EatLocalFood.org
Connecting Food, People and Planet
Vendors Wanted
Cauliflower Festival
September 27th, 10 am to 3 pm
Margaretville, NY
There is still time to register as a farm, food or craft vendor at this year's Cauliflower Festival. Last year's festival drew a crowd of over 3,000 hungry attendees! With a focus on local food, history and agriculture, the Festival features children's activities, history displays, local agricultural displays, local artists and craftspeople, and live entertainment throughout the day. For more information, visit their website or contact Carol O'Beirne at obarts@catskill.net.
Local Food Booth - We need volunteers who are interested in helping to educate their community about the benefit and importance of local food. For more info or to volunteer please contact Christa Whiteman at 845-658-4358 or reply to info@EatLocalFood.org .
Local Foods Cookbook - Orange County Bounty. The concept of "eating within a 100-mile radius" has inspired an historic collaboration between artists, chefs, and farmers to produce a local foods cookbook. “Orange County Bounty; featuring the finest and freshest that O.C. has to offer” was compiled during the growing season by artists from the Wallkill River School, who visited O.C. farms that retail directly to the public. The artists collected recipes and family histories of the farmers, and painted each farm “en plein air” (French for outdoors) for the cookbook. Many restaurants that feature local produce also contributed recipes.
"Orange County Bounty," is a full-color, 176-page cookbook showcasing the local farms that grow and sell produce in the area, the restaurants that have made the commitment to use local foods in their menus, and the work of artists who live and create art in Orange County. It can be purchased online for $21.62 (includes tax) at www.WallkillRiverSchool.com or through Phillies Bridge Farm.
WILD HIVE - locally grown and milled grains as well as their delicious baked goods are now available at many convenient locations in our 30 miles radius!
CSAs: Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Four Winds Farm, Taliaferro Farm, Common Ground Farm.
Farmer's Markets: Wednesday evening in Woodstock, Saturday Millerton Farmers Market.
Stores, Restaurants and Caterers: Adams (Poughkeepsie), Nature's Pantry (Fishkill), The Crafted Cup (Poughkeepsie), 60 Main (New Paltz), Quattro Farm Store (Pleasant Valley), McEnroe Organic Store (Millerton), Beacon Natural Market (Beacon), Morning Brew Cafe (High Falls), Hudson Valley Coffee Traders (Kingston), Monkey Joes (Kingston), Joshua's Cafe (Woodstock), Mother Earth's (Suagerties, Kingston, Poughkeepsie), Hawthorne Valley (Ghent), Babycakes (Poughkeepsie), Omega Cafe (Rhinebeck).
Fellow locavore Flannery Denny reminds all of us of foods that can always be found from local sources: Dairy products, eggs, meat, maple syrup, honey, locally milled flour, sauerkraut, pickles and preserves are available from local sources year round! Thanks Flannery
I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported the
I'm a Local Diet Challenge wannabe (meaning I do my best, but am not strictly local yet), and I just had to let someone know about the satisfying and delicious local sandwich I so thoroughly enjoyed moments ago. The only items that I'm pretty sure aren't local would be the bread (Heidelberg Flaxseed) and the olive oil; but, the rest of it was local and delightful: caramelized spring onions, an egg over easy, cherry tomatoes cut into slices and a healthy smear of pesto with basil and garlic - Yummmm! Great for breakfast or lunch! It feels so good to know that most of my meal grew up in the same town that I did! I am completely inspired to see what other culinary delights I can find in my backyard...
Cheers!
Liz
Check the lastest blog by Nadia Maczaj of Rusty Plough Farm "Why Bother Eating Locally." www.hvparent.com/blogs ("My kids are so proud of me, I'm blogging!" Nadia)
Canning Jars For Sale!
$4.50/dozen, many dozen available, just the jars (no rings or lids). Contact Polly Armour at jarmour@bestweb.net
Are you interested in starting a school garden? For more information contact Susan Mitchell 255-8156 or email smitchell123@yahoo.com
Below is an essay sent in by a New Paltz Highschool student, Madeline Cottingham. It is very inspiring to hear from our youth.
Eating Locally. Your average banana: Who would have guessed how your bananas get into your house, the effort it takes and the damage it does? Bananas are grown thousands of miles away in Central America. On the plantations the bananas are picked while still unripe, doused with pesticides, and wrapped in plastic mainly by underpaid women laborers. On the plantations health problems are common as a result of overworking and the proximity to chemicals. Between thirty-to-forty percent of the total bananas harvested are rejected because of small blemishes and specks and don’t meet the strict aesthetic requirements. The bananas are then shipped on freight trains, [which acts as ninety percent of the world trade transportation and account for five percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emission]. Once shipped in refrigerated compartments, the fruit is then chemically forced to become ripe in warehouses. Finally the fruit is transported to retailers and then sold to smaller shops and stores. What a journey.
Bananas are just the beginning to this ridiculous cycle of eating. Most of the foods found in our grocery stores are grown far from the stores, are genetically engineered, covered in chemicals, undergo thousands of miles of transportation and spend a great deal of time in storage. The amount of fossil fuel used to transport food is enormous, causing a large amount of carbon dioxide to be released into the air. A study in 2000 estimated that ten percent of the energy used annually in the United States was consumed by the food industry and in 2005 on average American food travel 1,500 miles before reaching its destination. Considering all of these factors locally grown food seems to be the obvious choice in an effort to reduce environmental harm. Eating the food that is produced by local cultivators saves tons of fossil fuels and helps in the prevention of things such as global warming. Many people are unaware of the amount of pesticides and herbicides that cover the food they consume. These chemicals have been proven hazardous to your environment, not to mention our bodies.
In fact the food that is grown locally is better for you and it tastes better. Logically, eating food that was shipped in a box, traveled and stored for months, has been genetically engineered to stay "fresh" and forced to become ripe, wouldn’t seem to be good for your body. On the other hand, eating food from your nearby garden or farmer would be much healthier, tastier, and fresher. As well when you pick your own food you truly know what you are eating. Wouldn’t things be so much easier and better if we just ate the food that is surrounding us, when it is fresh and ripe?
Thanks Madeline.
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