Grants Awarded to Build Our Local Food Program

The Kansas Rural Center is thrilled to announce that two grants have been awarded to the Kansas Rural Center to continue and enhance the Our Local Food program in Kansas. A USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) and Risk Management Association (RMA) Grant will assist in further developing Our Local Food program resources such as subsidized membership fees, marketing guides, educational opportunities for producers and food businesses, an interactive website and online food hub development, and member tool kits.
The Specialty Crop Block Grant will, in addition, tie in Savor the Season, a program started in 2009 to help educate consumers about specific specialty crops and how to select, store, and prepare them. New crops will be selected and featured in 2012. Adding to the SCBG, RMA funding will allow the program to expand its resources, including webinars and workshops, for meat and animal product producers. Two more chapters will be added to the existing three, a South East and State Chapter which will enable the program to reach the entire state. Work outlined in the new grants has already begun and will focus primarily on organizing the new chapters and committees, website development, and preparing written guides before the new year. 

To stay updated with chapter news and events or to get in touch with a chapter coordinator near you visit our blog here or www.ourlocalfoodks.org. 

Today is Food Day; Set the Table with REAL Food!

The Health & Wellness Coalition of Wichita together with the Wichita Dietetic Association, Our Local Food - South Central, and Slow Food Wichita/Flint Hills encourage citizens in Wichita and surrounding communities to participate in Food Day today, October 24, 2011. Busy lives often cause good nutrition to fall down on the priority list. Work and other obligations can make cooking seem like just another chore, but trading in some of those fast food meals for fast home-cooked dishes will pay off in the form of better health.

Wichita's 'Set the Table with REAL Food,' is a grass-roots movement encouraging families to shop for real food, cook real food and eat real food at home together. To celebrate Food Day, 'Set the Table with REAL Food'  by sitting down to eat with you family.  Snap a photo and share it with us on our facebook page or mail it in to the address listed below.  Everyone who shares a photo will be entered to win fun prizes like cookbooks and gift cards to area grocery stores.  

Need some recipe ideas?  Check out these websites for some easy, seasonal recipe ideas.  

www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu

www.ksfarmersmarkets.org/recipes

www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org

http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/

For more information on Food Day visit foodday.org or www.hwcwichita.org.  To submit a photo "Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WichitaFoodDay and upload your photo to our Facebook wall or mail it to Debbie Williams, YMCA Healthy Community Director, 402 N Market, Wichita, KS 67202.  E-mail inquiries may be directed to debbie.williams@wichitaymca.org .

Happy Food Day!!

Saturday Oct. 22: Sharing Food Day info and recipes at Food for Thought! Pictured: Left- Natalie Fullerton, OLF - SC Coordinator and Right- Kevin Clem, Food Day Volunteer.  (Photo courtesy of Jennifer McVey)

Local Food Connections Workshop

Join Our Local Food - South Central With

Sedgwick County K-State Research & Extension

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Sedgwick County Extension Center

21st & Ridge Road, Wichita, KS

 

 

Do you have an interest in utilizing local food in your business or home?  Come learn from farmers, chefs, grocers, and many more that can help you make local food connections easy.

Registration Information:

$10 for Our Local Food - South Central Members*

$20 for Non - Members*

*You MUST register by October 28, 2011 to attend.  Please register online by Clicking Here!

Local Food Connections Workshop Schedule

5:30 Registration

6:00 Dinner by Lotus Leaf Café & Creperie: Lotus Leaf Café is a vibrant new restaurant in Wichita serving up decadent dishes with a healthy twist made with some of the area’s best local ingredients!

6:45 Local Food Connections Panel: this is your chance to ask a panel of professionals experienced in the local food industry.  Norm Oeding farm manager of Janzen Family Farms, Chef Tanya of Tanya’s Soup Kitchen, Jennifer McVay with Food for Thought, Pat Randleas Old Town Farmers’ Market Manager, and Sarah Turner with Slow Food Wichita/ Flint Hills will share how they make local food connections!

7:15  Session 1: Exemplifying Online & Social Media Marketing for Local Food

Lance Chastain of Chautauqua Hills Farm

Get to know more about how online media such as websites and social networks can be used to expand your market.  Get a growers perspective on creating a market for your product.

8:00 Session 2: Learn Local Food Lingo: Organic, Natural, which is it?

Rebecca McMahon, Sedgwick County Extension Horticulturist 

Learn to effectively communicate terms such as organic, natural, or grass-fed. Understand what they mean and how they translate to consumers. 

8:30 Keynote Speaker:  Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food…What does this mean to Kansas?     JJ Jones, Kansas Department of Agriculture Marketing and Trade Coordinator

 To register for this event Click Here. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Want to help spread the word? Click here for a downloadable flier!