lilacs, magnolias, tree peonies and native dogwoods among its collections. Free admission; 275 Swamp Road, Newtown, Pa. bucks.edu

Head to this West Philly green space for history, greenery and beautiful blooms: In addition to flowering trees, some of the plots are topped with Victorian cradle graves and adorned with periodappropriate plants and flowers by volunteers in the park’s Grave Gardeners program. Bring a picnic blanket, your dog or a book and spend some quiet time among the stones. Free admission; 4000 Woodland Ave. woodlandsphila.org

Winterthur

Wyck

Outside the meticulously curated historic-house-turned-museum are nearly 1,000 acres of garden space at this Chester County site. True to original owner Henry du Pont’s style, plantings are color-coordinated and designed to bloom in succession nearly year-round. In summertime, that means lots of purples, pinks, whites, reds and yellows.

Adults $20; children 2-11 $6; seniors and students $18; 5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Pa. winterthur.org

Fans of roses will love this historic Germantown estate, established in 1690.

Its grounds are home to a rose garden first planted in the 18th century that now includes species extinct outside of Wyck.

There’s also a bustling urban farm, which includes a Victorian-era glass greenhouse, which seeks to maintain the traditional agricultural methods. Free admission; 6026 Germantown Ave. wyck.org

Tyler Arboretum Spread over 650 rolling acres, this Delaware County garden is one of the country’s oldest arboreta. With heritage crabapple, lilac, cherry, and magnolia trees, it’s the perfect place to go for a springtime stroll on 17 miles of walking paths, or spend an afternoon spotting birds or hanging out at the Butterfly House. Adults $15, seniors $13, youth 3-7, military and students $9, kids 2 and under free; 515 Painter Road, Media, Pa. tylerarboretum.org 32

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Experience Summer at Morris Arboretum Open daily 10am-4pm Weekends until 5pm Extended Summer Hours

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12th & Arch Streets Philadelphia, PA 19107

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Take advantage of the fresh produce, meats, dairy, seafood, spices & baked goods that the Reading Terminal Market has to offer.

Best time for locals to shop: 8 – 11 AM & 4 – 6 PM

Shop Reading Terminal Market. All under one roof.

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GARDENS DAY

2018

COMMUNITY

JUNE 16 • 10 AM - 2 PM

A citywide celebration of community gardens and shared open space.

Garden tours, workshops, kids activities, music and much more!

Find a participating garden near you and register for tours at

www.ngtrust.org

#COMMUNITYGARDENSDAY RAIN DATE: JUNE 17

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FRIENDS CENTER

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Chef Jared Cannon, owner of Simply Good Jars

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CAN

SUSTAINABILITY story by

paige wolf

BE

photography by

andrea coan

CONVENIENT? The future of food convenience meets the triple bottom line

O

ver the past 75 years, Americans have relentlessly pursued liberation from household tasks. How we eat has been at the heart of this movement. Fast food, TV dinners and microwaves have all promised more free time—no more food shopping, cooking or, for the most part, cleaning.

Unfortunately, that promised free time has been filled up not only with more work, but also more visits to the doctor, pharmacy and hospital. The salt, sugar and soda that dominate the American diet have coincided with an unprecedented explosion of health problems plaguing our country.

Another unintended consequence of the fast food revolution has been immeasurable amounts of waste. Doing the dishes has been replaced by taking out the trash.

And, in the modern supermarket, vast amounts of food are discarded because of food spoilage in the global supply chain, and the demand of supermarkets to provide what is perceived to be cosmetically pleasing produce.

For people concerned with sustainability, there’s been a tendency to look longingly to the time before convenience trumped all, when there was far less waste and far healthier food. The slow food movement, launched in 1986, empha-

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sizes using carefully cultivated ingredients and devoting the necessary time to prepare a meal.

However, mindfully preparing your dinner requires a significant investment of personal energy and culinary education.

And since we eat at least three times a day, cooking even most of the time is a tall order for anyone just trying to keep up with their daily responsibilities.

On the national level, there has been the emergence of delivery meal kit services, pre-portioned ingredients with easy-to-follow recipes, popularized by companies like Blue Apron, HelloFresh and Plated. While they may reduce the frequency of last-minute pizza deliveries, and the pre-packaging of food does help eliminate food waste, the packaging of each ingredient separately requires a lot of Styrofoam coolers, plastic bags and frozen chemical gel packs.

When it comes to produce, great progress has been made in accessibility. With CSAs— which are essentially subscriptions to weekly farm shares that are paid to the farmers in advance—the supply chains are shortened. It benefits farmers by cutting out the middle man, providing more money when they need it most, and it benefits consumers in that they get food that is local and more likely to be fresh, which also makes it more nutritious. But many of the shares do not allow for consumer choice, which means you may get more food than you need, or food you don’t like.

Consumers have largely had to choose between sustainability and convenience, but there are now a few companies in Philadelphia that believe they can help solve some of the biggest problems we have with our food systems—waste in supply chains and packaging, unhealthy diets—while simultaneously providing the consumer with unmatched convenience.

The New Vending Machine

J

ared Cannon, a chef who has worked for Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant, Honeygrow and Tria, started Simply Good Jars six months ago with a simple concept: Create healthy, sustainable, locally sourced meals in jars and offer consumers incentives to return the jars for reuse.

Cannon says this idea had been marinating in his mind for several years, inspired by his own struggle to find the time to eat healthfully while working full-time as a chef and attending Temple University Fox School 38

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“We’re really trying to change the game in how people eat healthy. We want to provide really tasty, locally sourced meals that will make you actually crave healthy foods.”

—edward drakhlis, of Business, where he earned his MBA. “When you’re busy, it’s hard to eat healthy, but why is that?” Cannon asked.

“I was constantly seeing all this food go in the garbage, yet I knew the reality of this country’s hunger problem. So I thought, who better than a chef to solve this by being creative with what’s available?”

Cannon started Simply Good Jars with a $1,000 loan from microlender Kiva with the intention of filling a need in the market while addressing a larger societal issue: hunger.

Currently the delivery plan serves fewer than 100 customers—but there is a 500-person waiting list as the quickly growing company works to expand its delivery service beyond Center City.

While this aspect of their business holds plenty of promise, it’s the new technology they are rolling out that offers an advancement in healthy food convenience: the in-

VP of marketing & sales, Simply Good Jars

stallation of smart refrigerators in offices and, potentially, as vending machines.

First, to show a proof of concept, they’ve put their meals in conventional refrigerators and installed them primarily at co-working spaces such as 1776 and Indy Hall. These prototypes are based on the honor system, and ask customers to pay via the online service Venmo.

This summer, Simply Good Jars expects to roll out its smart fridges, which will combine chef-crafted, hand-prepared meals with technology developed by the New York Citybased company Via Touch Media, which uses artificial intelligence to personalize the experience.

For example, you’ll be able to ask the refrigerator, “What are the vegetarian choices today?” and lights next to the products that fit that criteria will illuminate. Sales and recommendations will be customized based on inventory and purchase history.

“Customers will have an app to service their own subscriptions to the fridges that lower the price point for every jar you purchase,” says Edward Drakhlis, VP of marketing and sales. “We want to incentivize healthy eating habits.”

Costs are already accessible, especially considering that a typical meal is smoked duck breast with roasted carrots, cauliflower and pears. A lunch jar ranges from $7-$12 and a breakfast is $5-$6.

The company is looking to expand into more public spaces, and is in talks with the city. The airport, Drakhlis says, seems like a good fit.

“The whole convenience aspect plays a big role in the waste we are seeing,” Drakhlis says. “It’s very convenient for someone to sell you one potato wrapped in plastic.

We’re trying to make healthy eating extremely convenient by having it exactly where you are already.”

The company touts itself as going “beyond zero waste,” reusing the jars and stripping away unnecessary packaging.

“You can eat your entire meal straight out of one jar,” Drakhlis says. “We encourage real silverware and hope we can motivate

Boxes of goods from distributor Philly Foodworks

customers to return the jars through our partnership with Philabundance.”

And that is the hunger piece of their business plan. Every time an empty jar is returned to the fridge, the company donates a meal through Philabundance.

Simply Good Jars’ biggest market is busy professionals who often work through lunch and don’t have many choices for a quick bite.

“We’re really trying to change the game in how people eat healthy,” Drakhlis says.

“We want to provide really tasty, locally sourced meals that will make you actually crave healthy foods.”

Sarah Frank, a 26-year-old marketing executive in Fishtown, is a subscriber who has breakfasts and lunches delivered to her office each week. She used to spend her lunch breaks snacking on chicken fingers and French fries, but now enjoys having a healthful alternative.

“I just needed something so I wasn’t eating junk all the time, and these healthy meals filled me up and gave me more ener-

gy,” she says.

Since she started, several of her colleagues got on board with the service.

“It’s great to spend less money on lunch and not have to worry about what I’m putting in my body and how I’m going to feel after I eat it,” she says.

The New Customized Door-to-Door Farm Share

T

he recent growth of community shared agriculture (CSAs) correlates with an increased consumer interest in supporting fresh, sustainable, local food. There are dozens of CSAs in the Philadelphia area—like Greensgrow, Lancaster Farm Fresh, Red Earth Farm—with hundreds of drop-off points.

While CSAs are excellent for supporting local farms, eating seasonally, and pushing subscribers to expand their culinary skills by using unfamiliar produce, there is potential for waste. If you really don’t like turnips or can’t figure out what to do with Swiss chard, you might get stuck with a lot J UN E 20 18

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of vegetables rotting in your fridge.

Companies like Philly Foodworks are working to reduce unwanted food waste by offering customized subscriptions and door-to-door delivery.

The website essentially serves as an online farmers market, connecting customers with local farms and producers. A la carte ordering helps avoid the receipt of another bag of beets after you’ve been eating borscht for a week.

Philly Foodworks originally started in 2011 as an urban farm in West Philly in partnership with Urban Tree Connection.

Co-founder and CEO Dylan Baird was interested in pursuing a financially sustainable urban farm business model, which he originally fleshed out with traditional CSAs and farmers markets.

But once he started bringing in food from farmers in Lancaster, Baird says he had an “aha moment.”

“We realized that there wasn’t a shortage of produce—it was how to get it to people,” he says. “Maybe we didn’t need to fill a space in the production side, but the supply chain.”

Since many of the crops they wanted to

provide were space inefficient, they decided to have other people do the farming while they did the selling. In 2014, they launched the new subscription model, which serves about 700 members throughout the greater Philadelphia area.

In order to keep up with customers who may change orders from week to week, rather than relying on the “you get what you get” model of traditional CSAs, Philly Foodworks built a forecasting model using its market sales history to project how many units of each item they’ll need. They also keep track of a farm share item’s “deselection rate,” and say root vegetables like rutabaga are rarely in high demand.

“We know whatever we put in the subscriptions will be highest-moving items, and we have an idea in advance of what kind of bumper crops we’re going to have,” Baird says. “Thirty percent of people just leave their subscriptions as it is, and most other people don’t change it drastically.”

Most produce Philly Foodworks sells is certified organic or grown using organic practices; the rest is IPM (integrated pest management) or low spray techniques.

However, its prices remain competitive Beth Strauss prepares a meal in the Grateful Plate kitchen

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with stores like Whole Foods—and some items are less expensive. Since they purchase whole animals, which are then broken down into retail cuts, they can offer pasture-raised beef for $6.99 a pound.

While Philly Foodworks is seeing consistent growth, they point to the shuttering of other mainstays like Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market as an example of the changing marketplace as consumers demand additional convenience.

“People used to drive or take the bus to Fair Food Farmstand because you couldn’t find local turkey anywhere else,” he says.

“But now Philly Foodworks can deliver that same turkey to your door.”

Kristin Jekielek, a 33-year-old business software consultant in Center City, is a regular customer of Philly Foodworks, and says she loves that she is never stuck wondering what to do with 10 pounds of eggplant.

“I can stock my kitchen in 15 minutes and it shows up at my door,” Jekielek says.

And she says she feels like she is spending no more, and maybe less, than she ever did at Whole Foods.

“When I was in the store I was more prone to grabbing impulse items,” she says.

“This service allows me to focus on what I actually want and need.”

Rescuing a Healthy Surplus

A

nother innovative company working to reduce food waste is Hungry Harvest, champions of “ugly produce.” After learning that 20 percent of otherwise good produce goes to waste simply because it isn’t aesthetically perfect, Evan Lutz started his company to take advantage of this unused commodity.

The business launched in Baltimore in 2014, and, after a successful appearance on NBC’s “Shark Tank,” expanded to its second market—Philadelphia—in 2016. While the company would not share how many households it serves, it claims growth in the last year of over 150 percent across the Philadelphia area, including Delaware, South Jersey, and Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Bucks counties.

Hungry Harvest operates as a door-todoor service, and after four years in business, the company claims to have prevented more than 8 million pounds of food from going to landfills, while simultaneously providing 700,000 pounds of produce to reduced-cost markets and donations.

The company has also expanded its offerings to include “rescued” organic produce, eggs, bread and granola. But how do

“Value is really important to me, and I want to make sure we are giving people generous portions of the best quality, freshest food.

With my youngest child, one meal can last four days!”

— b eth strauss,

co-founder & head chef, Grateful Plate

you end up with deeply discounted organic eggs?

Cynthia Plotch, director of marketing, says food goes to waste not just because of aesthetic, but surplus or structural inefficiencies.

“Jumbo white eggs don’t sell as well as jumbo brown eggs, so producers are left with extra white eggs,” she says. “Bread could have a misprint on the label or be too close to the sell-by date for super-strict grocery store rules.”

This allows Hungry Harvest to sell a dozen locally grown jumbo cage-free eggs for $2.50. The same eggs could cost close to twice that at Whole Foods.

A mini-harvest delivery starts at $15 and an organic harvest starts at $25—but everything is 20 to 30 percent less than grocery pricing and customizable down to precise quantities.

And, due to the nature of the business, Hungry Harvest never knows when it will come into a jackpot of healthy food in need of rescue.

“There was a full shipment of coconuts coming in from Thailand but the purchaser lost contact with the ship,” Plotch says.

“The supplier had to make good by sending a new order to the store, and when the original batch turned up in the states, the supplier had no one to buy them.”

Hungry Harvest was able to step in and offer their customers a deep discount on the coconuts, a wonderful surprise in the middle of April.

Providing a Full Plate

W

hen Beth Strauss, 34, was working as a health coach and personal chef, she saw how difficult it was for her clients to eat well while juggling busy lifestyles. In 2015, she and her husband, Mike, launched Grateful Plate, a meal delivery service that could be customized for all tastes and dietary restrictions—even when those varied within the same household.

Based in Manayunk, Grateful Plate is part meal service, part personal chef, offering convenience while adapting to restrictive diets.

It currently serves 60 to 100 households each week, and offers weekly changing menus with no commitments or minimums.

“One thing that makes Grateful Plate so unique is that it’s a la carte, so you can get single servings of each meal catered to each

person,” Strauss says. “Your household could consist of one vegan, one meat eater and one picky child, and everyone gets what they want.”

Dinners range from $18-$28 with portions plentiful enough to potentially feed two.

While that price point is much higher than the $10 per meal from the national meal kit delivery services, the customizable door-todoor delivery is a benefit some people see as invaluable.

“Value is really important to me, and I want to make sure we are giving people generous portions of the best quality, freshest food,” Strauss says. “With my youngest child, one meal can last four days!”

Strauss says after working for other meal delivery services and enjoying the structure, starting this service seemed like the best way to expand beyond being a personal chef to reach more people and spread healthy eating as widely as she could.

To make the service more accessible for limited budgets, they offer a wide variety of a la carte items at various price points.

Beth Hollinger, a mother of two young children in Center City, has been using Grateful Plate weekly since the birth of her son, who is now 2.

Hollinger was struggling with trying to prepare healthful meals for her family, especially with dietary restrictions like nut allergies and gluten intolerance. It started out as a trial gift from her husband, who saw her struggling to prepare nutritious meals for two little ones and just wanted to help her “take the edge off.”

“All the diet restrictions and time constraints were making it hard for me to come up with a variety of healthy meals, and I wanted to expose my children to more adventurous eating,” Hollinger says.

“This service really helped expand my older daughter’s palate, and now she is open to trying more new healthy foods.”

Dining out with two little ones is tricky and stressful for her family, and she says the value of having healthy and creative meals available at her doorstep is immeasurable.

“We’ve been able to maintain our weight and have the peace of mind knowing that our children are being exposed to different nutritional components without hormones or antibiotics,” she says. “For me to come even close to preparing meals like this would be extraordinarily time consuming—I’m just not equipped to be that kind of chef.”

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EV EN TS

may 2018

J une 8

Inner Rhythms Music Open House

Homecoming Gala The largest annual fundraiser for the William Way LGBT Community Center, the gala is free to attend and raises money through a silent auction. waygay.org WHEN: 5:30 p.m. COST: Free with RSVP to smcmahan@waygay.org WHERE: William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.

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New West Philadelphia event space Inner Rhythms Music will hold an open house.

The space is described as ideal for performances, rehearsals, workshops, work meetings and more. innerrhythmsmusic.com WHEN: 7 to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 37 South 42nd Street

J une 10 Odunde Festival

West Park Arts Fest West Fairmount Park plays host to the festival for a second year in a row, which features the visual arts in addition to dance, music, crafts, local vendors and nonprofit organizations. A local artist will also be selected to create an installation for the festival. westparkcultural.org

Odunde Festival is known as the largest African-American festival on the east coast.

It begins with a spiritual procession to ring in the Yoruba New Year before giving way to food, dance, music and vendors along South Street. odundefestival.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 23rd & South Sts

WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: West Fairmount Park

Philadelphia Pride Parade

Lucretia Mott 225 Year Anniversary

phillygaypride.org

Renowned abolitionist, Quaker and women’s rights activist Lucretia Mott is buried in Fair Hill. This event serves as a way to remember Mott and other key figures in the women’s rights movement. historicfairhill.com WHEN: 1 to 2:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Historic Fair Hill, 2901 Germantown Ave.

Fishtown FestivALE The seventh edition of this street festival highlights the vibrant food-and-drink scene in Fishtown. There will be plenty of beer, plus food from popular spots and vendors.

The annual celebration in the Gayborhood includes music, dancers and more.

WHEN: Noon to 6:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Gayborhood

French Creek Iron Tour Whatever your skill level, there’s a course for you at the French Creek Iron Tour. Ranging from 11 to 100 miles, the tour is designed to showcase the history around southern Chester and the numerous iron furnaces in the area. irontour.org WHEN: 7:15 a.m. COST: $50-65 WHERE: Kimberton Fire Company Fairgrounds, 762 Pike Springs, Phoenixville

fishtownfestivale.com

DIY Bug Balm

WHEN: 12 to 8 p.m. COST: Pay as you go WHERE: Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Ave

Nyambi Royster from Nyambi Naturals will teach this course on making a nontoxic bug repellent. It is made with the following ingredients: raw shea butter, local beeswax, homegrown herbs and botanical flowers.

PIFA Street Fair The Philadelphia Institute of Fine Arts hosts a seven-block party that features live performances, vendors, food and more. Broad Street shuts down for this massive street festival. kimmelcenter.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: City Hall to Broad & South

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greensgrow.org WHEN: 12 to 2 p.m. COST: $25 WHERE: Greensgrow West, 5123 Baltimore Ave

J une 12 Wild Foodie Walk Hungry? Take a walk around Awbury Arboretum and learn which plants are edible and, more importantly, which plants are not edible. The cost covers services and events hosted by Philadelphia nonprofit Food Moxie. foodmoxie.org WHEN: 6 to 7:30 p.m. COST: $5 WHERE: Awbury Arboretum, One Awbury Rd

J une 13 A Taste of Kensington Urban farm Greensgrow hosts a benefit for its community kitchen. Local chefs will prepare food, and Philadelphia Brewing Co. will provide plenty of beer. There will also be a silent auction, live music, and a presentation of “Food Innovator” and “Green Innovator” awards. greensgrow.org WHEN: 6 to 10 p.m. COST: $55-85 WHERE: Greensgrow Farms, 2501 E. Cumberland St

J une 16 Historic Fairmount Park Scavenger Hunt Participants search for clues in six historic homes. Additional clues and challenges are available for those who wish to explore more challenging terrain or mental obstacles. myphillypark.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. COST: $20-25 WHERE: Lloyd Hall, 1 Boathouse Row

Community Gardens Day The variety of community gardens in Philadelphia give back to the city in diverse and vibrant ways, providing food, relaxation spots and more. This year, a number of participating gardens will host tours, workshops, barbeques and more. ngtrust.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: See website for participating locations

Disability Day The Constitution Center will host activities as Philadelphia recognizes Disability Pride Day. The parade kicks off at Independence Mall and moves down Market Street to Dilworth Plaza, where there will be performers, speeches and more. constitutioncenter.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St

J une 21 Night Market: Gayborhood This event series comes to the Gayborhood with plenty of food trucks, live music and other entertainment. This is the second of four Night Markets this year. thefoodtrust.org WHEN: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. COST: Pay-as-you-go WHERE: 13th & Locust Streets

Bloomsday The impact of James Joyce’s groundbreaking early 20th century novel “Ulysses” is undeniable, so much so that Bloomsday is held in its honor. The Rosenbach, which houses the manuscript, hosts this event with all-day readings. rosenbach.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: The Rosenbach, 2008-2010 Delancey Place

Islamic Heritage Festival

J une 23 It’s a Green Thing Sustainability Fair The fourth annual sustainability fair collaboration between West Laurel Hill Cemetery and Lower Merion features an array of vendors and food trucks dedicated to sustainable practices, in addition to live music and a beer garden. westlaurelhill.com

Following a parade from 5th and Market streets, this festival features games, speakers, a health and wellness fair, giveaways and a bazaar. festival.icpic.co

WHEN: 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: West Laurel Hill Cemetery, 225 Belmont Ave, Bala Cynwyd

WHEN: 1 to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: The Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, 101 Columbus Blvd.

Uhuru Flea Market

J une 17 Summer Nature Photography Series: Father's Day Edition This photography course is designed for beginners and will explain how to find the right lighting, composition and how to use auto focus. Attendees also learn the best methods for editing photos with a smartphone. phillyorchards.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: $10-15 WHERE: Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd

Wall Ball

An all-day African flea market held in Clark Park, with items for sale including handmade goods, food, crafts, houseware and more. uhurufleamarket.blogspot.com WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Clark Park, 43rd St. & Chester Ave.

Havertown Irish Festival The Irish Festival celebrates the heritage of many Havertown residents who call the town “the 33rd County of Ireland.” Featuring live music, food, drink, traditional music from the Philadelphia Emerald Society Pipe Band and others, as well as kids’ activities. havertownirishfestival.com WHEN: 12 to 9 p.m. COST: Free, $3 suggested donation WHERE: 130 N. Eagle Road, Havertown

Multiple individuals working for or with the Mural Arts Program will be honored, followed by a party at the Fillmore Philadelphia. muralarts.org WHEN: 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. COST: $20 WHERE: The Fillmore, 29 E. Allen St

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may 2018

J une 23–24 Manayunk Arts Festival A huge variety of artists peddle their wares, from jewelry to photography to sculpture and anything in between, at this annual Manayunk attraction. Awards are given out in a variety of categories, and there is a tent featuring emerging artists. manayunk.com WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday COST: Free WHERE: Manayunk

Philly Vegan Pop Flea 2nd Birthday Market Popular and up-and-coming makers will be featured, and everything is vegan or vegetarian friendly. Facebook: Philly Vegan Pop Flea WHEN: 12 to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Friends Select, 1501 Cherry St

J uly 7 Kayak Excursion: Petty's Island

J une 30 Philadelphia Orchestra Concert & Fireworks As part of Wawa’s Welcome America events, the Philadelphia Orchestra performs a free concert at Penn’s Landing, followed by fireworks. welcomeamerica.com WHEN: 8 to 9:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Penn’s Landing, 101 N. Columbus Blvd

On the Delaware Music Festival Pennypack Park plays host to an all-local outdoor music festival that features 14 bands. On the Delaware is part of Riverfront North Partnership’s continued series of events to revitalize the Delaware riverfront. musiconthedelaware.com WHEN: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Pennypack on the Delaware Park, 8500 Pine Rd

Petty’s Island, the destination of this kayak excursion, is a 200+ acre island in the Delaware River. There will be an eco-tour, and kayakers are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch. Independence Seaport Museum notes that this ride is for intermediate-level kayakers. phillyseaport.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. COST: $45 WHERE: Independence Seaport Museum, 211 S. Columbus Blvd

Blueberry Festival Pick your fill of blueberries, interact with costumed characters, learn how to make recipes with freshly picked fruits and vegetables, and try your hand at the pie-eating contest. linvilla.com WHEN: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Linvilla Orchards, 137 W Knowlton Rd, Media

J uly 7-8 Haddonfield Crafts and Fine Art Festival This large New Jersey festival hosts more than 250 artists and craftspeople who will be displaying and selling art in a variety of mediums including ceramics, glass, jewelry, wood, fiber, metal, paper, drawings, paintings, photography and clothing. downtownhaddonfield.com WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Downtown Haddonfield along Kings Hwy and Tanner St, Haddonfield, NJ

Concilio’s Hispanic Fiesta Nearly all Latin American countries are represented at this fiesta, which showcases food, dance, music, artisan crafts and other forms of entertainment in one of the region’s biggest Latino events. elconcilio.net WHEN: 2 to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: The Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, 101 Columbus Blvd

J uly 9 Al-Bustan Camp Students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade can attend this camp, which teaches Arabic language as well as culture.

Activities include visual arts, singing and dancing, drumming, science and lessons on the Arab region’s role in cross-cultural exchange. albustanseeds.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: $360-650 WHERE: Friends Select School, 1651 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy

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DIS PATC H

personal essay

Andrea Krupp’s art is on view through June 3 at Twenty-Two Gallery in Center City

Our Nature Reflections of a visual artist in the time of climate change

I

n 2013, while visiting Iceland, I fell in love with nature. I’m a visual artist and, at the time, I had begun to feel that the direction of my work was calling out for change. I needed to focus my attention on my studio work, so I applied for visual art residencies in the U.S. and abroad. Gullkistan in South Iceland was the first one to offer me an artist-in-residence position, so I leaped.

I have lived in Philadelphia all of my adult life. I never wondered about the state of my relationship with nature. Never felt on a conscious level that anything was missing.

But love crept in while I was simply, quietly being present in nature, far from home, in solitude and silence.

I had no idea that the place would affect me so profoundly. The fields of moss and lava and the ancient footpaths that cross them; the mountain forms and the blue winter light; the midnight sun and the

uncanny sensation of the white night, and wakeful sleep. I returned every year, each time exploring different locations around the island, in different seasons, both dark and light. These things, and the wild unseen interior of the island, fed my imagination, and the direction and intention behind my work changed in unforeseen ways. This love affair with Iceland in particular, and the “Northland” in general, with Nature overarching all, is ongoing.

My love for the place led me to learn more about it, and each year I returned to Iceland with a deeper feeling of connection.

Through the land I began to think about the sagas that unfolded underfoot. I learned about the language, and the Viking hoard of manuscripts and books, Iceland’s prized cultural treasures at the national library in Reykjavik. Spending time with these profound expressions of humanity, fresh from the ancient past, vibrating with life, gave rise

to the idea of transmission, which I define as human cultural transactions that pass forward and backward through time. We all do it. Humans are really good at transmission; it comes naturally to us. Transmissions carry the building blocks of culture and knowledge, and this concept has become a tenet of my visual arts practice.

I am thinking about transmission because climate change is an abstract and difficult thing to comprehend, but we, as a species, cannot delay addressing it, and art can help. As a visual artist, I explore how the visual transmits, and how an image works on the viewer’s understanding of what is, what was, and what could be.

What is “arctic”? What is “nature”? What does “thriving” look like? Or “imbalance”?

To understand climate change is to grasp a concept that is unhuman in scale, yet rooted in the minutia of our daily existence, both small and immense at the same time. How we perceive and respond to the realities of the here-and-now will directly shape the future, and I believe that visual art has an important role to play in that exchange.

andrea krupp is a visual artist living in Philadelphia. Her exhibition “Northland” presents works on paper and artist’s books based on her visual arts residencies in the Arctic, and is on display at Twenty-Two Gallery through June 3. For more information, please visit andreakrupp.com.

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VILLANOVA, PA

Our garden gates have opened!

Over the last century, Stoneleigh has been a farm, a country retreat, a palette for notable landscape architects, and the Haas family home.

Today, Stoneleigh is a unique garden setting blending history, horticulture, and conservation.

And it’s free to visit!

Learn more and plan your visit at stoneleighgarden.org

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A farm for the community An urban farmer continues to fight for land security VIRTUAL CAFÉ Join the MES program director on the first Tuesday of every month from 12-1 p.m. for an online chat about your interests and goals.

Log in with us.

www.facebook.com/UPennEES @Penn_MES_MSAG

You might think it would be hard for a farmer to play favorites among vegetables. But Johanna Rosen (MES ’13), co-founder of Mill Creek Farm in West Philadelphia, has no hesitations. “I love okra. It’s so tall and striking,” Johanna says. “It’s an important crop in African American foodways, and Mill Creek always sold out at every market.”

Providing that connection to nourishing local produce is exactly why Johanna began Mill Creek, a nonprofit educational farm in the heart of Philadelphia, in 2005. And it’s why she pursued her Master of Environmental Studies degree at Penn with a certificate in Land Preservation. “Mill Creek had run into land tenure issues. Without stable access to land, you can’t invest in key infrastructure for your business. I saw that with the MES degree, I could help farmers in similar situations.”

Today, Johanna still grows plenty of okra—but in Massachusetts, where she works with Equity Trust, a nonprofit that helps secure affordable land for farmers. “The MES degree was incredibly practical and led directly to the work I’m doing now. It introduced me to innovative models of land ownership I wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to. Now I help farmers protect the land they steward and ensure a source of locally grown food for their communities over the long-term.”

To learn more about Johanna’s work in securing land rights and promoting food justice and education, visit:

WWW.UPENN.EDU/GRID

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