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 a great box of fresh, nutritious, locally grown produce every week of the growing season.

Find the CSA farms in the area here on GardenShare's website.  Just click on the CSA tab to narrow down the list to CSA farms.

Think you'd like a CSA, but can't afford it?  Check out GardenShare's Bonus Bucks program to see if you qualify for a subsidy to help you purchase one.

Farmer Dulli from Birdsfoot Farm in Canton sent me these photos of how some of the crops are progressing this week!

Apple trees in bloom

Onions coming up through the mulch and under the netting

First peas are up, next ones planted

Tomatoes are planted right in the bed of mixed greens in the high tunnel.
The tomatoes will take over as the greens are done.

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 children. the Summer EBT demonstration project provides parents or guardians of children eligible for free and reduced-price meals with a monthly benefit via a debit-type card that can be redeemed for food purchases throughout summer when children do not have access to school meals.  Providing low-income children $30 or $60 per month per child during the summer reduced the most severe type of food insecurity by one-third.  A $60 per month per child benefit cut less severe food insecurity by 10%.

Source: USDA, 5/11/16, Summer Benefits

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 states that want to use competitive bidding to jump through a series of hoops that appear designed to discourage competitive bidding.  (Gerber Foods, which controls the majority of the U.S. market for infant foods other than formula and is a subsidiary of Nestl�, has been lobbying for limits on competitive bidding for infant foods other than formula.)

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/17/16, WIC Costs

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 the community eligibility provision and inadequately investing in the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The bill would reduce access to the programs, water down nutrition quality, and increase administrative burdens on both schools and families, they say. ? ?This legislation also includes a three-state school meal block grant demonstration pilot to replace School Breakfast, Lunch and other school meal programs. The funding would be capped at the amount a state received for the programs and administrative funding in FY 2016. The pilot states would have broad discretion to:

• establish eligibility rules for free or reduced-price meals;
• decide the length or time of year that meals are provided;
• and abandon the current nutrition standards (meals are only required to be �healthy�).

Source: Food Research  & Action Council, 5/18/16, Child Nutrition Bill; Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 5/17/16, Child Nutrition Bill II

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 a half past their �sell by� date. Because many American consumers don�t know that they throw out a lot of perfectly good food. Recent surveys of over 1,000 American consumers found that one-third believe expiration labels are federally regulated. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has introduced legislation aimed at combating the issue of misleading expiration dates at the federal level. He would create a national standard for expiration dates, requiring labels to clearly distinguish between foods that reach their peak freshness by a particular date and foods that are unsafe to eat after a certain date. The bill would also make sure that food may be donated even if it has passed its peak freshness.

Source: Think Progress, 5/18/16, Sell-By Bill; Washington Post, 5/19/16, Expiration Dates

This drove me crazy all those years I worked in food banking - so many people throwing out perfectly good food because of a date printed on the package!

Gloria

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. These are just some of the findings from a recent project conducted in Vermont. Researchers compared the average prices of 55 products � such as produce, meat, poultry, and eggs � at 12 Vermont farmers markets and five retail stores.  They found that many items sold at farmers markets are similarly priced to those sold at traditional retail outlets.   For example:

• Prices for organic produce at farmers markets is competitive with retail establishments 92% of the time, including: apples, broccoli, carrots, chard, kale, lettuce, raspberries, summer squash, tomatoes, and zucchini.
• Produce identified as �local� at farmers markets is competitively priced with retail establishments 89% of the time, including: carrots, chard, garlic, lettuce, summer squash, tomatoes, and zucchini.
• �Local� meat at farmers markets is competitively priced with retail establishments 57% of the time, including: eggs, sirloin, and ham.

Source: USDA, 5/19/126, Comparison Shopping

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 crop and cold storage on-farm facilities. This expansion of the low-interest loan program will help FSA better serve fruit and vegetable farmers and others who need to get crops safely and efficiently to local farmers� markets, schools, restaurants, food hubs, and retail stores.

The program also offers a new "microloan" option, which allows applicants seeking less than $50,000 to qualify for a reduced down payment of five percent and no requirement to provide three years of production history. Farms and ranches of all sizes are eligible. The microloan option is expected to be of particular benefit to smaller farms and ranches, and specialty crop producers who may not have access to commercial storage or on-farm storage after harvest. These producers can invest in equipment like conveyers, scales or refrigeration units and trucks that can store commodities before delivering them to markets.