Sound Bites: Phosphorus Management Tool |Baltimore’s Brassica Festival

Brassica_romanescoNovember 18, 2014 – Segment 4

In the newest edition of our series on the food system in Maryland, Sound Bites, we begin the hour with Governor Martin O’Malley’s move forward last week with the Phosphorus Management Tool (PMT). The PMT limits the amount of fertilizer containing phosphorus – a primary source of which is poultry manure – that farmers can spread on their fields, in an effort to reduce phosphorus runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. Our guests are: Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance;  Kevin Anderson, President of Maryland Grain Producers Association in Somerset County; Scott Edwards, co-Director of the Food & Water Justice Program at Food & Water Watch; and Lee Richardson, Eastern Shore poultry, soy and corn farmer.

Next: Do you know what Brassica is? It’s a genus of plants that includes cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. We take a sneak peak at the Brassica Festival, happening this weekend in Baltimore! The event, sponsored by Park Heights Community Health Alliance, will take place on Saturday, November 22, from 10am-5pm, and will include workshops, cooking demonstrations, community discussions, children’s activities, a holiday market, a recipe contest and more! Joining us to talk about the festival are: Willie Flowers, Executive Director of the Park Heights Community Health Alliance; and Karen Washington, co-founder of BUGS (Black Urban Growers), community gardener and board member of the New York Botanical Gardens, and Just Food board member trainer.

The Brassica Fest 2014 will take place on Saturday November 22 at the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Afya Center. For more information click here or call Saché Jones by phone at 443.844.9956 or email at sjones@phcha.org.