One of the Fresh Food Hub’s staff members, Mecca, showing off some brussel sprouts. (Courtesy of West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub)

West Philadelphia Fresh Food Hub, a non-profit mobile market dedicated to improving nutritional education and access to affordable healthy, locally-grown food, will return to Powelton Village for its second season starting April 30.

At the Fresh Food Hub, West Philly residents will be able to purchase locally-grown and seasonal organic fruits and vegetables, as well as conventional produce, milk, local free range eggs, bread, healthy snacks, and fruit salad. Developed in collaboration between Preston’s Paradise and Greensgrow Farms, the market will operate between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at its regular 37th Street and Lancaster Avenue location and will travel to three local senior centers on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings. It accepts cash, credit cards, EBT/SNAP, and FMNP senior coupons.

“Local and organic foods are crucial components to a sustainable food system,” said Julia Dougherty, food access coordinator for the AmeriCorps VISTA program at Drexel University, one of the Fresh Food Hub’s partners, “but it is most important for the Fresh Food Hub to increase overall fruit and vegetable consumption in its target neighborhoods to ensure that the customers’ basic nutritional needs are being met.”

The market will also serve as the pickup location for three CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs: Greensgrow CSA, which offers locally-grown vegetables, fruit, dairy, protein, and specialty items such as beer, honey, and pierogi; Neighborhood Foods CSA, which is focused on urban-grown produce, and offers local fruit, value-added products, honey, and flowers; and Greensgrow’s LIFE Box CSA, a low-cost option only available to customers receiving SNAP benefits.

“Traditionally, the large up-front deposits required by most CSAs prohibit low-income shoppers from enjoying the benefits of joining a CSA,” said Dougherty, whose role is to support the Fresh Food Hub through community outreach and partnership efforts. When enrolled in a CSA, clients pay dues at the start of the farming season in order to receive a weekly or bi-weekly box of local harvest. “But there are farms and organizations—such as Greensgrow and Greener Partners in Media/Collegeville—which are working to remove that financial barrier because they recognize the importance of incorporating educational components in food access work.”

According to Dougherty, profits from the Fresh Food Hub will go towards educational programming in the neighborhood, including cooking classes, nutrition education, and garden demonstrations at Drexel’s recently established Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, located on 35th and Spring Garden Streets.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/WPFoodHub.

Here is the complete 2013 Fresh Food Hub schedule as of this point:

Tuesdays – Fridays
2 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
37th and Lancaster (regular location)

Wednesdays
11 a.m.
Sunshine Senior Center
58th Street and Walnut Street

Thursdays
11 a.m.
St. Ignatius Senior Homes
44th Street and Fairmount Avenue

Fridays
11 a.m.
West Philadelphia Senior Community Center
41st Street and Poplar Street

Saturdays
Available to travel to special events in the community

– Annamarya Scaccia

The 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program (AIR), which awards West Philadelphia artists one year of free studio space at 40th and Chestnut Streets, is now accepting applications for the 2013-2014 residency. Applications are due Monday, May 13, 2013. Artists accepted into the program are expected to share their talents with neighbors by leading workshops, teaching classes, and exhibiting in the area.

Founded by artist Edward M. Epstein in 2003, the program addresses the need for studio space in West Philadelphia and assists artists with career development. If accepted into the program, artists will be granted a studio space at either 4007 Chestnut St.  or 4013 Chestnut St., beginning on August 25, 2013.

Current resident artists include Diedra Krieger who worked with students at the Huey School, residents of the 4900 block of Chancellor Street, and Mariposa Food Co op’s Food Justice and Anti-Racism Group (FJAR) to collect plastic water bottles and construct a large geodesic dome. You can read more about this project here. Other artists currently participating in the program are Celestine Wilson Hughes, Fatima Adamu, and Michael Harpring.

For more information about AIR and to apply for the residency, go to: http://40streetair.blogspot.com.

The FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department are asking for the public’s help in identifying and locating the person who robbed the PNC Bank branch located at 19 S. 52nd Street (near 52nd and Ludlow). The robbery happened on Friday, Apr 19, at around 11:10 a.m., when an unknown female entered the bank and handed a teller a threatening demand note. After getting a hold of an undisclosed amount of money the suspect fled. She was last seen on the 5200 block of Ludlow Street.

The suspect is described as a black female, approximately 40 years old, 5’6” tall, with short dreadlocks. She’s considered armed and dangerous. Everyone with information about the robbery or the suspect is asked to contact FBI/PPD Violent Crimes Task Force at 215-418-4000 or dial 911.

For more information, visit Philly Police Blog.

Here are two photos of the suspect from the bank’s security cameras.

Photo courtesy ThePennRelays.com

The nation’s oldest and largest track and field event, the Penn Relays, kicks off tomorrow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field (233 S. 33rd St.) and there are a couple things West Philadelphia residents should know about the event.

First, traffic near Franklin Field will increase significantly as a result of the Relays, which run through Saturday. Penn security officials said 33rd Street from Walnut to South will be closed for about an hour on Saturday, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Those planning to attend the event, which attracts some 15,000 athletes ranging from high school students to Olympians, should expect much tighter security than in the past due to the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon. Security will be tight at every entrance to Franklin Field and everyone will be checked with metal detectors. Bomb-sniffing dogs and bomb disposal teams will also be on hand.

Here are the rules:

• Backpacks and large bags (gym bags etc.) will not be permitted into Franklin Field or the Relay Carnival Village.

• Participants (athletes, coaches, team medical personnel) will be permitted to bring in backpacks. These bags will be thoroughly checked and will only be allowed in via the designated participant entrances.

• All bags containing food must be smaller than 12x12x6 (inches) and in clear plastic bags. Sealed plastic water bottles and cardboard juice boxes are permitted inside the clear plastic bags.

• Coolers, glass bottles and cans will not be permitted.

For more info, including ticket information and schedule of events, go to the Penn Relays website.

The firm behind the proposed residential housing project at 43rd and Baltimore will soon begin to seek community input, including the launch of a forum-like website, according to a letter from the chair of the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee.

We first reported on the 92-unit residential complex proposed for the vacant lot at the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue, across from Clark Park, a month ago. Since publishing the story, a lively discussion on what this development would mean for West Philly took off, with a number of residents emailing concerns to Barry Grossbach, chair of the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee. Grossbach recently addressed those questions in a statement released by the Spruce Hill Community Association.

“Here is what we know. The property owners sought, and were given, a ‘conditional’ zoning permit subject to design committee approval by City Planning,” writes Grossbach. “The site, currently zoned Rm1 under the new code, does not require any parking as part of any multifamily development. This is particularly important to understand given the emails insisting that Spruce Hill not allow this lack of parking to stand. The plans submitted by the owners meet the requirements of the code under Rm1 zoning, and lamenting the lack of parking will not address those concerns in a meaningful way. A ‘conditional’ permit is good for one year, and the clock does not start ticking on any time schedule until the owners seek to change ‘conditional’ to ‘permanent.’”

According to Grossbach’s statement, before seeking that change, the property owner, Clarkmore LP, controlled by Thylan Associates, has enlisted the help of U3 Ventures, a local real estate advisory and development firm, to engage the community in fostering alternative design plans. The process, writes Grossbach, will include a series of insightful roundtables with residents, and the creation of 4224Baltimore.com (which is not yet up and running), a website dedicated to the project news and information. The plan is for the website to feature an online discussion forum moderated by “Spruce Hill community members” where residents can express qualms about issues ranging from “building size to parking concerns,” according to Grossbach’s letter. The development team will not edit the forum’s content, but will participate in the discussion.

The development group will also have a table at the Spruce Hill Community Association May Fair on May 11.

“Many of us in Spruce Hill have looked at 43rd and Baltimore with a mixture of apprehension and hope over these ‘vacant’ years—expecting that something would surface as a development scheme and praying silently that we would not only survive it but applaud it,” writes Grossbach. “We have a unique opportunity here…We have the chance to think big and bold and, hopefully, find that sweet spot in shaping development for a site that both community members and property owners applaud without reservation.”

– Annamarya Scaccia

The primary elections are on May 21 and here’s an opportunity to meet a candidate for Judge of Common Pleas. Timika Lane, who is a West Philadelphia local and chief legal counsel to State Senator and Democratic Whip Anthony H. Williams, will be at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, April 24 for a meet-and-greet.

Timika is an advocate for people of color, women, children and low-income communities (her campaign video is available here) and has experience serving as an attorney in the Philadelphia court system (see another video here).

The event, which will be held at the LGBT Center at Penn (3907 Spruce St) beginning at 5:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome to bring their questions and discuss local issues. You can RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/326682774121772/