Welcome back!

We hope you had a delicious (and local) Thanksgiving holiday.

A few articles of note:

Americans' Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High

Gleaning Gone Crazy - 40,000 Show Up to Pick Leftover Crops at Colorado Farm

Recap of "Future of Farming" Conference

Upcoming Event:

Making Local Farm-to-School Connections

A workshop for extension agents and other ag professionals

December 11, 2008

D.F. Allmendinger Center (videoconferencing available at other locations)

WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center

Farm-to-school connections are sparking interest around the state, as producers, advocates, educators and food service professionals see the potential for farm-to-school programs to expand local markets for farms and provide access to more fresh foods for children and youth in schools. This past year the Legislature passed the Local Farms-Healthy Kids Act, creating a Farm-to-School Program in the Washington State Department of Agriculture to support farm-to-school links and providing money to 25 schools around the state to buy Washington-grown fruits and vegetables. Those and other schools are now actively seeking produce from Washington farms to serve in their snack programs.

Join us for a workshop on Thursday, December 11, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the D.F. Allmendinger Center at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center in Puyallup to learn how you can support successful farm-to-school connections in your community. Please let us know if you’d like to participate by video-conference at an Extension office in another part of the state—we can likely make that happen!

This workshop will provide the tools and resources for Extension educators and other agriculture professionals to facilitate successful buyer and seller relationships between farms and schools. We’ll provide information on food safety, certification and liability insurance issues for farms seeking to sell to schools. You’ll also gain resources and ideas to share with schools for teaching about the links between food, farming, health, culture and the environment.

Each participant will receive a Farm-to-School binder with reference materials, so that you can respond knowledgeably and easily to producers and school personnel seeking to implement or become involved in Farm-to-School programs.

The workshop is free, and lunch is provided (for those attending in person in Puyallup). Pre-registration is required. To register, please contact Maura Walsh at the WSDA Farm-to-School Program: mwalsh@agr or call 360-902-1935. For more information, or to request a videoconference in your area, please contact Tricia Sexton Kovacs at tkovacs@agr.wa.gov or 360-902-2029.

Brought to you by WSU King County Extension Farm-to-School Connections and WSDA Small Farm and Direct Marketing and Farm-to-School programs, with funding from a WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources SARE Professional Development Mini-Grant.

Michael Ableman and Eat Local for Thanksgiving

Hey Friends,

It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving and the bustle of the holidays are just a little more than six weeks away! With summer behind us and winter looming ahead, local farms are growing and harvesting the delicious foods of autumn. Imagine warm butternut squash soup, roasted buttery potatoes, fresh-baked apple pie, toasted pumpkin seeds. Yum! Some farmers markets are open all winter, so check out www.pugetsoundfresh.org to find the one nearest you, or visit your local farm-friendly grocer for some Northwest bounty.

Coming up soon

This Friday, renowned farmer, author and photographer Michael Ableman will talk about food, culture and sustainability. He’s traveled the world and will share engaging, real-world stories of farmers and organizations that are providing leadership and re-thinking how we feed ourselves and our communities. What better way to get into the Thanksgiving spirit than to discuss how food and culture intertwine both here and abroad?

Date: Friday, October 24
Time: 6 – 8 p.m.
Place: Everett Station, Weyerhaeuser Room,
3201 Smith Avenue, Everett, WA 98201
Cost: $10 Cascade Harvest Coalition members; $15 non-members; RSVPs requested but not required by Monday, October 20 to Mary at Cascade Harvest: mary@cascadeharvest.org or by phone at (206)632-0606

Take the Pledge!

This Thanksgiving, take the pledge and offer at least one menu item prepared with a locally grown or produced food. It’s a simple, affordable and delicious way to show your support for local farms and help sustain our local food economy.

Here's why it’s important. When you choose to Eat Local for Thanksgiving, you:
• Support our local farms, which increases local jobs and strengthens the rural areas of Washington
• Reduce our dependence on food grown far away
• Keep our locally earned dollars circulating in our local economy
• Strengthen our local food system so we have healthy, safe and delicious food that supports our families and our environment.

Visit: www.pugetsoundfresh.org/eatlocal, and please forward to family, friends and colleagues, and invite them to join you in your pledge to Eat Local for Thanksgiving!

If you are interested in receiving Eat Local for Thanksgiving promotional materials, please contact Mark McIntyre at mark@cascadeharvest.org.

Thanks!

Eat Local for Thanksgiving Steering Committee

Michael Ableman to talk about local food systems this October

For Immediate Release Contact: Mary Embleton, Cascade Harvest Coalition,

206-632-0606 or mary@cascadeharvest.org

Feeding the Future: Stories, Images and Ideas from the Frontier of Food and Agriculture, an Evening with Michael Ableman

Everett, WA: Where our food comes from and how it is grown are getting more attention than ever, particularly in light of large national and international food recalls, recent studies detailing the tremendous energy consumed by our current industrialized food system, and the impacts that food system has on the health of communities and the environment worldwide. We are facing what proponents of sustainable food systems for years have called a looming ‘food crisis.’ It is time to take an insightful look at what is happening on the frontier of sustainable and localized food systems and the promising models that can lead us forward.

Join renowned farmer, author and photographer Michael Ableman on October 24^th at 6 pm at Everett Station for a closer look at food, culture and sustainability gleaned from his travels across urban and rural landscapes in the US and abroad. Hear about the farmers and organizations that are providing real leadership and action on re-thinking how we feed ourselves and our communities.

Regional efforts at re-localizing our food system will get a boost from this dynamic discussion as we launch the second annual Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign and gear up for Snohomish County’s 5^th Annual Future of Farming Conference: Breaking New Ground (www.focusonfarming.org).

This event is sponsored by Cascade Harvest Coalition with support from Snohomish County, the Northwest Agriculture Business Center, WSU Snohomish County Extension and Cascade Land Conservancy. Cost is $15 for non-members and $10 for members of Cascade Harvest Coalition. Seating is limited so reserve your seat today for this exciting event.

When: October 24, 2008

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Where: Everett Station, Weyerhaeuser Room, 3201 Smith Avenue, Everett, 98201

Light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to Mary at 206-632-0606 or mary@cascadeharvest.org by October 20^th

Summer days ahead....

Looks like we're in for a mini heatwave this weekend! Temps are already climbing above 70 and the forecast predicts highs in the 90s by Saturday. Which is ample reason to get out of the sun and into the temperature-controlled and fully air conditioned Tacoma Dome for the fourth annual Pierce County Livable Communities Fair. Kidding! If you're in the neighborhood, please stop on by and visit our booth...we'd love to see you there. If you're not in the neighborhood, then get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

I hope that the sun stays around, as we're heading out to the Tualco valley for a Tilth Producers Farm Walk at Willie Green's Organic Farm this coming Monday, May 19th. It should be a grand time, especially if we get some sunshine.

Writing of Willie Green's, we just recently interviewed the farmer and owner, Jeff Miller, which is published in the new and improved Puget Sound Fresh "What's Fresh NOW?" newsletter. If you're interested in signing up to receive the newsletter, which comes out every two weeks throughout the growing season, please send me an email (mark@cascadeharvest.org).

Random big thought for the day:
Many food products are grown or harvested in one place, then shipped to another to be processed cheaply, then shipped back to the original place to be sold, but that system's economic calculus is based on cheap labor and cheap energy and doesn't factor in the waste and pollution caused by the transportation. Success is measured by profits, with little regard for health (human and planet), social justice or the future. The current model doesn't work in the emerging conditions of the world. How will we change it for the better?

Good thing it's sunny. Go out and ponder this large idea and let me know what you find!

Mark


Article roll-call:

Measuring pollution on grocery bills


Food, friends are vitally important aspects when wine tasting


"Lollygagging" sturgeon collect in a giant ball to lounge, spend quality time together

Video

Rising food prices=more gardens

Weekend activities

Hello faithful readers! It looks like we're getting into a good blogging groove over here at the Good Sheppard Center. We'll try to post frequent updates to keep you informed.

This weekend promises lots of fun, educational, and CHC endorsed events for folks of all ages. On Saturday and Sunday, Seattle Tilth hosts its annual Edible Plant Sale. This is a wonderful chance to buy interesting and unusual varieties of edible plants for your garden and to show your support for a wonderful local organization. I suggest going early, as it's a hugely popular activity and they will run out of the more popular varieties (ex. Sungold Cherry Tomatoes).

On Sunday, Sustainable West Seattle is hosting their first Sustainable Festival at 4314 SW Alaska St. (one block West of the Alaskan Junction). Mary will be speaking on a panel and putting on a booth. It should be a rip-roaring good time, with some interesting and different activities, like: an "Un"drivers license booth, a bike maintenance booth, and Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin.

Also on Sunday is the Southern-style Community Oyster Roast benefiting the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance.

Looks like a great weekend all around.

Mark