national food system work

Nashville’s beloved farmers market faces some tough rows to hoe | City Limits | Nashville Scene

This article is from the beginning of the year:

“The idea of bringing in a private company to run the operation comes less than a year after a review from Metro’s finance department that was critical of the market’s finances and management. Then-market director Jeff Themm stepped down from the role in June of last year, shortly after the review, and Nancy Whittemore, director of Metro General Services, has been serving as interim director ever since.

Comer says the market board has worked with General Services to address most of the issues brought up in the report, including better enforcement and compliance with civil service rules, and more thorough housekeeping and maintenance. She says they’re still working through the report, and part of that means looking at “all possible options” when it comes to making the market financially sustainable.”

Between an ongoing deficit and privatization talk, Nashville's beloved farmer's market faces some tough rows to hoe | City Limits | Nashville Scene.

I have not heard or seen any updates to this since this article and RFP were published.

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6,000 lbs of food on 1/10th acre

Sharing farming details with market communities was the subject of a recent FMC webinar via by Washington State’s Colleen Donovan. That archived webinar can be viewed at http://farmersmarketcoalition.org/information-marketplace/.
This video also gives some very good information about growing food on very small acreage and could be embedded on farmers markets or farmers sites for community members to learn more about small lot farming.

▶ 6,000 lbs of food on 1/10th acre – Urban Farm – Urban Homestead – Growing Your Own Food – YouTube.

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Food Day

Check out the “Big Easy Peel” event, a satsuma-peeling event starting at 11:30am on Oct. 24th at the Washington Artillery Park across from Jackson Square! Dr. DeSalvo, the health commissioner of New Orleans, will be there to speak and endorse Food Day. There’s more information about the event here: We’re looking to invite as many people as possible, so please spread the word!

Events Calendar | Nola Food Day.

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North Market, Columbus OH

This market is one of my favorites as, while it was being renovated, I was a poor community organizer in the 1980s in Columbus and I would walk from my office to the market to get healthy food and to soak in the lovely vibe. The renovated site also hosts an outdoor farmers market on Saturdays and sits within a revitalized area that encourages visits to this previously barren area. The value of being able to sit in a sunny, bustling place for a leisurely lunch and recharge one’s batteries is something market halls especially can offer their neighbors and they should be celebrated for that.

North Market

Front of the North Market on Saturday
Buckeye Fan
Petting area at North Market
Brochures at North Market
One of the permanent vendors within the North Market
Polish food vendor at North Market
pierogies
Brochures on individual permanent vendors, North Market
Music at North Market
Apple display, Columbus OH
transportation kiosk, North Market, Columbus OH
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Findlay Market pictures

The first of three public markets that I will be visiting this week across Ohio.http://www.findlaymarket.org/

Lovely Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, the largest collection of Italianate buildings in the US.

Lovely Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, the largest collection of Italianate buildings in the US.

Belgian brunch restaurant in O-t-R neighborhood, close to the Findlay Market.

brunch restaurant in Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, close to Findlay Market.

O-t-R
Seating at Findlay Market

Seating at Findlay Market

Welcome to Findlay, Ohio's oldest public market.

Welcome to Findlay, Ohio’s oldest public market.

Around the corner from the Findlay Market, Cincinnati's Public Market

Around the corner from the market


Mural at the Findlay Market

Mural at the Market

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Sustainability summit

Here at the Cleveland Sustainability Summit looking through their “Sustainability Dashboard”:
Local Food Accomplishments for 2013 include:

Growhio planning a follow up summit in February of 2014 to identify critical gaps in the local food economy
Menu For The Future grants and courses have supported canning workshops and offered funding for activities at City Rising Farms in Hough.
Community Kitchen Incubator Forum held to celebrate the launch of many incubator and certified kitchens in the area.

20131003-081905.jpg

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Waste not

40% of our food is wasted; 25% is wasted by the consumer. Great points to share with your community.

 

 

 

 

Tackling_Food_Waste_Crisis

Sustainable America

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National 2013 Food Hub Survey-NFGN

Authored by Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems & The Wallace Center at Winrock International
From the Executive Summary:

Findings from the survey showed that food hubs across the country are growing to broaden the distribution infrastructure for local food. From the survey, 62% of food hubs began operations within the last five years, 31% of food hubs had $1,000,000 or more in annual revenue and the majority of food hubs were supporting their businesses with little or no grant assistance—including food hubs that identified as nonprofits. Financially, the most successful food hubs tended to be for-profit and cooperative in structure, in operation for more than 10 years and working with a relatively large number of producers. The values-based nature of food hubs makes it hard to judge many of them solely on their level of financial success.
The survey also revealed a number of persistent challenges and barriers to growth that even the most financially successful food hubs faced.
For example, many food hubs indicated their needs for assistance in managing growth and identifying appropriate staffing levels for their hubs. They also often pointed to their need for capital and other resources to increase their trucking and warehousing capacity.

NFGN Report

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Vermont Law School Helps Farmers Markets and CSAs

Good overview of the new Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School that Laurie Ristino is heading. I am honored to be part of one of their first grants to help markets, written in partnership with NOFA-VT. If the proposal is successful, legal resources will be written for markets and for CSAs over the next few years.

VT Law

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Maryland Food System Map | Center for a Livable Future

This is one of my favorite food system sites . Wouldn’t it be great if each state and every regional projects collected and shared this type of visual data?

A screen shot of the Maryland Food Map circa July 2013.

A screen shot of the Maryland Food System Map circa July 2013.


Note from the organizers:

Map updates include expanded Nutrition Assistance data and updated points of interest for Maryland.
Nutrition Assistance – new and updated data about federal nutrition assistance programs.
SNAP usage by Zip Code
Schools with 50% or more children who are eligible for free and reduced cost meals
Afterschool Meal Program Sites
WIC office locations
NOTE: The following existing data layers have been moved to this category:
SNAP Participation by County
SNAP Retailers
WIC Retailers
Points of Interest – updated points of interest note changes in addresses and expand lists statewide.
Institutional sites in this list – schools and hospitals – will be expanded further this year, as we gather data and statistics about how these institutions are using local food. Here are the layers currently updated:
Hospitals
Public schools
Recreation centers
Senior centers

Maryland Food System Map | Center for a Livable Future.

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The Crop Hop: Celebrating Family Farmers & Supporting Farm Advocacy

The Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA’s mission is to cultivate markets, policies, and communities that sustain thriving, socially just, and environmentally sound family farms. RAFI works nationally and internationally, focusing on North Carolina and the southeastern United States. RAFI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Pittsboro, North Carolina and incorporated in 1990.

Learned about this excellent organization on my last visit to Carrboro North Carolina while I was there working with my colleague Sarah Blacklin, (she late of the Carrboro Farmers Market and now working on statewide analysis of meat production); RAFI’s excellent deep work with farmers is one of the reasons that North Carolina are seeing entrepreneurial farming in larger numbers, and I am sure that they are more than willing to share that credit with a host of other NGOs and universities as well.

This fundraiser idea is a great one and no matter where you are in the US, you might want to look into it and support their work more closely.

The Crop Hop: Celebrating Family Farmers & Supporting Farm Advocacy.

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