Cold spring impacting Southeast Area Farmers’ Market selection

Jun19
SEAFM 6-2 009

Vendor Yvonne Woodard sells medicinal and culinary herbs along with produce grown in her own urban garden at the market.

If you stopped by the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market last year, you know that it is a small market averaging four or five vendors each week—though each vendor tended to have a good variety of fresh produce for sale. As our vendors are local, small-scale growers and gardeners, the cold spring has meant that they have had little to offer the market. So, only one vendor, Ms. Yvonne Woodard, has been selling at the market thus far. Market manager, Roni VanBuren, has also brought in additional produce for patrons to purchase.

Because of this slow start, the market is rescheduling its Grand Opening celebration to July 27. By that time, more vendors will be at the market selling a larger variety of fresh, locally grown produce.

While the selection may be limited this weekend, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market staff hopes you will stop by and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Ms. Van Buren asks that you share your input with her on how the market might better serve you and your community.

Market hours: Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Middle School; Friday Farm Stand 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park. The market welcomes Debit Card, WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT and Bridge Cards/SNAP. In July, the Double Up Food Bucks will begin.

 

 

June 10 Cook, Eat & Talk: Herbal dressings and punch!

Jun12

OKT staff, friends and yard gardners came to gather to learn how to create herbal punch and several herbal salad dressings. The herbs used are those that OKT gardeners are growing in their gardens. For recipes, visit our Meals from Your Market page.

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GE French Fries, Coming to a Fast Food Restaurant Near You

Jun12

Reposted from Food & Water Watch via EcoWatch

By Genna Reed

The J.R. Simplot Company, giant potato supplier for McDonald’s, has spent years working on the perfect potato. Its new genetically engineered(GE) traits—which will be offered in five different varieties of potatoes—up for approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has lower levels of a carbohydrate called acrylamide, whichmay cause cancer, and also has reduced black spot bruising. These potatoes will be used as frozen fries, potato chips and shoestrings, which make up approximately 50 percent of the potato market in the U.S., according to Simplot.

Both of the desired traits are achieved through the reduced expression of enzymes, affecting the amino acid asparagine for the low acrylamide trait and the enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) for reduced bruising (the same way GE apples have been engineered not to brown). The problem is that an alteration in just one enzyme can unintentionally affect other plant characteristics as well as the plant’s health.

These GE potatoes will likely be fried using Monsanto’s new-and-improved omega-3 soybean oil, which will probably be marketed to lead consumers to believe that the bio-engineered combination is “healthy” fried food. A low-acrylamide potato may reduce levels of just one of the harmful chemicals brought out by frying foods but there are other dangerous compounds that are produced when food is heated to very high temperatures, including advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs, which can lead to “chronic inflammation and oxidative stress,” (also linked to cancer). And of course this new fried “goodness” doesn’t address the high-calorie and low-nutrient content that make fried potatoes unhealthy in the first place.

Historically, GE potatoes have not fared so well in the marketplace. Monsanto’s NewLeaf GE potatoes were approved in 1995, but the company pulled its potatoes from the market in 2001. If approved, these potatoes may face the same fate and never make it into happy meals across America. But these potatoes could also be exported, since Simplot has submitted its petition for approval to Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.

The USDA will be seeking comments until July 2 and we intend to tell them to further review the potential health effects of these GE potatoes.

Visit EcoWatch’s GE FOOD page for more related news on this topic.

Rapid Growth publishes Farmers’ Market story

Jun6

do good

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market offers a bountiful summer

THURSDAY, JUNE 06, 2013
Reposted from Rapid Growth Media

There are a lot of goodies in store for fresh food fans at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market, which kicked off its 2013 season on Saturday, June 1 at Gerald R. Ford Middle School (851 Madison Ave. SE) in Grand Rapids. The Saturday market will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the first week of November.

Beginning June 7, a Friday Farm Stand Market will take place, on a smaller scale, from 3 – 7 p.m. at Garfield Park, located between 1558 Madison Ave. SE and 2799 Madison Ave. SE.

Then, on June 22, the market will host its official Grand Opening Celebration with special activities and music — and an even greater selection of fresh, locally grown, chemical-free produce.

Our Kitchen Table (OKT), located at 8 Jefferson SE, Grand Rapids inside The Bloom Collective, manages the market, and there is even more in store for the rest of the summer and into fall. Market partners Kent County Health Department and Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council will host additional market activities throughout the season.

Mark your calendars: Here’s the lineup of OKT-sponsored events, all of which take place from noon to 2 p.m. at the Saturday market:

-       June 7, Weekly Walking Club kicks off
-       June 29, Healthy cooking demo with a local chef
-       July 6, Urban Foraging Workshop. Learn about local edible “weeds”
-       July 27, Healthy Cooking demo with a local chef
-       August 3, Make Your Own Hypo-allergenic Soap Workshop
-       August 24, Healthy Cooking demo with a local chef
-       August 31, Healthy Cooking demo with a local chef
-       September 7, Art at the Market
-       September 28, Healthy cooking demo with a local chef
-       October 12, Greens Cook-off and Fried Green Tomato Festival
-       October 26, Food Day Activities and Healthy Cooking demo with a local chef

Our Kitchen Table is a nonprofit, grassroots community activist organization working for environmental justice and food security in Grand Rapids area urban communities. OKT’s Food Diversity Program is funded by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Get involved:

- Visit Our Kitchen Table’s website.
- Grow a Garden.
- Go to the Farmers’ Market!

Free webinar on reforming chemical policies

Jun6

Toxic chemicals in our food, air, water and soil are making us sick … especially our babies and children. Cancers, behavior issues, learning disabilities and asthma have all been linked to the chemicals we encounter every day. These impacts are multiplied for people of color living in urban communities and farm workers. Join this free webinar to learn how we might be able to change policies that regulate these chemicals.

“Chemical Policy Reform as a Driver for Green Chemistry”

Wednesday June 12, 2013 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

Great Lakes Green Chemistry Network and Michigan Green Chemistry ClearinghouseWebinar with Mike Belliveau, President & CEO, Environmental Health Strategies Center, Senior Advisor, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

Belliveau is the founder and president of Environmental Health Strategy Center, a public health organization working for safer chemicals and a sustainable economy.  He serves as senior advisor to Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a national coalition focused on modernizing the federal chemical management system.  A social entrepreneur, he organized a regional trade association to promote biobased manufacturing, the Sustainable Bioplastics Council of Maine.  Belliveau has more than 30 years of experience in chemical hazard assessment, science policy analysis, and green chemistry solutions.  Mike holds an environmental science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Meals from Your Market: Super Easy Family Burritos

Jun5

Hearty Meatless Strata ~ JuneBy Kristin Blood, OKT

The end of the school year is here, which means my house is crazy.  To make things even more crazy we had a family funeral this past week.  I needed something quick, easy and cheap to make for dinner that used up my lettuce that is GROWING galore in my container.  I didn’t want to turn on the oven, but I couldn’t come home and cook so I turned to my faithful friend – the crock pot.  I have a new cookbook my aunt got me for Christmas that I wanted to try out, a few minutes of searching…  BAM I found my simple recipe!!

Easy Family Burritos
1-2 lb roast (pork or beef – we used beef)
1 jar 16oz salsa
Crock pot
Lettuce – optional to use in your burrito/tacos/or in place of a tortilla
Sour cream – optional to top your burrito/salad/taco
Cheese – optional to top your burro/salad/taco
Tortillas – optional to form your burritos/tacos

… as you can see there are many ways you can do this, lots of add on options.

roast in crock pot with salsa on it

1.  place your roast into the crock pot
2. pour salsa on top and place on low heat for 8-10 hours
3. shred meat (it says to take it out of the crock pot to do this, but I did it inside with plastic forks and it worked great and LESS dishes, always a plus)
4. continue cooking on low for another 1-2 hours
5. serve as you see fit

**adapted from Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Recipes – page 150

So there are a few ways you can do this… serve on tortillas, serve on lettuce as wraps, eat plain (I did this and it was good), drain and let cool and serve on top of  a salad (I also did this, but I didn’t drain mine – hence my recommendation of draining)… endless opportunities.  Make sure to set this recipe aside for your when your tomatoes, hot peppers, green peppers, etc are ready for harvest so you can make your OWN salsa and give it another go!

lettuce from my container garden

lettuce from my container garden

With it still being cooler out your lettuce might not have bolted yet.  You can extend the life of your lettuce by making sure on hot days it has some shade.  Containers is the best way to do that – they move!!  Check out some helpful tips and great heirloom lettuce varieties to think about in your future:
http://suite101.com/article/heat-tolerant-lettuce-varieties-a91032

*You can also find more recipes @ Kristin’s Blog:
http://mealsfromthemarket.wordpress.com/