News & Events October 2012
Join Berkshire Grown here!
Berkshire Grown supports and promotes local agriculture as a vital part of the Berkshire community, economy and landscape. We do this by advocating for farmers, supporting good agricultural practices, fostering education and outreach, increasing food accessibility for the community, farm-to-table networking, promoting locally grown and produced food. Our goal is to keep farmers farming!
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Do you like chili?
Join us at the Chili Cook-off!
 Book Party and Chili Cook-off
"Chili Cook-off in a Box: Everything You Need to Host a Chili Cook-off" by Gina Hyams Sunday, October 7, 4:00pm to 6:00pm (389 Stockbridge Road in Great Barrington)
$10 to benefit Share the Bounty. Contact ginahyams (at)gmail(dot) come to enter the chili contest: state the type of chili you'll be entering and your phone number, or come to The Meat Market Sunday to eat chili.
More details here.
Share the Bounty = Berkshire Grown's win - win project:
Helps local farms + food pantries.
See and hear more about Share the Bounty here & here!
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"The history of chili is shrouded in much mystery and debate:
"Does a true chili have beans? And what of tomatoes? Word on the street is that a certain fabulous Vice President of Berkshire Grown will be entering the ring with a seafood chili! One thing is for sure, all the excitement has got us dreaming up recipe ideas we hope might make an appearance this weekend: lamb & okra chili, beef & chocolate chili, nothing-but-bacon-and-chilis chili, butternut squash and pork butt chili, hotdogs-with-all-the-works chili.
The event will run from 4:00pm to 6:00pm on this Sunday, October 7th at The Meat Market. Tickets are a $10 donation to Berkshire Grown, entry is free for competitors.
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Dates, Places, contact info here! Berkshire Grown member-hosted workshops will present hands-on  demonstrations. Variety of workshops, times, teachers, more here! Join us Saturday October 13th, 11 - 1 Great Barrington Farmers' Market for the second annual fun and delicious ***Preserve Swap***
Registration is required for the classes. Please contact participating workshop host locations directly to register for specific events, contact information is here!
Upcoming workshops, more information here:
Wednesday October 3, 10:30 - 12:30 Tomatoes 101 At the Kitchen Table Cooking School, Hillsdale, NY
Friday October 5, 2 - 3:30 pm Apple Preserving for Kids, hosted by the Berkshire Co-op Market at the Nutrition Center, 94 West Street, Great Barrington, MA
Thursday October 18, 7 - 9 pm Fresh goat cheese & Lacto fermentation, Adamah Farm at Isabella Freedman, Fall Village, CT
Friday October 26, 12 - 3 pm Apple Tasting and Cooking with Amy Cotler, West Stockbridge, MA
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| THIS WEEK! Harvest Festival 2012
78th Annual Berkshire Harvest Festival
 Saturday and Sunday
October 6th and 7th
10:00am-5:00pm
On the grounds of the Berkshire Botanical Garden
At the junction of Routes 183 and 102 in Stockbridge
New! Free parking. Admission $5 adults
Free children under 12.
Live music, crafts, food, silent auction, plant sale,
gigantic tag sales, farmers market, fall fun for kids!
For information, Producer Amy Cotler
acotler@berkshirebotanical.org photo thanks to freshcotler.com
Click here for more
413 232 7174
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Tuesday Oct 11, 6:30
"Risen and Punched: Bread and 20th century Germany"
with Ursula Heinzelmann, Schapiro Hall 129, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
 The talk will use bread as a point of departure to look at history and society, discuss morale and taste. A regular supermarket's offerings and those of three very distinctive Berlin bakers will illustrate German history of the twentieth century.
Schrippen, white rolls stand for the industrialization of the food industry.
Vollkornbrot, wholemeal bread came up with the Lebensreform countermovement, was later appropriated by the Nazis and saw a revival with the green movement in the 1980s.
Finally Dinkelseelen, large bread sticks made from spelt, sprinkled with coarse salt and caraway seeds embody the latest multicultural trend. Rooted in (or rather risen from) the larger social and cultural developments, these and other breads open a window on the Germany's food history and politics.
Contact brent.wasser@williams.edu for more information.
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What we are reading
 "ORGANIC food may not be feeding the world yet, but it was feeding thousands of people at the Common Ground Country Fair last weekend.
"The 36th Common Ground Country Fair organized by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association drew 59,000 people this year. And it netted $300,000 in ticket sales and booth fees, which pays for training programs for new farmers, workshops and operating expenses.
"...spread out over the 200-acre grounds of the association headquarters here - where the water in the barnlike exhibition hall and offices is heated with solar panels, and Ben and Angela Mackie, the resident farmers, pasture their livestock and raise heirloom vegetables and medicinal herbs - the Common Ground Fair marks the season as clearly as the fall equinox, which nearly coincided with the opening date of the fair this year, Sept. 21. Read more
photo by Stacey Cramp for the NYTIMES
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BE SURE TO CALL IN ADVANCE
for HOURS & AVAILABILITY!
PICK-YOUR-OWN APPLES:
 Bartlett's Orchards (weekends)
575 Swamp Road Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-698-2559
Hilltop Orchards and Furnace Brook Winery
508 Canaan Rd.
Richmond, MA
413-698-3301 or 800-833-6274
Jaeschke's Orchard
West Rd.
Adams, MA
413-443-7180
Lakeview Orchard (Tues - Sundays)
94 Old Cheshire Road
Lanesboro, MA
413-448-6009
Riiska Brook Orchard (Fri - Sun or by appointment)
101 New Hartford Rd.
Sandisfield, MA
413-258-4761
Windy Hill Farm
686 Stockbridge Road
Great Barrington, MA
413-298-3217
PICK-YOUR-OWN PUMPKINS:
 Howden Farm (weekends only, 11 - 5pm)
303 Rannapo Rd.
Sheffield, MA
413-229-8481
Ioka Valley Farm
3475 Route 43
Hancock, MA
413-738-5915
Farmers Markets are open only a little bit longer!
Support your local farmer!
VISIT A FARMERS' MARKET THIS WEEK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!
MORE FARMERS' MARKETS click on MAP-O-LICIOUS
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What We're Reading
From California:
Why Labeling GMOs is Important
What is Proposition 37? Written with broad input from food groups, industry, science, legal and health experts Prop. 37 (The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act) requires clear labels letting consumers know if foods are genetically modified. We already have food labels showing nutrition, allergy information and other facts consumers want to know. This measure simply adds information telling us if food is produced using genetic engineering.
More info from the campaign for Prop 37 here
 Big Ag Spends Big Bucks to Keep GMOs in Your Food Secret
-By Tom Philpott in Mother Jones
Prop 37 Funding: Total Contributions, by Donor
Chart at KCET here and
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Quick Bites
DISCOVER THE:
Berkshire Grown Online Farmers' Market
a 24 hour Farmers' Market!
 Berkshire Grown has created a Facebook page
called Berkshire Grown Online Farmers' Marketplace - a central place for Berkshire Grown members to congregate and talk supply and demand.
Self-propelled by Berkshire Grown members, the page will benefit those of you who choose to participate in it. Farmers and food producers can post what they have available, and chefs and community members can comment or contact suppliers directly with requests for product or more information.
Thanks for the photo to Nicole Calero, taken at Hawthorne Valley Farm
Berkshire Grown offers this as a networking service and bears no responsibility for transactions.
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MASSACHUSETTS GROWN...and FRESHER!
If you are traveling through Massachusetts check out this map, support our local farmers throughout the state!
CHECK OUT MAP-O-LICIOUS FOR FRESH
LOCAL EGGS, CHEESE, MEAT & MORE
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Keep Berkshires Farming 2nd Community Forum
Monday October 22nd at 6:30 - 8:30 pm
The State of Agriculture in South Berkshire County
First Congregational Church, 251 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA
 Public involvement is essential, if you live in Alford, Egremont, Great Barrington, Mt. Washington and Sheffield -- please participate!
Our Food System Family Tree
Great Barrington Ag Commission Glynwood's Keep Farming Model
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Keep Berkshires Berkshire Regional
Farming - - - - - - - Planning Commission
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Sustainable Berkshires
Keep Berkshires Farming County Wide
If you live and eat in Great Barrington, Sheffield, Mount Washington, Egremont and Alford please come hear what we have learned from farmers, restaurant owners/ chefs, food distributors, schools, consumers. Join the brainstorming!
For details, call Melissa Adams, Glynwood at 413-268-8269, or Amy Kacala at BRPC, 413-442-1521 or Luke Pryjma 413-281-2651
The Keep Berkshires Farming program is sponsored by the Glynwood Center in partnership with Sustainable Berkshires, an initiative of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. |
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Farm tour of Three Maples Garden Market
 Berkshire Co-op Market Farm Tour of Three Maples Garden Market on Saturday October 13th 10 AM
sign up at the Berkshire Co-op
Situated on four acres near the border of Massachusetts and New York, Three Maples Market Garden produces naturally grown greens, herbs and vegetables for the Berkshire County community. Farmers Cian and Amanda grow food on land that has laid fallow for decades.
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Edible Education: Season 2
Wednesday October 3rd, 7 pm at the Lecture Center
at Bard College at Simon's Rock, videotaped lectures
 Michael Pollan taped at UC Berkeley
October 17th The Farm Bill : with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Dan Imhoff, and Ken Cook
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 Stay In touch!
Berkshire Grown's e-newsletter comes out monthly. Please send information to barbara@berkshiregrown.org, thanks! Join Berkshire Grown here.
Barbara Zheutlin, Director
Sheryl Lechner, Outreach Coordinator
413-528-0041 |
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