Locavore News by Elbert van Donkersgoed
Posted: November 23, 2009
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario
Perspectives on good food and farming
November 23, 2009
New head for food board
A board representing the region’s food industry has appointed a new chairman. Sir Donald Curry, a Government advisor on farming and food and member of the Council of Food Policy Advisors, has become the chairman of the newly-established strategic board of the North-East England Food and Drink Group. The appointment of Sir Donald, who also farms 440 acres of arable and lowland grass in Northumberland, is seen as a key step in the development of the group. Northern Echo (UK)story.
Study Shows Economic Impact of Local Food
A first-of-its-kind Ohio State University analysis is helping planners in Knox County strengthen the area’s local food system. The project report, “Planting the Seeds of Sustainable Economic Development: Knox County’s Local Food System,” is available to download at sri.osu.edu/pdf/Knox_County_Assessment_Summary-200908.pdf. The report provides a detailed assessment of Knox County’s food and farming system, focusing on the impacts of increased production of food to be sold and consumed locally. A 10% boost could add 243 new jobs for Knox County. Ohio Farmer story. Report.
Sodexo answers calls for local produce
Global food and facilities supplier Sodexo is looking to increase local food procurement in areas where there is customer demand. The company held a two-day conference in Scotland this month to improve relations with potential and existing suppliers in the country. The event gave over 25 vendors the opportunity to showcase their produce and secure new business.Supply Management.com story.
New program to help farmers sell food to schools
Organizers are putting together a program to help local farmers sell fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products to Utah schools. The announcement came Tuesday during the urban farming conference at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. The program, called Food to School, makes Utah among the last three states to set up a system that puts fresh, locally grown foods into school cafeterias. Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)Â story.
A new campaign urges Kansas Citians to eat local for the holidays
We are asking that you make a pledge to add just one local food to your holiday meal. Maybe it’s a squash that you purchase from the farmers market. Maybe you’ll use Missouri pecans for your pecan pie. Or maybe you’ll buy your milk from a local cooperative. Whatever you do, it will make a difference.Kansas City Star story.
A forest of food planned for city
Two women propose to turn four empty lots in Hazelwood into area of trees, herbs, fruit-bearing shrubs. Second Avenue in Hazelwood doesn’t provide many scenic views, with its broken-down abandoned cars, boarded-up storefronts and other signs of a struggling neighborhood. But four vacant, adjacent lots in the heart of its business district hold the promise of something better — a soon-to-be oasis of fresh food. Now the land is covered with tall grasses, scrubby brush and milkweed plants with dried brown pods that have littered the ground with feathery white seeds. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story.
Conference touts locally grown foods
A glimmer of change sparked by an open letter from an award-winning author to the man who would be president, burned a little brighter Monday at a conference exploring ways to dramatically change the industry behind the food bought, sold and consumed by Wasatch Front residents. Deseret News, Salt Lake City story.
Ecology of Food Retailing
In as much as we are speaking about the present, we would, of course, be remiss if we didn’t include traditional mainstream grocers on this list. But to the extent that clients are asking about what grocery retailing will look like in the future, we do not think it too much a stretch to suggest that such retailers will rapidly disappear from the ecosystem. In every sector of our world, consumers are redefining their notions of quality to meet ever-more exacting standards and needs, and food is already proving no exception to this trend. The Hartman Group’s online newsletter, HartBeat.
Green to the core?
How supermarkets can help make greener shopping easier. Consumer Focus (UK) commissioned GfK NOP Limited to conduct in-store, helpline and website research. This is the third in a series of reports in which Consumer Focus rates the UK’s top nine supermarkets on how well they inform consumers about sustainability issues and help them make more sustainable choices. The previous two reports were published in 2006 and 2007. Consumer Focus (UK) report.
Clock ticking on mapping updates
The clock is ticking down for all farmers and growers to return their updated Rural Land Register maps to the Rural Payment Agency (RPA). The RPA confirmed the last of the 108,000 maps had now been distributed to farmers in England for their approval. The Agency praised the tens of thousands of farmers up-and-down the country that have already checked, edited and returned their maps within the 28 day time limit. Farmers Guardian, Preston, England (UK)Â story
AND if You Have Time
More baked goods by subscription, now in the UK
Much the way Dulcinea delivers sustainably baked goods once a week to busy New Yorkers, so Le Dolci aims to do the same for time-pressed Londoners. While food-of-the-month clubs are not uncommon in North America, Le Dolci offers what it says is London’s first weekly cake club. Launched in September, the bakery uses seasonal, organic, free-range and fair-trade ingredients whenever possible in the creation of its biscotti, scones, brownies, pies, Sicilian treats and more. Members of the club get a bundle of home-baked goodness delivered to their doorstep each Friday; it’s a different assortment each week, but members can tell Le Dolci of any dislikes so as to avoid disappointments. Three subscription levels are available: Mini, with four to six servings each week for GBP 14 plus delivery; Mezza Luna, with seven to 10 servings for GBP 20 plus delivery; and Grande, with 11 to 15 servings for GBP 30 plus delivery. So that takes care of New York and London; who will offer a weekly delivery service for sweet-toothed foodies in other parts of the world? Springwise story.