Urban Farms of Central Ohio

We are building a database of urban farms.  If you know of a farm that is in an urban (or suburban) area and sells direct to consumer, restaurants or stores, please comment and let others know about them.

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Food Safety Listening Session

Food Safety Listening Session

Oct. 19th from 9:00 a.m. to noon
at Ohio Dept. of Agriculture
8995 E Main St
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

Guest speakers will be:

Bob Jones, Ohio Producer Growers and Marketers Association
Doug Doohan, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
Karl Kolb, The High Sierra Group
Chuck Kirshner, ODA Division of Food Safety

Speakers will give presentation and take your questions about food safety and farmers markets.

New Study concludes organic food is healthier

A new report by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) concludes that organic foods are better for you and contain less pesticides and nitrates, which have been linked to a range of health problems.  Findings include:

1. Organic plant products are more nutrient dense
2. Have higher levels of minerals
3. Contain more antioxidants
4. Organic animal products contain more polyunsaturated fatty acids

A .pdf of the article, published in the academic journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development, can be found here: http://swroc.cfans.umn.edu/organic/ASD_Lairon_2009.pdf.

Eat Local Challenge Sept. 13-19

Ohio Department of Agriculture Eat Local Challenge Sept. 13-19The Ohio Department of Agriculture challenges you to eat local! This week, plan and prepare one meal every day using foods that are made, grown or raised in Ohio.

Click on your county to accept the Eat Local Challenge!

http://www.agri.ohio.gov/apps/eat_local/eatlocal.aspx

September thoughts on Harvest

It’s been a while since I posted. Lots happening here in Columbus. 4 Seasons City Farm is deep in the midst of planning the Fall Harvest Festival. Sept 26 at Mound and Carpenter (the Olde Town East part of Columbus), Then a few days later will be a canning workshop on tues the 29th at Central Community House at Main and Champion. Limited group for hands on learning with Susan Shockey from Cooperative Extension. If interested call Karen to sign up for this or other TBA workshops. MORPC is being asked to find funding for more experts such as Susan to teach both water bath and pressure canning techniques. Did you know that you can even can a turkey this way? Imagine if people in the inner city could buy two at 79 cents a pound and have meat all winter. Even if the electric were to go out. It would still be good. Sure wish people were more prepared for disasters. So much food was lost last year during the big storm as well as those on the gulf from the hurricanes. Crews could plan ahead to have 2 ton trucks and generators to save so much during those extreme times. I expect more to happen. Get prepared. Know your neighbors. Work together. Well got to go. Coffee house is closing. More soon. Kareng

Free Webinar EBT and Farmers Markets

EBT and Farmers Markets: Practical Advice from Successful Programs

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM (ET)

This is a free webinar hosted by The Farmers Market Coallition.

Details and Registration

USDA Hearing on the Leafy Green M.A. in Columbus

As food safety concerns continue to be topics of discussion among growers and policy makers, I thought I would pass along this following information.  There will be a hearing in Columbus on Oct. 6, 2009.  Details are below.

Defining Local Food

What does “local food” mean to you? As Bear wrote in SlowFood Columbus recently.  As big food industry scrambles to redefine their products as “local”, we must keep in mind the values we embrace as we support local food.

The locavore movement arose at a time when “local” meant not just “from nearby” but also “made by our neighbors,” “sustainable” and “not industrial.” As concepts go, it was the perfect storm of progressive foodie goodness: in one word it connoted fresh taste, a low carbon footprint and good farming practices, and appealing social values.

- Bear, Slow Food Columbus, What is Local Food?

Farmland Preservation Conference

I’m a Postin’ Fool today. There was so much to share that concerns local food in my emails. I’ve had good visits with the Madison County Chamber of Commerce, Brian Williams and a number of other movers and shakers. Many of whom will be at this event. Check it out.

SAVE THE DATE – 10th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit – 11/5/9

http://cffpi.osu.edu/summit09.htm

On November 5, 2009, the tenth annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit will take place at the new Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on the Ohio State University campus. For this landmark anniversary, we offer exciting and information-packed breakout sessions to inform and invigorate. There will also be exhibition space and a fresh produce market in the afternoon. To help us celebrate a decade of gatherings, The Ohio State University President, Gordon Gee, will give a welcome and USDA Deputy Secretary, Kathleen Merrigan, will provide an address via video.

You often hear that farmland provides services beyond food and fiber production. The morning plenary will begin by a panel addressing the question: How can we begin to value these services such as carbon sequestration and nutrient management, and what selling and trading of these services mean for farmland protection? The afternoon session focuses on the role of farmland protection in balancing growth and restoring prosperity to Ohio.

Breakout sessions are available on a variety of topics ranging from the basics of preserving the farm business, adapting to climate change through soil management, using surveys to gauge support for farmland protection, results from the latest census, to food policy and Ohio farmland.

WHAT: 10th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit: Planting the Seeds of Future Prosperity

WHERE: Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, Ohio State University

DATE: November 5, 2008

TIME: 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. (approximate)

For additional information about the conference, go to http://cffpi.osu.edu/summit09.htm or contact Jody Fife, Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation, at 614-728-6210 or farmlandpres@agri.ohio.gov. It is expected that registration materials will be available in early September.

Planning committee organizations: Agriculture & Resource Law Program, OSU; American Farmland Trust; Center for Farmland Policy Innovation, OSU; Countryside Conservancy; Denison University; Marketing Division, ODA; Office of Farmland Preservation, ODA; Ohio Farm Bureau Federation; Ohio County Commissioners Association; Ohio Environmental Council; Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Ohio Planning Conference; Ohio Township Association; Otterbein University; and Western Reserve Land Conservancy.

Jill Clark, PhD

Director, Center for Farmland Policy Innovation

Dept. of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

The Ohio State University

Agricultural Administration Bldg., 337

2120 Fyffe Rd.

Columbus, OH 43201

clark.1099@osu.edu

http://cffpi.osu.edu

614.247.6479 (p)

614.292.0078 (f)

Community Gardens are spreading. It’s a Gardenmonium

Community garden is seeing it’s renaissance this year. I recently attended the ACGA national conference and was really impressed with their mission and the quality of the lectures that were presented. I joined officially and have decided to host a dinner party at Cafe Bella as a way to show my support. Stay tuned for details. Drop me a line if you would be interested in attending.
Got this from OEFFA. Hope you find it useful.
*Community Garden Publication Now Available *
AERO has released a new publication on community gardening. Building Community Gardens in Montana (PDF/10.5MB) contains tools, examples, resources and strategies for developing, funding and leading a community garden project in Montana. Based on the experience of Helena VISTA Volunteer organizers – this manual offers insight on how to approach and work with a broad array of community members, government officials and private businesses to develop community gardens.