Mystery Photo of the Day...

Test your farming/gardening/botany skills... Any guesses on what's in this mystery picture?  Click the image to see it larger!

P.S.  Speaking of gardening, have you thought about planting a row for the hungry this year?

Out on the Farm...

Are you ready for this?  We have big news.

The Local Food Hub is proud to announce the opening of our Educational Farm at Maple Hill, located in southern Albemarle County, Virginia. The facilities include existing farm equipment and implements, a large greenhouse, multiple sheds and barns, select perennial plants, and mushroom and egg operations. (I guess I no longer have an excuse to be scared of mushrooms.)

The use of Maple Hill Farm came about through collaboration with the Matthews family, local landowners with a longtime vision of a thriving community farm.

We have so many plans for this beautiful, certified organic operation.  First and foremost, farming!  The greenhouse is filling up with seedlings of all kinds -- baby broccoli, cauliflower, onions, tomatoes, spinach -- and the fields are slowly but surely coming back to life.  Some of the food grown here will be for distribution, but 25% will be donated to local food banks, pantries and soup kitchens.

Also, we're in the midst of planning all kinds of workshops and community events.  Three fantastic apprentices started last week -- you'll meet them soon -- and we'll have high school interns out here this summer.  Groups from area high schools and community groups are already planning service days, and if you stay tuned, you'll hear about some great volunteer opportunities, too.

Our heads are still spinning at the opportunities here, and we are so grateful to all of our supporters for making it happen.  What a great investment in our community, our economy and the future of Virginia's local food and farming movement.  We look forward to sharing our progress with you.   

image credits: Emily Manley

No Longer Dormant: The Spring Thaw

While it may have seemed farfetched a few days ago, today the signs are unmistakable: spring really is right around the corner.  The greenhouse here at the farm is filling up with seedlings and the rich smell of good, healthy dirt. Robins are taking over my backyard on a daily basis. I spent too much money last night on an ambitious pile of seed packets and my fingers are itching to rip them open. These are signs of spring, I’m sure of it. 
 
I’m also sure that many of you are now in the planning stages for your own gardens – backyard, container or otherwise. Whatever the case may be, if you’re tending to a garden this year, I want to ask you for a favor.

Will you join the Local Food Hub in our effort to provide fresh, local, nutritious vegetables and fruit to those who really need it? Will you Plant a Row for the Hungry?

The idea is really quite simple: when you’re deep in the midst of planning and planting this spring, will you add just one extra row to your garden and donate the fruits of your labor to those who are in need?

Details on how it all works are forthcoming. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered on the heavy lifting and the logistics; we’ll even get your produce to the food banks and pantries in our area. Right now, I just want to know if you’ll join us.

This is an easy (and fun) way to make a big difference in the health of our community with just a small amount of effort. And the possibilities are endless: get your kids outside, challenge your neighbors, involve your school, your friends or your coworkers. The more people on board, the less weeding you’ll have to do (!) – and the more food we can get to those who need it.

Please respond as soon as possible if you are interested in joining us: email me at emily@localfoodhub.org.

But wait! Don’t have space for a garden? Green thumb not so green? We could still use your help getting the word out, gathering resources and coordinating logistics. Please let me know if you’d like to join the Plant a Row for the Hungry Committee.

Whether you’re a first time gardener or an experienced farmhand, we’re looking forward building a Plant a Row team – and seeing what you can do!

Here’s to a fruitful, generous (and delicious) spring and summer...

image credit: Our Enchanted Garden/Creative Commons

Allez Cuisine!

We’ve talked a little bit about school nutrition here – and certainly will continue to do so over the weeks and months ahead – but for now, here’s a chance to put your lunch where your mouth is.

In a hands-on showdown that tips its hat to Iron Chef America, high school and college students across the country are invited to enter the Cooking up Change 2010 National Healthy Cooking Contest, hosted by the Healthy Schools Campaign and the National Farm to School Network.

The challenge? To create a healthy school lunch that meets stringent nutritional guidelines, using only ingredients that are available to the workers in school food service.  In addition, contestants must use at least one locally grown food and the meal must, obviously, taste good.  Not an easy task, by any means!

Interested students should form three-person teams and submit recipes by 5 p.m. EST on March 26. Based on those entries, three teams from the high school division and three teams from the college division will then be selected to receive an all-expenses paid trip to Taking Root, the National Farm to Cafeteria conference, to compete in the Cooking up Change finals.

The final round will include an in-kitchen battle, where the teams compete to prepare their meals and serve them to a panel of judges.

Interested in sautéing your way to change?  Enter the competition now!

image © Healthy Schools Campaign

Clean Your Plate: Around the Web This Week

Wishing everyone good luck out there this weekend as snowpocalypse 2.0 heads our way. Be safe, stay warm and break out the snowshoes.

Some things we liked this week:

• Michael Pollan on Oprah (with video!).  Something to note: the less we spend on food, the more we spend on healthcare.  Who would you rather pay? 
  
  
• Bye-bye NAIS: USDA drops plan to trace livestock.  Small farms rejoice... then ask "What will replace it?"

• Just say no...to school lunch milk with the same amount of sugar as a soda.

• WaPo's Jane Black talks with Sen. Tom Harkin (D – Iowa), a long-time proponent of healthful eating, about Michelle Obama's new childhood obesity initiative. 
  
  
• Urban farmers fight for their right...to grow veggies.
  
  
• Two different takes on school lunches -- basically the same result.  Fed Up with School Lunch and School Lunch Found Guilty.
  
  
• What happens when a three-year-old starts looking at the beautiful food pics in Cooking Light?

image credit: Camera Slayer/Creative Commons

Hoops!

For anyone who lives in a climate that experiences seasons — hello, Virginia, sorry southern California — then it's not hard to imagine the value of having an insulated hoop house as part of your farm operation.

These greenhouse-like structures allow farmers to extend the growing season on both ends — earlier into spring and later into fall and winter.  This can help farmers get a steady stream of income throughout the year which is a significant advantage to owners of small farms, limited-resource farmers and organic producers.

That's why it's exciting to hear that Virginia is part of a new pilot program being run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service that will provide funding for farmers to establish high tunnels to increase the availability of locally grown produce in a conservation-friendly way.

This pilot will test the potential conservation benefits of growing crops under these structures, and participating farms can receive funding for one high tunnel.

Local farmers who would like to sign-up for the high tunnel pilot should call or visit the NRCS office at a local USDA service center. USDA service center locations are listed on-line at http://offices.usda.gov.

image credit: Chewonki Semester School/Creative Commons

Raise Your Hand for Better School Lunches

School lunch has been all over the news lately, and the reports aren't pretty.  Not only are we feeding our kids beef that many fast food joints won't even touch, we're also counting the french fry as a vegetable, plastic-wrapping grilled cheeses, and serving pizza with more than 25 ingredients.

The thing is, it's not easy to make a healthy, nutritious school lunch on just one or two dollars.  Which is just how much money is currently available per meal.  Even Obama's newest budget proposal will only add an additional $.20 per kid.

And yet, the problem is more complicated than this.  School lunches won't get better just because they cost more.  It's going to take a thoughtful, refined effort to provide our children with the nutritious, healthy food they deserve.

That's why you should know about two important pieces of Virginia legislation that have been introduced this year.  Both have the potential to get more healthy, locally-grown fruits and vegetables into our schools. 

First up, one that could use your support:

• HB398 would facilitate the purchase of Virginia-grown food products by state agencies, institutions and local public school divisions to the maximum extent possible. Virginia schools currently spend more than $6 million annually on fresh produce — shouldn't some (or all!) of that money stay right here in VA?

Next up, a joint resolution that just passed last week.  Hoorah!

• HJ95 designates the second full week of November, in 2010 and in each succeeding year, as Virginia Farm-to-School Week in the Commonwealth.  (In case you missed it, this very program helped the Local Food Hub supply 17 schools in our region with fresh fruits and vegetables this year.  We look forward to keeping this tradition alive and well.)

So, your homework for tonight?  Get the scoop on this latest legislation, and do what you can to help.

HB398: Summary | Actual Bill

image credit:  Showalter for NY Daily News