Revisions, Revisions

Hello everyone,

I hope you have all had a great week. Here is the update.

• Finished my AmeriCorps quarterly report.
• On Friday, May 20th I attended a conference put on by Cornell Cooperative Extension on how to market and sell farm products. I learned about a lot of good resources that will hopefully make it easier for SUNY Delhi to buy local.
• I went to a "Art and Soul of the Catskills" planning meeting. It seems like its going to be a great festival that celebrates local talent and food. The planning committee is going to keep in touch with me and let me know if there is any way the college could be involved.
• Working on yet more revisions to the "WIC Fruit and Vegetable Check use at Delaware County Farmer's Markets" research project. Hopefully these will be the last.
• A Thank you goes to David Brower for compiling the results from the survey the FFT team distributed at the screening of "Fresh."  
• I did some research on farms in the area that have greenhouses. We are hoping to be able to utilize these for salad greens, etc. for the local dinner.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Mary

Finally some sunshine!

Hello,

 

I must admit it was a challenge to be productive this week with the beautiful weather we've been having. Here is what happened this week:

 

• I have been working a lot this week with Amber Tatnall  on the WIC Fruit and Vegetable check project proposal. Hopefully we will send everything out to the NYS Department of Health this afternoon.
• Lots of local dinner planning and logistics. I have been talking with a couple people about chicken for the local dinner. Waiting to hear back about price estimates.
• My next quarterly report is due to New York Campus Compact on May 27th. I started working on that this week.
• Last Friday, I attended a Farm Catskills board meeting and gave them updates on a couple things including: Camp Move IT, the local dinner at SUNY Delhi, and CADI purchasing.
• Sent out a flyer about summer volunteering to the Campus Voice. I haven't had any interest so far, but I thought I would give it one last try.

Best,
Mary

Small Steps

Hello,

 

I realized that maybe I sounded a little discouraged in my last update, I think it was the rainy weather. In any case, some good things happened this week.

• After doing some research on local pork sources, I facilitated contact between Chef Recinella and Gideon Frisbee (a farmer here in Delhi). Chef Recinella is ordering 10 pigs from him for the fall semester.
• My WIC survey was finally approved by the state Dept. of Health. Had to write them a cover letter as well. Still more hoops to jump through before I can start the actual research.
• I met with Brigid McGinn--Art Director and co-owner of Camp Move IT. They want to buy local food need help with outreach and connections with farmers. I am going to talk to the Farm Catskills at the board meeting this evening about the best way to get the word out, etc.
• I submitted my description of the faculty workshop I am going to do this spring. Its going to talk about... buying local of course! My intent is to teach people about some ways to buy local they may not have thought of before. Also, ideas for integrating local food into curriculums.
• Emailed Bookstore manager Patti Timoney about the possibility of having some value-added products (jams, fudge, etc.) for sale in the college bookstore.

Enjoy the sun!
Mary

April showers

Hello everyone-

 

Sorry the update is late this week. Hope everyone is doing well.

 

• Met with Terry Hannum and talked with her about what the college has been doing this year. She is going to maybe write an article about our efforts for the Delaware County Times.
• Unfortunately, only 4 restaurants responded to the survey I sent out. But, it was not completely in vain. What I learned from the responses is that each restaurant's needs are different--and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for buying local. If a restaurant wants to buy local, they will make it happen despite challenges. But, if they don't care then they are not going to put in any extra work...and that is that.
• Tried to get the word out to students about summer internship and volunteer opportunities. No interest from them so far.
• Going to run one or two Staff Development workshops having to do with buying local (obviously). Email me if you have any ideas on things you would like to learn about.

Best,

Mary