The Annual GFC Farmers Meeting

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Knights of the Roundtable

Annual GFC Farmers Meeting, photo courtesy Vicki

The heart of The Good Food Collective is its farmers.  Without our amazing, dedicated and hard working farmers, there would be no GOOD food to enjoy.  We all have our own reasons for why we choose to eat locally grown food.  Regardless of the reason, it wouldn’t be an option if it weren’t for the hardworking people who grow and nurture our food.  And in the pre-packaged convenient grocery world of today, it’s easy to forget where our food really comes from.

I remember the first time we took our kids (then age 3 1/2 and 1) to the farm where we got our milk and cheese.  The oldest one said, “That cow gives me her milk?  Thank you, cow.” (She also bellowed on for an hour about the manure smell, but that makes the story much less charming.)  We often don’t have the privilege to meet the farmers and the food they provide.  But if we did, we would have a profound respect for our food, how it is grown and the earth that nurtures it.

Last night the GFC had its annual farmers meeting.  With the details of crop schedules and the production planning behind us, the GFC family gathered around a big table (well, it was actually two tables smooshed together) to discuss the goals and vision for the GFC, collaborate and enjoy some GOOD company, pizza and beer.

The rough agenda:
– The year in review
– Exciting aspects of the GFC moving forward
– New farms and GFC team members…a growing family
– Details of this year’s work plan, distribution locations, and general schedule
– Further commitment to immense quality for the whole membership experience
– Getting the ball rolling for this year’s fantastic GFC party: A GOOD Night 2012
– Talking “shop”, sustainable farming technique round table
– Eat and drink

People around the table:
Farms
Fred Forsburg, Honeyhill Farm
Ed Fraser, Fraser Family Farm
Kurt Foreman, Clearview Farm
Brian Beh, Raindance Farm
Doug Mason, Mason Farm
Jake Lagoner, Lagoner Farm
Luke Stodola, Small World Foods

Couldn’t be there, but we had some beer & pizza for them…
Erin Bullock, Mud Creek Farm
Amy Machamer, Hurd Orchards
Nathaniel Thompson, Remembrance Farm
Gale Thorpe, Thorpe’s Family Farm
Phil Munson, Fisher Hill Farm

GFC:
Chad
Stefan
Chris
Sam
Renee
Shannon (studying hard at school, so couldn’t be there)
Bill (working hard at MYDARNDEST, so couldn’t attend)

On a side note, I’ve decided a goal for next year should be to have a Farmer Ted at the table.  The 80s in me really needs that.

The GFC family is looking forward to another great year bringing our growing community of GOOD eaters the food they crave and love!

Today — Second Month of Winter CSA @ URMC

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Happy New Year!  And what better way to greet 2012 than by cooking up some GOOD stuff in your kitchen?  

We are kicking off our second month of Winter Distributions!  It may be a wee bit chilly out there, but the mighty GFC distribution team will be out and in action starting TODAY at URMC!  Get ready for another exciting month of GOOD FOOD!

DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONS/TIMES

Each week of each month we are at a different location to connect with our members.  Here are the dates and times for our January distribution:

URMC: TUESDAY 1/3,  4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (outside of Goler House, on the north side, between Goler and Elmwood)

RIT: TUESDAY 1/10, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (F-Lot- near the bus stop and the 20 minute flasher parking spots)

WOODCLIFF: TUESDAY 1/17,  4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (in the parking lot for building 345, Woodcliff Office Park)

SOUTH WEDGE: TUESDAY 1/24, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (in the parking lot of Boulder Coffee, corner of S. Clinton and Alexander)

THIS MONTH’S GREENS!

RAINDANCE HARVEST WINTER SALAD GREENS…AT LONG LAST!!!

ROOT CROPS THIS MONTH

This month: more potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, onions, and others.  Each member will be able to take up to 18 pounds of roots, with no more than 8 pounds of any one type.  The roots are beautiful, but will be coming with a bit of dirt.  Roots store best left unwashed, and should be washed right before use.  If you are able to fit them, roots will do well for a long time in your refrigerator.  Potatoes prefer a cold basement or garage, 45 to 50 degrees being ideal, but will sit on the counter for a couple of weeks if they are to be used soon.

APPLES/CITRUS

Our January distribution kicks off with apples and CITRUS! Get ready for still beautiful apples, and the sweet freshness of oranges, tangelos, and grapefruits!

BASIC INFO

Our distribution routine is very similar to our summer program.  Members will show up at the distribution location they signed-up for on the designated Tuesday (see list below) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  The GFC staff will be standing by with the Green Bean Machine ready to help you right through distribution.  Members will check in and have their names checked off, and everyone will receive all the necessary information on how distribution works.  Members can bring their own bags or containers to fill with their food or use the plastic bags always  available at distribution.  All additional shares will be handed out as well for members that have ordered them.

TODAY – Good Food at South Wedge

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We are finishing up December’s distribution TODAY with pick-up for those signed up for the South Wedge.

We will be in the parking lot of Boulder Coffee (corner of S. Clinton and Alexander) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Like you, we are still early on the learning curve with this project. But clearly things are coming together well!  We will be putting out a quick survey after December’s distributions to see what challenges people have had and how we can help make sure all this GOOD FOOD is easy for you to store, prepare, and eat!  For those of you still waiting to pick up your share, get ready for a lot of really nice (but dirty) roots!

Wonder what’s in this month’s share or how distribution works? Click here.

Still confused about the schedule or want to plan ahead for the next delivery? Click here to see the schedule for the entire Winter CSA season.

Happy Holidays!  We look forward to more GOOD FOOD in 2012.

 

This Week — First Winter CSA Woodcliff Distribution

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The Good Food Collective

You know what today is?  It’s a day full of GOOD FOOD at Woodcliff.

We are halfway through our first month of winter distributions.   Like you, we are still early on the learning curve with this project, but clearly things are coming together well!  We will be putting out a quick survey after December’s distributions to see what challenges people have had and how we can help make sure all this GOOD FOOD is easy for you to store, prepare, and eat!  For those of you still waiting to pick up your share…get ready for a lot of really nice (but dirty) roots!

Wonder what’s in this month’s share or how distribution works? Click here.

Still confused about the schedule or want to plan ahead for the next delivery? Click here to see the schedule for the entire Winter CSA season and wow your friends and family with your predictions of when you will have some really GOOD FOOD in your winter kitchens.

 

This week: RIT begins Winter CSA

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Our Winter CSA kicked off the season last Tuesday with delivery to those signed up for the URMC pick-up.  Each Tuesday of the month, a different location receives distribution and RIT is on for this week. This week’s distribution is only for those picking up at RIT. See our blog post from last week for more information about the schedule or how pick-up works.

We’ve had lots of questions about what to do if you can’t make a delivery date. The dates for the entire Winter CSA season are available on our web site.  If you can’t make a delivery date for your location, just send us an email at least 24 hours in advance so we can let our mighty distribution team know at which alternate location you will be picking up.

Happy GOOD Food, everyone.

Winter CSA Distribution Starts Today with URMC

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We are very excited to get rolling with our Winter CSA program and to be out on the streets again delivering GOOD FOOD!

Our December distribution starts today. Only those signed up for the UofR will pick up today. Those of you signed up for other distribution locations should take a peek at the schedule below and mark your calendars with a big ol’ GOOD FOOD happy face.

DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONS/TIMES

Each week of each month we are at a different location to connect with our members.  The following list are the dates and times for our December distributions:

DECEMBER DISTRIBUTION

URMC: TUESDAY 11/29,  4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (outside of Goler House, on the north side, between Goler and Elmwood)

RIT: TUESDAY 12/6, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (F-Lot- near the bus stop and the 20 minute flasher parking spots)

WOODCLIFF: TUESDAY 12/13,  4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (in the parking lot for building 345, Woodcliff Office Park)

SOUTH WEDGE: TUESDAY 12/20, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  (in the parking lot of Boulder Coffee, corner of S. Clinton and Alexander)

 

How Does Pick Up Work?

Our distribution routine is very similar to our summer program.  Members will show up at the distribution location they signed-up for on the designated Tuesday (see list above) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.  The GFC staff will be standing by with the Green Bean Machine ready to help you right through distribution.  Members will check in and have their names checked off, and everyone will receive all the necessary information on how distribution works.  Members can bring their own bags or containers to fill with their food or use the plastic bags always  available at distribution.  All additional shares will be handed out as well for members that have ordered them.

 

This Month’s GOOD Food:

GREENS

So as to make sure our winter salad greens are in bountiful form going into January, February, and March and because the fall field crops are still absolutely beautiful, we are letting the greenhouse greens continue to grow for next month and we will be distributing kale, collards and kohlrabi…fresh from the fields!

ROOT CROPS

For the month of December, we will be distributing potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, celeriac, and onions. Each member will be able to take up to 18 pounds of roots, with no more than 8 pounds of any one type.  The roots are beautiful, but will be coming with a bit of dirt.

How to store roots: Roots store best left unwashed, and should be washed right before use.  If you are able to fit them, roots will do well for a long time in your refrigerator.  Potatoes prefer a cold basement or garage, 45 to 50 degrees being ideal, but will sit on the counter for a couple of weeks if they are to be used soon.

APPLES/CITRUS

Our December distribution kicks off with apples, still so fresh in storage.  The first citrus crop will be in for our January distribution.  So we will have just apples in December, apples and citrus in January, and just citrus for February and March.

Brighton-Pittsford Post Features Farm to School program

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Harley School Food Service directors Vicki Pasternak & Susan Smith with Headwater Foods team members Stefan Schwartz & Chad Prozeller

Headwater Foods (with a little help from the mighty Green Bean Machine) kicked off its pilot Farm to School program on November 28 with deliveries to the Harley School and University of Rochester.  Alysa Stryker from the Brighton-Pittsford Post featured this exciting new step forward for the school food programs in our area.

To see the full story via the Brighton-Pittsford Post, click here.

From Farm to School
By Alysa Stryker, staff writer
Posted Nov 28, 2011 @ 11:44 AM

Regionally grown vegetables will now be delivered year-round to the Harley School and the University of Rochester as part of a new pilot program called Farm to School.

Run by Rochester based organization Headwater Foods, the program officially kicked off on Nov. 28 with its first batch of deliveries.

While many schools may have the desire to serve its staff and students with local, sustainable and fresh foods, it can be difficult to do so and meet the volume of food it needs on a day to day basis.

Chris Hartman, owner of Headwater Foods, said the pilot program is looking to step in and fill that need.

“With school calendars as they are, there’s a challenge with the local food season,” said Hartman. “The fact that we’re able to process the summer bounty and freeze it gives a year-round supply.”

In addition to providing a steady stream of freshly grown vegetables, Hartman said he’s looking to have a much broader affect by creating an economy that is connected to local food systems and local farmers.

Suzanne Smith, co-food service director at the Harley School in Brighton, said the staff and students have made it a priority to connect with the local food system.

“It’s been tremendous, the kids are very excited about,” said Smith. “We’re able to support local farmers, and it will be fresh frozen as if it just came out of the garden. Normally you wouldn’t be able to get these fresh products.”

In total, Headwater Foods will deliver 1,000 cases of frozen regionally-grown vegetables to the University of Rochester and the Harley School in its first year.

Hartman said the food will be coming from about a dozen farmers in Rochester and in central New York.

“There’s a real economic development possibility,” he said. “There are millions of dollars being spent on food that is quickly disappearing from our community, and we have the potential of capturing those dollars locally.”

 

 

When & Where Do I Pick-Up My Winter Share?

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Our Winter CSA share distribution starts next week.  We know you are as giddy as we are.

We’re receiving a lot of questions about when and where pick-up will be.  It’s up on our web site under the Winter CSA tab at the top of the page.  But we know you are busy people, so we thought we’d make it even easier to find.

Click here.

Chris Hartman TEDx SJFC Talk — Dec 5

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Mark your calendars!  The inaugural TEDxSJFC event will be December 5th. The focus will be Understanding Community.

But wait.  There’s more!  Our very own Chris Hartman is one of the speakers! Chris will join Tom Proietti, Robert Boyd, Katrina Rex and Rebecca Priest.  Chris will be going first (at 5:30PM) giving a talk on a community-scaled, GOOD FOOD system.

The event is free and open to the public.

Click here for more information on TEDxSJFC.

Last Week to Add Bread, Egg, Pasta & Meat Share

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For those of you that have already signed up, the additional share options are now available to add to your existing membership.  Take a look at our BREAD SHARE, EGG SHARE, PASTA SHARE, and MEAT SHARE.  Just add these shares to your shopping cart, checkout as you did before … and we will add this right to your membership.

OUR FIRST DISTRIBUTION IS NOVEMBER 29th at URMC!

Thanks again for your involvement on this exciting project, we look forward to seeing all of our winter members soon!

Sign up for our Summer CSA 2012 will begin in January.

Thank you,
Chris and the GFC Team