Working towards Sustainability

Hello,

 

I hope you have had a wonderful week.  

• The scanned newspaper articles are now digitized into a pdf. Let me know if you want this and I will gladly send it along.
• I made a flyer and info sheet for vendors for the Farmers' market on campus planned for October
• Sonia Persichilli sent me this link for a Farm to School toolkit https://red001.mail.microsoftonline.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=32455e56509842d39a13e470038929b2&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.wafarmtoschool.org%2fToolKit
• Amber Tatnall and I finished writing our final report on the findings from the WIC survey.
• I finished my "final report and recommendations" It is a powerpoint presentation and summarizes the year's successes and challenges, and then I give some suggestions on how to move forward.
• Starting working on my LAST AmeriCorps quarterly report!

Best,

Mary

August Already?

Hello Farm-Food People!

• Christina Viafore and I have been working this week trying to find farms that have the quantity of veggies we need for the local dinner.
• Meg Kennedy (manager of the Delhi farmers' market) said that 8 of her vendors want to do the farmers' market on campus in October. Just need to work out details now.
• I followed up with Middlefield Orchards and directed them to CADI so they can supply SUNY Delhi with apples again this year. Looks like that is going to happen.
• Challey Comer forwarded this event to me to share with all of you. It is part of a series of farm visits this growing season for start-up farmers and farm apprentices/interns in the Catskills region. Check out the link!

  http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Catskills-CRAFT-Visits-Lucky-Dog-Organic-Farm-August-8.html?soid=1101908022729&aid=b-oWpfkLDyY 
• I have been working on updating my database this week. I have lots of people to add.
• Also, Art and Soul of the Catskills is this Saturday, August 6th from 10-5 in Delhi on the square. See you there!

Have fun this weekend!

Mary

Beating the Heat

Hello, 

 

I had a great time visiting several farmers markets this past weekend. I am going to be out of office all next week. I will be returning on August 1st.

• Amber Tatnall and I went to the Delhi WIC outreach site. We also entered all of the interview data and are going to work on summarizing it.
• I have talked to a couple farms about vegetables for the dinner. Waiting to hear back about prices, etc. 
• Finished my binder of newspaper articles. I am thinking of scanning them into a pdf so I can send it to anyone who may want it.  
• Trying to get some farmers to participate in SUNY Delhi's Health and Wellness Fair on September 22nd.

Have a good week,

Mary

Eat your veggies!

Hello,

 

What a beautiful week its been! Perfect for visiting the farmer's markets.

• I am making some progress on the quest for vegetables (for the local dinner in October). I talked to the veggie vendors at the Delhi market and Hellers and Jamaica Dream Farm seem interested. I am going to visit the Hobart market this evening, and the Hancock, Deposit, and Franklin markets this weekend. I find that talking to the farmers in person is more effective...and visiting the markets is a good way to find the smaller farms that don't have websites, etc.
• While I'm waiting for farmers to get back to me, I've been working on archiving all the newspaper articles about agriculture that I've gathered this year. I am scanning the articles and putting them in a binder. I think it will be a good resource for anyone continuing this work.
• Amber Tatnall and I will be going to the Delhi WIC outreach site this coming Wednesday.

Thank you for all of your help and guidance,
Mary

Getting out of the office

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope you have been enjoying the summer weather.

• Amber Tatnall and I spent Wednesday at the Walton WIC outreach site and Thursday at the Hobart site doing our research interviews.  We also went to the Sidney outreach site last week.
• Trying to recruit some more students to work in the Delaware Academy school garden.
• Working on sourcing the vegetables for the local dinner. If anyone knows of any vegetable farmers looking to expand or grow for this specific event, let me know! I would like to use this dinner as an opportunity to get more farmers growing more.
• Barb Jones and I talked to the manager of the Delhi Farmer's market (Meg Kennedy) about having a market on campus once their regular season ends. Meg is going to talk to the vendors and see what they think.

Enjoy the weekend!
Mary

Gardening and Research Approval

Hello Local Food Enthusiasts,

• Met with the Delhi school's garden committee on Monday and talked with them about ways to get Delhi students involved. On Thursday, me and two SUNY students worked through the rain to help get the garden planted. They did a great job. Hopefully I can get some more students to volunteer on a regular basis.
• I have compiled my lists of farms into one excel sheet. It contains their location, contact information, and products they offer. I will be giving this list to CADI, the culinary department, and anyone else who wants it.
• Chris Wildenstein, RN asked me if I could get some farmers to come to the Health and Wellness Fair on September 22nd.
• Amber Tatnall and I will be starting our research on "WIC Fruit and Vegetable check usuage at Delaware County Farmers Markets" this coming Tuesday. We were finally approved by the NYS State Department of Health!

Have an awesome weekend!
Mary

Farmers Market season is here!

Hello,

 

This week was a busy one! I am going to be at an AmeriCorps training in Ithaca, NY Monday thru Wednesday next week, so I will not be answering email or phone calls. I will be back on Thursday.

• Finally got a letter of support from the NYS Dept. of Health regarding the WIC research. Amber Tatnall and I now have submitted our proposal to Delhi's IRB board.
• Met with Chef Jay about the all-local dinner planned for October. We have the chicken all set. Jay is going to look into beef sources the week after next and I've been working on vegetables and various other things.
• Met with Patti Timoney from the college bookstore about selling local products there. We decided we wanted to keep the sourcing as close to Delhi as possible.  I am going to have a list of suggestions on what products would be good by next friday and we are going to meet again.
• Met with Shana Eaglefeathers the new summer AmeriCorps position working with Farm Catskills. I told her about whats gone on this year and gave her some possible ideas for things that could be done.

Thank you for all you do,

Mary