With the rise of the fast-food industry in recent decades and the availability of so much processed food in mass-market grocery stores, the distance between people and organic food is increasing. Sustainable farming and organic food movements are spreading across the nation as a reaction against the trend to be apathetic about where your food comes from, how nutritious it is, or how much it actually costs to get from the farm where it was grown to your local grocery store. Jones Valley Urban Farm is a part of this movement of back-to-the-basics local farming. JVUF is a non-profit organization based in Birmingham that exists to educate the community about healthy food and give people the opportunity to grow their own food the natural way.

JVUF’s vision is to “be a model sustainable urban farm that teaches youth and the Birmingham community about sustainable agriculture and nutrition through outdoor experiential education.” JVUF grows food at a variety of locations, including 3 acres of vacant property downtown and 7 acres of land at Mount Laurel. Their community garden rents 4×8 foot plots to 30 members who then grow their own organic produce and flowers on it under the guidance of JVUF staff. From the months of May through October, JVUF sells their food, flowers, and herbs to the public at the After Work Farm Stand and Pepper Place Farmers Market. JVUF is also involved in a Food Box program which provides family-sized boxes of fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy recipes at low cost through a weekly subscription.

Jones Valley Urban Farm does much more than just grow and sell food. They also host a variety of educational programs that inform everyone from pre-schoolers to students to adults about gardening, sustainable farming, and nutrition. Their Second Saturday Education Series invites families, adults, gardeners, and anyone else who wants to play in the dirt to learn more about gardening! The next one is this Saturday, December 12, and the topic is Hunger in the Real World, so visit their website if you’d like more information on that class or any of their other great programs.

In an interview in the Tannehill Trader, Executive Director Edwin Marty shares his hopes of changing Birmingham through Jones Valley Urban Farm: “The vacant land all over Birmingham could be the very earth that feeds the people that aren’t getting enough fresh fruits and vegetables. And it could give those same people jobs and a way to make an honest living. Imagine if Birmingham grew 50% of all its own food!” It seems that JVUF is well on its way to making those hopes into realities as it continues to educate the community and promote healthy food in practical ways.

Each week Bedouins International posts a story. Maybe it’s one we’ve helped to tell, or a story we hope to tell, or it maybe it’s just a story we think deserves to be told. In any case, we hope you find them inspiring and motivating. Read more stories here.

Free coffee, tea, and internet: the folks at Nomad Supply know what will draw people into their shop in Birmingham’s Southside. On the corner of 23rd Street South and Magnolia Avenue, this little store is much more than just a place to buy things—it’s a “traveler’s rest stop” according to one of their websites. As travelers themselves, the people at Nomad Supply have designed their store to accommodate for the needs and desires of fellow nomads.

Nomad Supply wants everyone who stops by to feel welcome, even if you don’t spend any money. That’s why they have an upstairs with sofas to sit on, DVDs to watch, and a used bookstore to browse through. Downstairs they sell everything from fair-trade coffees and organic teas to flip flops and T-shirts. They also sell art and handmade crafts from people they have personally met all across the country. You can find hand-blown glass, home-made jewelry, soaps, tie-dyed clothes, drums, incense, stickers, things made out of hemp and bone, and so much more in their collection. Nomad Supply also features live music, is involved in a community garden, and has a booth at Pepper Place.

One of the taglines on their blog says “This world is not our home, we’re only passing through.” As followers of Jesus, who spent years of his life as a homeless traveler himself, the people who run Nomad Supply offer more than just a shop; they offer a community for people who are passing through. A place to come and hang out for a few hours, drink some coffee, have a good conversation, and listen to some music. Sounds like a great place to me.

If you’re in the area, stop by their shop which is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and noon-6 p.m. Saturday. Find out more about what Nomad Supply is up to by visiting their website, blog, or facebook page.

Each week Bedouins International posts a story. Maybe it’s one we’ve helped to tell, or a story we hope to tell, or it maybe it’s just a story we think deserves to be told. In any case, we hope you find them inspiring and motivating. Read more stories here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! In light of all of the feasting that is happening across the nation this week, I wanted to focus on an organization that is putting food into the hands of people who need it the most: Magic City Harvest, the only food recovery program in the Greater Birmingham area.

For the past 14 years, Magic City Harvest has recovered food, prevented food waste, and educated the community on topics such as nutrition, poverty, and hunger. Using a network of over 800 volunteers, MCH collects donated excess food from places like grocery stores, restaurants, and cafeterias, and transports it to more than 30 feeding programs in Jefferson, Shelby, and Talladega counties. All of the recipient feeding programs are non-profit organizations that include soup kitchens, shelters, and food pantries.

Magic City Harvest has distributed over 5 million pounds of food to hungry people since its beginning, and over 1 million pounds of food in just 2008 alone! They also hold an annual World Hunger Day event, and at the most recent one in October they fed a meal to approximately 3300 people. Other programs include their Empty Bowls annual fundraiser and their current “U-CAN” food drive in which they are partnering with Starbucks stores in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Oxford to collect cans and other non-perishable food items.

There are 80,000 people in the Greater Birmingham area who fall in the category of “food insecure,” which MCH defines as “a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives.” One in five of those 80,000 are children.

These might just be statistics to you, but each number represents actual hungry people and malnourished bellies. So please, as you spend this holiday being thankful for the blessing of family, friends, and food, consider sharing your bounty with those who are in need. Magic City Harvest has some great ways to get involved, donate food, and reach out to people in our community. Find out more at their website.

Each week Bedouins International posts a story. Maybe it’s one we’ve helped to tell, or a story we hope to tell, or it maybe it’s just a story we think deserves to be told. In any case, we hope you find them inspiring and motivating. Read more stories here.

Today Jessi and I had the chance to meet with Jazmine McDaniel, a wonderful lady from the non-profit organization IMPACT Family Counseling here in Birmingham. This meeting is a result of our interest in connecting with more local non-profit orgs, churches, and artists in the upcoming year. Jazmine was able to tell us more about IMPACT Family Counseling which provides faith-based counseling to kids and families who are at risk. One of the programs Jazmine told us about is IMPACT’s Mentoring Children of Prisoners program.

There are 1200 kids in Jefferson County with incarcerated parents and the statistics are stacked against these children. Children of prisoners are six times more likely than other children to be incarcerated at some point in their lives. Without effective intervention strategies, as many as 70% of these children will become involved with the criminal justice system. To keep this from happening in our community, IMPACT’s Mentoring Children of Prisoners program matches a volunteer mentor to a child between the ages of 4 and 16 who has one or both parents in prison.  Research has shown that kids with a positive mentor in their lives have better school attendance, are less involved with drugs and alcohol, and have more trusting relationships with adults. MCP has seen firsthand how much positive change can happen in a child’s life when someone takes the time to be a friend and a mentor.

Many of the kids in the MCP program have barely left their neighborhood and live at or below the poverty line. Jazmine said that something as simple as feeding ducks at a pond or picking out fruit at the grocery store can be a fun and new experience for these kids. The main thing the kids need is to have an older friend who takes an interest in them and cares enough to hang out with them once a week.

Qualified mentors are much needed, especially men. Right now there are 60 kids in the MCP program with about 60 more on a waiting list, and IMPACT receives new referrals every day. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of time or money to be a mentor to one of these kids. Mentors must be over 19 years old, go through a background check, and commit to spending just one hour per week for one year with the mentee they are paired with.

The MCP program is just one of many run by IMPACT Family Counseling. To find out more about these programs, visit their website: www.impactal.org.

And if you’re interested in being a mentor, contact Jazmine McDaniel at jaz@impactal.com. IMPACT hosts training sessions twice a month for potential mentors as well as on-going training throughout the year for all current mentors. You can also connect to IMPACT through their facebook group, IMPACT Mentoring .

Each week Bedouins International posts a story. Maybe it’s one we’ve helped to tell, or a story we hope to tell, or it maybe it’s just a story we think deserves to be told. In any case, we hope you find them inspiring and motivating. Read more stories here.

Bedouins International has been telling stories from all around the planet during the past couple of years. In 2010, we’re hoping to connect with more local ministries in the Birmingham area while still staying involved with ministries overseas and in other parts of the States. So for this week’s story, we wanted to feature an organization that is literally right around the corner from our office—in fact, we can see the Brother Bryan Mission from the 5th floor window of the Bedouins International loft!

For nearly 70 years, Brother Bryan Mission has been helping homeless and impoverished men from Birmingham get off the streets and transition into a better life. As a non-profit, nondenominational Christian organization, BBM believes that the “life-changing power of God and His Word” is a vital aspect to recovering from issues such as depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse. The Mission is a long-term shelter with room for 66 men who are required to have a job in return for a place to stay. Besides the basics of three nutritious meals a day, a bed to sleep in, and a safe place to live, BBM also offers counseling services, access to AA, NA, and Celebrate Recovery meetings, nightly chapel services, transportation to work, and seminars on life skills. Their programs are designed to help men “learn to live responsible, productive and independent lives and to become contributing members of the Church, the family and the community within 9 to 24 months.”

The motto of BBM is “Changing lives through Christ-centered recovery,” which has been the goal from the very beginning. The mission was named after James Bryan, a pastor in Birmingham who was well-known for his good deeds such as running soup kitchens for the homeless and handing out presents to poor children in the Christmas season. He earned the nickname “Brother Bryan” because he always addressed people as either brother or sister and ministered to both the physical and spiritual needs of his community. His last wish before he died was to start a shelter where homeless men could find a meal, a bed, and God’s love. Brother Bryan Mission was founded shortly before he died in 1940 and has moved locations four times until finding its current location on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Birmingham.

Brother Bryan Mission is supported solely by donations. Their website tells more about the history of the mission and includes directions on how to donate your time or money. Though it may be one of the oldest non-profits in the area, BBM is keeping the community up to date through its Facebook page, Twitter account, and blog.

Each week Bedouins International posts a story. Maybe it’s one we’ve helped to tell, or a story we hope to tell, or it maybe it’s just a story we think deserves to be told. In any case, we hope you find them inspiring and motivating. Read more stories here.