This page contains NEEM CUBA DELEGATIONS & PRESS/AWARDS.

2012 NEEM & CUBAN FOUNDERS AGROECOLOGICAL & SUSTAINABLE  AGRICULTURE RESEARCH DELEGATIONS

February 25th – Mar 9th  - 8 signed delegates

CUBA Seed to Plate – A Wandering Feast of the sustainably produced foods of Cuba. NEEM Agroecology Brigade with Dr. Fernando Funes & Chef Ensminger 10 – 14 days

May 12th – 25th (Founder presents – limited  group)

NEEM Agroecology Delegation – IX International Meeting on Organic & Sustainable Agriculture Research/workshops/site visits & research 13 days

June 2nd – 16th
CUBA Seed to Plate – NEEM Brigade & Agroecology in Cuba with Dr. Fernando Funes/ACTAF Research/workshops & hands on & research 14 days

October – 6 – 13th
CUBA Seed to Plate – A Wandering Feast of the sustainably produced foods of Cuba. NEEM Agroecology Brigade with Dr. Fernando Funes & Chef Ensminger 7 days

Nov 23rd – December 1 (SOLD OUT)
CUBA Seed to Plate – A Wandering Feast of the sustainably produced foods of Cuba. NEEM Agroecology Brigade with Dr. Fernando Funes & Chef Ensminger 8 days

These are CAUSE-RELATED research Brigades. A percentage will go to NEEM as well as the LATIN AMERICA WORKING GROUP for their work to end the embargo and freedom to travel for all U.S. citizens.

This Brigade and all workshops will take place in and around Havana, based out of the Hotel Victoria with, Dr. Fernando Funes, President of GAO, recipient of Right Livelihood Award, and our host for two weeks with unprecedented access to Cuban Agroecologist and in-depth research and hands-on site Brigade work. Workshops will be based at the 20 acre Organoponico Alamar, the most successful in Cuba.

Contact us for detailed itinerary, deposit info and your Delegation travel documents to be completed & returned with CV/Resume.

[click here for more information]

Previous Press/Awards Releases

March 2011 Farm Bureau – Tobacco Trust Fund Commission FEEP (Farm Energy Efficiency Project award - off the grid

OCTOBER 2011 DDNP – Duke Award – the barn

NOVEMBER 2011 – NEEM Awarded KODAK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CONSERVATION FUND national award for the Funes AgroEco trail Kodak American Greenways – 1 of 21 nationally and presented at Geographic Headquarters in Washington.

OCTOBER 2011 - Burt’s Bee’s/NEEM win Triangle Business Journal Green Project of the Year award for three “organoponicos” (inner city farms) created in Durham.

JANUARY 8, 2011: NEEM to Manage 16.25 Acres of Urban Land in Durham

A generous benefactor has offered, and NEEM has accepted, a gift of real property in Durham. There are four tracts totaling 16 inner-city acres in Northeast Central Durham (NECD) and South East Durham (SED) that are gifts, partnership or where cropping agreements are in place. One 10+ acre tract qualifies as a farm and wooded, perfect for an urban agroforestry project, nursery, French intensive field and research station. The properties are within 6 and 12 blocks from downtown. Land that would otherwise be clear cut for development will remain wooded, become productive and remain an asset to the Durham community. Bennett field will accommodate 40 54-foot east/west-oriented, south-sun raised, sustainable vegetable beds. The Nursery will be year round lettuces and exotic greens and there will be plantings along the Eco Trail. All in a challenged community that is a food desert. As an economic development piece we see these as having the potential to create 4 to 6 or possibly more jobs on otherwise disused unproductive property. NEEM will hire from the immediate community once we are at production capacity at these two inner city farms. There is no real measure for the total educational component  and green development potential these properties represent.

We are humbled by this gift. We are forever grateful to the landowner for his support and belief in NEEM and its mission as a sustainable urban agricultural non profit. We are grateful for the capacity these properties represent to the community and a greener Durham. It doesn’t get any more local than grown in town.

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SEPTEMBER 15, 2010:

Durham Collaborative Announces “Planting Day” at WG Pearson Middle School Community Garden Classroom, Durham North Carolina

Durham, North Carolina – Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 – Natural Environmental Ecological Management (NEEM) and the Neighborhood PRIDE Alliance Preservation Committee are a public/private partnership promoting sustainable urban agriculture.

Triangle East Chapter of 100 Black Men, NEEM and PRIDE Preservation committee with Neighborhood Improvement Services, announce “Planting day” for the WG Pearson Middle School community garden classroom at 2:30 –4/4:30 on Friday, September 17th, 2010.

Triangle East Chapter of 100 Black Men,in collaboration with NEEM, PRIDE Alliance Preservation Committee and Durham Neighborhood Improvement Services have created a garden classroom at WG Pearson Middle School. In addition to the school, Principal, Teachers and parents, the other collaborators were, numerous Durham City Departments, Mayors Summer Youth and Keep Durham Beautiful. Funding from Burt’s Bees will be used for a small composting system. The new school Community Garden classroom will advocate the use of plant-based learning across the curriculum allowing WG Pearson teachers to incorporate the use of outdoor gardens, natural settings and plant activities in their math, science and environmental classroom lessons. The collaborative goal is to make plant-based learning a part of every WG Pearson student’s education.

NEEM promotes sustainable concepts and creates productive learning centers on unused school property. These school and community gardens are evolutionary steps towards addressing issues of nutrition, obesity, and breaking the fast food chain through the school community environment.

There is nothing more local to a school than sustainable urban agriculture at the school. We congratulate Triangle East Chapter of 100 Black Men for their vision, WG Pearson Middle School and most importantly, the kids.

“Every day is Earth day”

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AUGUST 26, 2010: Durham Collaborative Announces Two Sustainable Community Garden Classrooms at WG Pearson Middle School and Holton Career Center, Durham North Carolina

Durham, North Carolina – Thursday, August 26, 2010 – Natural Environmental Ecological Management (NEEM) and the Neighborhood PRIDE Alliance Preservation Committee are a public/private collaborative replicating the Cuban Model of sustainable urban agriculture.

NEEM and the PRIDE Preservation committee announce two sustainable community garden classrooms at two schools in Northeast Central Durham.

100 Black men Triangle Chapter and Glaxo Smith Kline in collaboration with the two school communities, NEEM and PRIDE Alliance Preservation Committee have placed beds for garden classrooms at WG Pearson Middle School and Holton Career Center. The collaborative worked with the schools, Principals, Teachers, parents, Department of Neighborhood Improvement Services, numerous other Durham City Departments and Keep Durham Beautiful. Together we built community with bottom up and top down support. These new school Community Garden classrooms will advocate the use of plant-based learning across the curriculum. Training teachers to incorporate the use of outdoor gardens, natural settings and plant activities in their classroom lessons. Our goal is to help make plant-based learning a part of every child’s education.

NEEM creates food security, addresses obesity and nutrition, educates our children on sustainable concepts and creates learning centers on unused school property. These school and community gardens are evolutionary and embody bringing the community together through dialectic engagement in a cooperative effort that is in the best interest of our children.

There is nothing more local than sustainable urban agriculture, and we congratulate the funders, Holton Career Center and WG Pearson Middle School.  Planting days will be announced soon.

“Every day is Earth day”