The 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th was a devastating catastrophe of epic proportion. As one blogger defined the situation, "Haiti: Year Zero." An immediate priority identified in the very first days after the disaster was the urgent need to avoid a major food crisis by ensuring a successful planting season from March to May.

As reports worsened with each passing day revealing the total scope of the damage we began considering how we could best do our fair share to help the people of Haiti feed the Haitian people. Realizing that all our contacts in Haiti were totally engaged in life-saving relief work which continues week after week, we knew to wait until they reached a point in time when their strategic planning would begin to turn the corner from immediate relief to recovery and future rebuilding.

Fair Share is connected with well established grassroots development organizations in Haiti and we welcome the opportunity to come alongside and strengthen their efforts as they strive toward providing increased self-sufficiency and food security. This is the year that the peasant farmers in the rural communities should be empowered to the status of national hero. This is the year that every community should be empowered to move beyond charity toward self-reliance through local food projects.

Fair Share has determined that our most effective response- our fair share, is to look toward long-term support of these efforts. For the remainder of 2010 Fair Share will be committing 20% of all our financial contributions toward initiatives in Haiti. We have determined to offer this support in 2011 and 2012 and for as long as our friends in Haiti need our assistance. It is our hope that beyond our humble financial contributions, an even greater impact can be made by advocating for the principles of food sovereignty as Haiti recovers from this catastrophe and develops a self-determined sustainable agriculture system throughout rural and urban communities alike.

We are following the lead of organizations on the ground in Haiti to identify the ways Fair Share can provide the most effective assistance. The work of Haiti Partners, Konpay, and other member organizations of the Haiti Response Coalition have demonstrated for years through their work that listening to and collaborating with local leadership is the most significant strategy for sustainable development.

(Special thanks to Paul Bick for use of his photograph from "Haiti Vivant: Jan. 12 - Feb. 1, 2010")

The U.S. is a powerful nation but before you get all star spangled about that you have to ask yourself…  How is it that our nation can also be home to more than half a million children who suffer from persistent hunger and inadequate nutrition? According to the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) 2008 annual report on Household Food Security, 49 million Americans- that is one out of every six struggled to put enough food on the kitchen table.

Beyond our borders it gets even uglier. We are experiencing recurring cycles of food crises from the neighborhood to the globalhood and there are no longer any excuses for gardeners to bury their heads in the compost and ignore the fact that our industrialized food system is broken and inequitable. At a time when the gap widens even greater between the affluent and the one billion people worldwide now living in poverty, the food crisis is creating a mass of wealth for multinational corporations that hold the monopoly on the food system.

Looking back on 2009 and all the siginificant accomplishments of our first year I am reminded that this year I really need to blog on a more regular basis! There are so many activities and events and stories to share with you it would require a series of updates, and I will make a greater effort to carry the news more effectively in 2010.

We are grateful to the Daytona Beach Lions Club for allowing us rent-free use of the large property behind their building. Beginning with those first chilly mornings last January the volunteer response has been fantastic with most people finding our project through our Meetup group online. We began nailing together wooden growing beds with reclaimed dock lumber that was collected and digging in about thirty-five cubic yards of horse manure, bags of leaves from the curb, and a load of local compost; turning sand into soil. A generous donor contributed some galvanized wire fencing and cedar posts to construct compost bins and trellise. We layed out a garden hose to define the circular pattern for our herb spiral and by early March we were ready for a Master Gardener to join us for a public workshop on starting your spring vegetable garden!

Once upon a timeless dream a young woman with butterflies hovering over her natty dreads was wondering where her food comes from and so she slipped on her sandals, looked up at the sky, down at the ground, and around the corner she went to find out. She walked and walked until lunch time and beyond; way past dinner and dusk.

Soon it grew dark and she realized she was a long, long way from home and so she curled up with some peaceful thoughts and fell asleep beneath the stars. But when she awoke with the sunlight and looked around to see where she was, she found herself all the way “Over There Somewhere” and that is a powerfully lonely place because no one goes there.