The Urban Growers Market - Uptown Vancouver

There's a new outdoor market coming to town and I am really excited about this one. Part local artisan vendors and part locally grown food...with an emphasis on VERY locally grown...like in your backyard.  Here's the skinny from the Urban Growers Market Facebook page:



We are a non-profit based in Vancouver Washington. Our board of directors are: Liz Halili, Sunrise O Mahoney and Chris Stevens. We are an experiment in a new kind of farmers market creating a marketplace for small and backyard growers and gardeners. We will also feature a marketplace for local crafters and artisans to sell their wares. 


Our mission is to create a place for smaller and backyard growers to sell at creating an even closer circle of "buy local". 


Our focus is on sustainability, food safety and availability and community involvement.We are looking for growers of produce and plants for everyday use, food vendors and sellers as well as local artists and crafters.


The Urban Growers Market will be looking for volunteers in the coming months.  All you Westsiders and inner-Eastsiders who want to play a part in this new chapter of the Southwest Washington homegrown, food system security revolution keep your ears open and please heed the call for help. This is going to be the coolest thing in local food since Neighbors Markets opened.


The Urban Growers Market@ Facebook...website coming soon!

Join SHARE & Whole Foods for a “Taste of Thanksgiving” event!

Whole Foods Market
Thursday, November 11
5 to 8 p.m.
815 SE 160th Avenue
Vancouver, WA
  
• $10 donation for adults; $5 donation for kids under 12
• Event passports will be pre-sold two weeks prior to the event, starting on Oct. 28.
• Proceeds from the event will benefit Share.

On Nov. 11 Whole Foods Market – Mill Plain invites the community to our store to taste a fabulous array of seasonal specialties all to benefit Share. Guests make a donation and are given a menu which includes everything from their full holiday meal to wine and dessert. This is our fourth annual Taste of Thanksgiving; it’s our holiday tradition! So come, invite your neighbors and friends to enjoy delicious food while supporting a great cause!

Menu Includes:
• Table 1 Welcome Table & Drink Fountain:
Columbia Gorge Organics Apple Juice
-To kick off your Taste of Thanksgiving extravaganza, sample this locally made Apple Juice!

• Table 2 Produce: Roasted Squash with Smoked Artisan Salts

• Table 3 Seafood: Oyster Stuffing
-Made with fresh and local Northwest raised Oysters!

• Table 4 Meat: Prime Rib
-Come sample this Northwest raised, tender, all natural holiday delight

• Table 5 Grocery: Field Roast & Green Bean Casserole
-A vegan alternative for your traditional holiday celebration

• Table 6 Specialty: Build your own cheese plate!
-Come visit with our cheese specialist & design the cheese
platter of your dreams.

• Table 7 Prepared Foods:
Diestel Turkey, Mashed Potatoes & Classic Cranberry Relish
-Our Thanksgiving classic, done up for you Whole Foods Market style!

• Table 8 Bakery:
Pumpkin Pie with Made in House Whipped Cream

• Table 9 Wine Bar:

SHARE Holiday Cheer Program

Is YOUR company sponsoring a SHARE Giving Tree this holiday season?


Share needs 10 more companies to sponsor a Giving Tree for our Holiday Cheer Program. The Giving Tree helps families in need in our community have a wonderful holiday season. If you can help, please contact Susan Oberst, Director of Volunteers, at 360-750-4436 ext. 309 or volunteers@sharevancouver.org for more details. Thank you!


SHARE is also looking for individuals and groups to help with the many other Holiday Cheer program events. Please visit the SHARE web site for more details.


http://www.sharevancouver.org/Programs/holiday-programs

Dee Creek Farm Cheese Now Available @ Neighbors Markets!

Neighbors Markets is setting the bar higher for distribution of food that is good, clean and LOCAL. Way to go Lynn!!

You can now buy Dee Creek artisan farmstead cheeses 7 days a week at Neighbors Markets on Main Street in Uptown Vancouver.

Vancouver Urban Abundance Story In the Oregonian

Urban Abundance. Words that are like music to my ears.

Check out this great story in the Oregonian about Warren Neth and Vancouver Urban Abundance!


Link to Oregonian story

Understanding the Farm Bill: A Citizen's Guide to a Better Food System

From the Understanding the Farm Bill: A Citizen's Guide to a Better Food System  Facebook page.

The support for local farmers, fresh and healthy food, gardening, and farmers markets has reached new levels of enthusiasm. That enthusiasm for a new food system, however, has yet to be translated into new food policy.

All of us have seen the impacts of bad food and agriculture policy. From low prices in the early 2000s that drove huge numbers of farmers out of business, to the price spike in 2008 that led to food riots in parts of the world, to the continued problem in many communities of poor access to healthy foods, to the epidemic of childhood obesity, poor choices in Washington, DC hurt real people.

The most important piece of legislation is the federal farm bill, which is expected to be reauthorized in 2012. Yet in order to improve this legislation, we need to better understand the legislation and how policy is made.

The Facebook page is the joint creation of Mark Muller (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)) and Lee Zukor (Simple, Good, and Tasty (SGT)). The purpose of this page is not to tell visitors what to think about various policy proposals or send out calls to action, but to help demystify the process.

The page is intended to be collaborative and we welcome your input. Please post your own thoughts, views, websites, articles, photos, and videos.

Website:

http://www.iatp.org
http://simplegoodandtasty.com
http://www.foodandsocietyfellows.org

Thanksgiving Wine Pairing Seminar @ Niche - 11.16.2010

Join Niche for a Thanksgiving Wine Pairing Seminar!
Tuesday, November 16th at 6:00pm
Lynn will guide you through the somewhat perplexing task of choosing the perfect wines to pair with the quintessential holiday meal. Cost is $25 and includes pairing of 8 wines with light bites and printed information. Seating is limited so please register at wineandwedge@gmail.com. or call or stop by Niche.


Niche Wine Bar
1013 Main St
Vancouver, WA, 98660


Phone:
360.980.8352
Wed - Thurs:
4:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Fri - Sat:
4:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Cultivating Regional Food Security: Recent Research in Urban-Rural Food Systems - 12.4-5.2010

Register now to get the early bird rate for the conference at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens Center for Urban Horticulture December 4-5, 2010, with the goal of increasing collaboration among community leaders and residents to create a more sustainable regional food system in terms of production, land use and equitable access to food.


Co-hosted by the UW Botanic Gardens and Washington State University Extension, the conference brings together a diverse audience including urban gardeners, agriculture organizations and policy-enacting legislators. Nearly three dozen speakers will present emerging research on topics ranging from urban soils, food markets, urban/rural economic interdependence and public health. Work groups will outline post-conference initiatives.

Seats will be limited. Registration for the two day conference includes two lunches and an evening reception, along with conference materials. Early bird registration fees are $150 per person through November 7 and $175 after that date. One day registration is $100.


For more information, contact conference coordinator Karen Luetjen at 206-616-1569 or luetjen@u.washington.edu.

Detailed Agenda and Conference Outline

Registration, Directions and Lodging

Register for Cultivating Regional Food Security conference

The food movement’s new frontier: “ultra-processing”

crap...crap...crap...as if processed foods aren't bad enough. Now we have "ultra-processed" foods. This is just so wrong.


The food movement’s new frontier: “ultra-processing”

Chicken Butchering Class @ Inspiration Plantation - 11.21.2010

Sun. Nov. 21st ~ Chicken Harvest 201 BYOC: Bring Your Own Chicken

Learning the Art of Harvesting at Home!

Many of you, have shown such great interest in learning our methods of Harvesting at home that we are starting a new class designed to allow you to bring a chicken from home to a harvest! If you were one of those people, then read on farm friend!!

IP Farmers Matt & Jen Schwab will walk you through the process of how to humanely kill and butcher a chicken at home. These are good skills to know for the person wishing to be more self-sustainable, know where their food comes from or has a hen that is no longer laying or maybe has a hen turned rooster! No one will be required to kill a chicken, but this is a class, not an opportunity for custom-processing. The class cost includes bringing ONE chicken or we will have ours available for an additional $15.00 (we have a limited number available, please reserve soon should you want an IP chicken)

Participants may bring up to a total of 3 chickens (for an additional charge) which you will be able to take home with you as a whole broiler chicken. Please feel free to contact us if you have more than 3 chickens to harvest, we can recommend some options for you.

Space is limited - E-Mail us ASAP to reserve your spot!

Class Details:

What: Chicken Harvest 201 BYOC ~ Bring Your Own Chicken ~ Learning the Art of Harvesting at Home!

When: Sunday November 21st
8:00am-12:00pm

Where: Inspiration Plantation - 24311 NW 24th Ave. Ridgefield, WA 98642

Why: Because knowing your farmer and where your food comes from, how it is grown and how it is harvested is of a great interest and/or importance to you! :)

Cost: $25.00 per person (includes one chicken, addt’l chickens are $5.00/ea – limited to 3 chickens)

Oregon Farmer, Seedsman & Plant Breeder Frank Morton Discussing GMOs

Urban Abundance - Planning Abundance Forum

And here's another great opportunity to get involved with our local food system via Urban Abundance:

Planning Abundance Forum
Tue, November 16, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
The Portal 2007 E. 12th St, Vancouver, WA‎ (map)

Lets grow more food in Vancouver! Hear local Historian tell the story of the Hudson Bay Company Food System in Vancouver. Share your story of Kitchen gardens in Vancouver and any tid bits of Vancouver's historical food system you'd like to share. Learn about Vancouver's ordinance that allows new community gardens in public parks and about Land Trust's that will work with private landowners to ensure their land is held in trust as agricultural and the benefits that can offer land owners. We will have a map of the four neighborhoods meeting at Grand Blvd and Mill Plain to help us see urban agricultural opportunities and where our neighbor's gardens are. Help us locate a spot for a new Neighborhood Garden! Thanks to Walmart, funding is available for one more garden site in one of the 7 neighborhoods along 4th Plain Boulevard (Rose Village, Central Park, 4th Plain Village, Harney, Bagley Downs, Ogden, & Meadow Homes). At the Planning Urban Abundance Forum you will have an opportunity to suggest a possible site. Please be prepared to include in your suggestion –

1) why you think this would be a good site
2) property location/address
3) owner name and contact info
4) brief description of the current site condition
5) what part you would like to play in the creation of the new site
6) whether or not you have discussed such possibility with the owner

Contact Warren Neth to RSVP or get involved: 260-771-1296 warren@myurbanabundance.org

Vancouver Food Co-op Looking For Board Members

If you're looking for an opportunity to contribute to local food security and the continued development of Vancouver's first food co-op, here's your big chance!

 From VFC President, Marj Caswell:

The VFC is asking for member-owners to step forward to serve on the board.  This is an exciting time for VFC--the online store means VFC has taken a major step forward in support of VFC's vision of access to healthy and sustainably produced foods, especially local. 

 

Currently, we have four board members responsible for decisions ...and we need more of you involved!  Bylaws allow for nine positions.  We need more representation from VFC member-owners.  We need more voices in our discussions.  This means you.  We need you.  Please think about involvement, and email me at: marj@vancouverfood.coop with your questions and comments--or to let me know your interest.

 

Requirements?  VFC board members must be VFC member-owners, that's a given.  The other need is a strong desire for bringing healthy, organic food to our community.  The board meets on the first Wednesday every month, from 6:00 to 8:30 PM.  We try to handle business between meetings via email--so, board members need to have access to the Internet, and be willing to check in every couple of days, at least, and to be part of discussions and decisions. 

 

Marj Casswell, President

Just had a really nice pow-wow with farmers' market consultant Vance Corum. If you're a farmers market board member, manager or growing for market and you're looking for someone with proven results to help you grow your business, he's the man you want to know. 

Here's a link to his LinkedIn profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/vance-corum/10/767/6b3

He's also written a great book on the business of farmers' markets:

http://www.growingformarket.com/store/products/29