Grow Pittsburgh wins Just Harvest’s 2014 Seeds of Justice award

Julie Butcher Pezzino holds the award along with members of her team.

On October 22, 2014 at our 26th Annual Harvest Celebration Dinner, Just Harvest gave Grow Pittsburgh an award for its innovative work in the fight against hunger in our region. Grow Pittsburgh’s executive director, Julie Butcher Pezzino, accepted the award and what follows is a portion of her remarks.

I have to say when Ken called to tell me Grow Pittsburgh was chosen as this year’s Seeds of Justice award winner, I felt a bit like a little kid whose older sibling just gave them a big pat on the back, and told them they were doing a good job.

Grow Pittsburgh has always looked up to Just Harvest. As you all know, for nearly 30 years Just Harvest has been one of the strongest voices speaking on behalf of our city’s poor and low-income families, and the organization has made incredible strides in fighting for their rights. Without their leadership, Pittsburgh would certainly not be a livable city for many.

But we know Pittsburgh is still not a livable city for all. We know that many of our neighbors are still without basic needs, including regular access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

At Grow Pittsburgh, we teach people how to grow food and promote the benefits gardens bring to our neighborhoods. We work primarily in communities that have experienced significant disinvestment over the years – where vacant land is commonplace. Where there are few if any grocery stores. Where fast food establishments are a dime and dozen.

By establishing school and community gardens, and providing regular agriculture training opportunities for youth and adults, we seek to provide people with the knowledge and resources to take their fresh food consumption into their own hands – by growing it themselves.

We’ve also been honored to be a partner with Just Harvest in working to ensure that all farmer’s markets provide access to government benefits for our neighbors living on fixed incomes. I’m proud that Grow Pittsburgh’s three farm stands in Braddock, Homewood and North Point Breeze have accepted these benefits for years.

However, I think I’m most proud of our collaborative work with Just Harvest and many other food and agriculture based organizations and institutions to establish, and most recently, hire a full-time director for, the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council. We’re working with a diverse group of constituents to move major policy concerns such as food access, distribution, entrepreneurship and urban agriculture forward at the city and county government levels, and beyond. You should expect to see the fruits of our labor (pun intended) roll out over the next year as we work with these key officials to make it easier for everyone to access food in our city.“

Learn more about Grow Pittsburgh