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Farmers Markets Are Opening!
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Berkshire Grown
Underwriter:
Ginsberg's
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Berkshire Grown Outreach Coordinator Sheryl Lechner visits Ginsberg's , an independent, family-owned regional food distributor.  Ginsberg's fills a key niche in our region: a food distributor, and one of the few that are not a national or multi-national corporation. READ more here .
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FARMERS MARKETS ARE OPEN!
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Find Farmers' Markets on Berkshire Grown's website - click here on MAP-O-LICIOUS, then click on "Farmers Markets" on the menu for hours, dates, contact info.  Markets open in May:
May 3: *Berkshire Area Market outside
Saturday May 10:
* Downtown Pittsfield
* Great Barrington at their new location - The Fairgrounds, across from Guido's & Big Y
 * Otis Friday May 16: * Lenox
Saturday May 17: * Norfolk opens outside
Thursday May 22: * West Stockbridge
Saturday May 24: * Williamstown 
May 31: * Copake/ Hillsdale
Year-round markets in Amenia, NY and Bennington, VT
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Want to get to know a farmer and to pick up local food throughout the growing season - join a CSA farm.
Shares in CSA Farms are still available
 Thanks to Square Roots Farm in Lanesborough for this definition of a CSA: Community Supported Agriculture [CSA] is a model that has benefits for both farmers and consumers. Members purchase a share in the farm at the beginning of the growing season, giving farmers much needed capital when they need it most, as well as assurance that they'll have a market for their vegetables. In turn, CSA members receive a weekly share of exceptionally fresh and nutritious food throughout the season, grown in a sustainable fashion by a farmer that they know and trust.  Each of the 33 CSA farms listed on Berkshire Grown's website is unique - find out more by contacting the farmers directly. There are links to their websites, phone numbers and more on Map-o-licious. Click on "CSA" on the menu on Map-o-licious.
The CSAs in our region include:
 Barefoot Farm, Berry Patch, Bradley Farm, Brattle Farm, Caretaker Farm Chubby Bunny Farm, Climbing Tree Farm, Cricket Creek Farm, Farm at Miller's Crossing, Farm Girl Farm, Gaetanos Organic Farm, Gould Farm's Harvest Barn, Hancock Shaker Village, Hawk Dance Farm, Hawthorne Valley Farm, Indian Line Farm, Longview Farm, Many Forks Farm, Mighty Food Farm, Moon in the Pond Farm, MX Morningstar Farm, Sky View Farm, Sol Flower Farm & CSA, Square Roots Farm, Three Maples Market Garden, Trusted Roots Farm, When Pigs Fly Farm, Wildstone Farm, Windy Ridge Farm, Wolfe Spring Farm, Woven Roots Farm (pictured), Wyomanock Farm. INFO ON MAP-O-LICIOUS
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What we are reading
by Alex Marshall and Lindsay Thygesen, The Williams Record
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The Williams Record
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"...Kinetic, a [Williams] student-run think tank based out of the Center for Learning in Action, has started to talk with the management at Wild Oats Market in Williamstown about launching a suspended grocery system... In a suspended grocery system, customers are given the option at checkout of choosing from a list of healthy, perishable items to 'suspend' for other individuals. The suspended items are then counted as coupons, which are given to local food pantries to assist low-income community members."
Read MORE...
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What We Are Reading in Rural Intelligence
 Berkshire Grown Celebrates Spring with locally grown food at The Prairie Whale in Great Barrington Owners Mark Firth and Bettina Schwartz with Joe Scully who is farming for the restaurant. Read more 
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Berkshire Farms Market Opens at Logan Airport in Boston
 Berkshire Grown members bring a variety of products to a new store in the airport, including Berkshire Bark, Berkshire Blue, Berle Farm, BOLA Granola, Cricket Creek Farm, Klara's Cookies, The Red Lion Inn and more thanks to Berkshire Farm and Table, a marketing organization that promotes regional food culture in the the Berkshires.
Learn about their partnership with Berkshire Farms Market at Logan Airport in Boston here.
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Muddy Brook Elementary School
Saturday, May 17, 11am to 3pm Great Barrington.
Mud Day celebrates the Berkshire environment, with hands on activities for the family, local food & more!
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 What We Are Watching Edible Education 101: Spring 2014 at UC Berkeley
"The Rise of Industrial Agriculture" Michael Pollan Watch Here
"For the past 25 years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where nature and culture intersect: on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and in the built environment. He is the author, most recently, of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, the latest of his five New York Times bestsellers: Food Rules: An Eater's Manual (2010); In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008); The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006); and The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001)." |
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What we are reading
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"Retailers won't disclose how much money they're getting from SNAP. Why not?"
By Tracie McMillan in Mother Jones
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Food & Environment Reporting Network
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"How much of Walmart's revenue comes from its shoppers' food stamps? The store isn't required to say. But a January Court of Appeals ruling could change that. If the unanimous decision by the 8th Circuit's panel of three judges holds, the United States Department of Agriculture will be required to release data indicating exactly how much of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's $80 billion in annual sales is paid to specific retailers and individual stores." READ MORE
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What we are reading
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Paulette Tavormina for The NY Times
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"Small independent bakers in New York, California, Oregon, Virginia and North Carolina (and many points in between) are going to great lengths to approach an ideal of bread that is simultaneously cutting-edge and primordial. They're hunting down heirloom grains, early forms of wheat like emmer and einkorn, and milling their own flour."
Read more...
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Mobile Food Bank - at Community Health Programs
First Tuesdays of the month, from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
 Looking for nutritious food for your family?
Come to the Mobile Food Bank!
The Mobile Food Bank provides fresh vegetables, fruit and other nutritious foods at no cost to families in the community.
WHERE:
Community Health
Programs, 444 Stockbridge Rd. (Rt 7)
Great Barrington, MA
WHEN:
The first Tuesday of each month
UPCOMING DATES
June 3, July 1, August 5, Sept. 2, Oct. 7
TIME:
12:00 pm until 1:00 pm
- RAIN OR SHINE
- Sign in starts ½ hour before distribution
- One portion of each item will be available per household
- Please bring bags or cart to carry your food
- No proof of eligibility required
Questions? Contact The Food Bank at 413-247-9738
This program is generously funded by Our Family Foundation by Stop & Shop and managed
by The Food Bank of Western MA and
COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMS
See you there!
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