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Home My WebLink About[03e] farm to Institution ProgramMarch 23, 2011 DATE: MEMO TO: Economicc Developmennt Authority FROM: CynthiaSSmith-Strack MMunicipal Devvelopment Grroup Farm-Proocessor-Instituution Initiativee RE: Backgroundd: At the Februaary meeting, tthe EDA authhorized/directeed the EDA DDirector to orgganize a meetting with local prooducers, the ffood cooperattive, local foodd processors, and local insstitutional andd restaurant puurchasers. Thhe purpose of the meeting will be to shaare informationn and to faciliitate interaction beetween stakeholders in loccal food produuction/use ecoonomics. Thee EDA suggessted planning an eevent for earlyy April and starting with ann informationaal speaker followed by discussion reegarding needds/barriers to starting a loccal farm to caffeteria prograam. The EDA Director was to contact loccal school disstricts, Minnessota Land Steewardship Proogram, CSB, SJU, local restauraants, food co--op, local prodducers, U of MM Extension SService, and the Lab Schoool regarding schheduling a meeeting, develoop a flyer for ddistribution,aand keep EDAA members updated by eemail. Since the February EDAmmeeting I’ve hhad an opporttunity to speaak with severaal contacts regarding farrm to school, including, butt not limited too: Connnie Jopp, Schhool Nutritionist at St. Cloud ISD742. Shhe is very inteerested in attennding an evennt and offeredd Kennedy Coommunity Schhool as a meeeting location.. She hasppursued somee farm to school programss, but not exteensively. She will also invitee memmbers of her bbuying group tto the meetingg. Her buyingg group includdes: Albany SSchool Distrrict, Holdingfoord School Disstrict, Annanddale/Maple Laake School Diistrict, Sartell//St. Stephen School DDistrict, Colummbia Heights SSchool Districct, and Lakevville School Diistrict. n Maryy Flynn from tthe Stearns CCounty Extenssion Office. MMary isn’t direcctly involved i Farmm to School buut suggested I speak with Stephanie Heeim. hanie Heim iss the voice onn farm to schoool from the UU of M. She iss in a regional Step ee and is in heavy demand for speaking engagementss. I’ve correspponded with MMs. offic Heimm on several ooccasions. Shhe is availablee to address aa gathering inn St. Joseph tto talk abouut the A,B,C’s of F2S, but nnot until May. Terryy VanDerPol ffrom the Minnnesota Land SStewardship Project. Mr. VVanDerPol sugggested ‘doing homework’ pprior to convenning an initial meeting. He suggested speccifically speakking with stakeeholders to deetermine whaat needs are aand what shortfalls needd to be filled. HHe suggestedd I speak withh Caroline vann Schaik abouut her role in workking with Winoona EDA and farm to cafetteria. Mr. VannDerPol suggeested the EDAA revieew “Grown Loocally” a co-opp program in nnorthern Iowaa that has beeen very activee in connnecting the doots between pproducers, proocessors, disttributors, and end-users. HHe notess “Grown Loccally” providess 35% of foodd items to Luther College inn Decorah IA. The local co-op is activve in food saffety certification for local producers andd providing liability Ð¿¹» íð ±º ëê insurrance to producers. He notted representtatives from GGrown Locallyy will be in Glennwood MN forr a meeting in late April. I’mm attacvhing aadditional infoormation regaarding Growwn Locally and their instituttional and foood certificationn programs. VVanDerPol alsso stateed that the Mnn. Land Stewaardship Project will be hosting a Farm BBeginnings Proggram in St. Joseph soon. Finally, VanDeerPol suggestted contactingg Greg Reynoolds fromDelano for his prospectivee, especially aas it relates too local produccer activity annd mmunity suppoorted agricultuure(CSA). I’m attaching infoormation regaarding Riverb comend Farmm and their CSSA program. aik is also a Carooline Van Schnn in-demand sspeaker regarrding farm to sschool. She iss willinng to address a meeting in St. Joseph too speak about ‘connecting the dots’ andd succcessful prograams. She, likee Ms. Heim is not availablee until May. tt with Jeff Enggholm regardding his participation and thhe co-op’s participation in aa I me CSAA, expanding tthe co-ops rolle to include ffood certification/insurancee, acting as a distriibutor of produce, etc. I alsso spoke with Mr. Engholmm regarding acccess to the cco- op’svendor list. I’ve vvisited with local restaurateeurs regarding purchasing locally grownn food and emaiiled CSB, SJUU, and Lab Scchool purchassing regarding food providers. Although I’vee been successsful in reaching out to sevveral differentt resources, wwhat I haven’tt been successful inn is setting a ddate in April foor a producerr, processor, ddistributor, ennd user meeting. Therefore, I’mm now lookingg at the beginnning of May. I hope to havve additional information available for the meeting nnext week. Action: This item is for informatiofnn only. Ð¿¹» íï ±º ëê GROWN LocallyPage 1of 1 Welcome Ú¿®³ ú Ð®±¼«½»®Ú¿®³ ¬± Í½¸±±´Ú±±¼ Í¿º»¬§É»»µ´§ ßª¿·´¿¾·´·¬§Í»¿±²¿´ ßª¿·´¿¾·´·¬§×²¬·¬«¬·±²¿´ Í¿´»Ö±·² Ý±²¬¿½¬ Ë Weekly Availability Ü±©²´±¿¼ ÐÜÚ GROWNLocally(GROWN) oodsaisednlyithature Contact Us Email ·²º±à¹®±©²´±½¿´´§ò½±³ GROWNLocally · ¿ ½±±°»®¿¬·ª» ±º ³¿´´ô ´±½¿´ º¿®³ ·² Ò±®¬¸»¿¬ ×±©¿ ¼»¼·½¿¬»¼ ¬± °®±ª·¼·²¹ º®»¸ô ¸·¹¸ ¯«¿´·¬§ º±±¼ ¬± ´±½¿´ º±±¼ »®ª·½» ·²¬·¬«¬·±²ò Phone øëêí÷ íèðóçèìè Grown Locally CONVENIENT ÐòÑò Þ±¨ ìï Ü»½±®¿¸ô ×ß ëîïðï One-Stop Shopping. Ö«¬ ½±²¬¿½¬ ±«® ½±±®¼·²¿¬±® ¬± ¿½½» ¬¸» °®±¼«½¬ ±º ±ª»® îð °®±¼«½»®ò Contacting us is easy ò Receiving your food is easy ò É» ¼»´·ª»® »ª»®§ Ì«»¼¿§ ¿²¼ Ú®·¼¿§ ¬¸®±«¹¸±«¬ ¬¸» »¿±²ò FRESH & SAFE We take pride ·² °®±¼«½·²¹ ¿²¼ ¼»´·ª»®·²¹ ¹®»¿¬ ¬¿¬·²¹ô ¸·¹¸ ¯«¿´·¬§ô º®»¸´§ ¸¿®ª»¬»¼ô ¿º»ô ´±½¿´´§ °®±¼«½»¼ º±±¼ò Each Product · °®±¼«½»¼ô ¸¿²¼´»¼ô ½´»¿²»¼ô ¬±®»¼ ¿²¼ ¼»´·ª»®»¼ «·²¹ ³»¬¸±¼ ¬± °®»»®ª» ·¬ ¾»¬ ¬¿¬»ô ¬»¨¬«®»ô ½¸¿®¿½¬»® ¿²¼ ¯«¿´·¬§ò LOCAL & SUSTAINABLE We are a cooperative ±º ïê ´±½¿´ ³»³¾»® º¿®³ò É·¬¸ ¿½½» ¬± ±«® ³»³¾»®ù °®±¼«½¬ ¿²¼ ±¬¸»® ´±½¿´ °®±¼«½»® ¬¸¿¬ ©» ©±®µ ©·¬¸ô ©» ½¿² ¾®·²¹ §±« ¿ ©·¼» ª¿®·»¬§ ±º ´±½¿´´§ °®±¼«½»¼ º±±¼ò We are happy to deliver ©·¬¸·² ¿ ê ½±«²¬§ ®»¹·±² ·² Ò±®¬¸»¿¬ ×±©¿ô Í±«¬¸»¿¬ Ó·²²»±¬¿ ¿²¼ °¿®¬ ±º É»¬»®² É·½±²·²ò Choosing locally produced foods ¿´´±© §±« ¬± ¼·®»½¬´§ «°°±®¬ ¬¸» ´±½¿´ »½±²±³§ ¿²¼ ¸»´° ´±½¿´ °®±¼«½»® ¼·ª»®·º§ ¿²¼ ¬®»²¹¬¸»² ¬¸»·® º¿®³ò Powered by Google Sites Í·¹² ·²Ì»®³Î»°±®¬ ß¾«»Ð®·²¬ °¿¹» ¤ Ð¿¹» íî ±º ëê http://www.grownlocally.com/home3/23/2011 Farm to School - GROWN LocallyPage 1of 1 WelcomeFarms & ProducersFarm to SchoolFood SafetyWeekly AvailabilitySeasonal AvailabilityInstitutional SalesJoin Contact Us Weekly Availability Farm to School Download PDF Contact Us GROWN Locally is committed to providing high quality, local food to school districts in our area. This Email includes working with school districts to not only provide local products but education opportunities for info@grownlocally.com school lunch programs and classrooms. We encourage local school districts to contact us with ideas Phone and projects designed to increase the availability of local foods in their lunch programs. Please (563) 380-9848 563-380-9848 contact our coordinator, Johnice Cross, at info@grownlocally.com or phone Grown Locally P.O. Box 41 Check and see what we have available: Weekly Availability Decorah, IA 52101 Sign inTermsReport AbusePrint page | Powered by Google Sites Ð¿¹» íí ±º ëê http://www.grownlocally.com/farm-to-school3/23/2011 Riverbend FarmPage 1of 2 Riverbend Farm Farm History Organic production Crop Rotation CSA Share Contents and varieties CSA Sign up Calendar, Links, Contact Newsletters Recipes Riverbend Farm 2011 Riverbend Farm produces certified organic vegetables for Local Co-ops, Restaurants, and Community Supported Agriculture Welcome to our farm Riverbend Farm is located about 30 miles west of Minneapolis on the North Fork of the Crow River just west of Delano, Minnesota. Vegetables are produced on 30 acres that are in a four year rotation. Our main crops are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salad and cooking greens, radishes, onions, winter squash, and potatoes. Our focus is on high quality, good tasting produce. We are committed to sustainable practices and organic methods. We have been certified organic since 1994. Our major markets are local natural food co-ops, independent, chef driven restaurants, Farm to School, and a Community Supported Agriculture program. All of our produce is sold within 50 miles of the farm. Visitors since February 2008 Thanks for looking Ð¿¹» íì ±º ëê http://www.rbfcsa.com/Site/Riverbend_Farm.html3/23/2011 Riverbend Farm CSAPage 1of 2 Riverbend Farm Farm History Organic production Crop Rotation CSA Share Contents and varieties CSA Sign up Calendar, Links, Contact Newsletters Recipes Riverbend Farm CSA Riverbend Farm Community Supported Agriculture I think that we are out of shares for 2011. If you would like to get on a waiting list in case one of last years members who have reserved a share can’t take it, go to the CSA Sign Up page and send me an email. Thanks Greg. You have seen our produce at the co-ops and eaten it at many independent restaurants around town. Now you can get your own share of the harvest. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) began in the US in 1986. Two farms in New England developed the idea independently, at about the same time. One of the earliest CSAs in this area was Common Harvest, first organized in 1989. Other than having your own garden, CSA is the last word in local food. Community Supported Agriculture has its roots in local consumers wanting to know where their food is coming from, to the point of being able to visit the farms and meet the farmers. CSA supports small, diverse, family farms. The community in CSA preserves open space and farm land, CSA keeps farmers on the land and provides a realistic way CSA members also share some of the risk of farming for young farmers to get started. . If it is a great year the members reap the rewards of bountiful harvests. If it is a bad year or there is a weather related disaster, there will be less produce in the boxes. This is an important point to remember when purchasing any CSA share – there are risks associated with farming. As a CSA member, you share those risks. A typical CSA share box contains between 7 and 11 different vegetables, 8 to 25 pounds of produce, depending on the time of the season. It can be an overwhelming amount of produce if you do not cook and eat the majority of your meals at home. If you would like access to the freshest, best tasting vegetables, but don’t think that you can use all of it, consider sharing the harvest with a friend or neighbor. Canning, freezing and drying are great ways to preserve a little bit of summer for later. Ð¿¹» íë ±º ëê http://www.rbfcsa.com/Site/CSA.html3/23/2011