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NEWS + EVENTS  
April 2013 newsletter
Berkshire Grown online 
Make a difference -- support local farms,  
join Berkshire Grown here 



  SIGN UP FOR A SHARE IN A LOCAL FARM!  

Kale Square roots farm Support a local farmer + eat delicious food through the summer!

Click on Map-o-licious, select "CSA Farms" (CSA = Community Supported Agriculture) to find the farm near you!
Kale growing at Square Roots Farm.





Project Native Film Festival!

Project Native FF

This Sunday, April 7, 2013  
10:00am-10:00pm  
Triplex Cinema - Great Barrington

Berkshire Grown sponsors  
"Bitter Seeds"
at
11:45am

See the other films being shown here  

 

Like us on Facebook  Project Native Facebook   

 

 



Join us Monday! 
How to get more locally produced food into school cafeterias.
Farm to School

 

 

 





Berkshire Grown with Buy Local Colleagues attend AG DAY on April 2, 2013 at the Statehouse in Boston.
Greg Watson, Commissioner of Agriculture for MA, Bridget Alexander, SEMAP, Barbara Zheutlin, Berkshire Grown, Deval Patrick, Governor of MA, Kelly Coleman and Sarah Stout, of CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture)

 
AG DAY = farmers meeting with local legislators to thank them for their support and to discuss challenges, and opportunities important to farms in Massachusetts.





Locavore Way Cooking Class - Main Course Salads

Use local greens as a base for main course one-dish meals!

 

April 27th   10am-1:00pm
$50 + a $20 food fee, includes a delicious lunch.

139 West Center Road, West Stockbridge, MA  

 

Join veteran teacher Amy Cotler, who has taught at Culinary Institute of America, and the Institute for Culinary Education. Amy is the founding Director of Berkshire Grown and author of The Locavore Way, Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food. 413 232 7174 or online , where you can also find her Locavore Way, book recipe blog and radio show.

 

To register: Mail checks, written out to Locavore Way to Amy Cotler, 139 West Center Road, West Stockbridge, MA 01266.

Menu

Teriyaki Salmon and Soba Noodle Salad with Cooked Greens
Spring Greens Market Salad with Pan Roasted Potatoes and Feta
Cracked Pepper Grllled Chicken with Field Greens in a Lemon Dressing
Wilted Greens with Gorgonzola Croutons
Shrimp, Rice and Spring Green Sambal
Mesclun Greens with Roasted Mushrooms, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Syrup

Plus: How to make perfect salad dressings

 

 



 

TT

 Williamstown Rural Lands logo   

 

10th annual Sheep to Shawl Festival  

Saturday, May 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. & Sunday, May 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sheep Hill headquarters.

 

Sheep shearing, sheep herding, spinning and weaving demos, farm animals, farm products, crafts and more on Saturday. On Sunday, register for self-sufficiency workshops including beekeeping, raising hens, and other rural skills.   ONLINE HERE 

 




 

Family Cow Workshop
Sandisfield MA Saturday May 18, 2013 10 am - 5 pm

Learn what you thought you couldn't do- raise you own backyard milk.
Joshua's Farm Learn the basics of herdsmanship, shelter, milking techniques and feeding. Owning a family cow for family consumption does not require any special permits, and doesn't mandate giving up vacations. 
Instructors include Debra Tyler, Connecticut's first licensed raw milk dairy farmer from Local Farm in Cornwall, and Brigitte Ruthman, owner of Joshua's Farm in Sandisfield. Hands on with cows. Fee is $35 per person and $50 per couple.  May 18, 10-5, includes lunch. Held in a new barn at a beautiful setting overlooking historic pastures in Sandisfield.
For more information or to sign up contact Brigitte at 860-671-0327. 

 


 


Currently reading...

Sen. Roy Blunt: Monsanto's Man in Washington

"...a recent Senate bill came with a nice bonus for the genetically modified seed industry: a rider, wholly unrelated to the underlying bill, that compels the USDA to ignore federal court decisions that block the agency's approvals of new GM crops...."  Read more here


Currently reading...

 

Why do GMO's Need Protection?

by Mark Bittman in the NY TIMES 

 

"Genetic engineering in agriculture has disappointed many people who once had hopes for it. Excluding, of course, those who've made money from it, appropriately represented in the public's mind by Monsanto. That corporation, or at least its friends, recently managed to have an outrageous rider slipped into the 587-page funding bill Congress sent to President Obama.[1] 

 

"The rider essentially prohibits the Department of Agriculture from stopping production of any genetically engineered crop once it's in the ground, even if there is evidence that it is harmful.

"That's a pre-emptive Congressional override of the judicial system, since it is the courts that are most likely to ask the U.S.D.A. to halt planting or harvest of a particular crop. President Obama signed the bill last week (he kind of had to, to prevent a government shutdown) without mentioning the offensive rider [2] (he might have), despite the gathering of more than 250,000 signatures protesting the rider by the organization Food Democracy Now!
Keep reading
 

 






Berkshire Grown's March Maple Dinner


Thank You!!!
Peter Platt, The Old Inn on The Green for producing the event!
MMD Dessert 2013
Jeffrey Thompson, Wheatleigh; Brian Young; Hung Huynh, The General in NYC; Chris Brooks, The Chef at Your Table catering company; Michael Roller, Savory Harvest Catering; Shirl Gard, The Old Inn on the Green (for the dessert in the picture), Doria Pollinger of H.R. Zeppelin Chocolates (pictured);  and host Carl Deluce, Cranwell Resort, Honey Sharp and David Lippman for Casa Miel; Peter Platt for contributing dinners to the auction.

Thank you to Barrington Brewery, Berkshire Mountain Distillers and MS Walker Wines and Cranwell Resort.

See pictures on Rural Intelligence




 

     Quick Bites:

 

DISCOVER:  

Berkshire Grown on FACEBOOK  

+ Berkshire Grown Online Farmers' Market -  

a 24 hour Farmers' Market!   


  

 

purple and green veggies

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.   

 

*Berkshire Grown offers this as a networking service and bears no responsibility for transactions.

   

 Thanks for the photo to Peter Cherneff.   

 

Like us on Facebook 

 

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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 


 
 



BG logoStay In touch!

Berkshire Grown's e-newsletter comes out monthly.  Please send information to [email protected], thanks!  Join Berkshire Grown here.

Thanks to BG Intern Rachel Moriarty!

Barbara Zheutlin, Director
Sheryl Lechner, Outreach Coordinator
413-528-0041

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