BRONX TIMES REPORTER,62 JANUARY 17-23, 2020 BTR
Action
Association
4 E Organic Farm is one of the new vendors of the Northeast Bronx Community
Farmers Market Project. Photo courtesy of Chrys Napolitano
BY CHRYS NAPOLITANO
Happy New Year and
here’s to an amazing 2020.
Lots of changes since my
last column. Happily semiretired
and my husband has
a great part time gig. The
Northeast Bronx Community
Farmers Market Project
is plugging along, we had
terrifi c second season of the
Market at Preston.
We now have two local
farmers, DIG Farm and 4E
Farm, plus some great new
vendors. My partners, Sherrill
Cropper and Lourdes
Gamez, have been doing
amazing work bringing in
new vendors, promoting our
work on social media and attending
every single community
meeting to spread the
word.
The Community Corner
tent brought other community
organizations to the
market, the Move it Move it
program gave us free events
to share and the Winter Markets
are helping us help entrepreneurs
get started.
Nothing could make me
prouder than the work we’re
doing and the ladies I get to
do this work with.
Our Winter Markets at
Confetti Party Place, 3190
Westchester Avenue, have
started up again. We’ve had
three successful markets already
and have more scheduled
between now and May.
The next market will be
on Saturday, January 25 from
11a.m. to 3 p.m. We are so
excited that one of our Market
at Preston farmers will
be in attendance. 4E Farm
from Yaphank, NY is a family
owned organic farm. Vincent,
the owner, has two sons
who are learning the business.
We met them through
DIG Farm and I must say that
the quality of their produce
is superb. They have greenhouses
that allow them to
grow year round and will be
bringing their harvest to us.
Stop by and meet the farmer,
chat with him about what he’s
growing and try something
new. The best way to support
our American farmers is to
buy direct from them. Plus, if
Vincent has a good day with
us, we can get him to join us
for all our Saturday Winter
Market dates….
If you can’t make it on the
25th, there are many more
dates: Tuesday, February 11,
6 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, February
29, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday,
March 10, 6 to 9 p.m.; Saturday,
March 28, 11 a.m. to 3
p.m.; Tuesday, April 7, 6 to 9
p.m.; Saturday, April 25, 11
a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday, May
12, 6 to 9 p.m.; and Saturday,
May 30, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
We are always looking
for vendors. If you are interested
in vending at either the
Winter Markets or Market at
Preston, email us at bronxfarmersmarket@
gmail.com.
We are looking for makers,
cookers, growers and artists.
In the meantime, be the
change you want to see in the
world.
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
Finally, there are some
issues that everyone in Congress
can agree on, and President
Trump is onboard as
well. Aside from the signifi -
cance of the specifi c pieces
of legislation, the ability to
come together on meritorious
issues is noteworthy.
Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida
Republican, along with Rep.
Vern Buchanan, a Florida
Democrat, introduced legislation
to make animal cruelty a
federal crime. The Preventing
Animal Cruelty and Torture
(PACT) Act (H.R. 724criminalizes
certain acts of animal
cruelty.) Just briefl y before
that, legislation was passed
approving sanctions on China’s
illegal repression of Hong
Kong.
The U.S. Senate unanimously
passed the animal
cruelty bill. The Hong Kong
measure passed the House by
417-1.
In 2010, Congress passed
the Animal Crush Video Prohibition
Act, which made the
creation and distribution of
animal crushing videos illegal.
However, the underlying
acts of cruelty against animals
were not included. The
PACT Act closes this loophole
by prohibiting certain cases
of animal abuse.
Rep. Duetch stated “With
President Trump signing the
PACT Act, animal cruelty
is no longer just unacceptable,
it is now illegal. We can
now fi nally say that animal
abuse is a federal crime in
the United States. Americans
have long stood in support of
animal welfare protections,
and now our national laws refl
ect these values. This bipartisan
achievement has been
years in the making, and I
am proud to have been a part
of this great effort alongside
Congressman Buchanan and
so many advocates and passionate
citizens who made
this possible.”
China’s pattern of fl agrant
violation of human rights on
an epic scale, and its habitual
use of force and intimidation
to steal resources from other
nations, was unopposed by the
Obama Administration. Similarly,
the former President
did nothing of signifi cance
to deter Russia’s aggression
against Ukraine. The results
have been dire. Beijing has
accelerated its terrible practices
in the Indo-Pacifi c, and
operates one hundred concentration
camps on its soil. Putin
has designs on recapturing
the nations that gained
their freedom following the
fall of the Soviet Union.
History has clearly taught
that it is wise to put aggressors
in their place early on, or
face dramatic consequences
down the road. The Hong
Kong legislation is a start in
doing just that.
While both of these measures
passed on their own
very worthy merits, the ability
to put aside the partisan
warfare that has characterized
Washington on behalf of
the national good has gained
a small and tentative fi rst
step. It should be extended
signifi cantly further, and
public opinion may just force
that result.
According to recent polls,
the most extreme example of
excessive partisanship, the
ongoing impeachment process,
is unpopular. It’s a clear
result of the almost total lack
of solid evidence of any wrongdoing,
and the inability of the
House Democrats to even believably
describe what crime
was committed (they are almost
comically reliant on “focus
groups” to decide what to
charge the President with.)
The absurdity of the Democrats
move is highlighted by
the reality that the next election
is less than a year away.
There are other issues that
should transcend party politics.
The need to address key
issues, such as providing an
adequate defense in a consistent
manner, may be the most
signifi cant. The need to wrest
government from bureaucrats
and restore it to electeds
is another.
The budgetary and legislative
process has, for far too
long, emphasized the needs of
careerists over the good of the
people.
Urgent national requirements
are held hostage to the
schemes of those attempting
to pork barrel their way to
longevity in their jobs. The
urge to embarrass and harass
political opponents, no matter
the collateral damage to the
nation and citizenry, should
be met with staunch disdain
by the voters. Individuals of
good conscience in government
must come together to
do this.
Happy New Year from
Country Club Civic Association.
Just a reminder, civic association
will not meet in January
or February in 2020 as we
did last year.
Our fi rst meeting for 2020
will be on Wednesday, March
25 at 7:30 p.m., in the cafeteria
at Villa Maria Academy
located at 3335 Country Club
Road.
Please join us to learn
about CCCA’s initiatives and
plans for the 2020 calendar
year. Come enjoy some refreshments
with friends and
gain some knowledge from our
guest speaker. Details regarding
the guest speakers will be
shared closer to the meeting
date.
In the meantime, if you
have any questions or concerns,
call our association
phone at (718) 823-1814, e-mail
us at CCCAbronx@gmail.com
or reach out to our Facebook
page at Country Club Civic Association.
See you in March.
link
link
link
/gmail.com
link