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

Earth Day!

Hello and Happy Earth Day!

 

Here is the update. 

• The hunt for the Delhi Farmers market manager continues. I have been refered to yet another name to contact and see if they are the manager.
• Finished writing up and sent out the summary of Farm to School projects.
• Betsy Weidenbach, some students, and I visited Camp Move IT in Bovina, NY. They are an empowerment camp for girls that is relocating to Bovina after renting a building in Maine for a couple years. They are very interested in buying local and supporting the farmers and the community. There will hopefully be more discussion on how we can collaborate.
• Information on the internship at the Turquoise Barn in Bloomville, NY was sent out to culinary faculty. The information will also be sent to Career Services to be posted.
• I have contacted people from both the Delaware Academy and South Kortright school gardens about leverging some SUNY Delhi students to work in the garden during the summer. This depends, of course, on whether there are any local students who are interested. Finding people to take care of the gardens in the summer has been a problem for the schools in the past, so I thought it would be worth a try. Students may also be able to volunteer in the Delaware Opportunities Food Bank garden.  
• Sent the revised WIC survey  to the NYS Department of Health. Waiting for approval.

Best,

Mary

Government Shutdown? No Problem.

Hello,

 

Lots of stuff going on this week. In case any of you were wondering about what happens to federally funded programs such as VISTA during a government shutdown: don't worry, it will have little effect on me or the Farm to Table project.

 

Note: Next week I will not be in my office, but I will still be working on various projects. I will be checking email if you need to get a hold of me.

• EVENT THIS SATURDAY!  Farm Catskills, along with The Catskill Forest Association (CFA) is sponsoring the film Parcelizing the Catskills and The Boiled Frog Syndromeon Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 7 PM. The film is being presented by the Greater Stamford Area Chamber of Commerce at the Frank W. Cyr Center at 159 West Main Street, Stamford. The screening is FREE to the public!
• The Restaurant survey is FINALLY sent out! Sent an online survey monkey link to those who had email addresses, hard copies were sent to all others. In case you don't know (or have forgotten), the goal of the survey is to find out what area restaurants are already doing to buy local, and what is standing in their way of doing more.
• Had a conference call with the State Dept. of Health and Delaware Opportunities about revisions to the WIC project. The research is now going to focus on the WIC Fruit and Vegetable Checks. We are going to try and get an idea of whether WIC participants know they can use the checks at farmers markets.
• Culinary Dept. wants some pigs for the fall semester. I have been researching sources and doing some "comparison shopping."
• Met with Tianna Kennedy (Lucky Dog Farm) to talk about more things the college can do. I think it would be great if the college could take some Lucky Dog's "seconds" (veggies that are cosmetically perfect) and turn them into soup or something. Anyone want to take this on as a project?
• Worked on a summary table of Farm to School projects. Will try and get that out this weekend.
• Chef Jay has given me some more items for the Local Food Dinner.
• Did some investigating, and I have a new name to try and contact about the Delhi farmer's market.

Enjoy the weekend!

Mary

Bureaucracy is a pain...enough said.

Hello-

 

My distribution list just keeps getting longer. For those of you who were recently added, I am an AmeriCorps volunteer working at SUNY Delhi and my assignment is to increase consumption of locally grown food in Delaware County. I send out an email each week to let people know about the projects I am working on. Please email me back with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

 

Don't forget that I am working until the end of August. While the college year may be winding down, farmers market season is winding up. Still lots to do!

•  Entered the new contacts I made at the "Farm to Market" conference into the database.
• Researched local sources of chicken for the dinner.
• 
  Restaurant list has finally been whittled down to the restaurants that are still in business and who are interested. Restaurant survey going out next week via email.
• The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program survey project has come up against a lot of barriers and bumps in the road this week. Long story short, the project is under significant revision and a new proposal will have to be written.
• Internships on farms: if a farm is interested in having a student intern, a formal write-up of the internship description is needed. Contact me with questions.
• I am trying to get students involved in some of the summer food & farm events. Also maybe volunteering in the Food bank garden. Some of the students that live in the area may be interested. Plan on getting the word out via Delhi Today, flyers, other ideas?
• 
  I am still getting responses from the email I sent out in regard to previous and ongoing Farm to School projects. Look for a report on those responses next week.

Have a great weekend,

Mary