For our National Agriculture Day shirt, The Farmlink Project was lucky enough to work with NYC-based artist and illustrator Elijah Anderson. Elijah is extremely talented and has worked with companies like Saucony, Book Works, and Lite Year, among others. For more of Elijah’s work, follow him on Instagram @spacehose. Also, be sure to check out his project @goodearth.nyc.
To learn more about his background and inspirations, Farmlinker Hannah Sherman caught up with Elijah for a brief Q&A:
Q: Hi Elijah ~ can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi! My name is Elijah Anderson, and I’m an artist and illustrator living in Brooklyn, NY.
Q: How did you get into illustration, and what has influenced your style?
I got into illustration mostly through being into graffiti and skateboarding growing up. I’ve always enjoyed drawing though. Those two things really gave me a sense of what style meant (other writers, street artists, board graphics, etc.) and they taught me about things I did and didn’t like about art. Graffiti especially taught me a lot about shape, color, and form, as I did not study visual arts in school. Lots of recent inspiration also comes from old advertisements and cartoons.
Q: How do you approach your artistic projects? What is your creative process?
It really depends on the project, but ultimately it comes down to a lot of doodling. If necessary, I take time with a thought-out sketch, but I often get so caught up in doodling random things that ideas spring from that and eventually turn into a final piece.
Q: Can you tell us more about your fine art practice and what you’ve been exploring recently in the studio?
This tends to be quite different from the above, in which I’m mostly referring to drawings/illustrations and commissions for such. My studio stuff is a little all over the place, although recently I’ve been working on a series of quick black ink drawings that I’ve been enjoying. I find it quite difficult to focus on one piece for a long time, which is frustrating at times and something I used to be better at. I’m still enjoying all the possibilities of creating, though, and I want to try to not get stuck in a certain style or medium forever.
Q: You run the instagram page @goodearth.nyc. What is Good Earth and what are some important planetary values to follow?
Good Earth is a little project/brand that my girlfriend, Sophia Callahan (@sophiacallahan), and I started a few years ago! It’s pretty much about Earth and how awesome it is . . . The Earth has never really “needed” us, but if we’re gonna give it anything we gotta give it our love! It’s quite sad seeing what we have done to this place everyday, but I think really putting an effort into being conscious about our consumption and waste is such an easy way to make it a little better. Composting is a good first step!
Q: This shirt is dropping on National Ag Day to raise awareness for agriculture and The Farmlink Project. What does the Ag Day theme “Food Brings Everybody to the Table” mean to you?
I think this means that if everybody is given equal opportunity with the food that they eat, it could lead to equal opportunity elsewhere as well. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind . . . Everyone should have the right to both of those things!
Q: And lastly, an important question - what is your favorite vegetable?
Hard to decide! I think there’s a part of each vegetable that I love equally (not huge on zucchini though). Tomatoes are great. We wouldn’t have a lot of things if we didn’t have tomatoes.
These changes are great. But how’s it all going to be funded?
During the comment process, Farmlink, as well as other food rescue organizations and coalitions, raised critical questions about how the strategy would be funded and, as a result, which measures are feasible. In particular, we hoped for more clarity beyond the draft’s statement that the USDA would use American Rescue Plan Act and Inflation Reduction Act funds and the EPA would use Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. Of the 86 programs or initiatives reviewed in the final strategy, only 15 are completely new programs announced in the strategy.
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The other 71 are existing programs or initiatives that either already have a food loss and waste focus or that the national strategy has repackaged as food loss and waste solutions. While we had hopes of new, innovative programs being included in the strategy, the good news with these 71 programs is that most, if not all, are already funded, meaning that they are not reliant on an increasingly turbulent Congress for implementation. Of the 15 new programs, which included the EPA’s new consumer education campaign and several new cooperative agreements with land-grant universities, only 2 had specific funding mechanisms. It has become increasingly clear that food rescue organizations and other stakeholders in the food and agriculture space should not consider this strategy as a new rollout of FLW solutions, programs, and funding but rather as an evaluation of the current resources and solutions and how each can be most effectively utilized to achieve the strategy’s goals. In particular, the framing of many of USDA’s programs as FLW solutions offers opportunities to utilize existing funding, data, and infrastructure to solve one of the United States’s most pressing problems.
Whats next?
Now that we have the strategy, it’s time to truly take advantage of the opportunities it presents. In the immediate future at Farmlink, we’re excited to continue optimizing Section 32 as a critical on-farm food loss solution as we anticipate significant surplus recoveries in the fall. As we move forward, we continue to advocate for dignity with food distribution, emphasizing cultural appropriateness and quality in every pound of food we rescue. As outlined in our comments, food rescue organizations are critical stakeholders and thought partners for the agencies. Our inclusion in the strategy as such is an opportunity we are taking full advantage of to help guide federal action to support farmers, feed communities, and heal the planet.
< BackFor our National Agriculture Day shirt, The Farmlink Project was lucky enough to work with NYC-based artist and illustrator Elijah Anderson. Elijah is extremely talented and has worked with companies like Saucony, Book Works, and Lite Year, among others. For more of Elijah’s work, follow him on Instagram @spacehose. Also, be sure to check out his project @goodearth.nyc.
To learn more about his background and inspirations, Farmlinker Hannah Sherman caught up with Elijah for a brief Q&A:
Q: Hi Elijah ~ can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi! My name is Elijah Anderson, and I’m an artist and illustrator living in Brooklyn, NY.
Q: How did you get into illustration, and what has influenced your style?
I got into illustration mostly through being into graffiti and skateboarding growing up. I’ve always enjoyed drawing though. Those two things really gave me a sense of what style meant (other writers, street artists, board graphics, etc.) and they taught me about things I did and didn’t like about art. Graffiti especially taught me a lot about shape, color, and form, as I did not study visual arts in school. Lots of recent inspiration also comes from old advertisements and cartoons.
Q: How do you approach your artistic projects? What is your creative process?
It really depends on the project, but ultimately it comes down to a lot of doodling. If necessary, I take time with a thought-out sketch, but I often get so caught up in doodling random things that ideas spring from that and eventually turn into a final piece.
Q: Can you tell us more about your fine art practice and what you’ve been exploring recently in the studio?
This tends to be quite different from the above, in which I’m mostly referring to drawings/illustrations and commissions for such. My studio stuff is a little all over the place, although recently I’ve been working on a series of quick black ink drawings that I’ve been enjoying. I find it quite difficult to focus on one piece for a long time, which is frustrating at times and something I used to be better at. I’m still enjoying all the possibilities of creating, though, and I want to try to not get stuck in a certain style or medium forever.
Q: You run the instagram page @goodearth.nyc. What is Good Earth and what are some important planetary values to follow?
Good Earth is a little project/brand that my girlfriend, Sophia Callahan (@sophiacallahan), and I started a few years ago! It’s pretty much about Earth and how awesome it is . . . The Earth has never really “needed” us, but if we’re gonna give it anything we gotta give it our love! It’s quite sad seeing what we have done to this place everyday, but I think really putting an effort into being conscious about our consumption and waste is such an easy way to make it a little better. Composting is a good first step!
Q: This shirt is dropping on National Ag Day to raise awareness for agriculture and The Farmlink Project. What does the Ag Day theme “Food Brings Everybody to the Table” mean to you?
I think this means that if everybody is given equal opportunity with the food that they eat, it could lead to equal opportunity elsewhere as well. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind . . . Everyone should have the right to both of those things!
Q: And lastly, an important question - what is your favorite vegetable?
Hard to decide! I think there’s a part of each vegetable that I love equally (not huge on zucchini though). Tomatoes are great. We wouldn’t have a lot of things if we didn’t have tomatoes.
Elijah Anderson
Artist and Illustrator
For our National Agriculture Day shirt, The Farmlink Project was lucky enough to work with NYC-based artist and illustrator Elijah Anderson. Elijah is extremely talented and has worked with companies like Saucony, Book Works, and Lite Year, among others. For more of Elijah’s work, follow him on Instagram @spacehose. Also, be sure to check out his project @goodearth.nyc.
To learn more about his background and inspirations, Farmlinker Hannah Sherman caught up with Elijah for a brief Q&A:
Q: Hi Elijah ~ can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi! My name is Elijah Anderson, and I’m an artist and illustrator living in Brooklyn, NY.
Q: How did you get into illustration, and what has influenced your style?
I got into illustration mostly through being into graffiti and skateboarding growing up. I’ve always enjoyed drawing though. Those two things really gave me a sense of what style meant (other writers, street artists, board graphics, etc.) and they taught me about things I did and didn’t like about art. Graffiti especially taught me a lot about shape, color, and form, as I did not study visual arts in school. Lots of recent inspiration also comes from old advertisements and cartoons.
Q: How do you approach your artistic projects? What is your creative process?
It really depends on the project, but ultimately it comes down to a lot of doodling. If necessary, I take time with a thought-out sketch, but I often get so caught up in doodling random things that ideas spring from that and eventually turn into a final piece.
Q: Can you tell us more about your fine art practice and what you’ve been exploring recently in the studio?
This tends to be quite different from the above, in which I’m mostly referring to drawings/illustrations and commissions for such. My studio stuff is a little all over the place, although recently I’ve been working on a series of quick black ink drawings that I’ve been enjoying. I find it quite difficult to focus on one piece for a long time, which is frustrating at times and something I used to be better at. I’m still enjoying all the possibilities of creating, though, and I want to try to not get stuck in a certain style or medium forever.
Q: You run the instagram page @goodearth.nyc. What is Good Earth and what are some important planetary values to follow?
Good Earth is a little project/brand that my girlfriend, Sophia Callahan (@sophiacallahan), and I started a few years ago! It’s pretty much about Earth and how awesome it is . . . The Earth has never really “needed” us, but if we’re gonna give it anything we gotta give it our love! It’s quite sad seeing what we have done to this place everyday, but I think really putting an effort into being conscious about our consumption and waste is such an easy way to make it a little better. Composting is a good first step!
Q: This shirt is dropping on National Ag Day to raise awareness for agriculture and The Farmlink Project. What does the Ag Day theme “Food Brings Everybody to the Table” mean to you?
I think this means that if everybody is given equal opportunity with the food that they eat, it could lead to equal opportunity elsewhere as well. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind . . . Everyone should have the right to both of those things!
Q: And lastly, an important question - what is your favorite vegetable?
Hard to decide! I think there’s a part of each vegetable that I love equally (not huge on zucchini though). Tomatoes are great. We wouldn’t have a lot of things if we didn’t have tomatoes.
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