What's In The Share Box?
Monday, June 26

Here are the contents of this week's CSA share from Scattergood Farm in West Branch:

Broccoli
Fennel
Napa Cabbage
Scallions
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
and, alas, more turnips

Here is a segment of Farmer Mark's newsletter from Scattergood Farm:

The broccoli just keeps coming (and will keep coming and coming--a
warning!), though I have seen a worm or two survive to infest the florets.
Again, the rain and windy weather has prevented the third application
of Bt--perhaps this afternoon. Careful inspection, along with soaking
the heads in cold salt water, usually does the trick, though at this
point the incidence of worms is still relatively infrequent. Growing good
broccoli was a big goal of mine since it has consistently been one of my
daughter's favorite foods since she started on solids. We've given it
quite a bit of attention this year, and it is giving quite a bit back to
us. 

Eco-Fair in Fairfield June 9 - 10

Laura, Executive Director, attended the Maharishi University of Management Eco-Fair in Fairfield this past weekend. Many of Local Foods Connection's contacts in the Fairfield area are environmental activists, and help organize and participate in such events. http://www.mum.edu/ecofair.

The many speakers were informative and inspirational. Here are a couple of statements from speakers that made an impact on me:

"T.V. is the number one predictor of childhood obesity in the country." From Melinda Hemmelgarna, instructor at University of Missouri, journalist, dietician and food activist.

"I predict the manufacture of GMOs in agricultural crops will be stopped, by consumer action, in two more years." Jeffery Smith, author of "Seeds of Deception", an expose on genetic engineering in foods.

"While perhaps we all can't act slowly (referring to the slow food movement), we can all act consciously," Derek Roller, farmer at Echollective in Mechanicsville.

The description of permeable parking lots was fascinating. Permeable lots allow water through the surface, and start the water in natural underground filtration process. Given by Wayne Petersen, urban water specialist, Soil Conservation Service.

Thanks to Jana Ffitch for first proposing the idea of an eco-fair in Fairfield several years ago, and to Lonnie Gamble for helping to organize it.

May 30 The Wonderful Members of the New Pioneer Co-op Grocery Store!

We at Local Foods Connection have been overwhelmed by the response of the New Pioneer Co-op Members to the Board’s suggestion to donate their dividend check to our organization. Just like last year, their generosity and commitment to our community has been demonstrated vividly by the awesome number of checks we received. For us, each check means not only financial support to continue our programming, but means emotional support and their endorsement of our work.

Since the checks were distributed in late March through the third week of May, over 1,068 members donated over $13,800.00, not just in dividend checks, but also in personal checks and cash. Wow!

The money will be used in enroll low-income families in Community Supported Agriculture groups (CSAs) this year and in 2007. CSAs are programs through which individuals purchase food directly from farmers throughout a 4 to 5 month long growing season. LFC will also hire part-time office help with these funds, and purchase equipment, such as a refrigerator for storing fresh vegetables.

Thanks for helping us build a stronger and larger Local Foods Connection. These donations have had a huge impact on our organization.

May 25, 2006

Hello Wonderful, Beautiful, Amazing Individuals Interested in Local Foods Connection!

New Faces

Thanks to Tiffany Ralston for her willingness to help us create a permanent, viable part-time administrative assistant position in our office! We need reliable, regular help with our paperwork. We also need someone who can learn to know the ins-and-outs of our organization as well as I (Laura Dowd) do. Tiffany has been trying out the work for a couple weeks, and will begin a full schedule in June. So far she has had tremendous patience with me, and takes initiative in completing projects.

Thanks to the many hard-working, dedicated employees of "Books Are Fun" in Fairfield, Iowa. They participated in a volunteer farm work day at two CSA farms located in Fairfield. Their work in the fair fields of Abundance CSA and Choice Earth CSA earned LFC credit towards food purchases from these farms.

Thanks to the many individuals who have agreed to serve on LFC's board over the next couple of years. The positions are as follows:
Chair/Prez: Peter Middleton
Treasurer: Dave Antin
Secretary: Kajari GhoshDastidar
General Members:
Bob Braverman
Ron Gleitman
Robert Handler
Susan Jutz

I (Laura) have the title of Executive Director, and hope to become a voting "ex-officio" member of the board.

Expansion

Local Foods Connection has expanded to Fairfield, North Liberty and Des Moines this year!

The Sustainable Living Coalition in Fairfield has helped us find client families and is keeping the program running smoothly (Thanks to Lonnie Gamble, Valerie, and Stacy Maurer).

Volunteer Adam Boswell is setting up a branch of LFC in Des Moines. He has contacted a local food pantry to find clients to enroll, and hopes to purchase a CSA share from L.T.'s CSA in Des Moines.

The North Liberty Food Pantry is receiving a CSA share from ZJ Farm in Solon (thanks to help from Judy McRoberts). We hope to enroll some individual families from North Liberty in CSAs as well.

Welcome

Thank you for visiting the new blog of Local Foods Connection. This blog will replace our newsletter. We plan to supplement this blog with a yearly annual report.

-Laura