Locke Street Farmers' Market is looking for volunteers!
The Locke Street Farmers Market is growing and we are looking for key volunteers to be part of the organizing committee for 2013 and beyond.
Heading into its fourth year, the Locke St Market is made up of a small but growing number of vendors and we are looking for folks to help us with various tasks.
As a volunteer, you'll get to know some great local farmers, some of the fantastic local businesses and have an opportunity to see the behind-the-scenes action that make this market work.
Organizing Taste of Locke (a kick-off event for the market, we have local businesses offering appetizers featuring ingredients from the market)
Contact: Russ, from Backyard Harvest / russohrt@yahoo.ca
FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH Cooking Demonstrations @ The Hamilton Farmers’ Market Community Kitchen
Demos take place Saturdays at 10am and noon!
FEB 2: “Cooking with The City” Demos – Inspirations from The Ontario Table
10am Meet the Community Food Security Stakeholder Committee (CFSSC) Chicken Thyme Pasta is a Hamilton-inspired recipe featured in Lynn Ogryzlo’s The Ontario Table – see how easy and tasty local fare can be!
Noon Cooking with Councillor Maria Pearson, Ward 10 Dessert anyone? How about some Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding!! Check out this localized twist on a great British classic!
*Both demonstrations will be presented by Karen Burson (a.k.a. The Eklectic Kitchen), Project Manager at Environment Hamilton for Hamilton Eat Local and The Good Food Box Network
FEB 9: Spotlight on Local Ingredients: after the harvest season, what do you eat?
10am “Cabbage is Cool!” Come to this kid-friendly cooking demonstration to learn some fun facts about this underappreciated vegetable! Local cookbook author Karen McLaughlin will show you how to prepare a tasty slaw with cabbage, apples and carrots.
*With Karen McLaughlin, blogger and author of the budget-friendly “Cheap Appetit: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month”
Noon "The Locavore in Winter" How do you eat local when the fields have been frozen for months? Hamilton Eat Local will show you how to localize it, even in the chilly month of February!
*With Karen Burson of Environment Hamilton and The Eklectic Kitchen
FEB 16: The Global-Local Kitchen: international flavours & local ingredients
Noon “Hamilton Eat Local’s International House of Pancakery” Prepare for Pancake Day! Using local ingredients you can create a world of flavours in your skillet. Karen will demonstrate a couple of classics and show you a couple of surprising twists.
*With Karen Burson of Environment Hamilton and The Eklectic Kitchen
FEB 23: Exploring Ideas About Farming
10am “An Introduction to Food & Farming for Kids” What does a farm look like and what foods come from farms? Join Kelly for this very visual exploration of a "permaculture" setting showing how foods can come from the trees, shrubs, plants, flowers and animals on a farm.
*With Kelly McKinney, founder and operator of Hamilton’s amazing “Sprout Camp” for kids
Noon “The Lazy Locavore” In Winter Tips and techniques to help bring local food to your table in a hurry! See how shopping lists, planning ahead and making the most of what’s best in winter can help you save time, money and maybe even our planet!
*With Karen Burson of Environment Hamilton and The Eklectic Kitchen
"FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH!" 2013
FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH IS BACK!!!
Join us for our fourth annual celebration of food and farming in Hamilton.
This year we are presenting a variety of events and all of them are completely free to join, no RSVPs needed!
Join us for our fourth annual celebration of food and farming in Hamilton.
This year we are presenting a variety of events and all of them are completely free to join, no RSVPs needed!
Feb 2
FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH LAUNCH EVENT
@the Hamilton Farmers’ Market Community Space 2-4pm
Drop in to connect with Hamilton's local food scene! Featuring:
- "The Buzz About Bees" presentation & honey tasting
- Launch event for Hamilton's newest independent magazine "GUSTO!" with Editor Amy Bonin
- A book signing with Karen McLaughlin, author of the budget friendly cookbook
- "CHEAP APPETIT: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month"
- The CLIMATE CHANGE CHARTER display
- Information on Hamilton's Community Food Security Stakeholder Committee (CFSSC) and the HAMILTON FOOD CHARTER
- Launch of the online version of the "OPERATION SMOOTHIE" handbook
- Speak with Kelly McKinney of Hamilton's super-awesome and educational "SPROUT CAMP"
Feb 15
FOURTH ANNUAL FARMERS’ FORUM (farmers only, please!)
@The Winking Judge, 7pm
Feb 27
FOOD ‘N’ FARMING PANEL DISCUSSION
“Can Hamilton Feed Itself?” -- WHY FARMLAND PRESERVATION MATTERS
@ the Hamiltton Public Library 7-10 pm
Come join us to learn and share information on one of the most critical topics facing food security in Canada. Featuring our panel of experts:
Erin Shapero - from Environmental Defence and Local Food Plus, Erin made a name for herself as the Markham City Councillor who put local food on the radar and led the way towards their ground-breaking municipal local food procurement policies! What role does the Greenbelt play?
Lisa Ohberg - her influential academic research paper "Can Hamilton Feed Itself?" answers this question in ways that may surprise you! At a time when 60% of our province's food is important, we need to look at the potential consequences of turning our agricultural lands into residential and economic development zones. Check out her presentation to the food security committee here: http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/C4E2C50B-E943-4A10-89EC-62B02E5B7D6C/0/OhbergSelfSufficiencyPresentationCFSSCNov72012.pdf
Ella Haley - the outspoken farmer who has made land use and ownership a political hot potato in Brant County shares her perspectives on farmland preservation through the lens of the "land-grab" happening all around her farm, Hearts Content Farmstead. Should we have concerns about foreign ownership of agricultural lands?
David Carson - of Dundas in Transition and now co-chair of the Community Food Security Stakeholder Committee (CFSSC) talks about sustainability, farmland preservation and what we need to know about the AEGD proposed by the City of Hamilton (also known as The Aerotropolis). Carson is also one of the citizens most actively engaged in the creation of Hamilton's first FOOD CHARTER.
Wondering what it's all about? Come to this gathering to find out! There will be displays set up by community groups, such as The Mustard Seed Cooperative Grocery... get your membership!
***
NEW:
All month long on Saturdays at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market Community Kitchen
their FREE Cooking Demonstrations will be part of “FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH!”
Enjoy the food fun, facts and flavours... there will be samples! Details TBA right here on the Hamilton Eat Local Blog!
FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH for 2013!
We are working hard to bring you FEBRUARY IS FARM MONTH!
Details to be announced.
Check back soon!
Good Food Box keeps breaking records!
For December's Good Food Box, we packed 505 orders - a record high for us!
In this box, we featured sweet potatoes from Richardson's Farm in Dunnville. Special thanks to James, the farmer for making the trip just for us.
As usual, we couldn't run this project without our volunteers. A big thanks to teacher, Turner from Blythe Academy in Burlington, who arranged a group of his dedicated students to help.
Big thank you to all our volunteers, volunteer drivers, site coordinators, supporters, funders, our fresh produce guy - we are super, super grateful!
We finished our Good Food Box with a great December pack- see you in the new year!
Improving Access to Healthy Food in Hamilton with "The Easy Box"
The Hamilton Good Food Box Network was established in 2011 to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible for all Hamiltonians. Since then, with the help of volunteer packers, drivers, site coordinators and others the program now packs and distributes Good Food Boxes to over 350 families and individuals each month. The program allows people to buy a share of fresh, seasonal produce for only $15 which has a retail value of $25-35! To learn more about this exciting Hamilton Eat Local initiative click here.
Not everyone can afford to participate, however, and it's clear that among all Ontario Works recipients, single people are worst off because they end up having to live with a substantial income shortfall of $144 every single month -- that income deficit makes it next to impossible for OW Singles to afford a healthy balanced diet. Click here to view the video Unequal Access to Healthy Food by Project Video.
A group of concerned citizens formed the Nutritious Food Plan Committee (NFPC) in order to find and promote ways to address this serious problem. A special Good Food Box program was proposed
Not everyone can afford to participate, however, and it's clear that among all Ontario Works recipients, single people are worst off because they end up having to live with a substantial income shortfall of $144 every single month -- that income deficit makes it next to impossible for OW Singles to afford a healthy balanced diet. Click here to view the video Unequal Access to Healthy Food by Project Video.A group of concerned citizens formed the Nutritious Food Plan Committee (NFPC) in order to find and promote ways to address this serious problem. A special Good Food Box program was proposed
Good Food Box is moving on up!
Our popular Good Food Box program has been steadily growing and it's popularity increasing as more folks are spending $15 once a month and receiving a big bag full of fresh produce, shipped to community pick-up sites in bins of two. The number of pickup sites, where people pre-pay for their box and pick up is also increasing. We are also introducing a "local only" box that features Ontario produce, called the Hamilton Eat Local Box (aka The HELo Box).
Today, was a day of and "hellos" and "see you soons" at the end of the volunteer-driven Good Food Box packing day.
We said a gentle farewell (only temporarily) to our beloved Crystle, who has been in charge of communication for the Good Food Box as well as being our Pack-site Coordinator Extraordinaire. Crystle is leaving us for a brief time to go on maternity leave.
And we said hello to our brand new-to-us conveyor to make packing and shipping our boxes easier! Well, perhaps this second update is more thrilling for us and our team of volunteers but we are so happy that we wanted to share the news.
We had this system, seen above, we would line up large plastic totes with wheels and place bins (that held Good Food Boxes) on top. We would then wheel the large gray totes up the line where volunteers would add items to each Good Food Box. It worked, up to a point -- but then wheels started to come off and we began to dream of a conveyor belt.
This month, for our pack in October, we finally used our new conveyor for the first time. And we are delighted. This helps us move the boxes much more efficiently and means there is less bending for our volunteers too.
So a special thank yous to our supporters: Councillor McHattie and his team. As well as
Hamilton Community Foundation and the Healthy Community Fund These funders are key to our growing success.
And of course, our volunteers. We have a whole team of dedicated volunteers that help us and we cannot thank them enough!
Speaking of volunteers....
We pack boxes on the 3rd and 4th Wednesday of every month, which keeps us busy, so we're looking for volunteers of all kinds as well as volunteers who can use their vans or trucks to deliver the boxes to various sites across Hamilton. If you can help, contact Juby at jlee@environmenthamilton(dot)org
Today, was a day of and "hellos" and "see you soons" at the end of the volunteer-driven Good Food Box packing day.
We said a gentle farewell (only temporarily) to our beloved Crystle, who has been in charge of communication for the Good Food Box as well as being our Pack-site Coordinator Extraordinaire. Crystle is leaving us for a brief time to go on maternity leave.
And we said hello to our brand new-to-us conveyor to make packing and shipping our boxes easier! Well, perhaps this second update is more thrilling for us and our team of volunteers but we are so happy that we wanted to share the news.
We had this system, seen above, we would line up large plastic totes with wheels and place bins (that held Good Food Boxes) on top. We would then wheel the large gray totes up the line where volunteers would add items to each Good Food Box. It worked, up to a point -- but then wheels started to come off and we began to dream of a conveyor belt.
This month, for our pack in October, we finally used our new conveyor for the first time. And we are delighted. This helps us move the boxes much more efficiently and means there is less bending for our volunteers too.
So a special thank yous to our supporters: Councillor McHattie and his team. As well as
Hamilton Community Foundation and the Healthy Community Fund These funders are key to our growing success.
And of course, our volunteers. We have a whole team of dedicated volunteers that help us and we cannot thank them enough!
Speaking of volunteers....
We pack boxes on the 3rd and 4th Wednesday of every month, which keeps us busy, so we're looking for volunteers of all kinds as well as volunteers who can use their vans or trucks to deliver the boxes to various sites across Hamilton. If you can help, contact Juby at jlee@environmenthamilton(dot)org
Simpler Thyme Organic Farm is keeping it simple!
Thanks to funding from the Hamilton Community Foundation, we boarded a school bus with folks from the Riverdale and Westdale area and headed to Simpler Thyme Organic Farm. We met farmers, Ann, Bill and Charles and they took the time to give us a hands-on tour - talking about growing our own food, showing us the leafy greens from their cold houses and their the veggie garden complete with fruit trees.
We came just in time as they experienced the first frost of the season and the first freezing, so it was the last market day for them.
This is an amazing farm, as they farm very small scale, giving them the freedom to try anything. Alongside their established cold houses, maple syrup bush, 3 acre veggie garden, fruit trees, they also talked about the challenges, for example, they had to let go of their cattle, as the dry summer caused the price of straw bales to increase, when the cost rose from $2 / each last year up to $8, meant that it was too expensive to keep their cows.
As farmers, they have decided to focus on growing food for themselves and for their on-farm market that, when open during the growing season, will allow buyers access to 100 different varieties of fresh produce. They are keeping it simple in order for their farm to stay dynamic :)
Left photo: Farmer Bill shows us what leaf matter turns into after one year.Right photo: Farmer Charles and one of their ducks meets a couple of our younger participants.
They treated us to hot soup (two kinds!) and fresh corn bread - a treat that we welcomed.
Thanks to Ann, Bill and Charles for taking the time to tour us around - they always welcome our groups and give us so much of their time. Thanks to Shahira for connecting us all to the participants and of course, thanks to all the participants who joined us! Special thanks to Hamilton Community Foundation for their support!
Here is a little more about the farm:
Simpler Thyme Organic Farm
Ann Lanigan
1749 Hwy 6 North, RR 2
Hamilton, ON L8N 2Z7 (near Freelton)
905-659-1576
simpler_thyme@hotmail.com
Offer seasonal Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) as well as workshops on our farm. They grow a great variety of organic vegetables and small fruits, as well as eggs, herbs and maple syrup (seasonal). The farm market is open on Thursdays from May to November 1st, from sun-up to sundown.
We came just in time as they experienced the first frost of the season and the first freezing, so it was the last market day for them.
This is an amazing farm, as they farm very small scale, giving them the freedom to try anything. Alongside their established cold houses, maple syrup bush, 3 acre veggie garden, fruit trees, they also talked about the challenges, for example, they had to let go of their cattle, as the dry summer caused the price of straw bales to increase, when the cost rose from $2 / each last year up to $8, meant that it was too expensive to keep their cows.
As farmers, they have decided to focus on growing food for themselves and for their on-farm market that, when open during the growing season, will allow buyers access to 100 different varieties of fresh produce. They are keeping it simple in order for their farm to stay dynamic :)
Left photo: Farmer Bill shows us what leaf matter turns into after one year.Right photo: Farmer Charles and one of their ducks meets a couple of our younger participants.
Thanks to Ann, Bill and Charles for taking the time to tour us around - they always welcome our groups and give us so much of their time. Thanks to Shahira for connecting us all to the participants and of course, thanks to all the participants who joined us! Special thanks to Hamilton Community Foundation for their support!
Here is a little more about the farm:
Simpler Thyme Organic Farm
Ann Lanigan
1749 Hwy 6 North, RR 2
Hamilton, ON L8N 2Z7 (near Freelton)
905-659-1576
simpler_thyme@hotmail.com
Offer seasonal Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) as well as workshops on our farm. They grow a great variety of organic vegetables and small fruits, as well as eggs, herbs and maple syrup (seasonal). The farm market is open on Thursdays from May to November 1st, from sun-up to sundown.
Rural Routes to Plan B Organic Farm
The skies cleared in time for our Rural Routes today. Thanks to the Hamilton Community Foundation we partnered with Neighbour to Neighbour Centre and brought a bus to Plan B Organic Farm.
A huge thanks to Plan B for hosting us, Neighbour to Neighbour for partnering with us and the Hamilton Community Foundation for their support.
We'll be hosting an October Rural Routes to Plan B Organic Farm, that is open to the public. Sat. October 20th. 10:30am.
Tickets are $5 for seniors / $7 for adults.
Tickets available at Homegrown Hamilton - 27 King William and is the pick-up location to get on the bus.
Rain or shine.
 |
| Thanks to Farmer Melanie for a fantastic tour! |
 |
| A field of greens, including Arugula - while they will not grow in frost, they will not be damaged by the cold. |
 |
| The skies cleared and it turned out to be a sunny day! |
We'll be hosting an October Rural Routes to Plan B Organic Farm, that is open to the public. Sat. October 20th. 10:30am.
Tickets are $5 for seniors / $7 for adults.
Tickets available at Homegrown Hamilton - 27 King William and is the pick-up location to get on the bus.
Rain or shine.
Cooking From Scratch - using the Good food Box!
Two of Environment Hamilton's initiatives, Good Food Box and Greening Sacred Spaces are presenting....
Cooking from Scratch (with Good Food Box contents): Local Chefs to lead the sessions.
The Good Food Box is a non-profit fresh fruit and vegetable distribution program. It makes healthy fresh food affordable and accessible to everyone. For only $15 you receive a box of fresh quality produce worth $25 or more. GFB buys food at wholesale prices, wit
Cooking from Scratch (with Good Food Box contents): Local Chefs to lead the sessions.
The Good Food Box is a non-profit fresh fruit and vegetable distribution program. It makes healthy fresh food affordable and accessible to everyone. For only $15 you receive a box of fresh quality produce worth $25 or more. GFB buys food at wholesale prices, wit
h a preference for Ontario farmers. Read here for more about the Good Food Box.
The sessions are led by a ‘chef’ (a different one for each session) who will plan a menu and she will have two assistants.
Start: 5:30 pm, cooking together until 6:30 and end with a communal meal.
Where: Friends Meeting House, 7 Butty Place, Hamilton.
Wednesday, September 19th
Wednesday, October 17th
Wednesday, November 21st
Register for a session by September,12th to avoid disappointment.
Maximum number of participants 8
Bring your appetites and your willingness to learn.
FREE!
Contact Beatrice or email bekoko@faith-commongood.net
The sessions are led by a ‘chef’ (a different one for each session) who will plan a menu and she will have two assistants.
Start: 5:30 pm, cooking together until 6:30 and end with a communal meal.
Where: Friends Meeting House, 7 Butty Place, Hamilton.
Wednesday, September 19th
Wednesday, October 17th
Wednesday, November 21st
Register for a session by September,12th to avoid disappointment.
Maximum number of participants 8
Bring your appetites and your willingness to learn.
FREE!
Contact Beatrice or email bekoko@faith-commongood.net
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