healthy food - Summer intern starts - SIBEJO

Greetings! My name is Amanda Korb, a rising Junior at St. Lawrence University studying Environmental Studies and English with a minor in Outdoor Studies. I am ecstatic to be interning for GardenShare this summer for ten weeks!Hailing from a rural town, one mimicking those similar...

healthy food - MODERNIZING SNAP BENEFITS - SIBEJO

SNAP  benefit levels are �based on increasingly outdated assumptions, including unreasonable expectations about households� availability of time to prepare food, and need to be modernized,� a new paper explains. It calls for a 20% benefit increase in the short term and more...

healthy food - SNAP fraud by state employees denies people benefits - SIBEJO

New Mexico is supposed to grant people in dire financial situations expedited SNAP benefits within seven days, rather than the 30 it takes to process regular applications. But  thousands of New Mexico residents may have been cheated out of those benefits, according to new allegations...

healthy food - The Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on Agriculture - SIBEJO

This is such a complicated issue and I have not waded into it yet as a result.  I found this piece on Local Harvest and thought it addressed the issues involved quite well and so just wanted to point GardenShare friends to it.Gloria++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++LocalHarvest...

healthy food - FDA UPDATES NUTRITION LABELS - SIBEJO

The Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule last week to update Nutritional Fact Labels on food products. The updates include a new design for the label that highlights  calories and serving sizes, as well as new serving sizes that more closely reflect the amount of food...

healthy food - GardenShare annual dinner and auction coming up in June! - SIBEJO

GardenShare will hold its seventh annual fundraising dinner and auction on June 14, 2016 at Jake's on the Water in Hannawa Falls.  There will be a cash bar cocktail hour at 5:30 and dinner will be served at 6:30.  The event will feature a locally-sourced, fresh, seasonal...

healthy food - Young Farmers & Ranchers Award Applications Are Available! - SIBEJO

The New York Farm Bureau State Young Farmers & Ranchers Program is excited to announce the 2016 Young Farmers & Ranchers Awards: Achievement and Excellence in Agriculture.  These competitive events allow young farmers to be recognized for their involvement, achievement...

healthy food - BEST PRACTICES FOR AN EQUITABLE & SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM - SIBEJO

A new report outlines the state of food insecurity in the United States and highlights successful tools to bring healthy and sustainable food sources to underserved communities. The reportnotes that people of color, low-income communities, and families with children are most likely...

healthy food - Have you ordered your CSA share yet? - SIBEJO

It's time, maybe even past time, to order a CSA share.CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a concept where consumers buy a share in a local farm.  By paying the farmer up front, you help him or her plan, purchase seeds and equipment, and so on.  Then you get to have...

healthy food - SUMMER ELECTRONIC BENEFITS REDUCE CHILD HUNGER - SIBEJO

Providing low-income children with $30 to $60 a month during the summer reduced severe food insecurity, according to a USDA report. The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBTC) demonstration project was also associated with positive nutrition changes in participating...

healthy food - THE END OF COMPETITIVE BIDDING COULD DRIVE UP WIC COSTS - SIBEJO

The Education Committee bill would change WIC in ways that cater to corporate interests and could make the program less cost-effective. For decades, WIC has used competitive bidding to reduce the cost of infant formula and some other foods for infants. The billwould require...

healthy food - HOUSE COMMITTEE WORKS ON CHILD NUTRITION BILL - SIBEJO

The House Education and Workforce Committee, on which Representative Stefanik serves, completed drafting its bill last week to reauthorize the Child Nutrition and Education Act. The bill, critics contend, contains a number of damaging provisions, including: shrinking coverage of...

healthy food - FOOD SELL-BY DATES CREATE WASTE - SIBEJO

There are no federal standards for expiration dates, except for baby formula, and best-by or sell-by date have no basis in science �they�re a manufacturer�s best guess for when the food is likely to be freshest or at peak quality. Some food products could last a year or a year and...

healthy food - COMPARISON SHOPPING AT FARMERS MARKETS AND RETAIL STORES - SIBEJO

Prices for local food products are about the same at farmers markets � within a 10% price range � as at retail stores, and, for some foods, they are even less.  Local, certified organic products at farmers markets are almost alwayscompetitively priced with those at retail stores....

healthy food - FARM STORAGE LOANS EXPANDED TO HELP FARMERS REACH LOCAL FOOD MARKETS - SIBEJO

USDA�s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced in April that their Farm Storage Facility Loan program can now help finance portable storage structures, portable equipment, and storage and handling trucks in addition to continuing its longstanding capacity to finance stationary...

healthy food - POVERTY IS TOXIC TO CHILDREN�S BRAINS - SIBEJO

Mounting evidence shows that children who grow up poor are more likely to be subjected to stresses like hunger and neglect that act like toxins and hijack the developing brain. In small doses, stress is normal, even helpful. But repeated exposures to adverse childhood experiences...

healthy food - USDA Official: Reauthorize Child Nutrition Programs So They Benefit Children - SIBEJO

Posted by Kevin Concannon, Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer ServicesIt may seem like common sense for child nutrition programs to benefit children, but some see it differently today.Nationwide, schools have made the lunchroom a healthy environment. In fact, in only...

healthy food - �HEALTHY� TO GET NEW DEFINITION FROM FDA - SIBEJO

Salmon can�t actually be marketed as �healthy� under current FDA guidelines, despite being recommended as a good source of protein in the government�s most recent dietary guidelines. Pop-Tarts, on the other hand, are in the clear.The labeling rules around �healthy� haven�t been revisited...

healthy food - PREPARING FOR THE NEXT RECESSION BY STRENGTHENING SNAP - SIBEJO

The current economic recovery is already longer than the postwar average, so it may be prudent to ask--is a recession lurking around the corner? While there�s no way to know, Congress could start preparing for one by strengthening the �automatic stabilizers� in the federal budget�programs...

healthy food - SNAP CASELOADS DROP - SIBEJO

The number of SNAP participants has fallen by more than 3 million in the last three years, new USDA data for show � reflecting the broad pattern for SNAP that the Congressional Budget Office and others had forecast. SNAP grew significantly between 2007 and 2011 to meet rising need,...

healthy food - Schools get FRESH with local food - SIBEJO

According to the USDA, an investment in the health of America's students through farm to school programming is also an investment in the health of local economies . In school year 2013-2014, school districts purchased nearly $800 MILLION in local food from farmers, ranchers,...

healthy food - No cash? No problem at the Farmers Market! - SIBEJO

With farmers market season arriving today, just a reminder that you can use a debit card of a SNAP EBT card at the farmers markets in St. Lawrence County.  Here's how....

healthy food - Economic impact of local food in school lunches - SIBEJO

Research findings from Cornell University's Community and Regional Development Institute indicate that a 50% increase in demand for fresh, local fruits and vegetables one day/week in school meals could generate up to $9.2 million for vegetable...

healthy food - Farmers market season is here! - SIBEJO

With May right around the corner, visions of garden-grown meals have probably begun to engulf your every thought. Reveries of lightly roasted asparagus spears fill your consciousness, begging for the day when you can simply head to the farmers market for a generous share of this...

healthy food - Farmers Markets Open This Week - SIBEJO

The Canton Farmers Market opens this Friday, May 13, on the green in Canton.  This Market will be open from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM every Tuesday and Friday until October.The Potsdam Farmers Market opens this Saturday, May 14 at Ives Park in Potsdam.  This Market will be open...