Chef Survey: What's Hot in 2009

The National Restaurant Association just released the results from their Chef Survey. Over 1,600 chefs from across the nation took the survey. The number one trend? Locally grown produce. Boo-yah! It's a really fascinating study that reinforces our work here at Cascade Harvest Coalition, 'cause that's what we are: your local food and farming resource center.


Shout out to Jen Lamson and Kristin Hyde from Good Food Strategies for the tip.

Food Waste = Wasted Dollars

Here's a really interesting article about how the food industry, in particular institutional food service, is monitoring food waste and trying to find ways to cut it down. Perhaps the most interesting part of the article is the section that describes how students at Virginia Tech are responding to the school removing trays from the cafeteria. Getting people to change their behavior is often the most difficult part of "going green", so it's heartening to read that, in general, the students easily transitioned to the new system.

Mark

Buy local, it's a great investment

Dour economic news bombards us from all sides, which gets everyone all in a panic. Let's take a brief moment to step off of the index rollercoasters and try to take charge of what we know we can affect. A stable national economy starts with stable local economies. Take care of the home front first. How do you create a stronger local economy?

BUY LOCAL FIRST.

The last word may be the most important one, especially for those new to the movement toward local. Sometimes I hear from folks that it's unreasonable to buy everything locally. And you know what? That's absolutely true. Personally, I love bananas. And coffee. Neither of those items grows anywhere in the Puget Sound region (except maybe in a hothouse somewhere). They aren't local, but I'm still going to buy them. The key point is to buy local first. For instance, there are a lot of Washington farms growing a lot of potatoes. Instead of buying potatoes from somewhere else (Idaho, China, wherehaveyou) I choose Washington grown potatoes. Same thing goes for any other product. Buy local first. You don't have to completely overhaul your purchasing, just choose local products over non-local ones. Consider the money you spend locally as an investment in the future of your neighborhood, your city, your county, your state. By spending money within your community, you help build the strength of your local economy. And that's a great start to creating a sunny economic forecast.

Links:

San Francisco drafting food policy

Puget Sound Fresh Bus Boards

Check out our lovely bus board advertising on Snohomish County transit. Big thanks to PCC Natural Markets for helping with production costs!



Doesn't the classic gray, overcast, NW weather just make those colors pop?!

I think they look great. What do you think?

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.