When news of the passage of Public Act 10-103, An Act Concerning Farms, Food, and Jobs, began to spread last year, I put in a call to the CT Dept. of Agriculture’s legal expert to get an interpretation. Was it true that farms certified by a CT State Poultry Inspection Program created under the law would now be able to process their own birds and sell them to restaurants? That would mean poultry farmers would be spared the inconvenience and expense of taking their chickens, turkeys and ducks to the only USDA slaughterhouse in the state for processing. Processing their birds themselves, in the farm’s facilities, would indeed be legal I was told, but only after jumping through the necessary hoops to become certified. I wasn’t holding my breath.

I’m thrilled to report that this law is working to strengthen the local food movement in Connecticut. Connecticut Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky announced today that two farms have been approved by the state Department of Agriculture through this new Poultry Slaughter Inspection Program, making more Connecticut Grown poultry more available to consumers, restaurants, and hotels. MarWin Farm in New Hartford and Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling are the first two Connecticut poultry farms to be inspected and approved through the new state program. MarWin Farm is raising approximately 2,500 chickens, 125 turkeys, and 200 specialty birds such as guinea hens and ducks. Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm, the state’s largest grower of pastured turkeys, has 3,000 turkeys and 1,200 chickens in production this year.

Commissioner Reviczky said the new program “opens a new door for restaurants looking to serve Connecticut Grown turkey, chicken, and duck on their menus because they are no longer limited to using USDA inspected poultry in order to comply with the public health code.” This is music to the ears of chefs who have been frustrated by limited availability of local poultry. “I just served my first Connecticut Grown turkey from Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm last week,” said Wayne Kregling, executive chef at Brownson Country Club in Shelton. “The quality and flavor were superb, and I am excited to now be able to offer this delicious poultry to my customers.”

Shortly after the law passed, Jonathan Hermonot of Ekonk Hill was asked what it would mean to their farm.

Anyone who’s purchased a chicken from a farm in Connecticut knows that the only way to legally obtain one that’s not USDA certified is to order the bird directly from the farmer and ask them to do you the favor of processing it. This custom slaughter exemption does not apply to restaurants, however, significantly impairing the growth of poultry farms. This new state program allows poultry producers who successfully comply with requirements, pass inspection, and become approved to sell their poultry to an expanded customer base. To comply with the state program’s strict sanitation requirements, which are comparable to those of the USDA program, both Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm and MarWin Farm made improvements to their existing facilities and developed written Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and recall plans. Ekonk Hill applied and was approved for $10,000 in matching funds through the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Farm Reinvestment Grant to help pay for the facility upgrades.

Note: Ekonk Hill turkeys are available through two sources in Fairfield County. Visit our 2011 Guide to Local & Heritage Turkeys for more information.

Park City Harvest Farm Stand locations in Bridgeport will soon reopen for the season and Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program for SNAP/EBT and WIC recipients is once again being offered. Under this program, $10 in benefits equals $20 in fresh, CT-grown,  fruits and vegetables! The markets also accept seniors farmers market checks and cash.

Summer 2011 locations:

• Tuesdays, 11:30 – 3:00 at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, 2800 Main Street, opens June 28
• Wednesdays, 10:00 – 2:00: Bridgeport Health Department, 752 East Main Street, begins July 6
• Tuesdays, 10 am-2 pm, Bank Street at McLevy Green, opens July 5

Park City Harvest is a project of Wholesome Wave  and the Healthy Bridgeport Alliance. There is free parking in both locations, and the farm stands will be open rain or shine. The 2011 farm stand season marks the third year that Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program will be available at Bridgeport markets.

For more information call (203)576-8046 or visit parkcityharvest.org.

By Analiese Paik

Well, it’s about time. How many years have we watched the site adjacent to Home Depot that once was home to the Handy & Harman metals-processing factory being remediated and negotiated over in preparation for the construction of a Whole Foods Market? I think my son was in the toddler truck phase because we’d park and watch the huge vacuums on the back of hazardous waste management trucks suck up the contaminated ground water to clean it up off site. He’s now reading The Hardy Boys.

Let’s shake off the wait with a party. Pack your $10 coupon flyer and head over on Friday, June 3, for the opening day festivities which begin at 8:30 am with a bread breaking ceremony. Be sure to make your way to the Cooking Fairfield department located smack in the middle of the bulk aisle at 11:30 or 5:00 for cooking demos with James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and  founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, Michel Nischan. At both 1:00 and 6:15 Nischan will be signing his latest cookbook, Sustainably Delicious, which includes seasonal recipes from and inspired by his restaurant, the Dressing Room, in Westport.

Today I was treated, along with many others from the local media, to lunch from the Whole Foods food truck and an insider’s tour of the store. There are many wonderful surprises here that will delight you. I call them my Top 10 Reasons to Love Whole Foods Market Fairfield. Here they are:

1) 5% of opening day sales benefit Michel’s Nischan’s Wholesome Wave foundation, an organization succeeding in making fresh fruit and vegetables both accessible and affordable to underserved populations throughout the nation. This is a fantastic opportunity to give generously which costs you nothing.

2) Three full-time food educators dedicated to teaching shoppers about healthy eating: Cooking Coach Michelle Ryan, located in the bulk aisle at the Cooking Fairfield in-store cooking department, the first of its kind in the area; Healthy Eating Specialist Jill McKinnesss located across from Cooking Fairfield in the bulk aisle, who is dedicated to helping guide shoppers with special dietary needs to appropriate products; and Culinary Demo Specialist Jeffrey Sherman who will be stationed throughout the store demonstrating a wide variety of products and holding adult and children’s cooking classes.

3) The first Whole Foods Market in the Northeast to have partnered with Amanda Hesser’s social media food hub, Food 52, to “create online resources for people to get back in the kitchen cooking” according to Hesser. Hesser spoke at today’s event about the rich online experience available to registered users on the Food 52 site her team built for the Whole Foods Market Fairifeld community, http://fairfield.wholefoodsmarketcooking.com, which goes live on Friday morning. Users will be able to continue to interact with Cooking Coach Michelle Ryan, but they’ll also have the opportunity to dialog and share recipes and food intelligence with others. Every two weeks Whole Foods Market Fairfield will hold a recipe contest on the site, and winners will receive gift certificates or win store merchandise.

4) More bulk items than any other store (think varieties of rice and beans you’ve never heard of, but taste great).

5) Fresh mozzarella made in-store from Hudson Valley milk curd each Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

6) Farmstand Fishery, an outdoor fish market that cuts your seafood to order.

7) Local (tri-state area) and sustainably raised meat, poultry, and seafood. Meat carries a 5 Step Animal Welfare Rating seal from the Global Animal Partnership and wild seafood carries a green, yellow or red sustainability rating created by partners Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium.

8) The Whole Foods Market food truck which will be making regular and pop-up stops in town, including the Greenfield Hill farmers’ market, where they will demo recipes made with food from farm vendors.

9) An upcoming farm-to-table prepared foods program (details TBA).

10) Did I mention the free adult and kids’ cooking classes? Okay, how about the vegan salad bar?

Big Bonus: All 365 Everyday Value products are GMO free and many other products carry the Non-GMO Project Verified seal, the sole organization providing independent verification of testing of GM contamination in products in the U.S. and Canada.

The Whole Foods Market food truck, to my knowledge the first food truck in Fairfield County, will be offering tastings and vending in Fairfield until mid-June, then will make its way to other Whole Foods Markets and the neighborhoods they serve in Fairfield County. Follow our Tweets for  the food truck’s daily locations (@GreenFoodGal) around town, including the Greenfield Hill Farmers’ Market on Hillside Road.

Amanda Hesser will hold a signing of her latest book, The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century, on June 11 while Cooking Coach Michelle Ryan demonstrates a recipe from the cookbook. Be sure to pick up June and July in-store event calendars on opening day so you can mark your calendar.

Whole Foods Market Fairfield will open its doors to the community on Friday, June 3, 2011 at 8:30 am. Located at 350 Grasmere Avenue, this will be the grocer’s 8^th store in Connecticut. To celebrate opening day, Whole Foods Market will offer storewide tastings, vendor sampling, special sale items, cooking demonstrations, gift bags and more. Read the full press release.

Audubon Greenwich invites you to join them on Sunday, May 15, from 3-6 pm, for a benefit concert, food, and wine.  This event benefits the Armstrong Court Organic Community Garden, a leader in  the local, healthy, organic food movement in Greenwich. Proceeds will go directly to helping the Garden grow healthy, organic food.

Food is being provided by Le Pain Quotidien and Whole Foods and the gardeners will be doing some cooking. Organic wines will be provided by Glenville Wines.

Save the Date: Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 10 for the “Fairfield social event of the season”. The Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, will be holding its first annual Harvest Supper, a celebration of local farm fare prepared by renowned area ‘farm to table’ chefs.

Hosted by DJ Carey, the Editorial Director of the beautiful Cottages and Gardens publications, the fundraiser will be held at the landmark Pequot Library in Southport. Guests will be treated to a bountiful farm-to-table menu, seasonal wine and craft beers, fresh desserts, and foot-tapping music.

The Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm’s mission is to celebrate the town’s agrarian past (Just 90 years ago there were more than 100 farms in Fairfield), educate youth and adults about sustainable gardening practices, promote good stewardship of the land and sound nutrition, and to provide a fresh local source of  organic produce.

Visit the Farm online at www.fairfieldorganicteachingfarm.org, follow them on Facebook, and subscribe to their e-newsletter to stay informed about this and other projects, including the Seed to Seed Library at Fairfield Woods Branch Library.

Kaiser Permanente Employees Raise $600,000 for Healthy Eating Programs in Underserved Communities

Wholesome Wave will expand farmers’ market programs to eight new locations nationwide.

Bridgeport, Conn. – Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut-based, national nonprofit organization dedicated to nourishing neighborhoods across America by increasing access to and affordability of healthy, fresh locally grown food, announced today that it has received a $600,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente.  The funding will be used primarily to support its Double Value Coupon Program (DVCP), which provides fresh food incentives to encourage low-income consumers to increase their purchase of nutritious produce through local farmers markets.

Wholesome Wave plans to initially expand the DVCP to a minimum of four new states nationwide. The program enables households that use federally funded Food Stamp or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) coupons to double the value of their grocery coupons when purchasing fresh produce at a farmers market. The Wholesome Wave program is in place at 160 farmers markets in 20 states nationwide.

Funding for the grant is a result of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente’s employee wellness program, Healthy Workforce, through which the nonprofit organization contributed $50 for each employee who took a health risk assessment. Almost 23,000 Kaiser Permanente employees participated in the program. The organization raised $1.2 million overall, which is being distributed to Wholesome Wave and the Washington D.C.-based National Assembly for School-Based Health Care.

“We at Wholesome Wave are so grateful for Kaiser Permanente’s support, which is allowing us to take these next, vitally important steps towards increasing the accessibility of nutritious foods throughout America’s food-insecure communities,” said Michel Nischan, president and founder, Wholesome Wave. “Wholesome Wave and Kaiser Permanente have a shared mission of building a healthier future, and this generous partnership will allow Wholesome Wave to nourish neighborhoods across America.”

The grant also will enable Wholesome Wave to plan for an expansion of its Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program (FVRx).  This program aims to bridge the gap between physicians providing advice in the clinical setting and changing individual behavior by providing “prescription coupons” that can be redeemed at the patient’s local farmers market.

“Access to healthy food is powerful prevention, and that’s what Wholesome Wave is all about” said Loel Solomon, Ph.D., vice president for community health, Kaiser Permanente. “This partnership makes so much sense because we have such closely aligned values and aspirations.  We both believe that everyone deserves access to healthy, affordable and sustainably grown food and we both know how important that is for people’s health, and the health of our planet.”

Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s leading health care organizations, with 36 hospitals and 8.7 million members nationwide. Through Kaiser Permanente’s Healthy Eating/Active Living initiative, the organization works to bring healthy food to the communities it serves, with a particular focus on underserved communities with health disparities. These efforts include working with community groups and store owners to bring healthy food into corner stores, and partnering with schools, city parks and other organizations to offer healthier foods to young people and their families. The first health care organization to hold farmers markets at its hospitals, Kaiser Permanente now hosts 40 markets at facilities in four states.

Wholesome Wave’s programming generated more than $1 million in sales at farmers markets through their incentives in 2010, which directly impacted income of more than 1,700 local farmers and more than 700 local product makers throughout the United States.

About Wholesome Wave

The mission of Wholesome Wave is to empower communities to make better food choices. By creating partnership-based programs in historically excluded urban and rural communities, Wholesome Wave increases access to and affordability of fresh, locally grown food to nourish neighborhoods across America. These initiatives, such as the Double Value Coupon Program (DVCP) and the Fruit & Veggie Prescription Program (FVRx), demonstrate and support the viability of healthy food commerce and its ability to rebuild our nation’s food system. Wholesome Wave leverages private and public funds, as well as existing Federal, State and local government programs, to foster collaborative efforts through a national network of strategically targeted program partners.  This network of partners works in concert to transform current realities in the American food system. Visit  www.wholesomewave.org to learn more. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.7 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

On February 12, 2011, Chef Michel Nischan, CEO, President & Founder of Wholesome Wave,  will speak at TEDxManhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” in New York City.   This one-day TEDx event aims to explore the US food system — from what happened, to where we are, to what we are doing to change to a more sustainable way of eating and farming.  In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.  The Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming is the lead sponsor for “Changing the Way We Eat.”

“It is possible to create real change in our nation’s food system by establishing healthy food commerce where ‘food deserts’ now exist,” says James Beard Award-winning chef and author Nischan, whose nonprofit’s mission is to empower historically excluded urban and rural communities to make better food choices by increasing access to and affordability of fresh, locally grown food.

The day includes a world-class line-up of inspiring speakers from all disciplines of the sustainable food world, including:

• Lucas Knowles, USDA Coordinator of “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food”
• Laurie David, Environmental Author and Activist
• Professor Frederick Kaufman, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
• Curt Ellis, Filmmaker and star of the Peabody Award-winning film King Corn, co-Founder FoodCorps
• Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA
• Cheryl Rogowski, Small Family Farmer & the first US farmer awarded a MacArthur Genius Award
• Kenneth Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group
• Dr. William Li, President of the Angiogenesis Foundation
• Karen Hudson, President of the Dairy Education Alliance
• Britta Riley, Windowfarms creator and artist
• Brian Halweil, editor of Edible East End, publisher of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan, senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute and Co-Director of the Nourishing the Planet project
• Barbara Askins, President of the 125^th St Business Improvement District [Harlem
• Ian Cheney, founding Board member of Food Corps, filmmaker [Truck Farm, The Greening of Southie, King Corn], urban truck farmer
• Michael Conard, Asst Director at the Urban Design Lab & Adjunct Assoc Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University.
• John Fraser, Chef/Proprietor of Dovetail restaurant and What Happens When, NYC
• Kathy Lawrence, Program Director of the national collaborative School Food FOCUS
• Elizabeth Ü, Executive Director of Finance for Food, a solutions-oriented innovator at the intersection of sustainable food systems and social finance
• Entertainment by ETHEL

Please click here for a complete WebCast schedule.

In an effort to have as many people as possible participate in TEDxManhattan, the day will be webcast live, with over 60 ‘viewing parties’ already confirmed around the world.  To find out if there is a viewing party near you, visit www.TEDxManhattan.org/viewing-parties.  And there’s still time to organize an event in your area – details can be found on the website.

You can also watch the event live from your home on February 12^th from 10:30am – 6:00pm EST at www.livestream.com/tedx.  Nischan is scheduled to speak at 5:30pm EST.

For more information about TEDxManhattan, visit www.TEDxManhattan.org ; media can contact geralyn@resourcescommunications.com, telephone 281.980.6643.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like* experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

Find a Viewing Party in your Area to Listen to the Live Webcast

TEDx is encouraging everyone to set up viewing parties or attend one in your area. Visit the TEDxManhattan MeetUp Everywhere page to register your event and to see events around you. If you are planning an event, please email TEDxManhattan@gmail.com to have our event registered on the site.

If you find you can’t attend a local viewing party, you can watch TEDxManhattan live on your computer at http://livestream.com/tedx.

How to Host a Viewing Party

Please adhere to the following rules:

• Viewing parties must be held in a non-commercial venue. This means in a home, office, school, library, nonprofit organization, or community center. You cannot hold a TEDx in a commercial venue such as a restaurant or coffee shop.
• TEDx viewing parties must be free of charge to all attendees.
• Events cannot hold more than 100 people without prior approval. Please email TEDxManhattan@gmail.com if you think your event will exceed 100 people.
• You cannot attach any type of advertising or sponsor messages to the webcast.

Nancy Earle is on a mission to bring fresh, local, affordable food to lower  Fairfield County communities. Farm to Community is not a new concept, but bundling multiple CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) programs to offer consumers a very wide choice of affordable locally grown foods  is a novel concept whose time has come. Nancy has just launched BR Farm Stand to do just that and the options are pretty fantastic.

This season there are two pick up locations for bi-monthly and monthly shares beginning the week of December 13: The Center for Green Building, 3309 Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport or 365 Lalley Blvd (corner Edward), Fairfield. The day of week is yet to be determined but hours are 4:00pm-7:00 pm.

New! Open House Saturday, December 11, 2010 from NOON – 3PM at the Black Rock Library to learn more about the CSA options and taste some of the offerings.

BR Farm Stand charges a $45 annual membership fee. If you already purchased a Winter Sun Farms’  CSA and were expecting to pick up at Trinity Southport Church, your new pick up address is BR Farm Stand’s 365 Lalley Blvd. location in Fairfield (no membership fee applies). If you decide to purchase any additional CSA offerings from BR Farm Stand, you will have to become a paid member.

CSA shares available for Winter 2010. Mix and match as you please. Place all orders through Nancy Earle at brfarmstand@gmail.com or 917-502-5544.

• Winter Sun Farms: Fruit and produce fresh frozen and sourced from small sustainable Hudson Valley Farms. 4 months: $124 w/o eggs, $145 w/eggs, 5 months: (to include April) $155 (add egg share – $26.25)
• Gazy Brothers Farm: Oxford, CT-based farm using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) growing practices. 5 deliveries of mixed fresh vegetables for $100
• High Hill Orchard: Meriden, CT-based grower of IPM fruit (Integrated Pest Management) and organic vegetables: $170 for three large monthly shares (Dec/Jan/Feb) including potatoes, apples, carrots, cooking greens, onions, garlic, cider, cabbage, beets, turnips, winter squash.

Coming soon:

• Cheese
• Honey & Jam
• Soap & Candles
• Meat & Seafood
• Sweet biscuits – cookies and biscotti
• Artisanal Bread
  

Contact:

Nancy Earle
BR Farmstand
brfarmstand@gmail.com
917-502-5544

www.brfarmstand.com

Twitter-@FarmtoCommunity

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Wednesday evening’s screening of Nourish the film at Wilton Library kicked off an evening of lively moderated discussion about local and sustainably grown food with guest panelists Annie Farrell, Tim LaBant and Jim Hunter.

Every seat in the house was taken, a testament to the popularity of the topic and guest panelists and coordinated team effort in planning and organizing the event by the co-sponsors: Wilton Library, Wilton Go Green, Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm and Fairfield Green Food Guide.

About the Film:

Nourish is an educational film about the story of our food – food from a global perspective to personal action steps. Nourish illustrates how food connects to such issues as biodiversity, climate change, public health, and social justice. Hosted and narrated by Cameron Diaz, Nourish features interviews with best-selling author Michael Pollan, sustainable food advocate Anna Lappe, eco-chef Bryant Terry, pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke, and organic farmer Nigel Walker. With beautiful visuals and inspiring stories, Nourish traces our relationship to food from a global perspective to personal action steps. Nourish the film was created by WorldLink, an Emmy Award-winning media group with twenty years’ experience in designing education and outreach programs, in order to deepen our national dialog about our food.

“Food is not just fuel. Food is about family, food is about community, food is about identity. And we nourish all those things when we eat well.”
— Michael Pollan from Nourish the film

Visit the web site and view the trailer.

About the Panelists:

Annie Farrell, Master Farmer, Millstone Farm.

Millstone Farm is owned by Betsy and Jesse Fink and is a for-profit working farm whose mission is to operate in a sustainable manner, both in economics and best farm practices. Millstone Farm is an important provider of high quality fresh produce to local families, restaurants and retailers. Annie Farrell, Betsy Fink and Millstone Farm are celebrated in a newly released and very beautiful cookbook, Harvest to Heat: Cooking with America’s Best Chefs, Farmers, and Artisans, that was just named Best Cookbook Overall 2010 by Epicurious and will be featured on the Martha Stewart Show next Wednesday, November  24. Look for Betsy Fink and Annie Farrel in the audience.

In keeping with their goal to see local food production become the norm rather than the exception, Millstone Farm also serves as an educational outreach hub, supporting other farmers, community organizations, school groups and restaurateurs who are interested in learning more about the practice of sustainable agriculture, its implementation and its impact on local economies and food quality. The Millstone Farm Charitable Fund helps support philanthropic initiatives, such as school and community gardens and healthy food initiatives. Millstone Farm was recognized with a Green Coast Award at the Third Annual Green Faire at the Stamford Marriott Hotel and Spa on the morning of this event.

Tim LaBant, Chef/Owner of the Schoolhouse at Cannondale.

Tim’s uncompromising commitment to serving the highest quality fresh, local, and seasonal food has won Schoolhouse numerous awards including a Top 10 Ranking on Open Table’s Best of the tri state area, Best Special Occasion restaurant 2010 by Westport Magazine, and the top Fairfield County Pick for the Best of New England 2010 guide. Much of the food on the menu is sourced from Millstone Farm and some is even picked by the chef himself.

Starting Dec. 9 Tim and his team will be serving lunch, along with other farm-to-table chefs, on rotating Thursdays at the indoor winter farmers’ market at Gilbertie’s in Westport from 10-1 pm.

Jim Hunter, Biology and AP Environmental Science teacher and founder of the organic edible school garden at Wilton High School

Jim has taught at Wilton High School for the past nine years and recently founded Wilton High School’s edible school garden, made possible through funding from Newman’s Own Foundation and funding and other support from The Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation and Millstone Farm. Jim spent years learning to garden organically from Annie Farrell and her time and expertise were key contributors to the project’s success.

The panel discussion lasted about an hour and we invited the audience to submit questions on question cards that were collected during the final 20 minutes of Q&A.

It was my great pleasure to serve as moderator for the guest panel and this was my introduction:

“We are delighted so many of you were able to join us tonight. I know you will leave feeling uplifted and inspired by our guest panelists Annie Farrell, Tim LaBant and Jim Hunter. As you listen to their stories, it will become evident that Wilton is indeed a very special place where people who care deeply about nourishing the community are working in concert with one another for the greater good.”

The following questions were presented to the panelists by the moderator and some of their answers can be read in the article Residents Encouraged to’Eat Local, Think Global’ by Kara O’Connor, a staff writer at the Wilton Villager who attended the event. A second article, Panel Promotes Farm Fresh Food, by Anthony Buzzeo at The Daily Wilton conveys a few additional thoughts. And my favorite is Film and Discussion at the Wilton Library Nourishes the Community by Audra Carbone of the Wilton Patch.

Panelist Questions:

Q1: The final chapter of the film encourages us to Be the Difference. Each of you IS the difference, working to transform the way we eat and nourish the community. Would you please tell us more about your work?

Q2: The film encourages us to Vote With Our Forks. What does that mean and what are some ways to do that here in Fairfield County?

Q3: Is being a conscious eater enough? Should we all be growing some of our own food and finding ways to support programs and initiatives working to transform the food system into something more sustainable, just and healthy?

The following audience questions were taken on cards and answered by Jim Hunter, Tim LaBant, and Annie Farrell, respectively.

Q1: Will gardens be put in the elementary and middle schools in Wilton?

Q2: What’s local in season November through April?

Q3: What workshops and programs are offered at Millstone Farm, how do you find out about them, and how do we encourage more people to grow in their own backyards?

Many thanks to Tim LaBant and Schoolhouse Restaurant for the delicious cassoulet, Wave Hill Bread for the bread used in the dish, and Vintage Fine Wines of Wilton for their support with the wines. A red and a white wine were served, a 2008 Bonterrra Vineyards Chardonnay and 2006 Lolonis Cabernet, both California wines made from 100% organic grapes.

Guests enjoyed the food and wine during the networking event that followed with panelists and exhibitors Wilton Go Green, Millstone Farm, Fairfield Green Food Guide, Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm, and Ambler Farm.

Thank you to the many guests who supported the library through donations and purchased DVDs from the non-profit Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm to share with their family, friends, businesses, school and organizations. Many thanks to the Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm for their sponsorship of the Nourish screening.

(from the web site)

Nourish is a multi-year media and education initiative. The purpose of Nourish is to open a broad public conversation about our food system that encourages citizen engagement, particularly among young people and families. To inform and inspire, Nourish combines television programming, short films, web content, and learning tools. With a distinctly positive vision, Nourish celebrates both food and community.

Nourish is a project of WorldLink, an Emmy Award-winning media group with twenty years experience in designing education and outreach programs. To maximize the effectiveness of Nourish, WorldLink is collaborating with more than 40 organizations dedicated to creating a sustainable food future.

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YWCA Greenwich, Greenwich Library Peterson Business Program Series, and J.P. Morgan Private Bank present Women and the Sustainable Food Revolution: Transforming the Way We Eat on Thursday, October 14, 2010 from 6-8 pm at YWCA Greenwich.

A very special guest panel of notable women leaders in the sustainable food revolution will educate, inform and inspire you as they discuss what’s wrong with the way we eat and how their initiatives are helping to pave the way for change, plus share practical advice for eating more sustainably each and every day.

Please join Jayni Chase, Founder, Green Community Schools and the Center for Environmental Education; Annie Farrell, Farm Activist and Advisor, Millstone Farm; Betsy Fink, Owner of Millstone Farm and President of the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation; and Amy Kalafa, Documentary Filmmaker, Certified Health Counselor and Partner, Trainer’s Table as they discuss why the choices we make every day about the foods we eat matter.

Among topics to be discussed are how the way we we eat impacts human and environmental health and threatens biodiversity, how climate change is impacting agriculture, why food security is a matter of national security, how energy figures into the  food production equation, how food policies and food marketing influence food choices everywhere from school lunch to grocery store shelves, and why establishing Community Supported Agriculture programs and backyard, school, community and urban gardens are practical solutions to the problems we face.

Location: YWCA Greenwich, 259 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich

Program Schedule:

6-6:45 Open reception with Local Food and Sustainable Wine

6:45-7:30 Moderated Panel Discussion

7:30-8:00 Open Discussion & Networking

This event is free and open to the general public, but seating is limited and registration is a required. You may register by calling Tiffany Metti at the YWCA Greenwich at 203-869-6501, ext. 106 or online at www.ywcagreenwich.org/sustainablefood.

Do you have a question for the guest panelists?

Please submit your questions in the comments section below or email them to info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com for consideration during the panel discussion. Audience questions will also be taken during the moderated panel discussion.