From The Ground Up

Happy Spring!

2010-04-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

"From the Ground Up" has sprung into the final stages and we could use your help. Currently most of the film has been shot, we are doing our first edit at the end of the month (assembly edit - very very rough cut), and we are starting to get the video podcasts on line. We still need few more shooting days, graphics, animations, archival footage, music, the final edit, and more. How can you help? Here are a few suggestions:

Be our fan on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FromtheGroundUp

Donate Money (tax deductable): http://sffs.org/donate/donate-now.aspx?pid=405

Donate goods, services, ideas, good tidings - you name it we'll take it. Contact me at ftgumovie@gmail.com

Tell you friends about the film and encourage them to do any of the above.

Thank you!
Kristi Stephens Adams
Director - From the Ground Up

Fundraiser and back to Holyoke

2009-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall!

We are preparing for our first fundraiser - Sunday September 20th at the Homestead bar in San Francisco from 6 to 9pm. Address: 2301 Folsom St at 19th St. We will show a trailer from the film, offer snacks from Arizmendi's, Thorough Bread Bakery, and fresh fruits and veggies from our backyards. There will be a raffle of items that have been donated to help make the film happen, including self-watering containers, dance lessons, winter vegetable seedlings and much more! Please let us know if you can make it, we need to let the venue know how many people to expect.
Then on September 22nd I am off to Holyoke, MA to film the Harvest Festival at Nuestras Raices. I am very much looking forward to this! I will post photos when I return.

If you are on facebook become our fan: http://www.facebook.com/FromtheGroundUp

Progress

2009-08-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

Things are moving right along, we have just returned from Holyoke, MA where we were filming the amazing people at Nuestras Raices. On our return we got word that the film is receiving fiscal sponsorship from the San Francisco Film Society, which means you can donate to the film (we could use it!). Also, if you are on facebook please become a fan of the film by going to: http://www.facebook.com/FromtheGroundUp and click the become a fan button. Thanks!

Sacramento Opening Day

2009-06-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Sacramento WE Garden opening a few weeks ago had a great turn out, lots of press, kids, local groups, politicos and famous foodies. The little garden was being planted by local students, they seemed to really enjoy the work, but were a little overwhelmed at the media attention. Check it out if you are in Sacramento.

Sacramento

2009-05-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

I went to Sacramento to video the planting of a front yard garden and stopped by Capitol Park to check out the location of the demo garden, a little small but a step in the right direction. I could not believe how many orange trees full of oranges there are in that park!

Spring!

2009-04-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Spring has brought fantastic news about urban farming! The vegetable garden at the White House is fantastic and an inspiration to the not only the country, but the world. The State of California and the city of Baltimore are following in their footsteps with plans for food producing gardens.

End of the San Francisco Civic Center Victory Garden

2008-12-07T15:51:00.001-08:00

All good things must come to an end, the Victory Garden at Civic Center has been removed after a fantastic 5 month run, especially impressive since it was only supposed to be there a little over a month. I want to send a thank you to all the people who made it happen, maintained it and supported it - Thank you! The re-usable bits will be used for a new garden for Project Homeless Connect - stay tuned for more info.

From the Ground Up at YBCA

2008-12-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

We have a special short playing at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco as part of a show entitled The Gatherers through January 11, 2009. The whole show is about greening our urban spaces.

From YBCA website:
The Gatherers is an exhibition that brings together a diverse group of practitioners who combine art with cultural activism to explore questions of how we ensure sustainability for our growing urban populations. Since our relationship with nature varies so much from one culture or locale to the next, The Gatherers provides an opportunity to explore not only the differences, but also the similarities, of their attempts to green our urban spaces. In doing so, it touches upon a broad range of interlinking matters, from environmental issues to urban spatial justice, through interactive programs, urban interventions and public dialogue.

Artists and artist collectives in the exhibition include: Fallen Fruit, Amy Franceschini with Wilson Diaz, The National Bitter Melon Council, Oda Projesi, Marjetica Potrc, Public Matters, Ted Purves and Susanne Cockrell, Rebar, roomservices and Åsa Sonjasdotter. The Gatherers is co-curated by Berin Golonu and Veronica Wiman.

SF Civic Center Victory Garden Video!

2008-09-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of many video podcasts. This is John Bela of San Francisco Victory Gardens +08 talking about the Civic Center garden, let me know what you think.

San Francisco Civic Center Victory Garden

2008-08-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

The countdown to Slow Food Nation has begun and the garden at Civic Center is in full swing. They are producing an average of 100lbs of produce a week and are donating it to the San Francisco Food Bank. It has been amazing to watch the progress and the change of the overall feeling in the neighborhood, most everyone who sees it comments that they would like it to stay forever.

I have been filming at the garden since they started to remove the sod, it took San Francisco Victory Gardens +08 and a small army of volunteers only two weeks to install the garden (not counting the months that Willow at City Slicker Farms in Oakland took to grow the seedlings...).

This garden has turned out to be a great boon to From the Ground Up, since it embodies everything that the documentary is about. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to document this amazing accomplishment. I will be posting some video podcasts of the garden and gardeners very soon.

Food & Photos

2008-04-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone celebrated Earth Day in a fun and tasty manner. Here is a link to a Michael Pollan article that I sent to everyone I knew: http://tinyurl.com/4u6dwb.

There has been so much in the news about food prices rising and shortages, it is getting people talking about food and hopefully about where their food comes from. This is great, but cheap food has never been cheap, we have been paying for it all along in other ways. Cheap food is not always the best food, underpaid laborers, dangerous working conditions, harmful farming practices and produce that is designed to travel well, store a long time & look good, but taste like cardboard, all exist to make food "cheaper" but not better. Good quality food is worth paying more for, if you join a CSA or shop at farmers markets, it will not cost any more that a grocery store chain. Grow some of your own, it is fun, cheap and a great way to meet people. Check out the links page on the From the Ground Up website for some places to start.

I have recently returned from a trip to Paris & Amsterdam to visit friends, but I also checked out some gardens while I was there. Thanks to some great leads on the American Community Garden Listserv, I found a couple of great community gardens in Paris. In Amsterdam most of the garden that I saw were on boats in the canals, nice. Here is a link to those photos, I will be uploading more soon: http://www.flickr.com/gp/12644420@N08/2wXJ60

Spring Has Sprung

2008-03-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

...at least here in San Francisco. I am very excited about the arrival of this spring - I am heading out and will soon have photos a gardens in Amsterdam and Paris. Filming will resume and video podcasts will be on the way to hold us over until the full length feature is finished. Check back soon.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

2007-06-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

I just listened to KQED's Forum podcast with Barbara Kingsolver & her husband Steven L. Hopp. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading their book Animal. Vegetable, Miracle. Hearing them talk about how local food is making headway all over the county was inspiring. You can down load the podcast on iTunes and the website for the book is: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

Welcome to the blog!

2007-05-29T14:51:00.001-07:00

From the Ground Up documentary is currently in production and the 7 minute "teaser" is on the website and looking good. I want to thank everyone who has taken time to work with me, talk with me and be filmed. As things progress I will be posting updates and links to interesting new urban farms.
Stay tuned...