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Chanowk's Food Forests fundraiser was so successful, we're running another campaign for him to be able to join our Advanced Permaculture Design Course!
MEET CHANOWK YISRAEL:
Chanowk is a born and raised Sacramento native who currently owns a 1/2 acre urban farm in the South Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, CA. He has been working in agriculture full-time since 2012, when he and his wife both left their corporate jobs to become urban homesteaders and inspire others to do the same. Chanowk currently works as a catalyst for nature connection by teaching classes related to agriculture, permaculture, and seed starting/saving, as well as ecological land management techniques.
Chanowk utilizes his farm (the Yisrael Family Urban Farm) to teach and mentor youth, and is in process of obtaining a contractor’s license with the dream of starting an edible landscape company to hire youth, and change the Sacramento urban landscape into something more ecologically friendly.
Chanowk’s focus is on teaching and mentoring people of color, as well as those who are food insecure. Across the street from Yisrael Family Urban Farm is a 9,500 square foot community garden, where Chanowk would like to establish a food forest to use as a tool for teaching and connection. This community garden and food forest will also provide fresh, healthy produce to the South Oak Park neighborhood, which has been designated a food desert by the USDA.
We are raising funds for Chanowk’s tuition for our Advanced Permaculture Design course , which begins this August 2020.
By taking our course, Chanowk will be able to develop his skillset in the field of permaculture design, and utilize the skills he learns to benefit his farm and extended community.
This year-long food forest design course begins August 8th, so the fundraising campaign is crucial to Chanowk’s ability to join the upcoming cohort. We hope you’ll join us in supporting his permaculture education!
BIOGRAPHY:
Chanowk Yisrael is a farmer and community activist. Born and raised in Sacramento, Chanowk traveled across the country on the dime of corporate America before deciding to trade in his frequent flyer miles for seeds and soil. Chanowk terms himself as a student of the Earth and practices a lifestyle that sustains his family and aids his neighborhood in South Oak Park (a food desert according to the USDA).
Chanowk has been featured in several publications including The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Press, Edible Sacramento and Sacramento News and Review.
Chanowk wants to break the cycle of poor health that typically plagues the Black community and transition himself and his family to a plant based diet. It is here that The Yisrael Family Urban Farm was born. The Yisrael Family Urban Farm is transforming the hood for good using urban agriculture as a tool to engage, employ and empower communities.
Chanowk is founding board member for South Oak Park Community Association and President of Slow Food Sacramento.
WHY DOES STUDYING PERMACULTURE DESIGN MATTER TO CHANOWK?
We interviewed Chanowk to learn more about why this course is important to his journey.
Please share why this is an important time in your life to enroll in this particular program. In other words what calls you to this course right now? What are you hoping to gain from this program?
I tried Biointensive, Biodynamic, Square food gardening, etc, but I always came back to permaculture because it models nature. We are currently the stewards of a 9,500 sq ft community garden across the street from our ½ acre farm, and the hands-on knowledge I gain from this course will help me to establish the vision of a community food forest here in Sacramento, while building community.
What have been your experiences so far with land-based communities?
I don’t have a bunch of knowledge with land based communities, because in Sacramento we don’t have many urban farms. However, I’ve done 2 PDC’s which have really helped my confidence in doing this where I live. The 2nd PDC I took was with Starhawk, and it was two-weeks and hands on.
How will you use what you learn through this program?
I will use this information to further our garden build program in which we create gardens in the backyards of people who need them.
What communities do you want to work with?
Currently I work in communities that are classified as food deserts according to the USDA. These communities have usually been plagued with school closings, and have corner stores but many empty lots. Engaging the city with a plan to take these empty lots and turn them into food forests is also part of my plan.
Another way in which I will use this knowledge is to teach people about life. Being able to talk about how a tree can benefit from nitrogen producing, dynamic accumulator, and insectary plants is an allegory of how to design a life filled with symbiotic relationships and collaboration.
What do you feel you will bring to the program?
I will bring 10 years of experience in systems thinking (from my previous stint in the IT world) as well as 10 years of experience in walking from that world and journeying back into nature and successfully being able to build a life. Think of it as a modern day Walden experience.
I will also bring the knowledge of how to use appropriate technology to help in designing.
What would we miss out on if you were not part of this cohort?
Humor, connectedness, emotional intelligence and someone with ability to lead as well as follow, learn, as well as facilitate and a potential guest facilitator for future sessions!
WHAT WILL CHANOWK GAIN IF THE FUNDS ARE RAISED?
Upon successful completion of this course, he will:
- Be fluent with the design process and able to hit the ground running for any permaculture design project.
- Have a deeper understanding of how context drives decision-making in permaculture design.
- Have honed a variety of skills useful for improving permaculture designs you’re doing for yourself, family and friends, or in a professional setting.
- Have produced a design for a real world client that can provide a start or a boost for your design portfolio.
- Have gained a deeper understanding of the details required for some of the most frequently encountered design scenarios.
Chanowk's network of resources, guides, and community will also grow by participating in this course. The course meets August 29th - September 5th, and during this time Chanowk will participate in many projects and design reviews, including working with an actual client on a permaculture design.
Thank you for supporting Chanowk's ambitions! Our goal with this fundraiser is to be able to enroll Chanowk in the upcoming cohort, as well as support an ongoing fund for future scholarship applicants to enroll in our courses.
You can learn more about our Advanced Permaculture Design Course here:
https://santacruzpermaculture.com/apdc/
MEET CHANOWK YISRAEL:
Chanowk is a born and raised Sacramento native who currently owns a 1/2 acre urban farm in the South Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, CA. He has been working in agriculture full-time since 2012, when he and his wife both left their corporate jobs to become urban homesteaders and inspire others to do the same. Chanowk currently works as a catalyst for nature connection by teaching classes related to agriculture, permaculture, and seed starting/saving, as well as ecological land management techniques.
Chanowk utilizes his farm (the Yisrael Family Urban Farm) to teach and mentor youth, and is in process of obtaining a contractor’s license with the dream of starting an edible landscape company to hire youth, and change the Sacramento urban landscape into something more ecologically friendly.
Chanowk’s focus is on teaching and mentoring people of color, as well as those who are food insecure. Across the street from Yisrael Family Urban Farm is a 9,500 square foot community garden, where Chanowk would like to establish a food forest to use as a tool for teaching and connection. This community garden and food forest will also provide fresh, healthy produce to the South Oak Park neighborhood, which has been designated a food desert by the USDA.
We are raising funds for Chanowk’s tuition for our Advanced Permaculture Design course , which begins this August 2020.
By taking our course, Chanowk will be able to develop his skillset in the field of permaculture design, and utilize the skills he learns to benefit his farm and extended community.
This year-long food forest design course begins August 8th, so the fundraising campaign is crucial to Chanowk’s ability to join the upcoming cohort. We hope you’ll join us in supporting his permaculture education!
BIOGRAPHY:
Chanowk Yisrael is a farmer and community activist. Born and raised in Sacramento, Chanowk traveled across the country on the dime of corporate America before deciding to trade in his frequent flyer miles for seeds and soil. Chanowk terms himself as a student of the Earth and practices a lifestyle that sustains his family and aids his neighborhood in South Oak Park (a food desert according to the USDA).
Chanowk has been featured in several publications including The Sacramento Bee, The Sacramento Press, Edible Sacramento and Sacramento News and Review.
Chanowk wants to break the cycle of poor health that typically plagues the Black community and transition himself and his family to a plant based diet. It is here that The Yisrael Family Urban Farm was born. The Yisrael Family Urban Farm is transforming the hood for good using urban agriculture as a tool to engage, employ and empower communities.
Chanowk is founding board member for South Oak Park Community Association and President of Slow Food Sacramento.
WHY DOES STUDYING PERMACULTURE DESIGN MATTER TO CHANOWK?
We interviewed Chanowk to learn more about why this course is important to his journey.
Please share why this is an important time in your life to enroll in this particular program. In other words what calls you to this course right now? What are you hoping to gain from this program?
I tried Biointensive, Biodynamic, Square food gardening, etc, but I always came back to permaculture because it models nature. We are currently the stewards of a 9,500 sq ft community garden across the street from our ½ acre farm, and the hands-on knowledge I gain from this course will help me to establish the vision of a community food forest here in Sacramento, while building community.
What have been your experiences so far with land-based communities?
I don’t have a bunch of knowledge with land based communities, because in Sacramento we don’t have many urban farms. However, I’ve done 2 PDC’s which have really helped my confidence in doing this where I live. The 2nd PDC I took was with Starhawk, and it was two-weeks and hands on.
How will you use what you learn through this program?
I will use this information to further our garden build program in which we create gardens in the backyards of people who need them.
What communities do you want to work with?
Currently I work in communities that are classified as food deserts according to the USDA. These communities have usually been plagued with school closings, and have corner stores but many empty lots. Engaging the city with a plan to take these empty lots and turn them into food forests is also part of my plan.
Another way in which I will use this knowledge is to teach people about life. Being able to talk about how a tree can benefit from nitrogen producing, dynamic accumulator, and insectary plants is an allegory of how to design a life filled with symbiotic relationships and collaboration.
What do you feel you will bring to the program?
I will bring 10 years of experience in systems thinking (from my previous stint in the IT world) as well as 10 years of experience in walking from that world and journeying back into nature and successfully being able to build a life. Think of it as a modern day Walden experience.
I will also bring the knowledge of how to use appropriate technology to help in designing.
What would we miss out on if you were not part of this cohort?
Humor, connectedness, emotional intelligence and someone with ability to lead as well as follow, learn, as well as facilitate and a potential guest facilitator for future sessions!
WHAT WILL CHANOWK GAIN IF THE FUNDS ARE RAISED?
Upon successful completion of this course, he will:
- Be fluent with the design process and able to hit the ground running for any permaculture design project.
- Have a deeper understanding of how context drives decision-making in permaculture design.
- Have honed a variety of skills useful for improving permaculture designs you’re doing for yourself, family and friends, or in a professional setting.
- Have produced a design for a real world client that can provide a start or a boost for your design portfolio.
- Have gained a deeper understanding of the details required for some of the most frequently encountered design scenarios.
Chanowk's network of resources, guides, and community will also grow by participating in this course. The course meets August 29th - September 5th, and during this time Chanowk will participate in many projects and design reviews, including working with an actual client on a permaculture design.
Thank you for supporting Chanowk's ambitions! Our goal with this fundraiser is to be able to enroll Chanowk in the upcoming cohort, as well as support an ongoing fund for future scholarship applicants to enroll in our courses.
You can learn more about our Advanced Permaculture Design Course here:
https://santacruzpermaculture.com/apdc/