Things to do on a cold March weekend

It's snowy and freezing out there again this morning. What to do, what to do?

Well, fortification with good strong coffee is always the first step.  And local eggs scrambled with sauteed mushrooms and greens was the next step.

I know, I know, I'm flirting with danger of becoming the "Food in Jamestown" blog. But eating is something all of us have to do every day, and having fun with your food makes it even better.

Yesterday morning I attended an interesting meeting sponsored by the Southern Tier West Regional Planning & Development Board, the regional planning entity serving Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany Counties. They have received a USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant to assess various capacities related to the aggregation and distribution of food and food products produced within the three counties. The grant was awarded to retain an expert food system consultant to provide a 3rd party analysis of supply and demand factors, with special focus on the development of new markets for local and regional products.

This consultant is  Anthony Flaccavento of Abingdon, VA, who  is a commercial organic farmer and planned and launched one of the nation’s first local food aggregation and distribution enterprises: Appalachian Harvest. This effort, labeled as one of the first contemporary models of food hub facilities, became the model for food hub facilities that is now trending nationally. He is an interesting and knowledgeable guy! 

Yesterday he was in Jamestown to gather information from local food producers, community stakeholders, planners, and food system advocates.    I was there as a coordinator of a food buying club as well as my interest in and advocacy for all things local. 

It will be interesting to see the report this summer. My amateur takeaway was that there is a very big piece of the puzzle missing here -- the aggregator -- which I hope can be solved at some point in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, it was made apparent that there is much we can and should be doing on a smaller scale right now here in Jamestown to ramp up our farmers market, to improve access (parking!) for customers and make the whole thing more worthwhile for farmers to participate in.

There is also much more that needs to be done in the way of educating people about the benefits of local food. Because most people still do their shopping at the grocery store.

To be continued.

Next week I'll be attending a meeting of the Food Security Taskforce (the east side of Jamestown is an official "food desert," but last summer's brief trial of a farmers market on that side of town was a big FAIL, so it's back to the drawing board), a meeting of the newly-formed Cattaraugus-Chautauqua 4 Clean Water anti-fracking group, a Critical Discussions presentation at Prendergast Library on Fracking --Impacts on Environment, Health, and Society, the GROW Jamestown Garden Fair at the Renaissance Center on Saturday 10AM - 2PM, and a little dinner with some members of our church.  

But, today...

New Leash on Life animal rescue is holding an adoption event at the Lakewood Tractor Supply. If you've been thinking about getting a puppy, or an older dog, you might want to head out there 9AM - 2PM and meet these people, and get some wonderful warm wet puppy kisses!

Chautauqua Suites is holding another Indoor Yard Sale today. Admission $1, it's not out in the cold, and you never know what you might find!

If I decide to put down the coffee and get out from under my blanket, you might even see me there!