The Climate Agenda: Building community through food
A local nonprofit helps refugees join into the community while also fighting food waste and insecurity… The group has harvested and preserved produce for 20 years … Clearing out 100-Acre Wood.
If you’ve visited the Santa Cruz River Farmers Market on a recent Thursday evening, you might have spotted a table full of brightly colored jams and packages of dried goods.
Those jams and dried goods are sold by the Iskashitaa Refugee Network, but it isn’t your average vendor. It’s a longstanding nonprofit that’s spent the last few decades working to empower newly arrived refugees, while also fighting food insecurity and waste. Iskashitaa helps integrate United Nations refugees into the community while also educating the public and strengthening the local food system.
One of the ways it does this is by learning about food from the refugees with whom they work, while also helping them redefine the idea of a food resource as it applies to their new environment.
Several times a week, Iskashitaa refugees and volunteers harvest produce that would otherwise go to waste from residential trees, community gardens and desert areas.
Some of the harvest is preserved and turned into sellable goods, but about half of what Iskashitaa collects is donated to local food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and tribes. The group also provides refugees with produce, to help fight food insecurity in their own communities.
Iskashitaa was founded by Barbara Eiswerth, a geologist and environmental scientist who spent time working in Latin America and East and West Africa. In 2003, Eiswerth founded Iskashitaa, which over years has grown from harvesting a few thousand pounds of fruit to an annual harvest of over 50 tons of fruit, nuts and vegetables from across the community.
The group hosts monthly food preservation workshops to help reduce food waste and educate the public about ways to transform local food. During the workshops, participants use harvested produce and community donations to make products that are then sold in Iskashitaa’s online shop or at farmers markets.
Over the years, the group has worked with 69 different ethnic groups. Eiswerth told the Tucson Agenda that one of her goals in starting Iskashitaa was to battle the isolation that many new citizens or citizens-to-be face when they arrive in the community.
In addition to food harvesting and preservation, Iskashitaa also holds workshops and classes in topics including composting, recycling, permaculture, rainwater harvesting and more.
It also hosts a refugee garden art program that brings volunteers and refugees together every week to garden, practice language, create art projects and share food and culture.
“This gives them a chance to show off their culinary skills while also teaching about their culture through food,” Eiswerth said.
This year, it also launched a 12-week project with the University of Arizona that paired 12 refugees from seven countries with 12 UA students for weekly gardening workshops.
“It’s been a lot of work, but the impact was immediate and keeps building,” Eiswerth said of the partnership with the UA. “I would love to keep it going as long as we can ensure that there’s funding for all the logistics.”
And to keep up with the times, Iskashitaa has also been ramping up its services for asylum seekers over the past 10 years.
“When we first started working with asylum seekers, historically it had been single men and women from refugee producing countries,” Eiswerth said. “It’s more diverse now and includes families and people from Latin America.”
Iskashitaa volunteers and refugees currently spend two to three days each week harvesting produce, with Eiswerth saying there’s still plenty of produce that they aren’t able to get to. And while she’s happy to see so many local programs focusing on sustainability efforts, harvesting produce before it goes bad seems to have been left out of the conversation.
That’s where Iskashitaa comes into play, with local leaders tapping into their expertise as they look into increasing citywide sustainability efforts.
“The City of Tucson in the past few years has reached out to us as leaders and is including us in focus groups, discussion groups and forums, which we hadn’t seen at first,” Eiswerth said. “This is a good thing. We’re doing what we do well, and we’re getting better every year.”
One of the city’s goals is to plant one million trees by 2030 in an effort to increase the shade canopy and heat resilience across the city, especially in parts where shade is scarce. Eiswerth applauds the effort but says It’s important to remember that the work doesn’t end once the tree is planted.
“We have to not only be excited about trees and planting them, but also harvesting and caring for them for years,” she said.
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Clearout begins: Tucson officials started clearing out the biggest homeless camp in the city Thursday morning, the Arizona Daily Star’s Charles Borla reports. The goal is to clear out part of the 100-Acre Wood where a few dozen people are living so Davis-Monthan officials can test soil and groundwater for PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that can cause cancer and other illnesses. The likely reason PFAS are in the area is firefighting foam used at Davis-Monthan. For the most part, unsheltered people were relocated to a different part of 100-Acre Wood. Later this year, the city will clear out the rest of the encampment to make way for more trails.
Stopgap measure: Under a new California law, Arizona doctors can go to California with their patients to perform abortions, the Associated Press’ Adam Beam reports. The law is designed as a way to get around Arizona’s strict abortion laws. It expires Nov. 30 and only applies to doctors who are licensed in both states.
Another step: The Arizona Senate passed a border security ballot measure on Wednesday that would make it a state crime to enter Arizona from Mexico outside of a port of entry, Camryn Sanchez and Wayne Schutsky report for KJZZ’s Fronteras Desk. The measure would go to voters if the House approves it, but they won’t be in session until early June. Even if voters approve it, the courts would have to clear a similar Texas law before Arizona’s HCR 2060 could take effect. Sanchez and Schutsky get into the nitty gritty on what the measure includes and how the vote went down in the Senate.
Like father, like son: The son of U.S. Senate candidate Mark Lamb is acting as a border vigilante near Sasabe, the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting and the Texas Observer’s Francesca D’Annunzio and Avery Schmit report. Cade Lamb is the founder of the Sonoran Asset Group, the latest in a long line of border militia groups. He films his encounters with migrants and humanitarian groups and then his father uses them as campaign fundraising material.
Subs unite: Substitute teachers at the Tucson Unified School District are trying to unionize, the Star’s Jessica Votipka reports. Dolores de Vera has been trying to get the process moving for the past decade, and she got a shot in the arm at Tuesday’s governing board meeting when Tucson Education Association President Jim Byrne addressed the board.
“The role of substitutes to not only have ‘a warm body’ in the classroom, but many of them having experience coming out of the classroom themselves … these are high-quality, valuable educators that maintain a much-needed stability and consistency in our classrooms, whether that’s one period one day or an entire quarter,” Byrne said.
County Titans: Pima County is one step closer to owning the Titan Missile Museum, KGUN staff reports. The county board of supervisors voted unanimously at their meeting Tuesday to approve an operating agreement with the Arizona Aerospace Foundation to run the site. The county started the process of taking over the site two years ago.
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s heating up out there and the number of outdoor activities is dwindling. We’ll do our best to find you a full calendar of ways to get involved in climate, environment and sustainability efforts, but if you know of an event that fits the bill, please send details to caitlin@tucsonagenda.com.
Celebrate Archaeology Day at Mission Garden
Join representatives from Tucson’s archaeology community at Mission Garden (946 W. Mission Ln.) tomorrow from 8 a.m. to noon for a morning of hands-on knowledge. The monthly event takes place in the youth garden, where experts from Archeology Southwest will be teaching kids of all ages about ancient technologies, which might be etching shells, painting with natural pigments or throwing spears with atl-atls. There will also be talks and demonstrations involving pinch pots, pendants, petroglyphs and more. The event is free and no RSVP is required. Learn more here.
Explore the nuances of rain garden care
Join the Watershed Management Group (1137 N. Dodge Blvd.) on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to learn about rain garden care and how to keep your water harvesting landscape healthy and long-lasting. Instructors will cover the benefits of rainwater harvesting, proper care of different plant types, how to identify and solve potential issues, watering schedules, seasonal plant needs and more. Click here to sign up for the class. For more information, check out WMG's Rain Garden Care Handbook.
Last Team Up to Clean Up until fall
The City of Tucson is hosting its last Team Up to Clean Up of the season on Wednesday from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in the area of Alvernon and 29th Street. Volunteers will meet at 1733 South Rosemont Avenue to pick up litter and help beautify the general area. Organizers recommending hydrating the day before and will provide sunscreen, gloves, safety vests and park patrols at the event. Volunteers should wear a hat, sunglasses, long pants, closed-toe shoes and bring gloves, a water bottle and extra water. Parking is available just south of the meeting point in the apartment parking lot at the corner of 29th Street and Rosemont. Learn more and register here.
Tour Tucson’s youth-created urban farm
Tucson Village Farm (4210 N. Campbell Ave.,) an urban farm built by and for youth in the community, is hosting a public tour on Thursday from 8:30 to 10 a.m. The farm is a seed-to-table program designed to reconnect young people to a healthy food system, teach them how to grow and prepare fresh food and empower them to make healthy life choices. Tour attendees will learn about what the farm does, why it does it and how it can be used as a community resource. A $10 donation is suggested and will help support the farm’s mission of providing agricultural education, life skills and leadership opportunities to local youth. Attendees should bring a water bottle and sun protection. Learn more and sign up here.
Get to know Tucson’s native edibles
Join the Watershed Management Group at Rio Vista Natural Resource Park (3974 N. Tucson Blvd.) Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to learn about what’s going on with native edibles and hopefully harvest some Palo Verde and Ironwood tree beans and cactus fruit along the way. Attendees will enjoy a walk through the park and be introduced to the bounty of the desert. Find more information and register here.
Taste the history of garlic and onions
Mission Garden (946 W. Mission Ln.) is exploring the history of garlic and onions on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8. The monthly “Tasting History” session takes place in the “Placita” outside the garden’s kitchen and is an opportunity to learn about a specific crop’s origins, how it became part of Tucson’s local agricultural and culinary traditions, how to grow it at home and more. Docents will demonstrate and share tastings, written materials and recipes throughout the morning and visitors are invited to drop in any time between 9 and 11 a.m. The event is free and open to attendees of all ages. Monetary donations are accepted and help the garden grow. Click here for more information.
Upcoming meetings
City of Tucson Citizen’s Water Advisory Committee - Thursday, June 6 at 8 a.m.
Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee - Wednesday, June 19 at 6 p.m.
Complete Streets Coordinating Council - Wednesday, June 26 at 5:30 p.m.
We’d love to hear your ideas for future editions of The Climate Agenda. Send those to caitlin@tucsonagenda.com.