Garfield Produce: Round 2!

It’s been an honor and a lot of fun to work on these videos for Garfield Produce, Chicago’s own indoor hydroponic farm. In this latest video, we see the story of how Garfield’s founders sought to turn the neighborhood’s “liabilities” (vacant spaces, abandoned buildings, and unemployed people) into assets for a sustainable business.

Enjoy!

Garfield Produce…the movie!

This blog is about creativity and the things that inspire it. Though recently my posts have focused on travel, (which is relevant because travel provides incredible stimuli for creative work), today I want to share an inspiring story of a new company that is creatively tackling a mighty challenge. What is the challenge? Creating lasting and meaningful jobs for disenfranchised people in urban Chicago. What is their solution?

Drumroll…Start a farm! 

Wait…what?

The creativity continues! Here is a scallop martini handcrafted by my friend, Doug, using Garfield Produce greens.

Unusual? Definitely. A pipe dream? Definitely not. Garfield Produce emerges out of the confluence of people needing good work and people needing good food. Meanwhile, Chicago is full of empty lots, old buildings, and unemployed people. Garfield Produce sees these as assets, not liabilities. The Garfield team has devised a way to use these neglected spaces, employ people in the community, and make a sustainable farming business thrive in strained inner city neighborhoods. Through hydroponic technology, Garfield can grow crops indoors year-round and supply grocers and restaurants with healthy, local alternatives, while simultaneously creating opportunities for people to develop new skill sets and find new livelihoods.

This is serious out-of-the-box thinking that continues to inspire me. When my friend Steve told me about his businesses, his passion was contagious. I wanted in on this creative flow. Specifically, I wanted to tell this story. The challenge was how. There were many different angles to take. Should I focus on Steve’s personal story? He is the child of immigrants who had to reconcile his family’s expectations with his own longing to serve others in innovative ways. Or should I focus on the diversity of the group? The staff could hardly be comprised of more different people: a Chinese American 30-year-old engineer, two suburban retirees, and one middle-aged African American gentleman starting his life over. Or should I talk about the hydroponic technology? It miraculously recycles 95% of the water! As you can see, I had a lot to noodle through.

In the end, I realized that the reason Garfield is unique is because it’s not just about the food; it seeks to bring redemption and renewal into people’s lives. The story of Larry, their first employee, exemplifies this purpose, and therefore it was his story I needed to tell. See what you think! Enjoy!

Photo Fridays, #3

Continuing with the Chicago theme…

I have always had a love-hate relationship with Chicago. I think a lot of people do. There is a scene in The West Wing where President Bartlet asks Leo, “What is it with people from Chicago that they are always really proud to be from Chicago but when I see them they are anywhere BUT Chicago?” Leo just responds, “You wouldn’t understand. It’s a Chicago thing.” Many times Josh and I have discussed the paradox wherein we can be so ready to leave and yet so grateful for where we are. Even when I bring this up with my Dad, he says, “I know. Chicago is a strange place–the weather, the politics, the (as he loves to put it) ‘topographical wasteland apart from the lake’. But somehow, I was always happy there.”

On the one hand, Chicago is far from an ideal place to live. Spring usually refuses to start until May, the people keep voting crooks into office, and the potholes can swallow your car if you’re not careful. If you want to go shopping downtown, be prepared to pay a 12% sales tax. If you want to get out of the city, just give up because there is nowhere that interesting to go within a few hours drive, and certainly no hills to climb. If you want to go east and west in the city, brace yourself to wait for a bus for an hour in negative temperatures or, if you have a car, brace yourself to sit in traffic behind EVERY red light on your route. Come to expect that, whenever you see the word “Chicagoland” in the national news, it’s never a good thing.

Despite these setbacks, it is still very strange to think of leaving Chicago for a new home. My brother, a San Francisco resident, recently surprised me by saying he preferred Chicago to San Francisco. “Why?” I asked, incredulously. He said that people were nicer, the vibe was more chill, and the food is hard to beat. All of these things are definitely true. I have made such excellent friends in this city. So much of what you need is at your fingertips, so you don’t get stressed about finding ingredients for a recipe or getting the right book from the library. And the food. Oh the food. In Chicago, the food IS the entertainment. Josh already did a search for Ethiopian restaurants in Nashville. There is one. It better be good.

Chicago can also dress up nice for pictures.

Photo Fridays #2

It’s official. We are leaving Chicago. Chicago has been our home for the better part of ten years, and the reality that this city won’t be home anymore has not quite set in. This is especially true as September is the nicest month to be in Chicago, i.e. the time when it is most foolish to leave. What I have to keep thinking about is February…February in Chicago…not so nice…not at all nice.

In honor of this ending era, I am going to post a few Chicago photos over the next few weeks, starting with photos from the University of Chicago campus and the gargoyles that welcomed us to this city when we began school in 2004. Josh and I went for a walk on campus last week and were struck by the magnificence of the place. We lived here? We belonged here? This is gorgeous!

Enjoy.

To see more of my photography, visit emilycapo.com.

Doofus the Dimwitted Dragon

Chicago warmed up for a day and we celebrated by going out to the lake to build a creature in the fresh snow. Meet Doofus, the Dimwitted Dragon. Josh also calls him Special Ed. (Hey, we only had our lunch break to make him. That just wasn’t quite enough time to make it what we pictured…a giant Chinese Dragon emerging from the icy depths. Oh well!)

6 Ways to Survive Winter in Chicago

Winter in Chicago. Boy, is it ever. I fear the constant bundling and the cabin fever are starting to get to me. The worst part is knowing that, in Chicago, we still have two more months of winter. It is too easy at such times to become despondent. All the more reason to be more creative!

When the going gets tough, and in this case, frigid, I have a few methods for consoling myself:

Snowpocolypse, 2011

1. Get out in it!
   True, it has been colder than the South Pole a few days this January, the threat of frostbite has been high, and boiling water turned to snow when tossed into the nippy air, but there is something to be appreciated about experiencing extremes. Far worse than cold is what my family calls the season of the Blahs: 40 degrees and cloudy. At least when it is cold ice does strange and marvelous things to behold. The trick is getting out there (with the appropriate cold weather gear, of course), and experiencing it for yourself.
2. Go to the Botanical Garden.
   Chicago has three botanical gardens, all of which have large tropical conservatories full of glorious, humid air. We went to the Lincoln Park Conservatory last Sunday and almost fell asleep in there, so happy to leave the chalky, dry, freakishly cold air outside. The Lincoln Park facility is open daily from 9-5 and is TOTALLY FREE.
3. Build a fort.
   Honestly, I do have to explain why?
4. Remember that warm places exist:
   It is important to keep some perspective–a vision of the big picture when we reach for a third scarf. This will not last forever. Warm places are out there. I will be warm again. My skin will see the sun once more. I can remember the feeling of sand between my toes. I know the smell of sunscreen. I have felt warm breezes in the shade of palm trees. I recall the scene in C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair where the evil queen is trying to convince the heroes that Narnia, Aslan, and even the sun, do not exist. In a brave effort to regain his senses under her spell, Puddleglum reaches his hand into the magical fire and uses the pain to awaken from the enchantment and remember that the sun is real. In other words, winter may cast a spell of despondency; it is our choice whether we succumb.
5. Use your imagination.
   Cue Mary Poppins and 34th Street’s Kris Kringle and other such defenders of the imagination (If you feel yourself getting sarcastic, just tell your inner cynic that what I am about to describe is a legitimate meditation technique). Are you ready? Turn on this song from the J Band. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. Imagine you are on a beach at night. The band drums and strums in sync with the waves gently tumbling onto the sand. Tiki torches light a stretch of sand where people are dancing. The happy faces beckon you to join them. Your hips begin to sway. Gals, give that fabulous dress you are wearing a twirl. Guys, don’t worry, you smell great.  Let the music and the sweet, warm, salty air intoxicate you. You have no inhibitions. Just dance. As the song ends, keep your eyes closed. Take a few more breaths. Open your eyes. Congratulations, you just visited my happy place.
6. Um, well, leave.
   Ok, I confess. I just spent the last two hours looking up all-inclusives in Punta Cana. If you cave, as I did, feel no shame. Just say that Bloody Mary made you do it:

Happy New Year! Love, the snowman and the bard

Frost on the INSIDE of my car. Yeah.

Greetings from frigid Chicago! We just returned from sunny California to gobs of snow and the promise of a -10 degree high for Monday. We suspect the weather karma spirits are making up for the (comparatively) mild winters of late.

Despite the fact that no one around here seems capable of talking about anything besides the weather, I do love snow, and Chicago is a decent place for Cross Country Skiing. I also enjoy the month of January because, owing to everyone’s desire to stay inside, it is a time that lends itself to thinking, and specifically for thinking BIG about the new year. Got any 2014 resolutions or plans? What inspires you as we head into this new year? Do share!

I stumbled across this list of 10 resolutions paired with Shakespeare quotes. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Do what you fear – “Boldness be my friend. Arm me, audacity, from head to foot.” –  Cymbeline, Act I, Scene 6
2. Love your enemies – “Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it doth singe yourself.” – Henry VIII, Act I, Scene 1
3. Be patient – “How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?” – Othello, Act II, Scene 3
4. Be positive – “It is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2
5. Use time more wisely – “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” – Richard II, Act V, Scene 5

I resolve to memorize more Shakespeare. Please hold me to it.

I also stumbled across this piece on this amazing dude who draws massive fractal designs in huge swaths of snow by way of walking through miles of it. Check it out!

The snowman creates.

The snowman created.

See more of the snow designs.