Letter to the Editor

Hipocrits in Power



Judith Arnold, LCSW •Reader Submitted •

December 13, 2010, 11:35 am


First, a thank you to the new editorial writers who have spoken up in compassion and pragmatism for those in our community and nation who are struggling economically. More of the electorate need to take a stand.


Contrary to the rebuttal to Prof. James Petras editorial, there is not a black and white answer to the financial quagmire we are in; it is not either this or I'll refuse that as Jonathan Stossel proclaims about collective sharing at Thanksgiving. These days everyone does not own property, in fact they are foreclosed. However, I would have the prisoners working at the CHOW garden.

The conservative political hypocrisy is particularly hard to take at this holiday season. We have a modern den of thieves in Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Karl Rove and their Wall Street pals. What is it that the tearful, daily Mass attender John Boehner does not get about 30 years of wages that are not livable, offshore bank accounts and the rising poverty level? His neighbors are not going to achieve that American Dream he cries about as long as there are 43,000 applicants for 1,000 KIA jobs in ultra-conservative West Point, Georgia and four more textile plants that closed there last year. The identified 6,000 Southern Tier unemployed know where their bread is not buttered. That is not soft social science Mr. Siwiec. The thieves' apologist Bill O'Reilly asks, “What does a moral society owe to the have-nots?” Jesus threw the moneychangers out.


As former columnist Molly Ivins stated in Dec 2005, “The nation's leaders sure don't act like Christians; some Christians seem to me inclined to lose track of love, compassion and mercy. I don't think I have any special brief to go around judging them, but when the stink of hypocrisy becomes so foul in the nostrils it makes you start to puke, it becomes necessary to point out there is one more good reason to observe the separation of church and state: If God keeps hanging out with politicians, it's gonna hurt His reputation.”


The thieves are so tight with the wealthy plutocracy they did not ask them to anti up any percentage of tax sharing for the common good in NY or Washington in the deficit reduction plan. Nicholas Kristof(NYTimes) reports that, “from 1980-2005 more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent and they are less likely to spend their tax cut or savings. Inequality leaves people on the lower rungs feeling like hamsters on a wheel spinning ever faster, without hope or escape.to me we've reached a banana republic point where our inequality has become both economically unhealthy and morally repugnant.” The American Friends Service Committee reminds us that 59% of the federal budget goes to the military.


I'm sorry Tiny Tim; as Bill Moyers states, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. But he's run off with all the toys.” (truthout, Nov 3)


Judith Arnold, LCSW

PressConnects: Urban Farmers Pitch In For Global Event

Binghamton Urban Farm Project takes part in global environmental event


By Steve Reilly •sreilly@gannett.com • October 10, 2010, 11:20 pm


CONKLIN -- A group of young environmentalists celebrated a global day of action on Sunday by tending the soil beneath their feet.

On the brisk October morning, about 20 people -- many of them Binghamton University students -- gathered on a 7-acre farm by the Susquehanna River in Conklin to clear the land and plant garlic in preparation for the winter.

One acre of the farm -- a piece of land repossessed by a local community farming organization after it was destroyed by flooding in 2006 -- is devoted to the Binghamton Urban Farm Project, a mostly student-led effort to increase access to fresh, locally-grown produce in urban areas.

The project is an initiative of the local nonprofit group Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments, or VINES.

"This project is very much about creating affordable , healthy, safe organic food with -- and for -- the surrounding community," said Kate Cardona, coordinator of the project. "All of the food that we grow here will be used to that end."

Produce grown by the group is available at the Otsiningo Park farmers market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays through the end of November, and the group's farm stand at 16 Tudor Street in Binghamton is open from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
The group's work project on Sunday was planned to coincide with the "10/10/10 Global Work Party" organized by the climate change organization 350.org.

Farm manager Johan Jelsma said while he's "one of those people who wishes that every day was a global day of action," he was glad to see one day of that action take place at home.

"You can feel it, being here," he said. "Everyone just comes out and is willing to get down on their hands and knees to pull up weeds, and it's a beautiful thing."

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201010100372

WBNG: Planting 35 Trees

Planting 35 Fruit Trees


Originally printed at http://www.wbng.com/news/local/Planting-35-Fruit-Trees-101266884.html

Conklin, NY (WBNG Binghamton) - The Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, or CHOW, provides meals for communities in need.


Sunday volunteers worked with the organization to help plant a brand new Orchard at its Conklin location.


They planted 35 fruit trees, that will go to community members who can't afford to buy them on their own.


It's all to encourage healthy eating.


Over 70 volunteers showed up despite the rain.


"I just can't explain it, what this does for us and the feeling that we have. These are community-minded people. I think a lot of these people are the same people that helped clean up after the flood, and I am amazed," said Town of Conklin's Supervisor, Debra Preston.


Edy's Fruit Bars and the Fruit Trees Planting Foundation donated the trees.


The Conklin Orchard is one of 25 others in the nationwide Communities Take Root Program.


The trees will start providing fruit next year.

PressConnects: CHOW Orchard Planting

Volunteers plant fruit orchard, reclaim neighborhood devastated by flood


By Nancy Dooling •ndooling@gannett.com • August 22, 2010, 8:15 pm


Where once there were houses, an orchard will grow.

More than 75 volunteers, including Nick Stento, 17, of the Town of Binghamton, on Sunday planted a fruit orchard on flood land in the Town of Conklin. (NANCY DOOLING / Staff Photo)

Not long ago, children played in this neighborhood of 12 houses between Conklin Road and the Susquehanna River.


Now the houses are gone, taken by the river that swelled out of control a little more than four years ago.


The former neighborhood is now "green space," owned by the Town of Conklin. The houses -- or what was left of them -- condemned and demolished.


Under the terms of a Federal Emergency Management buyout, no one can live here anymore.


But in their own way, people are slowly retaking the land.


On Sunday, more than 75 people -- some who had lived through the 2006 flood that put most of Conklin underwater -- planted an orchard of 35 trees. Next to the new orchard, sweet corn and other vegetables grow.


William Roe's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter lived on Morris Street -- until their house got taken by the river, floating downstream while the flood was at full surge.


Don, Lisa and Faith Smith have moved on with their lives and now live on higher ground in the Town of Binghamton, Roe said.


But on Sunday, Roe was helping plant trees in the former neighborhood. "It's good to see this land put to good use," Roe said.


Emotions ran high for some who picked up shovels on a rainy Sunday morning in Conklin.


"I don't have words for it," said Debra Preston, Conklin's supervisor, who spent weeks, months and years rallying Conklin's residents and businesses in the flood's aftermath. Preston, like hundreds of others in the town, was left homeless by flood waters in 2006.


"I just can't explain it, what this does for us and the feelings we have," Preston said of Sunday's planting.


Apple, cherry, pear and plum trees should flourish in the rich bottomland along the river. In a few years, their fruits could help feed hungry people in the community, said Edward Blaine, director of Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse.


CHOW leases 7 acres of empty land from the Town of Conklin for its community gardens, Blaine said. The Binghamton charity provides the needy with food collected from churches, organizations, businesses and individuals.


The charity won the trees for the orchard after a six-week Internet voting contest in May. The trees were donated by the Communities Take Root program, supported by Edy's Fruit Bars and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.


The groups have recently planted orchards as far afield as India and Virginia, said Melanie Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Edy's.


Now it'll be up to the community to take care of the orchard, said Rico Montenegro, an arborist with the foundation. The neighborhood's hardship -- and its history -- add poignancy to the placement of the orchard.


"I think this makes the orchard more special," Montenegro said.


Some trees should begin bearing fruit next year. It'll take five to six years for the orchard to mature into full fruit production, Montenegro said.

View Article Here

CHOW Orchard Planting

Orchard Taking Root in Conklin

Binghamton's Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse is the big winner of Edy's Fruit Bars and Fruit Trees Planting Foundations contest.


Sunday Conklin received its grand prize and is giving new life to a piece of land and more nutritious options to the diet of a community in need.


Floods destroyed a field along River Blvd. four years ago, but passersby now have to get used to looking at more than empty land.


"The lights went out here, but now the lights are back on, because now we have an orchard, we're gonna be growing vegetables here, and now we can give back to the community and those who are in need," said Town of Conklin Supervisor Debbie Preston.


The new orchard is CHOW's and the Broome County Council of Churches' prize for getting the most votes in a national Internet contest held by Edy's Fruit Bars and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.


All of the apples, pears, cherries, and nectarines produced by the trees will go directly to the food pantry, helping to stock its supply and provide those in need with fresh food options.


"The produce that comes from the orchards, it's always stipulated that it be donated to a worthy cause or some community efforts," said Rico Montenegro, arborist for the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.


Community support for CHOW didn't end with the online votes that made the orchard possible. More than 100 volunteers showed up to brave the rain and help plant the trees. It's that kind of dedication Edy's officials say they were looking for when seeking out communities in need.


"The voting process allows us to determine which communities have the passion to sustain the orchards long term," said Melanie Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for Edy's Fruit Bars.


Conklin officials say they have high hopes for the orchard...saying it can give the community not only fresh foods, but also a new beginning.


"This is the final phase in our healing process," said Preston.


The Conklin orchard is one of 25 being planted across the country as part of the Take Root program.


The trees are expected to produce fruit by next summer.

View Video Here

View Article Here

CHOW Farm in Endwell

Sherry shared these pictures with us.  She says it is just beautiful up there and is a great experience to pick the corn.  Enjoy :)

Volunteers for the Orchard Planting Day Needed

July 19, 2010






Volunteers needed to plant fruit trees




Volunteers are needed to plant 45 fruit trees at the Broome County Council of Churches’ farm on River Boulevard in Conklin.


Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse won the trees earlier this year in an Internet-based Communities Take Root contest sponsored by Edy’s Fruit Bars and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.


CHOW will hold a tree-planting event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 22 on a half-acre tract of its seven-acre fresh food farm in Conklin. Go online to broomecouncil.net/volunteer.asp to register as a volunteer or call (607) 724-9130.

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100719/NEWS01/100719013/1112/Volunteers-needed-to-plant-fruit-trees

Volunteers needed for the CHOW Orchard Planting Day

Up To The Minute News


Help Plant the CHOW Fruit Tree Orchard


Last Update: 7/14 12:29 pm

From Broome County Council of Churches:
Now that CHOW (Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse) of the Broome County Council of Churches has won an internet-voting contest for a free fruit tree orchard, it’s nearing time to do the actual planting of some 45 fruit trees.


This community event will take place on Sunday, August 22, at the CHOW Farm on River Boulevard in Conklin from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. River Boulevard is off Conklin Road towards the Susquehanna River.


“We need you, the community, to help us plant these trees and celebrate with us at the same time,” said Deacon Edward Blaine, CHOW program director. “Bring your pick or shovel, dig and plant, hand out refreshments, eat with us, learn about orchards and be a part of the excitement.”


The prize of a free orchard came about through an internet-voting contest last Spring and is sponsored by The Communities Take Root program, and supported by Edy’s Fruit Bars and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. Edy’s will provide fruit bars to everyone and the Council of Churches will provide lunch.


The program on August 22 consists of the following:

--11 to 11:45 a.m., introductions and planting demonstrations

--11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., break into groups to plant the orchard (bring your pick or shovel; otherwise the Council will have a limited supply of tools)

--3 to 4 p.m., workshop on fruit tree after care, if enough volunteers sign up for this session.


When volunteers fill out the Volunteer Form, let the Council know if 1) you will bring your own tools, and 2) whether you will be staying for the workshop at 3 p.m.

To volunteer, go to www.broomecouncil.net/volunteer.asp and fill out the Volunteer Form. Or you can volunteer by calling the Council of Churches at 724-9130 Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (2 p.m. on Friday).

“You helped us win this orchard with all your votes,” said Deacon Blaine. “Now you can help us plant it enabling us to provide even more healthy food for the hungry.”

The CHOW Farm and Orchard is on flood-plain land; the Town of Conklin is leasing seven acres of land to CHOW at a very minimal price. Half an acre will be used for the orchard tree planting.

See Article Here