Eat Local! Week 8/27

Boulder County's 2011 EAT LOCAL! Week

Plans are shaping up for our 2011 EAT LOCAL! Week, scheduled for Aug. 27 - Sept. 4. The big news, of course, is that our keynote speaker will be Joel Salatin, and he will be joined by BALLE's Michael Shuman (announcing the economic results of our food localizations study) and Slow Money's Woody Tasch. We're hard at work lining up a number of special events, including "The Great GMO Debate," Tour de Coops (county-wide this time, by popular demand), Bicycle Tour de Farms, and lunchtime brown-bag panel discussions on various challenges and opportunities within our local foodshed. To keep an eye on all the events planned for EAT LOCAL! Week, check in on the EatLocalGuide.com website from time to time, and look under the "EAT LOCAL! Campaign" section. Click here to download a flyer that you can share with others.

JOEL SALATIN to deliver EAT LOCAL! Week Keynote, Aug. 29, Chautauqua Auditorium

An evening with Joel Salatin, the world's most-recognized "beyond organic" and strictly local, clean food farmer, prolific author and inspiring speaker, who with his family owns Polyface Farms in Virginia, featured prominently in the NYT bestseller Omnivore's Dilemma and the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Food Inc.," as well as "Fresh: The Movie." In this unforgettable presentation, Joel will reveal the astonishingly obvious steps we all must take towards a food future that is beyond sustainable. Co-produced by Chautauqua. Admission $20. Advance tickets available at Chautauqua website.

TOUR DE COOPS Goes County-Wide. The Lyons Farmette and Yummy Yards are collaborating to take this year's EAT LOCAL! Week Tour de Coops county-wide, Aug. 28 and Sept. 4. If you would like to show off how you're raising chickens, goats, bees, pigs, or a culinary garden, please contact Laura Ruby, laura@YummyYards.org.

EAT LOCAL! Week Sponsorships and Event Guide Ads Available. Transition Colorado is now opening sponsorships for EAT LOCAL! Week. Contact Chris Dwyer, chris@TranstionColorado.org, or 303-482-6515 for details. We'll also be publishing an Event Guide as an insert in county-wide publications, with more than 80,000 copies being distributed. To place your ad, contact Michael Moss, michael_moss@TransitionColorado.org, 970-846-6233.

FARMERS' MARKET MOBILE PHOTO APP!

Some of you may have seen us in Boulder and Longmont this weekend taking photos at the Farmers' Markets with our iPhones. We were beta testing the exciting new photo app from Vancouver-based Foodtree. The app is designed to help you find your way to fresh local produce. iPhone users can add to the Foodtree by uploading information about their fresh food finds and pictures of great local products to alert other users in real time to farm-fresh organic eggs or the season's first asparagus. We'll be launching this eye-popping program in the next few days--the first in the U.S.--so watch for a special announcement from the Boulder County Farmers' Market. Meanwhile, you can get a sneak preview here, whether you have an iPhone or not!

10% LOCAL FOOD SHIFT PLEDGE!

Last year we introduced the 10% Local Food Shift Challenge and Pledge, encouraging everyone to shift up to ten percent of their food budget to locally-grown, locally-sourced food. This summer, in partnership with the Boulder County Farmers' Market, we'll be re-launching the 10% Pledge with a powerful new online system which will track and display total local food purchases. Once you've registered to make a Pledge, or if you've previously registered, you will receive a weekly email survey (taking only a few seconds to fill out) asking questions about your food purchasing progress. The system will track all sign-ups and food dollars shifted. Starting July 6, look for us at the Farmers' Markets, where you can sign up for the 10% Pledge and get more information about how to shift your food purchases to local sources and where you can buy local foods. Also, look for the 10% Pledge on the Farmers' Market website soon!