In this update:

* Join MVG for a Tour of MC Schools Central Kitchen - Friday, March 12
* And Speaking of School Lunches...
* "How Does Your Garden Grow?" - Sunday, Feb. 28
* Congregational Community Garden Teleconference - Tuesday, March 2
* Truck Farm!
* One More Reason To Grow Your Own Food
* Report on the "Rooting DC" Urban Agriculture Conference
* Fresh Local Peaches in February??
 


Join MVG for a Tour of MC Schools Central Kitchen - Friday, March 12

Many of us would like to improve the food our kids get in school, and to include more local food in those lunches. What better way to start this process then to tour Montgomery County Public Schools' Central Kitchen and Food Warehouse?

As mentioned previously in this space, I had the pleasure of meeting the new Director of Food Services, Suzanne Wood, at the annual Future Harvest conference of the Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture last month. Ms. Woods is herself very interested in doing whatever she can to bring more local food to our county's school kids. At the same time, she has budget restrictions to deal with, and the awesome responsibility of preparing more than 13 million meals a year for the county's 140,000+ students.

The MCPS Central Kitchen in Rockville is where this all takes place, and Montgomery Victory Gardens, along with our friends at Bethesda Green, has organized this tour, to be hosted by Ms. Wood herself.

The tour on Friday, March 12 will start at 8am, and run roughly 90 minutes. Space is limited, so if you want to join us for this exceptional learning experience about the MC school food program, please contact us asap at info@montgomeryvictorygardens.org, or call us at 301-801-3406 to reserve a spot.



And Speaking of School Lunches...

On March 2, five high school students from Chicago will bring a healthy school lunch they created to Congress.

The healthy, great-tasting menu of chicken-vegetable jambalaya with jalapeno cornbread and cucumber salad won first place in the "Cooking up Change" healthy cooking contest hosted by the Healthy Schools Campaign. The meal meets a tight budget, exceeds the nutrition standards of the National School Lunch Program and highlights the importance of healthy food for the millions of schoolchildren who eat lunch at school every day.

To support these students, the Healthy Schools Campaign is urging everyone to" Invite Your Legislators to Eat School Lunch!" on March 2, supporting the students and demanding reauthorization of a strong, well-funded Child Nutrition Act that makes healthy meals a priority every day.

To read more about "Invite Your Legislators to Eat School Lunch!" and to take action, click here.



"How Does Your Garden Grow?" - Sunday, Feb. 28

This coming Sunday, February 28, local gardening expert and author Cindy Brown will give a presentation on "How Does Your Garden Grow?" at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. Specializing in vegetable gardens, Cindy will talk about planting schedules, varieties, and how to grow from seeds in the mid-Atlantic area - perfect timing for all of us who will be starting our garden next month, and/or starting our seeds indoors! This talk was rescheduled from its original February 6 date due to the snow storm, and will be held 1-2:30pm.

This program is the last in Brookside's wonderful February program for food gardeners, but I am delighted to report that they are undertaking a three year focus on food gardening issues, so expect more great programs to come!

For more information and directions to Brookside Gardens, click here.



Congregational Community Garden Teleconference - Tuesday, March 2

Montgomery Victory Gardens, in collaboration with the County Office of Community Partnerships and the Master Gardeners of Montgomery County, will host a teleconference briefing for those interested in starting a community garden at their house of worship. The teleconference will be on Tuesday evening, March 2, from 8-9pm.

The teleconference will feature short presentations by leaders of the Master Gardeners' "Grow It Eat It" program and coordinators of several current faith-based community gardens in Montgomery County. There will be ample time for questions, as well as expert support provided post conference.

To join the teleconference, simply call 218-936-4700, and when prompted use the participant code 18178. (You will only be charged for your phone call, there is no hook up fee.)

For more information and to RSVP (not required but appreciated!), please contact Gordon Clark at gordon@montgomeryvictorygardens.org, or at 301-801-3406. Please also contact us if you are already growing a community garden at your house of worship - we'd love to hear about it!



Truck Farm!

We've all heard the term "truck farm" before - but how many of us have seen a farm inside a truck?

With thanks to Maryland Master Gardener Coordinator Jon Traunfeld, here is a delightfully entertaining video about an urban farmer who decided to grow food in the bed of his pickup truck - and start a small CSA to boot!

Click here to watch "Truck Farm, Episode 1"

Click here to watch "Truck Farm, Episode 2"



One More Reason to Grow Your Own Food (Or Buy Local)

In this article from yesterday's New York Times, we learn how Robert Watson, a top ingredient buyer for Kraft Food, has been taking bribes from a major tomato processor to get their food in Kraft's plants.

According to the article, the bribery scheme "has laid bare a startling vein of corruption in the food industry. And because the scheme also involved millions of pounds of tomato products with high levels of mold or other defects, the case has raised serious questions about how well food manufacturers safeguard the quality of their ingredients."

And it's not just Mr. Watson. Over the last 14 months, three other purchasing managers, at Frito-Lay, Safeway and B&G Foods, have also pleaded guilty to taking similar bribes. Need another reason to grow your own food?

To read the NY Times' "Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food," click here



Report on the "Rooting DC" Urban Agriculture Conference

While many of us who live in Montgomery County have yards or lots of open space nearby, quite a few of us have more in common with the urban gardeners of Washington, DC when it comes to space issues.

Accordingly, we were happy to let you know about the 3rd annual "Rooting DC" Urban Agriculture conference, sponsored by DC's Field to Fork Network this past weekend. We had a number of great reports from folks who attended, and MVGer Lisa Greenberg was kind enough to write up some notes to share with us.

To read Lisa's report on the Urban Agriculture conference, click here.



Fresh Local Peaches in February??

Okay, they actually came out of a sealed Mason jar, but when my wife and I tried the peaches I had canned with fellow MVGers Matt and Elizabeth this past July, they were breathtakingly delicious - and wildly superior to anything you could buy in a store.

This might be a tad romanticized, since I had canned them myself (my first time!), but I thought that I could actually taste the summer in them. And beyond that, whatever processes happen when peaches are canned and then "age" for several months was bringing out extra flavors that hadn't been there before - the perfume was extraordinary, and there were distinctly floral notes, including roses. (Honest!) And the peach jam we had canned, actually more like peach butter? Oh. My. God.

Why do I tell you this? Not to crow about any special achievement on my part (the canning process is really quite straightforward), but to remind everyone that part of becoming a more self-reliant and sustainable local food system is not only eating local foods when they are in season, but preserving them to eat throughout the year. We'll send you more reminders on this as the season progresses, but we wanted to plant the seed now. Keep food preservation and storage in your mind as the crops start coming in, and you too will be able to taste a mouthful of summer in the middle of a blizzard next winter!

 

That's it for this week, friends! Don't forget to send us your feedback, as well as ideas for stories or local food events we can promote, by emailing us at info@montgomeryvictorygardens.org

Yours in delicious, sustainably grown local food,

Gordon Clark,
Project Director
Montgomery Victory Gardens