Savor the Season 2012

As previously reported, the Kansas Rural Center was awarded a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Kansas Department of Agriculture to expand the Our Local Food and the Savor the Season (StS) program.  In 2009 and 2010 the StS program featured several spring, summer, and fall crops including chard, beets, cantaloupe, and acorn squash on colorful cards. A complete list of crops featured in '09 and '10 can be found at ksfarmersmarkets.org.  Cards featured selection, storage, and preparation tips along with a recipe on the back side.  With the grant, new cards will be developed introducing ten additional crops.  As with previous years, the new 2012 cards will be offered at participating farmers markets across Kansas. 

This year the program will not only feature 10 new crops and recipes to be published on these colorful cards, but will offer production and marketing guides for at least five crops as well as educational opportunities such as webinars and farm tours.  Eligible Kansas farmers' markets will also benefit from mini-grants and cost share programs to help promote specialty crops at the market. 

To prepare for StS 2012, market farmers and managers are needed to help us narrow down our list to 10 crops.  A short survey, available below, will allow us to prioritize the crops you see being stars in 2012!

Savor the Season 2012 Survey

The survey will be open until Dec. 13 and the selections will be announced on Dec. 21 at ksfarmersmarket.org and ourlocalfoodks.org.  More information on how your market or farm stand can participate in Savor the Season 2012 will be available in January.  For questions contact Natalie Fullerton at southcentral.olf@gmail.com or 402-310-0177. 

Go Local for Holiday Dinners

What better way is there to celebrate local food then Thanksgiving!?  While searching for provisions to fill your Thanksgiving table this year, keep in mind some food can be purchased locally.  (This can make for a great dinner conversation as well!)  Despite the mid-fall season, finding locally grown and raised items in South Central Kansas can be stress-free.  Some farms are now utilizing season extension techniques like high tunnels which allow certain produce items to be available this time of year.  In November, you might find lettuce, radishes, carrots, or Cole Crops like broccoli and cauliflower growing in a high tunnel.   Other items such as honey, jams, jellies, salsa, dairy, eggs, and meats that can be preserved or frozen are an easy find for late fall local food.  Produce that stores well such as potatoes, squash, and onions can also be added to your local food shopping list. 

So what are you waiting for!?  Head out to pick up some local homemade salsa or carrots and radishes to spice up your appetizer table.  While you’re at it, might as well pick up a local grown turkey! 

Where do you find such items this time of year you might ask?  For starters be sure to drop by the Kansas Grown Winter Market tomorrow (Nov. 19) at the Sedgwick County Extension Office from 8:00 am to Noon.  You will find a great variety of venders selling everything from produce to jarred jams and baked goods.  (Holiday pies anyone?!)  You’re also going to need a turkey right?  Food For Thought in Wichita and Prairie Harvest in Newton carries locally raised turkeys as well as a number of other local items including produce, flour from OLF member Janzen Family Farms, honey, eggs, milk and cheese, and baking mixes!  You can also browse our member directory.  Farms carrying meat, processed products, baked goods, or dairy may have items available.

Don’t forget, a jar of honey or basket of fall veggies can make great gifts for the holidays!

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kansas Rural Center 2011 Sustainable Agriculture Conference

Kansas Rural Center 2011 Sustainable Agriculture Conference to Highlight Opportunities and Outlook for Food and Farming in Kansas

Whiting, Kansas -- The Kansas Rural Center has announced that its 2011 Sustainable Agriculture Conference will focus on food and farm opportunities and the and the optimism for expanding local food in Kansas. The conference, titled “Options, Opportunities and Optimism: Cultivating Our Food and Farm Future,” will take place Saturday, Nov. 19, from 9 to 5 p.m. at Flint Hills Technical College, Emporia.

Speakers, workshops and panels will explore and share ideas and information for building a local and regional food and farm system. Topics that will be covered include:

• Good farming practices and production for all farmers, ranchers and market gardeners
• Food processing and marketing challenges and realities
• Successful production and marketing models
• Opportunities for beginning farmers and transitioning farmers
• Risk management information
• Growing grassroots support for public policy solutions.

Dan Nagengast, owner of Seeds from Italy, Lawrence, and former KRC executive director, will deliver the keynote address on the topic “Feeding the World: Billions of Farmers or Very Few?” Based on his 20 years with KRC, in farming and working in global hunger relief, Dan will present an intriguing, alternative vision for how the projected 9 billion people walking the planet by midcentury will be fed. His speech will be followed by a roundtable of panelists assessing the potential success of his conclusions, from their vantage points in the Kansas food and agriculture landscape.

Lunch will feature locally sourced foods, prepared by the culinary program at Flint Hills Tech. An afternoon of 16 workshops on topics relating to farming practices, food and meat processing, direct marketing, and public policy will follow.

KRC welcomes attendees including crop farmers, livestock ranchers and graziers, specialty crop producers, farmers market vendors and organizers, students and educators, representatives from nonprofits and government, food business owners and restaurateurs, local food and sustainable ag advocates, and wildlife and conservation advocates.

Registration cost is $35 and includes food; some scholarships are available. A complete list of workshops and presenters, more information and registration are available at krcsustainabilityconference.blogspot.com.

For more information and opportunities, please contact:

Julie Mettenburg, Conference Coordinator
conference.krc@gmail.com; 785-749-1031

Mary Fund, KRC Interim Executive Director

ksrc@rainbowtel.net; 785-873-3431

 

http://krcsustainabilityconference.blogspot.com/p/media.html

Scenes from the Local Food Connections Workshop!



Check out some scenes from the Local Food Connections Workshop held November 1, 2011!  If you were unable to attend, scroll down to the next post to get an overview of the workshop and links to the presentations.  Photos courtesy of Rebecca McMahon, Sedgwick County Extension.

Presenters Lance Chastain of Chautauqua Hills Farm and Olivia
Fletcher a WSU student and freelance marketing consultant demonstrate
to workshop guests methods to marketing online.

---------------------------

JJ Jones, Kansas Department of Agriculture Marketing and Trade Coordinator
ended the evening as Keynote Speaker.  His topic: Know your farmer, know your
food...What does this mean to Kansas?

----------------------

One of several displays OLF-SC members provided for workshop guests.
Morning Harvest Farms-Paula Sims

-------------------------

 Dinner was provided by Lotus Leaf Cafe & Creperie.
Executive Chef, James Butler crafted a fantastic meal made with
local ingredients!

Local Food Connections Workshop Held

Tuesday November 1, 2011 Our Local Food –South Central held its first annual Local Food Connections Workshop at the Sedgwick County Extension Center.   The workshop, an activity outlined in the Specialty Crop Block Grant which funds the organization, primarily focused on how to make connections  with farms, food businesses, and consumers in order to expand their market.  A fantastic dinner by Lotus Leaf Café & Creperie kicked off the evening.  As a member of Our Local Food – South Central, Lotus Leaf Café strives to purchase local when they can.  Chef James, chef at Lotus Leaf Café, demonstrated this for workshop attendees by serving up delightful crepes made with local wheat, vegetables, and chicken.   

Following dinner, a panel of local food professionals offered their insight into making connections easier for farms and food businesses.  Serving on the panel was Norm Oeding, farm manager of Janzen Family Farms in Newton, Chef Tanya Tandoc, Chef and owner of Tanya’s Soup Kitchen in Wichita, Jennifer McVey, Assistant Manager at Food for Thought, Inc. in Wichita, Pat Randleas, Old Town Farmers’ Market Manager in Wichita, and Sarah Turner, member of Slow Food Wichita/ Flint Hills.  A few of the valuable questions addressed by the panel included:

There can be many challenges selling or buying local food? What have been some challenges you have discovered and how have you worked through them? 

How is buying your food via a local food system different from buying from the agribusiness / supermarket corporations?

Lance Chastian, a blueberry farmer and owner of Chautauqua Hills Farm (CHF), presented to guests methods for effectively utilizing online and social media to expand a local food market.  Chastian, assisted by Olivia Fletcher a computer science major at WSU and freelance marketing consultant, demonstrated methods CHF has used to connect with potential customers online as well as a few technological tips on navigating through online media. 

The second workshop topic of the evening was presented by Rebecca McMahon, Sedgwick County Extension Horticulturist.  McMahon offered advice on communicating seemingly simple words often used when talking about local food.   With words like “organic” or “natural” which can sometimes get translated differently, McMahon presented their definitions and how to better communicate your product to a potential buyer or seller. 

Ending the evening was keynote speaker JJ Jones, Marketing and Trade Coordinator for the Kansas Department of Agriculture.  Jones delivered an insightful response to the growing local food market in Kansas.  Describing experiences travelling to other parts of the country and world, Jones offered commentary on what will be important developments in the future of food and farming in Kansas. 

The New Year will bring many exciting opportunities for the OLF program.  Additional day long workshops and potential webinars will be developed to continue the conversations had at this workshop.  If you were unable to attend this year’s workshop, you can find copies of the workshop program and slides from the online marketing and local food lingo sessions by clicking on the links below.  

Workshop Program .pdf

Social Media & Internet Marketing .pdf Presentation

Leaning Local Food Lingo .pdf Presentation