Want to eat healthier, support the local economy, meet some new friends?  Check out the festivities for Local Foods Week.

Ohio producers of fresh fruits and vegetables have an opportunity to attend a Listening Session to hear about the various groups who are working to address the proposed changes to how local food is produced in Ohio.  This listening session provides the opportunity for growers to hear from experts in the food safety arena.  Speaker will include researchers for Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center (OARDC), The Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association (OPGMA), and Dr. Karl Kolb, Chief Science Officer, The High Sierra Group.  Participants will hear from these experts information about current regulations and the proposed changes to these regulations.  Information will also be shared about what Ohio is doing to ensure the sustainability of Ohio’s produce growers.  The Listening Session will be held on Oct. 19, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Ohio Department of Agriculture in Reynoldsburg.  For more information please contact Christie Welch, Farmers’ Market Specialist with the Ohio State University South Centers via e-mail welch.183@osu.edu or via telephone to 740-289-2071 ext. 234.

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

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?

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)

OEFFA is looking for volunteers for all or part of the day at our booth at the Ohio Green Living Fayre in Zanesville, Ohio on September 7 from 11a.m.-6 p.m. No skills or expertise required, just a willingness to have fun and talk with people interested in sustainable agriculture. Information about the event follows–there’s lots going on and it’s going to be fun. If you’re interested in volunteering, please email oeffa@oeffa.org or call the office at 614-421-2022. Thanks!

The Ohio Green Living Fayre
On the River at Zanes Landing Park
Zanesville, Ohio
Monday, September 7, 2009 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

This year’s event features dozens of workshops on green living, from solar rebate information, to straw bale construction, to rainwater collection, to permaculture, to wellness, and everything in between. Many of the workshops will be held on the Lorena Sternwheeler boat and at 4 p.m. you can take a one-hour ride on the Lorena for a reduced charge to see the river in a unique way.

Also, there will be vendors, kayaking, a fishing workshop for ages 7 to 17, a ride up the river on the Lorena, and live music all day long on a solar stage.There will be an all-day children’s program with arts, crafts, games, songs, and stories.

The Ohio Green Living Fayre is an all-volunteer production. All the profits from the event are donated to Ohio charities doing work on sustainable living.

There are still plenty of jobs needing volunteers. If you want to volunteer, contact Elyse. AND if you help on Sunday, the day before the fayre, you’re invited to camp at Blue Rock Station for the night so you can hang out with all the cool volunteers AND be up and ready to go early the next day.

Admission is $5 per person and free for volunteers and children under 12.

For more information, go to: ohiogreenliving.org

– Lauren N. Ketcham
Communications and Membership Services Coordinator
Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA)
41 Croswell Road
Columbus, Ohio 43214
Phone: 614-421-2022
Fax: 614-421-2011
lauren@oeffa.org

Gantz Road Community Garden Project

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners is pleased to announce the opening of the Gantz Road Community Garden. This one-acre garden is located on the southwest side of Columbus near the intersection of Gantz and Frank Roads. Approximately 60 plots are available.

The Gantz Road Community Garden is open to all Franklin County residents. There are no fees or deposits required for the remainder of 2009.

Gardeners will be required to follow Garden Rules, submit a Plot Request Form and sign a Release of All Claims. Requests will be honored and assigned in the order of their receipt.

Gardeners will receive

* Garden plot(s) for use during the 2009 growing season.
* Access during daylight hours
* Water

Plot sizes are as follows: Full (12′ x 40′), Half (12′ x 20′), and Quarter (12′ x10′).

Forms may be submitted on-site to the Garden Coordinator, electronically, faxed to (61… or mailed to:

Franklin County Board of Commissioners
Attn: Garden Coordinator
373 South High Street, 26th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

For more information, click here for a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), call (614) 462-3322 or email CommunityGarden@FranklinCountyOhio.gov

The Central Ohio Local Food Working Group is a multi-county MORPC effort to promote the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food within the region. It will develop a regional local-food assessment and a regional local-food plan, to be completed in Spring 2010. The plan will seek to:

– Ensure that fresh, healthful, locally produced food is easily accessible to people of all income levels at local markets, grocery stores, restaurants, schools and other institutions.

– Create local jobs in the food production, processing and distribution fields.

– Preserve valuable farmland by making agriculture more profitable, and by showing planners and policymakers that farmland is important to local economies.

– Encourage policies that allow agriculture on vacant and underused land in cities and towns in the region.

– Coordinate regional local-food efforts with those of the statewide Food Policy Advisory Council established by Gov. Strickland in 2007.

The Central Ohio Local Food Working was formed in January 2008 as a loose-knit effort convened by the Ohio Field Office of American Farmland Trust. In June of that year, members voted to bring themselves under the umbrella of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, where the effort has resided ever since.

Membership on the working group includes farmers, farmland advocates, OSU Extension, local-government officials, food-related not-for-profit groups, public-health professionals, food retailers and others.

The regional local-food assessment, to be completed by the end of 2009, will include a listing, and the locations, of local-food oriented farms, farm stands, farmers markets, food processors, distributors, retailers, restaurants and institutions in the MORPC region. It also will include some surveys and interviews with farmers, consumers, processors and others to gauge their views about barriers to local-food production and availability.

The plan will be an outline of what the region, and individual jurisdictions within the region, can do to promote local food as a way to strengthen the local economy and improve the health of citizens. It may include recommendations on health, land-use and other policies. The plan will provide guidelines for serving the large Columbus-area market, but also for creating local-food networks within each of central Ohio’s counties.

After the plan is completed, the working group volunteers will continue to meet – to monitor the progress of the plan, serve as a resource for partners in the plan, do continued assessments and made adjustments to the plan as needed.

The working group last month established five task forces to help shape the assessment regional food plan:

RESEARCH TASK FORCE: To determine what data we need to compile to show the economic potential of local food to the 12-county region, and how to assemble those data; to determine what, if any, surveys we may want to conduct among consumers, farmers, retailers, etc., in the 12-county region; to determine what information is already available that is useful to our assessment.

HEALTH/ACCESS TASK FORCE: Gather information about areas that are underserved by grocery stores; work with health departments, food pantries and other entities in Franklin and surrounding counties, with a focus on healthy-food access.

AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS TASK FORCE: Gather a listing of food processors, distributors and other businesses in the 12-county region that have a focus on local food; combine with Local Matters online compilation of local-food producers.

LAND USE TASK FORCE: To seek policy options to promote preservation of farmland, educate local public officials on the need to plan for agriculture as economic development, to stress the role of local-food systems in these initiatives

PUBLIC AWARENESS TASK FORCE: Promote media coverage and public awareness of local foods, the economic importance of agriculture, the health benefits of fresh local food, and to educate people about how to find and prepare fresh foods

The working group is staffed by Brian Williams, MORPC consultant on farmland policy issues, and Jerry Tinianow, director of MORPC’s Center for Energy & Environment. Other members include: Amalie Lipstreu, Ohio Department of Agriculture; Barbara Packer, Lutheran Social Services; Ben Weiner, Franklin County Planning & Development; Carol Goland, OEFFA; Debbie Hamernick, Sysco; Ellen Walker, Jefferson Township; Jeff Sharp, OSU; Jennifer Williams, Morrow County Regional Planning; Lisa Schacht, Franklin County farmer; Elizabeth Lessner, restaurant interests; Michael Jones, Local Matters; Sandy Gill, Columbus Department of Health; Steven Vickner, Franklin University; Traci Aquara, Heart of Ohio RC&D;

The task forces are intended in part to bring more voices to the table.

It was a great experience. These people are really passionate about what gardening is and could be doing for everyone. They stressed the importance of having garden related questions included with the next census. Mapping gardens and having a true count of the yields could affect some very large amounts of money that would go towards programing such as Parks and Recreation activities, WIC programs that create food for those going to food pantries, programs such as the Cooperative Extension Master Garden’s program for doing outreach to deal with our nations growing problems of obesity, diabetes, loss of community and even to the very heart of our failing economy.

People need food. They need good food. They need exercise. Why should they be forced to buy these things at top dollar from corporations who don’t really care about their clients?  When they could be doing it for themselves. Where’s the funding for the preventative health solutions.
We need master gardeners in the inner city. We need kids in learning groups not gangs. We need the elderly to be visible and present in community, not locked up in gated communities or home bound waiting for meal on wheels to show up.
Gardening can do this.

I went to many lectures that focused on the benefits and needs of advocacy concerning the local production of food. People who can rototill are needed. Horticulture therapists could be helping those in facilities deal with stress. Land grant colleges could be “teaching people how to fish” and cutting costs by growing their own food. Housing authorities could be allowing the disadvantaged grow and can their own food instead of a two hour bus ride or taxi to a grocery that’s 3 miles a way. Convenience stores could expand to carry local fresh produce that is really good for you and keeps the money in the local economy.  We don’t need any more big box stores to take the place of locally owned businesses and paved paradises that your Grandma can’t walk you across to pick mulberries or buy an ice cream cone.

Gardening can do all this.

Again, I say. Food is Wealth.

Gardening can do this.