Notes from the Field

Farms for Families is Recruiting Americorps*VISTA Volunteers

Farms for Families is now accepting applications for two Americorps*VISTA positions which will begin in mid-July. Any interested individuals should check out the position description below.

Community Food Security VISTA Position: The goal of this Vista project is to decrease food insecurity in Park County Montana, by researching and developing a community food assessment and by assisting in the operation, development and fund-raising within the Farms for Families organization. The VISTA Volunteer for Park County Food Security will be working directly with FFF staff and a second Vista Volunteer, on building the food assessment for Park County, strategic planning, fund-raising and of course, farming in one of the most scenic areas of Montana.

Small Farm Poultry Production VISTA Position: The goal of this Vista project is the development of The Montana Poultry Growers Coop and small scale poultry production for local food security. The VISTA Volunteer for Market Garden and Poultry will be working directly with FFF staff and a second Vista Volunteer, on developing a poultry cooperative, strategic planning and fund-raising for FFF, and the development of local agriculture regulations that allow for small scale poultry production and marketing.

Positions are full time, one year commitments from July of 2009 to July of 2010. Compensation: Choice of Education Award or End of Year Living Stipend, Living Allowance, Health Coverage, Childcare Assistance if Eligible and Relocation Allowance TO APPLY CONTACT: Mark Rehder Farms for Families (406)222-7585 omnimore@earthlink.net

Local Free Range Eggs for SALE

Fresh eggs, $3/dozen, from free range chickens on an organic ranch three miles from Livingston. "U Pay" set-up in barn. Please email or call first.

Rob Forstenzer

Ferry Creek Ranch

rob@montanagrasslandsbeef.com

177 Old Clyde Park Rd.

Livingston, MT 59047

406 222-4835

Montana Fare and Mobile Poutry Processing "Open House"

Just a reminder, Montana Fare: A Community Food and Film Fest will take place tomorrow, Saturday April 11, from 10am-2pm, at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman. The event is free to the public and is being held in conjunction with the Bozeman Winter Farmer's Market.

Farms for Families is bringing the Mobile Poultry Processing Unit to the event, so if you have ever wanted to explore the world of small-scale poutry production come check it out! The MPU will be parked outside the Emerson and participants in the event will have the chance to tour the mobile facility and learn more about this exciting state-wide local food processing project.

Hope to see you there!

(chickens will not be processed at this event, in case you were getting worried)

Montana Fare: A Community Food and Film Fest

“Montana Fare: A Community Food & Film Fest” will be held from 10am-2pm on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at the Emerson Cultural Center. The event begins with taste testing during the Bozeman Winter Farmers’ Market from 10am-1pm, followed by the premiere of the documentary Montana Fare, a new film by MSU film graduate Jaime Jelenchick.  Supervised children's activities related to local food will be available for kids ages 3-10 from 1-2pm.  This event is free and open to the public.

 

Montana Fare tells the story of two women based in rural Montana—farmer and rancher Jenny Sabo and Native American tribal elder Minerva Allen.  The short 20-minute film covers a number of relevant food issues, including nutrition, food access and security, changing taste preferences and homogenization, disassociation/distance from food, and public health.  Along with inspiring local scenery and down-to-earth, poignant discussions with both women, Montana Fare captures how two people with distinct pasts and different futures decide what food to put on the table.

 

The documentary will be followed by a short Q&A with the women featured in the film and a panel discussion that highlights “Food and Family Health, Food Access/Distribution, Economics of Local Food, and Growing Your Own”.  Children’s activities will run simultaneously so parents can drop off their kids to attend events in the theater. 

 

For more information about the event, please call (406) 599-3642 or email Jaime Jelenchick at jjelenchick@yahoo.com.

Upcoming Backyard Food Production Workshops

This spring Livingston community members will have the opportunity to learn about backyard food production through two classes being offered throughAdult Community Education programming. To access the Adult Community Education Catalog and learn how to register for classes click here.

March 31 , Mark Rehder will offer a class on raising pastured poultry. This class will present a unique opportunity for individuals to explore small scale broiler production in Pastured Poultry Pens. Commonly called-"chicken-ttractors", these pens allow birds to forage on fresh pasture, while protected from predators and the elements. The class will discuss the basics of pen design, pasturing systems, and poultry processing.

Class Title: Pastured Poultry

Fee: $9

Date/Time: March 31, 6:30-8:30

April 23, Megan E. Drimal and Mark Rehder will discuss the U.S food system since WWII and explore what happened to our gardens, our root cellars and our food self-sufficiency and security. Megan will provide an overview of the Green Revolution and the current global food system. Then, Mark will cover the 1942 Victory Garden Project, which produced over 20 million gardens and 40% of the food in the United States during WWII. In the remainder of the class, historic victory garden design will be discussed and participants will have the opportunity to design their own victory garden and learn about the development of the Community Kitchen in Park County.

Class title: AGR410 Victory Gardens in a Global Food System

Fee: $13

Date/Time: April 23, 2009 6:30-8:30

 

For more information on these classes contact Mark Rehder at (406)222-7886.

Hope to see you there!

Chewing on the News: Food and the Economy

March has already been a big month for local food in the news, here are a couple of news bites, we thought might be interesting for our “Notes from the Field” readers...

Firstly the Associated Press released an article, "Dollars from dirt: Economy spurs home garden boom", which notes a recent industry survey showing double digit growth in the number of home gardeners this year. Exciting news for the local food movement, though we were disappointed that these gardens have been dubbed “Recession Gardens”; what happened to the “Victory Garden’s” of WWII. Could we at least get something a little more upbeat?

In other news, the Local Food, Farms and Jobs: Growing the Illinois Economy report was released to the Illinois General Assembly by The Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force. This report takes a ground-breaking look at how local food infrastructure development could benefit the Illinois economy. Way to go Illinois! It will be facinating to see what comes out of this report.

Community Food Assessment Surveying at Town and Country Today!

8:30-3:00pm

SURVEYING AT TOWN AND COUNTRY MARCH 7th

The Community Food Assessment Team will be administering their last round of consumer surveys to Park County residents at Town and Country, from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm this Saturday.

Stop by and say hi, especially if you want to see Lori in a giant strawberry suit.

Cultivating New Ways to Connect

Springtime is nearly here and Farms for Families is gearing up for a busy season. In an effort to keep you all better informed of our current projects and to provide a network of support for a community of local food advocates and growers in the region, we have established this blog site. Welcome.

The Farms for Families blog is still a little rough around the edges, but it is our hope that this site eventually becomes a place for community members to connect and cultivate new ideas for creating and sustaining a local food system.

Keep checking back with us as we learn how to navigate the blog world. We look forward to keeping in touch with you.

Welcome to the Farms for Families Blog