News & Events August 2010 Berkshire Grown envisions
a community where healthy farms define the open landscape, where a wide
diversity of fresh, seasonal food and flowers continue to be readily
available to everyone, and where we celebrate our agricultural bounty
by buying from our neighboring family farms and savoring their
distinctive Berkshire harvest.
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Reserve early, this event sells out!
Tickets $65
Berkshire Grown members $55
Farmers (only) $30.
413-528-0041
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Meet A Few of Our New Members
Meet a few of our new professional members--the farmers and food producers
(e.g. bakers, soup makers) who create local foods, and the restaurants, inns,
caterers and local institutions that buy local foods and help create the market
for them.
Professional Members are listed on Map-o-licious They are the heart of Berkshire Grown. We hope you will visit them and their Web sites!
Berkshire Preserves is the brainchild of Barbara Fields of South Egremont,
Mass. Barbara blogs about her business She makes delectable jams and preserves, with such varieties as Peach Preserves
with Cardamom and Intense Apricot Jam (full product list at the blog Web site).
Information: 413-528-2824.
Shady Acres Farm is
run by Dan and Jamie Dunton in Canaan,
NY. The Duntons grow vegetables -
including sweet corn - and strawberries and also raise cows, chickens and
goats. At their self-service farm stand (13217 State Route 22) you can find beef
products, chicken, free-range eggs, goat cheese, yogurt, breads, fruit pies,
cookies and cinnamon buns! Information: 518-929-0763.
Square Roots Farmis owned and operated by Michael Gallagher in Clarksburg, Mass. You can read about Square
Roots at Michael's Web site and blog .
Square Roots - which is a CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture) -- also
serves an important role as the host farm for Hoosac Harvest, one of the
partners in Berkshire Grown's Share The Bounty project, which raises money to
buy CSA farm shares for our hungry neighbors. Please visit the group's Web site to learn more Information on Square Roots: 413-446-1446.
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What We're Reading at Berkshire Grown Meet Katharine Millonzi, Manager, Sustainable Food and
Agriculture Initiative, Williams
College on the blog gastrognomes
"gas�tro�gnome a jovial individual whose
main purpose on earth is to connect people who derive pleasure from good food.
"the gastrognomes is a blog for food lovers who want to put their
passions to work. We profile the most interesting, engaging, and unlikely food
professionals that we find, and we publish them here to inspire you.
"...At Williams
College, the Zilkha
Center for Environmental Initiatives promotes sustainability beyond the
classroom, and Katharine leads the crusade from the food front. ... See how she puts her
skills in social anthropology, international development, and ethno-botany to
good use with her good food job. Read more here
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WHAT WE'RE READING
Farming surges in state [of MA] with new crop of devotees By D.C.
Denison Globe Staff / August 2, 2010 Boston
Globe
"After decades of decline, farming is resurging across the state. New farmers
are graduates fresh out of college, immigrants with farming backgrounds, or
former professionals starting second careers. Many begin as part-timers while
hanging on to day jobs to supplement their incomes. "Those looking to make a new living from tilling the soil begin at training
programs run by the state, universities, or nonprofit organizations - and the
skills they learn have as much to do with running a business as with harvesting
a crop. In Massachusetts,
where farmland is scarce, most lease their acreage from the state, private
owners, nonprofits, or farmers with more space than they can cultivate. "From 2002 to 2007, the number of farms in Massachusetts jumped by about 27 percent to
7,691, according to the US Department of Agriculture census. That's a reversal
from the previous five years, when there was a 20 percent drop in the number of
farms and, presumably, farmers, many of whom sold land to developers. Read more here
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING:
"The Menschy Milkmen of Ronnybrook Farm Dairy" by Dan Shaw at RuralIntelligence.com
Meet the Osofsky's, Berkshire Grown members, and dairy farmers, video and story here on RuralIntelligence.com
Berkshire Food Journal features farmers, food artisans and local food advocates in the Berkshires.
Meet Peter Platt
Owner and Executive Chef The Old Inn on the Green
audio slide show on the Berkshire Food Journal here
[Photo taken at Berkshire Grown March Maple Dinner.]
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Quick Bites
Visit The Sheffield Farmers Market:
Friday, August 13, 5:00
pm
Chef Sarah Dibben of Stagecoach Tavern, Sheffield
One of the most creative chefs in
the Berkshires with an abundance of farm-sourced food on her menu throughout
the year, Sarah makes vegetables sing and dance, pickled, fried, poached, or
braised. An active member of Slow Food Western Mass, she is known for preparing
sumptuous multi-course themed dinners that celebrate the seasons, the food
producers, and the land. Sarah will be improvising a seasonal dish and taking your
questions.
Friday, August 20, 5:00
pm
Amy Cotler,
Caterer-Author-Locavore
Amy Cotler has been a culinary
professional and farm-to-table advocate for nearly 30 years. She was the
founding director of Berkshire Grown and taught cooking, writing, and culinary
history at the Culinary Institute of America and the Institute of Culinary
Education. Her new book, The Locavore Way,
is a comprehensive guide to seeking out and savoring local food wherever you
live. Amy will be sharing one of her favorite recipes and signing
copies of her book, The Locavore Way (Storey Publishing,
$12.95).
The Sheffield Farmers Market on the web here.
*********************************************************************************** August 22 from 1 - 5 pm A "COMMUNITY SPIRIT" afternoon of potluck
picnic, community conversations about "what you love about your community and
how you would make it even better", old fashioned games, a farmer's market and some homemade pie and home grown tomato contests!!! At the VFW grounds down on route 7 south just north of
Sheffield. Come at noon to set up. Please rsvp to [email protected]. Questions? Call Shelley at 413-528-1919x14
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Preserving the Bounty
Coming in September: learn to can, pickle and/or make jam.
In
celebration of the fall harvest season Berkshire restaurants and food
purveyors will be offering a variety of fun and educational canning workshops.
Each is unique!
Visit the Berkshire Grown Website for more information, and the phone numbers for participating restaurants and caterers so that you can register.
Visit Berkshire Grown to learn more
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Stay In touch!
Berkshire Grown's e-newsletter will come out
twice a month, around the 1st & 15th, during the growing season. Please send
information to [email protected], thanks!
Barbara Zheutlin,
Director; Sheryl Lechner, Outreach Coordinator 413-528-0041 |
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