News & Events February 2013
Berkshire Grown online
Make a difference -- support local farms,
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Philip Ackerman-Leist
" Rebuilding the Foodshed: How to Create Local, Sustainable, and Secure Food Systems"
 Wednesday, February 13th, 6:30 -8:00 p.m. Williams College, Griffin Hall, Room 3
Droves of people have turned to local food as a way to retreat from our broken industrial food system. From rural outposts to city streets, they are sowing, growing, selling, and eating food produced close to home-and they are crying out for agricultural reform.
Ackerman-Leist focuses on the broad issue of rebuilding regional food systems to replace the destructive aspects of industrial agriculture, meet food demands affordably and sustainably, and be resilient enough to endure potentially rough times ahead.
Philip Ackerman-Leist is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Farm and Food Project at Green Mountain College. Details here. and/ or call 413.597.4422
Feb. 28th , 6:30 p.m., Williams College, Griffin Hall, Room 3
Diane Purkiss: "The Most Underrated Food in Europe,or Eating Well in England"
Through a series of quick glances at restaurant and domestic menus from the Middle Ages to 2013, you'll discover that English food is peculiarly dependent on external forces ... When you eat a range of English cheeses, you will find their artisanal and farmhouse roots, while also learning how they were almost destroyed by well-meant post-war governments intent on health. This event features a guided tasting of iconic English cheeses.
Dr. Diane Purkiss is Fellow in English and a published historian at Keble College in Oxford.
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WHAT WE ARE READING
Super Bowl spotlight: Buzz over
'God Made a Farmer' ad stretches around the globe
 "Even if some of the images were outdated in an age of big, high-tech farms, Iowa's officials and farmers could hardly contain their joy over a gushingly positive portrayal before an estimated 108.4 million television viewers. By late afternoon Monday, the ad had also collected 4.6 million YouTube viewings
See the ad, read a response here (the whitewashing of the American farmer?) and here
"Not everybody was charmed by the ad. David Goodner, an organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, wasn't happy that the commercial ended with a picture of a Dodge Ram sitting in front of a confinement. CCI and others have fought against the spread of hog confinements and their impact on small farmers, communities and the environment."
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 Designed for those starting or caring for a vegetable garden, this course will include discussion of soil and nutrient management, seed selection, crop rotation schemes, seeding and planting, pest management and specific plant cultivation. Each week, students will investigate a different vegetable family to insure all questions are answered about cultivation of these important food groups.
Instructors are Berkshire Grown members Peter and Jennifer Salinetti who own Woven Roots Farm, a small family farm and CSA in Lee that grows vegetables and culinary herbs using traditional farming practices.
Berkshire Botanical Garden Feb. 28, March 7, 14, & 21
9:30 - 11:30am
Members $65; Nonmembers $75
Individual Classes $25
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NOFA's Winter Workshops: Producing for Various Winter Greens Markets
 Elizabeth Keenfarms at Indian Line Farm and has been growing certified naturally grown vegetables for 15 years. Recently, she has grown winter greens to increase the bottom line and better employ spaces used to grow heat-loving summer crops.
Indian Line Farm systems include two 30'x96' greenhouses. This workshop will focus on movable greenhouses, seeding and harvesting methods, packing greens for sale, record keeping, and economics. Marketing discussion will cover sales to farmers markets, stores, and restaurants. Pete Salinetti farms at Woven Roots Farm in Lee, MA, doing wholesale, retail, & CSA.
This is one in a series of workshops on winter growing throughout Massachusetts. To view additional offerings, click here.
Workshops are $25 NOFA members; $30 non-members. An additional $5 discount applies for registering at least 14 days before each workshop. More on NOFA
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What We Will Be Watching
BERKSHIRE GROWN CHEFS BRING
"THE BERKSHIRE CURE-ALL"
TO NYC's JAMES BEARD HOUSE
 On Friday, March 1, a group of innovative Berkshire chefs will travel to the James Beard Foundation in New York City to present a farm-to-table dinner featuring foods harvested in the Berkshire region. Organized by Brian J. Alberg, Executive Chef and Food & Beverage Director at The Red Lion Inn, this year's event entitled "The Berkshire Cure-All" will be prepared with foods using time-honored curing and preserving methods. "The Berkshire Cure-All" reception and dinner will include Stephen Browning, chef at Bell & Anchor (Great Barrington); Terry Moore, chef-owner of The Old Mill (South Egremont); Jamie Paxton, chef at The Meat Market (Great Barrington); Daire Rooney, chef at Allium Restaurant + Bar (Great Barrington); Dan Smith, chef-owner of John Andrews: A Farmhouse Restaurant (South Egremont); and Zee Vassos, chef at Firefly (Lenox). Red Lion Inn Sommelier Dan Thomas will craft elixir-themed cocktail recipes and select cure-all wines to accompany the dinner's reception and six courses. Berkshire Grown chefs will create, read here
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 "MA Right to Know GMOs" --is a Massachusetts statewide network that advocates the right to know if our food contains ingredients derived from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
Berkshire Organics is the 1st business in Massachusetts to be featured as a leader in the movement for safe food by the MA Right to Know GMOs organization. |
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What We Are Reading
Genetic Changes to Food May Get Uniform Labeling
By Stephanie Strom
 "With Washington State on the verge of a ballot initiative that would require labeling of some foods containing genetically engineered ingredients and other states considering similar measures, some of the major food companies and Wal-Mart, the country's largest grocery store operator, have been discussing lobbying for a national labeling program.
Read more in the New York Times
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Farm Film Fest V
 s eeks entries for its annual event on Sunday March 17th at the historic Crandell Theater in Chatham, New York. The  Chatham Agricultural Partnership, the Columbia Land Conservancy, and the Chatham Film Club sponsor the festival. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2013.
DVDs can be sent to: Farm Film Fest V, c/o The Chatham Film Club, PO Box 305, Chatham, NY, 12037. Additional information is available here.
518-392-3459
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 JOB OPPORTUNITY from our friends at The Berry Patch: Be a rock star and join the team at The Berry Patch! Think you want to be a farmer? The Berry Patch is recruiting for energetic, creative people who love local foods to work on our farm and in our farm store this summer. For the right people, this opportunity could turn into year round employment with benefits. Contact us for a full position announcement. [email protected]
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY  Cricket Creek Farm is a small, diversified dairy farm. We milk between 25 and 30 cows; about 20% of the milk is sold as fresh, raw milk and the rest we make into artisanal farmstead cheese. We have a small grass-fed beef herd, raise pigs on whey, keep laying hens, and have a small bakery on site. We market our products through a vibrant on-farm store, several weekly farmers markets, a year-round diversified CSA, and many wholesale accounts. Each year we host 4-5 apprentices, and we are looking for the final apprentice for this coming year. Read more about our apprenticeship program and see directions on applying here. |
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Join a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - Farm:  Become a member of a farm, provide funds now for a farmer, and begin picking up your share in June.
What a delicious way to support a local farmer!
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What we are reading
 Access To Land, Capital =Biggest Hurdle For Young Farmers
"USDA finds beginning farmers and ranchers have difficulty finding enough land to build a business..." More in the American Agriculturist
(photo by Nichole Calero)
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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 Peter Cherneff.
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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 Stay In touch!
Berkshire Grown's e-newsletter comes out monthly. Please send information to [email protected], thanks! Join Berkshire Grown here.
Barbara Zheutlin, Director
Sheryl Lechner, Outreach Coordinator
413-528-0041 |
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