Share the Bounty!

Food for People, the food bank for Humboldt County, is looking to local farmers for donations of surplus or unmarketable produce.

Food for People serves approximately 10% of the Humboldt County population each month; this would not be possible without the generous donations of area farmers. Last year though Food for People’s Gleaning Program, Humboldt farmers donated nearly 60,000 pounds of fresh nutritious produce for community members in need. Food for People would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all those who donated in years past.

As the global economy worsens, the effects of the downturn are being felt right here in Humboldt – Food for People has seen a 25%-30% increase in demand for services. This is why the continued generosity of local farmers is so important.

No amount is too small, all donations are welcome! Farming leaves little to spare, therefore we will provide insured volunteer gleaners to directly pick up and/or harvest any available produce on the farm or several of the weekly farmer’s market. Receipts will also be issued to farmers for tax purposes.

If you would like to make a donation or volunteer with the gleaning program, please contact Katie or Michael at 707-445-3166 or visit us online at www.foodforpeople.org.

[Volunteer gleaner Kate O’Brien harvests apples at Fieldbrook Valley Apple Farm]

WELCOME NEW FARMERS!

This year we are lucky to have many new farmers who have already joined the NCGA and begun selling. While the Plaza often gets crowded during the season, the more new farmers in our region the better! We often have space at all the weekday markets and we highly encourage new farmers to begin farming and selling great local products. The rise of new farmers at our markets signifies a growing movement towards bigger support for buying local and especially the importance of local food.

We want to welcome: Eddie Tanner owner of DeepSeeded Community Farm, a new CSA offering a large variety of produce including strawberries, tomatoes, and much more; Jay Russ owner of Jay Russ Ranch offering grass-fed and organic beef products; Melinda Stearns owner of River Life Nursery selling a large variety of Daphnes and more; Kashi Albertsen and Naomi Withers co-owners of Luscious Gardens offering numerous perennial food plants including raspberry and huckleberries; Mike Egan and Tiffany Wildharber of Garden Bliss offering a variety of annual and perennial plants; and Jill Hackett of Ferndale Farms offering fresh frozen lamb and goat meat. Also a special welcome to Abram Stark and Michaela Hasler owners of Maggie May Farm who joined us last year and this year will feature fresh, local rabbit at market along with a large variety of produce. Many other new farmers will begin selling soon at all of our markets, so be sure to welcome them!

SPECIAL EVENTS &

MUSIC LINEUP 2009

We still need more sponsors for music, please sign up!!

This newsletter was printed free of cost to the NCGA on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

Kelsey and Ben Perone of Rain Frog Farm welcomed their first child, Jack Wesley Perone, on May 5, 2009. The beautiful baby boy weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces, congratulations!

IMPORTANT AGRICULTURE LEGISLATION

Most of you are probably aware of the mess that is being created by our Politicians in D.C in the name of Food Security. Right now the House of Representatives are working on bill H.R 875 that could shut us all down. HR 875, was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. To me that speaks volumes! DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, READ THIS LEGISLATION FOR YOURSELF. more people who read this legislation the more insight we are going to get and be able to share. Urge NCGA members to read this legislation and to oppose the passage of this legislation.

Go to this website to download the bill http://arcata.northcoastco-op.com/website/foodadvocacy/hr875.pdf

FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation. FOOD Production facilities can be randomly inspected.

Other Red flags are:

Legally binds state agriculture departments to enforcing federal guidelines effectively taking away the states power to do anything other than being food police for the federal dept.

Effectively criminalizes organic farming but doesn't actually use the word organic.

Affects anyone growing food even if they are not selling it but consuming it.

Affects anyone producing meat of any kind including the processing wild game for personal consumption.

Legislation is so broad based that every aspect of growing or producing food can be made illegal. are no specifics which is bizarre considering how long the legislation is.

Section 103 is almost entirely about the administrative aspect of the legislation. will allow the appointing of officials from the factory farming corporations and lobbyists and classify them as experts and allow them to determine and interpret the legislation. do you think they are going to side with?

Section 206 defines what will be considered a food production facility and what will be enforced up all food production facilities. wording is so broad based that a backyard gardener could be fined and more.

Section 207 requires that the state's agriculture dept act as the food police and enforce the federal requirements. takes away the states power and is in violation of the 10th amendment.

Things you can do

Contact your members at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose HR 875 and S 425. you are at it ask them if they personally have read the legislation and what their position is? If they have not read the legislation ask them to read it and politely let them know that just because other representatives are not reading the legislation and voting on it does not mean they can do the same.

Get other Farmers to read this!

Check out the Farmers Legal Defense Fund at http://www.ftcldf.org/index.html

Find out who sits on your states agriculture and farming committee and contact them with your concerns.

Continue to contact your elected officials and let them know your position on legislation and why.

Get active at the local and state levels, this is the quickest way to initiate change.

Didn't Stalin nationalize farming methods that enabled his administration to gain control over the food supply? 't Stalin use the food to control the people?

-Dave Feral, Feral Family Farm

Most of what is above has been shamelessly pilfered from the below websites:

httphttp://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-dream-bill-HR-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090309-337.html

httphttp://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=12671

CAFF MARKETING UPDATE

CAFF has begun a Buy Fresh Buy Local restaurant program which does marketing in website links, print ads, press releases and consumer awareness outreach to advocate for all restaurants in the BFBL program from June through October to build excitement about local food choices in participating restaurants.

Each restaurantit's own local dish - prepared with local produce - our goal is to make their local purchases known directly to the consumer.may be a daily soup, daily salad, special weekly dinner or a seasonal event during the summer.These local options are promoted throughasadvertising for all participants to build a local food movement.The momentum creates more demand for local produceclearly marking menu items that support the program.produce sales benefit local farmers and create bridges with consumerssupport independent businesses and contribute to the local economy.

This expanded summer program of restaurant events will culminate in CAFF's "local food month" in September.

Vote local - look for our comment cards thatletfavorite restaurantyou want them to purchase more local food and'll supportmenu choices.

RULES AND INSPECTIONS

As many of you know we have had two inspections already this season, one from the County Department of Agriculture and one from the County Health Department. It is very important that everyone review and comply with all necessary rules and regulations. There are many rules to follow, some of which seem useless, others are very important for health and safety. Regardless, we have to follow the rules in order to operate. The outcomes of these inspections were overall very positive with lots of praise for what a great market we have. Specific concerns from the Ag. Department were primarily about labeling of sealed bags. All closed bags must be labels with the identity of the product, the address of where it was produced and the quantity of the product. The Health Department found that many were not in compliance with the requirement to have a hand washing station at each booth. You all must have a hand washing station consisting of soap, water, single use towels, and catchment for the grey water. All booths providing samples must also have a surface sanitizing solution and extra utensils. While we were all given warnings for now, most inspections will follow and it is possible for you and the market manager to get a fine for non-compliance with any of the CFM rules and regulations. If you need any clarification ask the market manager for a copy of the rules. Another important thing that was brought up by the Arcata PD is that we must all follow the traffic laws, even early in the morning when no one else is around. One-way streets are one-way streets. Keep up the good work, you have all done a great job overall with sticking to the rules!

Work has begun on the new 2010 Farm-to-Table Calendar has begun! Visit www.caff.org.humboldt or call 444-3255 for more info.

Bring a Million a Month to Humboldt County…through local farmers’ markets

The Food Stamp Program (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the federal level) is a nutrition program of the USDA that helps low-income folks to buy the nutritious foods they need for good health. It is also one of the best federal programs we can use to boost our economy, including local farmers’ markets. In Humboldt County, 46% of those eligible for the Food Stamp Program are using it (more than 10,000 adults and children) and they spend more than one million dollars monthly at local grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Bring a Million a Month to Humboldt County is a campaign to enroll the other 54% of folks eligible but not using the program, so we can bring another million dollars a month to Humboldt County for better nutrition and a stronger local economy.

In March, Food for People, the food bank for Humboldt County, kicked off the Bring a Million a Month campaign to educate the public on how the Food Stamp Program benefits both nutrition and the local economy. We also help folks apply for the program. Our focus during the farmers’ market season is to promote the use of the food stamp EBT card at local farmers’ markets, so folks can purchase produce, seeds and starts that produce food directly from local farmers. Through the Bring a Million a Month campaign, we are learning that a lot of local folks who struggle to afford a nutritious diet are especially interested in applying for food stamps because they would be able to use the EBT card at local farmers’ markets. Likewise, folks already enrolled in the Food Stamp Program were very pleased to learn that they can bring their families to NCGA farmers’ markets, swipe their EBT cards at the manager’s table in exchange for tokens, and pay local farmers directly. We look forward to a successful season for both the NCGA and our community’s health. For more information visit www.foodforpeople.org or contact Food for People (707) 445-3166

Deborah Waxman, Community Education & Outreach Coordinator

Food for People, Inc.

Humboldt Community Breast Health Project

The Breast Health Project, located in Arcata on 8^th Street by the Co-op, is our local community’s largest resource for breast and gynecologic cancer or cancer concerns. If you or someone you care about is facing a medical issue on this front, there’s someone who can help.

Whether you’re looking for financial assistance for a mammogram if you don’t have health insurance or only catastrophic coverage, or you’ve had an abnormal pap test and are facing diagnostic testing, our volunteers and nursing staff can answer your questions. We’ve been in the community for twelve years. Most of the volunteers and staff are cancer survivors themselves, so they know the fears, questions and roller coaster ride that follows the statement from a health care provider, “it may be cancer.”

We are a local, grassroots non-profit not affiliated with a larger organization. The support of local donors, grant support and tremendous volunteer efforts are what keep the organization afloat. Thank you to North Coast Growers Association for allowing us to sell “dream vacation” raffle tickets at the Farmer’s Markets. Our mutual supporters know to look for us on the Arcata Plaza and other farmer’s markets to purchase their raffle tickets. The raffle is our largest and most important fundraiser. It enables us to continue providing services to local women and their families during a very difficult time in their lives. For more information about our services, please call us at 825-8345.

ARCATA’S TUESDAY AFTERNOON MARKET

Well hello to all, and welcome back! You may remember that in the middle of the 2008 market season, we moved the weekday Arcata Farmer's Market from in front of Wildberries down to the Coop employee parking lot. The move was made for a number of reasons, and we had a lot of hope that the market would thrive after the move. Well, it did! Most farmers noticed better sales almost immediately, and the number of customers grew every week as the community spread the word about the new location!

Well this season I'm hoping that the market is really going to pick up speed. I'm also hoping that you're coming! In our new location, the market is set up in a parking lot, as opposed to along a street. Therefore, arrival and departure from the market is easy, and there are no closed streets to squeeze through. We have a great lineup of acoustic musicians already, and are working on getting the market noticed even more by signs around town. Please give a call and let me know if you're interested in vending at Arcata's Tuesday Afternoon Farmer's Market, located at 8th and I streets next to the Coop Customer parking lot. Together we can make this afternoon market a thriving success again. -Ash Wells, Arcata Manager

CALIFORNIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO TOXICS AND THE ORGANIC PLANET FESTIVAL

The fifth annual Organic Planet festival returns to the beautiful Eureka waterfront on Sunday, August 30^th 2009.

This year’s workshops and keynote address revolve around organic home gardening—a much-appreciated life style on the North Coast. Mike McGrath, the humorous host of the nationally syndicated NPR show “You Bet Your Garden!” will be the keynote speaker. Mike McGrath is adept at conveying just how much fun gardening, eating organically and supporting local agriculture can be. Eddie Tanner from Deep Seeded Community Farm will also be bringing his expertise to our workshop area. There are still workshop and organic food related demonstration slots available—if you would like to participate and connect with the local community please contact Vanessa at 445.5100 or Vanessa@alt2tox.org.

The Festival’s all-day music lineup will feature Grammy-winning Bluegrass icon The Del McCoury Band, widely considered the #1 Bluegrass band in the nation. Tanya Stevens, an international reggae star with a big following in northern California, will also be headlining the event. More music yet to be announced! Also featured will be Peter Alsop, famous among kids everywhere for his albums of original and entertaining songs.

As always, the Organic Planet Festival features low-cost entry so bring out the entire family. For more information please visit www.organicplanetfestival.org. Vendor applications are also available on our website or contact us if you have any questions on how you can join in on the fun.

Californians for Alternatives to Toxics

707.445.5100