CUBA Delegations & Press/Awards
This page contains CUBA DELEGATIONS & PRESS/AWARDS.
Organoponico NEEM replicates the Cuban model in North Carolina on 11.2 inner city acres and dedicated to the subject of sustainable food security. NEEM delegates interact with Cuba’s finest agriculturist, farmer to farmer, professional to professional. NEEM is NOT a tour operator.
2012 NEEM & CUBAN FOUNDERS AGROECOLOGICAL & SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH DELEGATIONS
MAY 19th – 25th: (Founder presents – limited group of 5 extended stay opt. June 2nd delegation) NEEM Agroecology Delegation – IX International Meeting on Organic & Sustainable Agriculture NEEM panel, Presentation, Research/workshops/site visits & research 7 days
JUNE 2nd – 14th: 4 signed delegates
CUBA Seed to Plate – NEEM Brigade & Agroecology in Cuba with Dr. Fernando Funes/ACTAF Research/farmer to farmer, professional to professional 14 days
OCTOBER – 6 – 13th: 8 signed delegates
CUBA Seed to Plate – A Wandering Feast of the sustainably produced foods of Cuba. NEEM Agroecology Brigade with Dr. Fernando Funes & Ensminger with special 1/2 day to be announced but NOT to be missed 7 days
DECEMBER DELEGATION: (22 – SOLD OUT)
CUBA Seed to Plate – A Wandering Feast of the sustainably produced foods of Cuba. NEEM Agroecology Brigade with Dr. Fernando Funes, NEEM & Jeff Ensminger 14 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, andourhost for two weeks with unprecedented access to Cuban Agroecologist andin-depth research and Brigade research, Farmer to Farmer, professional to professional..
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 
JANUARY 15th: NEEM clears 1.5 acres for Bennett Field and cuts the Funes AgrEco Trail (a linear field)
JANUARY 2nd: NEEM announces Bennett Field in honor of Dr. Hugh Bennett for his work in Soil Conservation Services department he formed during the dust bowl and;Funes AgroEco trail in honor of Dr. Fernando Funes for his work in Cuba in Agroecological approaches to the sustainable farm. The trail was supported by our partners at Conservation Fund, Kodak & National Geographic Society.
JANUARY 15, 2012 – NEEM awarded grant (unspecified) from Philanthropy for well at Organoponico NEEM at Wabash and McDougald Terrace. – off the grid some more
NOVEMBER 2011: NEEM Awarded KODAK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CONSERVATION FUND national award for the Funes AgroEco trail (Kodak American Greenway) - 1 of 21 nationally and presented at Geographic Headquarters in Washington.
OCTOBER 2011: DDNP – Duke Award – 110 year old, deconstructed, NC Tobacco barn award from DDNP.
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.
MAY 17th, 2011: Burt’s Bees “Culture day”: 450 BBI/Clorox employees build three Organoponicos at three locations in Durham. The combined vision of NEEM, BBI & Dr. Chambers created a first in North Carolina. Those beginnings of an Urban agricultural food security project to meet the needs of the low income communities in Durham have become a reality.
FEBRUARY/MARCH: FSA registration (first Urban Farm registration in NC) complete for the farm and NEEM in the QUIP program – NEEM meets with NRCS at farm.
JANRUARY 15th, 2011: NEEM returns from leading North Carolina Research Delegation to Cuba on Sustainable Agriculture.
JANUARY 8, 2011: NEEM to Manage 16.25 Acres of Urban Land in Durham with 11.2 Farm Services Agency registered acres as FSA farm #2995 as Organoponico NEEM.
A generous benefactor has offered, and NEEM has accepted, a gift of real property in Durham. There are four tracts totaling 16.2 inner-city acres in Northeast Central Durham (NECD) and South East Durham (SED) that are gifts, partnership or where cropping agreements are in place. Two tracts (one 10.2 and one .997+ acre’s) tracts qualifies as a farm, FSA registered and wooded, perfect for an urban agroecological agroforestry & specialty crops project, nursery, French intensive field and research station. The properties are within 6 and 14 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 and there will be indigenous specialty crops planted along the Funes-Kodak AgroEco 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 Organoponics or, 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 Dr. Bill Chambers for his support and belief in NEEM, its vision 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.
—
OCTOBER 15th, 2010: Triangle East Chapter of 100 Black Men,in collaboration with NEEM establish Canal Street Community Garden in the Cleveland-Holloway neighborhood of NE Durham.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010: Durham Collaborative Announces “Planting Day” at WG Pearson Middle School Community Garden Classroom, Durham North Carolina
SEPTEMBER 15th, 2010: Natural Environmental Ecological Management (NEEM), the Durham City Department of Neighborhood Improvement Services and the PRIDE Alliance Preservation Committee are a public/private partnership promoting sustainable urban agriculture.
SEPTEMBER 17th, 2010: 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.
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.
AUGUST 26, 2010: Durham Collaborative Announces Two Sustainable Community Garden Classrooms at WG Pearson Middle School and Holton Career Center, Durham North Carolina
Natural Environmental Ecological Management (NEEM) and the Neighborhood PRIDE Alliance Preservation Committee area 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 SmithKline 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 HoltonCareerCenter. 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”