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University Foodservice Tour of Whatcom County Producers

For the past 9 months, NABC has been partnering with the Real Food Challenge, working together to get more locally-produced and community-based products into college and university dining service in WA. The goal of each campus taking on the Real Food Challenge is to shift 20% of their existing dining budget to Real Food. This shift is done incrementally by replacing generic, mass-produced food products often purchased by institutional foodservice with better (local and community-based, more ecologically sound, and more humane) alternatives. NABC’s Emma Brewster has been working with students and dining representatives at UW, WWU, The Evergreen State College, and the University of Puget Sound, among others, to facilitate these types of product switches by drawing on PSFN’s and NABC’s producer base. Up until now it’s been a lot of talking about logistical (price, distribution, packaging…) considerations, and on Saturday we finally got the schools out to the farms!

Destination: Whatcom County. Stops: Belly Timber Bars and Twin Brook Creamery –– two local producers with retail-ready products and a whetted appetite for institutional customers.

Belly Timber

When Mary Goit’s youngest son turned two years old she decided she needed something to do. Something that would keep her busy and maybe even make a little money. One thing she did really really well was make granola. She and her sisters have used their mom’s secret granola recipe for years. Growing up they thought that they loved granola. As adults they realized that “No –– we don’t like granola. We like Mom’s granola!” And there was the idea.

So Mary rented* time in a the commercial kitchen of a local cafe owned by a friend and started making granola to share with the masses. (*She earned her keep in the kitchen by scrubbing the cafe’s floors.) But granola can only take you so far — or rather, you can only take granola so far. Mary needed a way to make granola mobile. But, as a concerned environmentalist and practical family shopper she wanted to avoid lots of throwaway packaging like one-time use bowls. “How can I make granola for the road?” she thought. Then one night it came to her. BARS.

Mary and her husband developed the secret recipe for what are now Belly Timber Everyday Survival Bars based on what she had in her kitchen cabinets when the epiphany struck. Peanut butter. Toasted almonds. Brown rice syrup (“What on earth did we buy that for?”). Honey from her neighbor. Dates. This is largely the recipe that is still used today, and now there are several flavor varieties including peanut butter, blueberry, dark chocolate, and dark chocolate-espresso (organic and fair trade, of course!).

Mary sources as many ingredients as possible from her neighbors, and the vast majority are organic. Belly Timber bars are a great example of businesses working together to keep small scale food producers in business and in doing so, preserving farmland. Even the label was designed by several of Mary’s friends who were some of of the original 11 employees at Microsoft in Seattle. (Apparently they designed the original blue sky, clouds, and window logo for Windows and therefore have some time to kill and skills to share!) Between Mary and the designers, they personally know every individual adventurer pictured on the labels.

And the name? Allegedly it’s an old sailor (and possibly pirate…?) term for when time was tight and there was work to be done. Sailors needed solid fuel to climb the masts and take care of business, and the quick food they ate on the go when there wasn’t time for a meal was referred to as “Belly Timber.” (Go ahead, say it with a pirate accent… you know you want to). And there you have it: Belly Timber, the Every Day Survival Bar.

Every day, indeed. While the bars are adored by big-time adventurers who have taken them up Denali (finally — an energy bar that doesn’t freeze solid in the cold or melt into a mess in the heat!); bikers who’ve biked solo across the Rockies; and even the US Military, I can speak from experience that the bars are great for everyday snacking, on-the-go purse-stashing, and even stocking stuffing!

The chocolate varity is the favorite of the Cincinnati Bengals – Cincinnati, Ohio's NFL team

In addition to individual adventurers, some big-time customers have recently been hankering for some Belly Timber: the bars recently picked up by REI, and believe it or not, the Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) and now the Reds (MLB), too, are some of her biggest customers! According to the team’s strength and conditioning coach, the team was accustomed to eating Snickers bars before games and practices. As an athletic trainer, he thought that was a nutritional recipe for disaster. He did a simple internet search and came across Belly Timber. He thought they looked simple, healthful, and tasty and ordered a full case for the team. The team still prefers the chocolate and peanut butter varieties over other flavors of Belly Timber, but it’s a big improvement over candy bars! Mary knew her mom’s granola recipe and her product were good, but not THAT good. She says she’s never loved a football team so much!

Jill applies a label to a Belly TImber bar by hand

And still, even with all these big name customers, Mary still manages to keep a reasonable schedule that works for her and her few employees. On Sundays they make the granola, and on Mondays they make the granola into bars. They’re usually done cleaning up the kitchen by 3:30 so everyone can go pick up their kids from school. (In fact, she almost didn’t let us come out and visit on a Saturday because that’s a day reserved for her and her employees to spend time with kids and family). The rest of the week is spent packaging, labeling, packing, and assessing inventory. A great deal of care is given to the product. Each and every bar is packed, sealed, labeled, and packed into boxes by hand. Mary still does all her own product demos, and is happy to answer calls from customers directly. She even puts her personal cell phone number on the label of every bar.

Check out these pictures of our visit to Belly Timber:

Students and dining reps from UW and WWU listen as Mary explains the packaging process for Belly Timber Bars

Luke, Marketing Manager for WWU Dining, tries a sample of the granola which is the base of the bars.

Belly Timber Bars are available at the PCC Natural Markets, Metropolitan Markets, the Community Food Co-op in Bellingham, smaller local retailers in WA, and REI stores across the nation.

Twin Brook Creamery
Next, it was off to Lynden (5 miles from the Canadian border!) to visit Larry Stap, owner and operator of Twin Brook Creamery!

Larry, the oldest of four Stap brothers, is the 4th generation of Stap dairymen to farm on the same property that his great grandfather bought and built in 1910. In 2006 Larry’s daughter, Michelle, and her husband, Mark, asked Larry and his wife, Debbie, to be partners in the dairy business. Larry was hesitant at first. “I don’t want to get bigger and bigger. I don’t want to milk more cows and build more barns. So I said, ‘let’s think outside the box and find ourselves a niche’.” And that’s just what they did. Twin Brook milk is delicious and distinctive, and unlike any “competitor” in the area.

What makes it so great? The milk is gently pasteurized at low temperature for longer time than milk commonly found on grocery shelves. The hotter the pasteurization temperature, the more the milk gets cooked, which jeopardizes the authentic farm-fresh flavor. Some milk in grocery stores that has been pasteurized at high heat has a use-by date of up to 90 days after it was produced! In some grocery stores you can even find unrefrigerated milk on the shelves of center aisles. This is shelf-stable milk that has been heated at such high temperatures (upwards of 245º!) that merchandisers colloquially call it “dead milk” because there’s very little flavor or even much biological material left in it that would indicate that it was ever an animal product. This is isn’t the future of food Larry dreams of, and he’s sticking to his low heat methods. “We take our time and create a quality, authentic, good-tasting product. Now that’s ‘slow food’!” says Larry.

Larry explains the (non)homogenization process to WWU students, Nicole and Austin

The low-temp pasteurization is just one aspect of production that differentiates Twin Brook’s milk from other products in the area. The second is that it’s not homogenized. Homogenization is the process of distributing the fat (cream) particles evenly throughout the milk so that the milk doesn’t separate, creating a cream top in the bottle. This is usually done by forcing a stream of milk through a tiny pipe or hole at incredibly fast speeds and under high pressure. This blasts apart the natural fat globules, dispersing their parts throughout the milk. This is no big deal for most of us, but from some consumers digesting milk in this altered state can wreak havoc on their digestive systems. In fact, Larry has gotten calls from several customers saying that they thought they were lactose-intolerant, but for some reason they have no problem drinking the milk from Twin Brook. Larry attributes this to the non-homogenization of his product.

The third factor is that Larry milks only Jersey breed cows (not typical Holsteins). Jersey milk has a higher butter fat content, making the milk rich and flavorful, as well as a higher solids content. Solids are the non-fat protein particles in milk — the same protein material used to make cheese. This means that even the skim milk from Twin Brook is thicker, whiter, and more flavorful than other varieties, and doesn’t look like “blue-water” as Larry calls it. Not only is the milk for flavorful, but Jersey heffers are a smaller animal than typical dairy cows, meaning they eat less, produce less waste, and are less likely to get sick or injured. In fact, cows at Twin Brook live twice as long as the average milking cow. The cows are largely grass-fed with grass and hay produced on the farm, and are free to roam around outside in good weather. All the waste generated by the cows is applied to the pastures to fertilize the fields for more production. “Too many people consider manure a waste product to be gotten rid of,” Larry says, “…not an asset to completing the cycle.” These are all factors in running a fiscally and environmentally sustainable businesses.

The final factor is the glass bottles that Twin Brook Milk is bottled in. Not only are the glass bottles returnable and re-usable, but they also don’t leech any chemicals into the milk and don’t affect the flavor of the milk at all. Like many health-conscious parents of that era and in the small New England town I grew up in, mine raised me and my sister on rBST-free skim milk produced in-state. It came in a white cardboard carton, which my parents loved because it wasn’t unnecessarily made of plastic and the carton was recyclable. Unfortunately, the taste of the paper infiltrated the milk, and to this day I associate the flimsy flavor of skim milk with bleached cardboard. Nothing to fear at Twin Brook, though. Between the glass packaging and the heightened flavor of the skim milk, I found it to be quite tasty with my chocolate chip cookies!

We were lucky to get a full tour of the bottling process from washing the returns (only soap and hot water –– no noxious rinsing chemicals –– are used) to filling the bottles. Larry says he gets roughly 75% of his bottles back. He attributes the lost bottles to the fact that “they’re just so darn cute, people want to keep em!” Cute they are, and they also happen to make great little water bottles. Not that I would know….

Check out these pictures of the full tour of Twin Brook!

Beautiful young Jersey heffers

Larry show us how each bottle is hand-filled.

Ready to go!

Time for milk and cookies! Larry made the cookies himself!

Marketing and Retail representatives from WWU and UW try Twin Brook's irresistible chocolate milk.

There used to be nearly innumerable dairy farms in Whatcom County, and now there are only 125. Less than ten of these are independent producers. Larry says he’s intent on getting the business set up for the next generation, and leaving a legacy for generations to come. Mark and Michelle’s children –– Larry’s grandkids –– will be 6th generation dairy farmers, and the Stap family will possibly be the only dairy family in the region to operate on the same piece of property through the decades.

For a full list of places where you can buy Twin Brook products, visit their Facebook page.

~~~

*** (4/20/12) The UW Real Food Challenge student group, in partnership with UW Housing and Food Services, successfully hosted an Earth Day tasting of both Twin Brook Creamery Chocolate Milk and Belly Timber Bars in the primary residential dining hall. They collected nearly 200 student petitions to stock the products on campus. UW plans to do a Real Food Challenge assessment of food on campus this summer, through which product shifts such as these are recorded, and earn the school credit, incentivizing the shift.***

For more pictures of our weekend tour, check out our Facebook album.

Check out our blog post about the first ever national Food Day, for which Belly Timber and Twin Brook both donated products to UW’s Real Food Challenge food/sustainability event.

You can follow our work with universities in the PNW region via the Real Food Challenge NW Facebook Page

Posted by Emma Brewster on March 11th, 2012

Partnering to Ensure Healthy Meals for Child Care

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The Youth and Family Empowerment (YFE) division of Seattle Human Services and PSFN have partnered once again to help connect healthy foods to our community. Last week we sponsored two training sessions for cooks at child care centers. Once again, Leika Suzumura of Rainier Valley Eats and Community Kitchens NW led wonderful training sessions addressing the advantages of purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables locally, and of cooking and eating as a community. Natalie Thomson of YFE organized the trainings and PSFN’s Karen Mauden coordinated the produce sourcing and distribution for the training with PSFN member farms.

The basic idea for the training programs is that food is picked and packed at a local farm and is delivered fresh from that farm to each childcare meal site. Because the produce is picked at the height of ripeness, and the intervening time between harvest and delivery is so short, Seattle’s children who attend the participating child care programs receive their fresh fruits and veggies when they are most nutritive. Served so close to pick time, the produce is also at the height of its flavor, color, and has maximum freshness and crunch –– all added benefits that keep the kids asking for more. Trying such fresh foods at an early age helps develop a taste for fresh flavors and the natural sweetness of fresh foods among youngsters.

Nutritious food isn’t nutritious until it’s eaten, though, and the first step to getting yummy, fresh foods into children’s bellies is getting the cooks at childcare sites involved, and that’s what these training sessions are all about. To set the program up for success, we help train the site cooks to make tasty meals the children will want to try and will enjoy.

The Community Day School Association’s nine child care sites, and Seattle Community Centers’ fifteen sites were all able to attend training sessions tailored to their unique needs. Some of these sites have been serving local produce since October 2011 as part of the Farm to Table (F2T) Project. Others are brand new to F2T and purchasing directly from local farms. Most sites participating in the F2T project at this point receive their produce in the form of a CSA box from a local farm. While the CSA model offers the benefit of being organic, grown & sourced locally, it also presents the challenge of using some vegetables that will be new foods to the children –– foods we call “stretch” foods (“stretch” meaning that we are encouraging and challenging the children and cooks to taste and experiment with some foods that are unfamiliar to them). Developing recipes that artfully incorporate these new products is a key step in encouraging children to try new things.

After Leika’s presentation and some discussion it was time to get our hands dirty! It was off to the kitchen to create “Hero Salad” (purple cabbage, green kale, orange carrots); English Muffin Pizzas (kale, carrots, pizza sauce & mozzarella); roasted root vegetables (celeriac, sunchokes, sweet potatoes & parsnips dusted with rosemary, thyme & parsley); and PCC’s “Health Secret Cookies” (pumpkin seeds and oatmeal help create a better-for-you chocolate chip cookie). What a menu! Everyone shared ideas about how to adapt existing recipes to use more fresh local produce featuring the flavors of the season.

Just as it’s considered best practices for child care providers to include children in the food prep and cooking process, and to sit down and share meals with them, the result of these training sessions was a community coming together and sharing the experience of cooking and eating together. At the end of the day, there were many happy faces knowing why serving local, seasonal produce is a best practice for child care, and also that it’s totally doable!

For more pictures of the day’s training sessions, check out the album on our Facebook page

Posted by Emma Brewster on February 26th, 2012

NABC hosts Hard Cider Production course – December 2011

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By guest NABC contributor Carolyn Goodrich Luke

The Northwest Agriculture Business Center, in partnership with Washington State University – Mount Vernon Research and Extension Center and Mitchell F&D, recently hosted a fun and informative six-day hard cider production course funded in part by a WSDA Specialty Crop Block Grant.

The course began with a daylong workshop on Orchard Management and Cider Fruit Production led by Gary Moulton, WSU orchardist and cider production expert. Topics included soil quality, orchard layout, rootstock and variety selection, irrigation, pruning and thinning methods, pest management, grafting techniques, and harvesting.

After lunch, students ventured over to Red Barn Cider for a tour and hands-on demonstration of pruning, thinning, and grafting. Those who braved the chilly temperatures for this informative and interactive session were rewarded with a fantastic cider tasting facilitated by Red Barn owner/operator Drew Zimmerman.

The second part of the course shifted the focus to Cider Making: Principles & Practices taught by renowned cider production expert Peter Mitchell. The first two days provided students with a broad overview of hard cider. Topics included cider history, terminology, sensory analysis, and cider market trends. Students also participated in cider tastings to better understand flavor and aroma profiles. Who says learning can’t be fun?

At the end of day two, students had the option to take the exam for the NACM Certificate in Cider & Perry Appreciation. This is the only formal cider industry specific qualification available in the world and many students took advantage of the opportunity.

Days three and four were spent in the WSU lab where students practiced producing and fermenting cider. They also learned techniques to analyze the chemical properties of cider in order to produce a high quality product.

The final day of the course took place at La Conner Flats. Processing and production methods were discussed, a delicious lunch was served, and cider samples made by students were critiqued by the class and instructors. Not a bad way to end the week!

For those who missed this amazing workshop, don’t despair! The course will be repeated in June 2012 followed by an advanced course in December 2012. More details will be posted on the NABC website as they become available. Cheers!

Carolyn is NABC’s Special Projects & Research Coordinator

Posted by Emma Brewster on December 20th, 2011

PSFN Participates in 1st Ever National Food Day!

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Monday was the first time the nation celebrated Food Day, and PSFN was not to be left out! We collaborated with Public Health – Seattle & King County, The Real Food Challenge Northwest, and students at The University of Washington to spread the gospel of local food for institutional food service!

Food Day, sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and “backed by an impressive advisory board that includes anti-hunger advocates, physicians, authors, politicians, and leaders of groups focused on everything from farmers markets to animal welfare to public health, seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.” Food Day 2011 paraded six tenets linking the importance of food’s connection to community and global health and wellness. The priorities of National Food Day 2011 were to:

Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

In an effort to address these priorities on a local and, ultimately, global scale PSFN partnered with students involved in the Real Food Challenge at the University of Washington to help muster student and campus support for more Real Food on campus, that is, food that is locally produced and community based, and verifiably produced in ways that are fair to humans, humane to animals, and ecologically sound. PSFN has been partnering with the Real Food Challenge since June in an effort to connect more food producers in Northwest Washington with college and university food service in our region. The University of Washington has been a leader in this effort so far, and we were ecstatic to partner with UW students for Food Day!

Student leaders hosted two Food Day events on Monday, first tabling for Real Food Challenge outside the library. Of course the best way to attract college students to a tabling event on campus is to offer FREE FOOD, and PSFN did just that! PSFN members and NABC-affiliated producers graciously donated wonderful, ‘real’ product samples for the event. Students devoured 3 Sisters’ uncured pepperoni, Twin Brook Creamery‘s delicious chocolate milk, Skagit Fresh’s wonderful seasonal apple cider, and Belly Timber’s easy-to-pack “survival bars”, recently picked up by REI to be sold in major stores across the country! Students loved having the opportunity to sample these high quality, locally produced, and community based foods that one day (with enough student support) could end up in retail and dining facilities on the UW campus!

Photo Courtesy of Real Food UMD

Students in the Real Food Challenge student organization engaged their passerby peers in conversation about the possibilities of getting more Real Food on campus, offering each student the opportunity to participate in a “photo-petition” wherein each student could express their specific, individual want for food on campus. Students said they wanted to see, “FRESH greens!” “More local options on campus,” “HAPPY BACON!” and “…for the food I HAVE to buy on campus to better reflect what I would choose to buy as an individual consumer off campus,” among other requests. Throughout the year, student leaders at UW and PSFN’s Emma Brewster, who’s serving as a Regional Field Organizer for the Real Food Challenge as part of her AmeriCorps term of service with NABC, will work with these students to voice their demands to university Housing and Food Services, and work with HFS to move UW forward in the quest for Real Food on campus.

Interested students were also asked to sign an endorsement of the Real Food Challenge Campus Commitment, hot off the presses and officially released nationally on Food Day itself! The Campus Commitment, when signed by a university president (as has been done by St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota already!) affirms a school’s commitment to Real Food through the creation of campus food systems working group, the drafting of a campus food policy, and a pledge to purchase 20% Real Food annually for campus eateries by 2020. If all target school achieve this goal, the Real Food Challenge will move 1 Billion dollars of campus food expenditure to food produced locally and in ecologically sound, fair and just, and humane ways by 2020. On Monday, dozens of students signed their support for this commitment to be adopted at UW.

On Monday evening, in concert with a campus-wide sustainability summit, Real Food Challenge students co-hosted a Food Day film screening of the Seattle-based films Carbon Nation and Unwasted and through an intersession discussion tied the issues of climate change and environmental degradation depicted in the films to direct remedial Real Food action on campus. PSFN also provided samples of local, ‘real’ snacks from PSFN members for this movie event. More films will be shown throughout this week for the campus sustainability summit, and Real Food Challenge UW intends to attend those events and introduce Real Food campus sustainability priorities to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn who will attend a film screening on Thursday.

What a week! We’re so glad to be connected with such passionate students who won’t rest (literally – they got 3 hours of sleep Sunday night preparing for these events!) until their campus purchases and serves food responsibly grown in Northwest Washington. Check out Real Food Challenge Northwest on Facebook for updates about ongoing Food Day events at Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, Washington State University, Everett Community College, Gonzaga University, Whitman College, and Eastern Washington University. All these schools have committed students working for Real Food on their campus.

Not bad for a first go, Food Day! We’re already looking forward to the 2nd annual National Food Day in 2012!

Posted by Emma Brewster on October 26th, 2011

Seattle Tilth Farm Works Open House

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Seattle Tilth Farm Works Open House on October 22, 2011

By Lucy Norris, PSFN Project Manager

This morning I attended Seattle Tilth Farm Works Open House. It was a dark and rainy morning but the last few miles of pavement leading towards the farm was beautifully framed by yellow and orange foliage. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see Mt. Rainier but on a sunny day the farm boasts a spectacular mountain view. Regardless, I was happy to be there.

Established in 1978, Seattle Tilth is a local nonprofit best known for it’s organic gardening education programs. Farmer education is new territory for Seattle Tilth. In fact, it was Burst for Prosperity who piloted the farm program in 2009 and then passed the reigns to Seattle Tilth in 2010. Under the leadership of Seattle Tilth, a true farm incubator program is thriving. Seattle Tilth Farm Works currently operates in Auburn, WA (on land owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation) and it’s where participating farmers comprised of Somali Bantu immigrants “learn how to operate a small farm by actually operating the farm” in a supportive, low risk environment. First year farmers are given access to small plots of about 1/4 acre that can increase during their time in the program based upon demonstrated competency and improvement. The goal is to help refugees, immigrants and other low-income individuals create a better life for themselves through their own farm enterprise. In turn, the foods they grow are marketed locally, increasing healthy food access in their own communities.

Program Manager Eddie Hill guides a farm tour starting at the well.

Program Manager Eddie Hill guided a tour of the farm and explained how the land was previously used as a dairy farm. It took only a hundred days – thanks to a host of farms like Full Circle, compost supplier Cedar Grove Composting and community volunteers (even the Seattle Sounders soccer team!)- to prepare the farm incubator site to be suitable for program participants to grow their first crops in time for summer market season. They grew a variety of gorgeous vegetables like beets, broccoli, romanesco (an Italian heirloom), turnips, cabbage, lettuce, and cauliflower. Recently they sold two goats, the first animals to be raised and sold from the farm.

Seattle Tilth Farm Works in Auburn, WA

This year’s list of buyers was impressive! This summer’s produce was sold at Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market, Highline Community College, Puget Consumer’s Co-op, Central Co-op, a handful of South King County restaurants and smaller grocery stores. They are also selling to Grand Central Baking Co (also a member of PSFN) who turn seasonal produce into delectable and savory pastries. Farm Manager Micah Anderson even participated in the Seattle Wholesale Market that PSFN held in the parking lot of the Mt Zion Baptist Church last August. Seattle Tilth Farm Works joined PSFN in March 2011.

Standing in the rain, Ramadan (from Fatima Farms- a program participant) is holding a fresh-picked turnip

Seattle Tilth’s Executive Director, Andrea Dwyer also announced that Seattle Tilth Farm Works was recently awarded a three-year Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development grant from United States Department of Agriculture for $483,160 to continue their work with refugee, immigrant and other socially-disadvantaged farmers to help them create viable agricultural enterprises growing and selling mixed vegetables and small livestock. PSFN congratulates Seattle Tilth Farm Works for a wonderful year, and we look forward to seeing more great work from them in year’s to come.

Carol Gregory of Burst for Prosperity talks with Ron Harris-White of Seattle Parks and Recreation

For inquiries about the farm or products, please contact Micah Anderson micahanderson@seattletilth.org or call (206) 633-0451 ext. 120. The farm is also accepting applications for farm interns (boarding is included) as well as next year’s round of farm participants. For more information please visit: http://seattletilth.org/about/farmincubatorprogram

Micah Anderson and farmers from the Seattle Tilth Farm Works program show off their fresh chard and collards

Posted by Lucy Norris on October 23rd, 2011

Week-long Cider Production Workshop A Big Hit!

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Last week, PSFN’s Parent organization, the Northwest Agriculture Businesses Center (NABC), held its Hard Cider Production & Orchard Management course! Hosted by the WSU-Mount Vernon Research Center, the class was split into the two phases of cider production: orchard management and cider production itself.

Gary Moulton teaching course participants grafting techniques at the Red Barn Cidery orchard

The Orchard Management and Cider Fruit Production course was taught by Gary Moulton of Washington State University. Gary is an orchardist and cider production expert and has been working in the field for decades. The topics discussed in this hands-on course included soil quality, orchard layout, rootstock selection, variety selection, pollinators, irrigation, pruning, thinning, pest management, harvest methods, and grafting techniques.

The hands-on class then led the students down the road to the Red Barn Cidery. Gary Moulton and Drew Zimmermen (owner) gave the students a detailed tour of the cider orchard and processing facility. After a hard day’s work, the students and instructors kicked back and relaxed in the beautiful Red Barn tasting room. Talk about perks of the trade – a post-class happy hour doesn’t get much more convenient than that!

Practical Production of Cider and Perry students learning how to titrate

For the remainder of the week, focus shifted to cider production in a week-long course, Cider Making: Principals & Practices taught by cider production expert Peter Mitchell. The first part of the class focused on giving participants a broad appreciation for cider and taught the tenets of cider and perry production. Then things got a lot more in depth… Students were granted access the experimental cider lab of the WSU-Mount Vernon Research Center. In the lab, students were taught how to test the chemical properties of their cider and were given the opportunity to create their own cider recipes with the advice of Mr. Mitchell.

On Friday, the final day of the course, class was held at La Conner Flats! Members of the local agriculture and cider community were invited for a lunch time cider networking event. These community members were able to critique ciders made by class participants and offer valuable feedback, support, and advice.

What a great week! The Cider Principals & Production class will be held again if we can muster enough interest. Contact Ann Leason with any questions about future cider classes: ann@psfn.org / (360) 336-3666.

For more photos of the cider production classes, visit our Facebook Page!

Posted by Emma Brewster on July 7th, 2011

PSFN Member Helps Provide Crucial Summer Nutrition to Kids!

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This Saturday, the City of Seattle kicked off its Summer Food Service Program for Seattle children. The program helps ensure recipients of free or reduced-price school lunches have access to nutritious daily meals when school is not in session over the summer months. This year, PSFN Member Maltby Produce is selling fresh produce to the program.

PSFN is ecstatic to be part of Seattle Human Services Department’s Kids and Teens Eat Free Summer Food Service Program. The program, beginning today and running through Friday, August 26, provides free breakfasts, lunches and snacks for children and youth aged 1 – 18. The meals are served to children at 90 approved sites throughout the city where at least half the children are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches. Sites include designated community centers, Seattle park playgrounds, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and YWCAs, and other community sites throughout Seattle and parts of King County.

: Samples of the produce bags to be included in this year’s Summer Food Service Program. Community guests were able to take these home!

In addition to daily packaged meals and snacks, participating children will have access to free bags of fresh produce to bring home to their families weekly. The fresh produce bags are an exciting addition to the meal program this year. Because of City of Seattle partnerships made through the Farm to Table project this year, PSFN was chosen to coordinate the produce bag pilot. PSFN’s Karen Mauden and Lucy Norris visited over five serious farm candidates for the program, interviewing only PSFN members. Based on highly competitive selection screening criteria given to us by the City of Seattle, we chose
Maltby Produce/Marshland Orchards as the exclusive local produce grower for this groundbreaking program and we’re confident they will do an exceptional job! Maltby will be selling fresh fruits and vegetables to fill 8000 bags to be distributed among participating children at meal sites over the course of the 2-month program. We hope this will lead to more opportunities for local farms to connect with schools and other city feeding programs in the future.

The Seattle Summer Food Service Program is funded by a $225,000 Walmart Foundation grant. The grant is part of a larger 25 million dollar project to support summer learning programs, nutritious food access and job opportunities for kids and teens over the summer. Through this summer giving initiative, Walmart will feed 8 million nutritious meals to more than 85,000 kids, help 20,000 students enroll in summer learning programs and provide jobs and training to 5,000 youth. This 25 million dollar project is itself part of a broader Walmart commitment promising two billion dollars to help fight hunger in America. Walmart has committed to help areas where federal, state, or other government funding for healthy food access has been cut.

: Natalie Thomson of Seattle Human Services Early Learning and Family Support (ELFS) division, Carol Cartmell, nutritionist for the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Maltby Produce’s Marijke Postema, and PSFN’s Lucy Norris.

On Saturday, Seattle Human Services was joined by PSFN, Maltby Produce, Walmart Foundation representatives and community guests at the New Holly Gathering Hall in Southeast Seattle to kick-off the program! Key speakers included State Representative Eric Pettigrew representing Washington’s 37th Legislative District (South/southeast Seattle area), and U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott. McDermott, a child psychologist as well as politician and a known champion of poverty issues, spoke about how eating well consistently is crucial for children’s proper development, allowing kids to reach their full potential. Human Services Director Danette Smith agreed, saying, “When it comes to our kids, we must do everything possible to provide them the nutrition needed to be healthy, active and ready for the future.”

An interesting facet of the program is the integration of eating, learning, and physical activity. Seattle Human Services Director Danette Smith emphasized the importance of connecting kids to meals and to educational programming over the summer break so that “they may gain, not lose, nutrition and learning opportunities over the summer months.”

Emphasizing this marriage of healthy eating and learning, the launch event included a diverse array of performances and activities. Seattle Parks and Recreation sponsored a performance by the Adefua African Music and Dance Company which offered a rhythm of welcoming and a rhythm of healing for the community members at the gathering. This group will offer free African music, dance, and language education for kids at Othello Park over the summer. City volunteers read the book, From Head to Toe by Eric Carle in both English and Somali. The book encourages children to move different parts of their bodies, and builds confidence in children’s physical abilities by repeating, “yes, I can!” There was also a performance of Mexican music, and dance performance by the Union Gospel Mission’s Youth Dance Troupe! Tabling organizations offered books and information on summer reading programs for kids, free blood pressure tests, and nutrition information from families. Continuing this tie between healthy eating/active living and summer education, as part of the Summer Food Service Program the Seattle Public Library will provide fun and educational programming in conjunction with the feeding program (such as story times in five different languages!) as well as provide free books for children at story time sites.

PSFN Project Manager, Lucy Norris, and Maltby Produce’s Marijke Postema and her husband, John, spoke at the kick-off, expressing their excitement about their business’ involvement in this important summer program. Maltby Produce brought beautiful produce displays including samples of the produce bags which will be distributed through the program. They also provided case loads of beautiful, fresh veggie snacks for the event including baby cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and broccoli for munching on! It was a riot to watch skeptical tots take bites out of rainbow carrots with the tops still on– they were a big hit! Maltby Produce and PSFN are really excited to play a role in introducing new and exciting fresh fruits and vegetables to children and families in need in our community!

This program is a real win-win for Seattle children and Maltby Produce (and all local producers!). It goes to show that connecting fresh, healthful foods with children and families in need is a viable and exciting market opportunity for small- and mid-sized local producers! As PSFN’s Lucy Norris said,

There is ripe opportunity for PSFN to continue working within our region to build a self-sustaining food system that mobilizes businesses and institutions, aids underserved communities and increases the profitability of farmers in Northwest Washington. Opportunities like the Summer Feeding Program led by the City of Seattle can serve as an example for other communities within the region and other parts of the United States.

We’re so pleased to be able to be a part of this exciting program. Stay tuned for updates on the project and photos of some of the first produce deliveries!

For more pictures of this weekend’s program launch, visit our Facebook Page
Komo 4 News coverage of the launch: http://rainiervalley.komonews.com/news/parents-kids/special-summer-program-keeps-kids-going-hungry/649299
City of Seattle Press Release: http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=11854&Dept=21

For more information or to find out where a child you know can receive summer meals, contact Javier Pulido, Program Coordinator, Human Services Department, at 206-386-1140 or javier.pulido@seattle.gov.

Posted by Emma Brewster on June 27th, 2011

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn Pays Farm to Table Partners Another Visit!

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Yesterday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn paid PSFN’s Farm to Table project partners his second visit this year! Mayor McGinn dropped by Beacon Hill Community Day School (of the Community Day School Association [CDSA], an Early Learning and Family Support [ELFS] ECEAP subsidized child care center), to witness the site’s third Farm to Table delivery of fresh produce from Full Circle. The Mayor first honored PSFN when he paid a lunchtime visit to a F2T senior center with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Kathleen Merrigan in early March.

Full Circle made the delivery of 5lbs of red radishes, 3lbs of salad mix, 3lbs of baby chard mix, 4lbs of baby arugula, and 1 case of baby mixed lettuce at 7:40 am. All of the produced was purchased – no donations here!

The students, a little perplexed by all the hubbub, asked, “What are all these people doing here?” After recognizing the Mayor, Chloe, one of the CDSA children commented, “I’ve got him on my radio in my car!” The students were excited to see Full Circle farmers Bill and Sabrina again, saying, “They’re ba-ack!” After a previous Full Circle visit, the children helped to make a cookbook, which they proudly showed Mayor McGinn yesterday.

The Mayor also took questions from the children including some about his favorite veggies. While he said it was hard to pick just one, some of his favorites include beans, kale, and tomatoes. He also mentioned that as a child in a family of six with a mother who was a teacher by trade, he was exposed to cooking at a young age, a hobby he still enjoys today. Another question came from a child who wanted to know if he was allowed to eat pie. Mayor McGinn replied that he also loved pie, especially when made with delicious fresh fruit! And that pie was ok every now and then as a special treat but probably not every day. …Wise words!

During the visit, Feng, the child center’s cook, used the produce to prepare the students’ morning snack: mini quiches with chard, accompanied by fruit and English muffins. The afternoon snack later included the radishes from that morning’s delivery. Ever tried radish chips? Yum! The children helped prepare their own snack by helping with slicing and baking!

ELFS launched its child care F2T pilot project March 23. Even though the child care sites began their pilot several months after senior center partners Senior Services, Catholic Community Services, and Chicken Soup Brigade began theirs, ELFS sites already account for over a third of all Farm to Table purchases. In addition, the ELFS sites have ordered 100% organic produce! An unexpected (and thrilling!) success of the pilot project is that several families of children who attend Beacon Hill CDSA have subscribed to Full Circle’s CSA program (as have some staff members of the center!), committing to receive a weekly box of fresh, whole, organic produce for their own homes!

Following the delivery, PSFN Project Manger Lucy Norris was invited to Rainier Community Center to participate in an exclusive roundtable discussion with the Mayor and King County Public Health regarding the City’s partnership with the federal Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant program which funds the Farm to Table Project. We appreciated this opportunity to meet with Mayor McGinn, Seattle & King County Public Health, industry reps and key individuals involved in CPPW Healthy Eating Active Living projects to discuss opportunities and challenges inherent to increasing healthy food access for lower-income communities. Jerry DeGrieck, Seattle’s Department of Human Services highlighted the Farm to Table project, specifically noting PSFN’s efforts in creating viable market opportunities for local farms to sell fresh produce directly to institutions which provide meals to children and senior citizens in underserved neighborhoods.
Working with ELFS and other city child care agencies has been a joy for PSFN. We hope to soon help launch a second child care pilot project connecting locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables with home-based (residential) childcare providers in underserved neighborhoods. ELFS and the King County housing Authority will be project partners.

Congratulations to all Farm to Table partners on yesterday’s success! For more photos of yesterday’s Mayoral visit, check out our Facebook page.

Posted by Emma Brewster on June 17th, 2011

Farm to Table Update: Early Learning and School Aged Community Make Leaps and Bounds!

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Preschoolers at Beacon Hill Community Day School with their first F2T delivery from Full Circle!

The Farm to Table (F2T) pilot project among the early learning, child care, and school age community launched in late March and we’re so proud of, and impressed by, their progress so far! Only two months into the eight-month pilot, half of the sites have already ordered through F2T, and some have made repeat purchases. This progress is especially impressive due to the relative dearth of products available in our region in early spring! This early progress bodes well for the purchasing relationships between the sites and the farms for the long term, which we hope will self-sustain after the conclusion of the pilot project in November.

Even though the early learning F2T partners launched their pilot project well after that of PSFN’s senior meal program partners, early learning sites account for over a third of all Farm to Table purchases so far!

The media have been especially interested in the child care pilot. Two stories on Farm to Table have aired on the radio so far, one on the very first F2T delivery to a preschool by Martha Baskin of Green Acre Radio, KBCS (Listen to the broadcast here) and one by Charla Bear of KPLU (Listen to the broadcast here).

Up until now the early learning sites have been purchasing exclusively from PSFN Member Full Circle because of their ability to reliably produce affordable products year-round. Now that spring is finally upon us, we’re pleased to soon be able to expand the schools’ choices by welcoming PSFN Member 21 Acres Farm in Woodinville to the child care program! 21 Acres and its manager, Rosy Smit, have been fantastic F2T partners for the senior meal programs (they made the very first F2T delivery to Chicken Soup Brigade in January and hosted a field trip for F2T Partners from city agencies in March) and we’re so excited to work with them again this season! We hope to bring seniors, preschoolers, and their respective foodservice professionals alike to 21 Acres to experience where their new, local food through F2T is coming from!

We’re so excited by the early learning pilot project! Check out these pictures of F2T successes at ECEAP Preschools operated through Seattle Human Services Department’s division of Early Learning and Family Support (ELFS):

The Refugee and Immigrant Family Center, an ELFS site, receives its first delivery of Farm to Table produce from Full Circle!

PSFN's Farm to Table Coordinator, Karen Mauden, goes over the invoice for the purchased produce with Cheryl, the center's cook.

Beautiful, organic braising mix from Full Circle. The Refugee and Immigrant Family Center feeds nearly 100 children ages 3 and 4 every day!

To correspond with menu changes, many preschools have adapted their curriculum to incorporate lessons on vegetables and gardening. Here, children sing a song about growing and eating vegetables

Teachers help students safely prepare raw vegetables, a new experience for many!

Many sites encourage students to get to know the produce by feeling, smelling, and (finally!) tasting it

On Wednesday, June 1, all the ELFS providers were called together once more for a check in meeting. Everything is operated splendidly, they say! We to see some more F2T produce orders soon, now that the weather is finally clearing up, making spring produce available!

The meeting also doubled as a training session and the providers learned how to prepare healthful mini pizzas packed with veggies! Trainer Leika Suzumura of Community Kitchens Northwest and PCC Natural Markets gave a very thorough and down-to-earth lesson on preparing healthy foods for kids. Who better than a nutritionist, expert on local organic foods, former pre-school cook, and a mom to give such a lesson? Leika pointed out a simple but sometimes forgotten fact: nutritious foods don’t do anyone any good unless they actually get into bellies! That’s why she suggests adding more nutrition to what you already eat – like pizza for kids – instead of making dramatic changes to your menus or diets! This is similar to what PSFN member Clayton Boroughs of Growing Washington once said, “Start small, but start something!” This saying has become a favorite and inspiring adage around the PSFN offices, and we’re glad Leika feels the same way!

Leika Suzumura of Community Kitchens and PCC Natural Markets shows ELFS providers how to cut kale so finely it can easily blend in with pizza sauce

The Early Learning providers try their hand at slicing and dicing pizza veggies.

Mushrooms and fresh basil? Yes, please! Catherine (rear) was the first ELFS provider to order fresh veggies through F2T for her site, Prospect Enrichment Preschool

Leika chose to teach the providers how to make pizzas because they're quick, it's easy to load up the sauce with nutritious veggies, and, of course, because kids love pizza!

PCC donated a bag of all the fresh produce needed for the pizza recipe to each site in attendence! Leika shows the ELFS providers how she judges nutritional balance in a meal based on the diversity of colors present

What a great group! We're so lucky to work with such enthusiastic and lively group!

For more photos of these events, visit our Facebook page!

Posted by Emma Brewster on June 3rd, 2011

Farm to Table (F2T) Makes its 1st Child Care Delivery!

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Only three weeks after the launch of the F2T Child Care Pilot through the City of Seattle’s Early Learning and Family Support (ELFS) division, PSFN has coordinated the first ELFS F2T delivery! Prospect Enrichment Preschool, an Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) was the first ELFS site to make an order and PSFN’s F2T Team was on site Tuesday when they received their first delivery. Congratulations to Prospect Director, Katherine Carlyle for setting the bar so high so early!

The preschool purchased red potatoes, white turnips, kale, braising mix, kale raab, and radishes from F2T Producer Partner, Full Circle. Despite the recent floods in the Snoqualmie River Valley, Full Circle has remained a consistent F2T partner and was able to fulfill this exciting first ELFS F2T order! Prospect’s chef, Scully, prepared the produce that day. The students dined on braised greens, kale chips, and roasted red potatoes – yum! Scully says the school is lucky to have students with such “sophisticated pallets” at age three.

PSFN and the F2T Partnership were lucky to have Martha Baskin of Green Acre Radio (KBCS/91.3FM) present to record the delivery. Martha’s radio feature on this first and very exciting ELFS F2T delivery will air TODAY, Thursday, April 14 at 4:40 PM on KBCS/91.3FM and again on Friday at 7:45 AM and 2:00 PM. It will also be picked up by other Northwest Community Radio stations – KUGS in Bellingham and KSVR in Lynnwood. The seattlepostglobe.com and crosscut.com will also post the transcript.

Check out these great pictures from the delivery:

Bill Brown of Full Circle helps unload the 1st F2T delivery to an ELFS site!

Bill Brown and Prospect Director, Katherine Carlyle, check out the produce

Bill introduces Prospect students to white turnips

Prospect students explore Full Circle’s box of mysterious veggies

The students were great sports and tried lots of raw kale (with mostly rave reviews)!

Bill Brown looks over red potatoes with Prospect’s chef, Scully

Gang’s all here! Full Circle’s Sabrina Wilz looks on as Chef Scully, Bill Brown, and ELFS’ CPPW Project Coordinator, Natalie Thomson, look over the produce

Inspired by the new foods, one student painted a picture of a garden

Excited by the F2T delivery, Prospect teachers integrated lessons on seeds, plants, and gardening

A Prospect teacher helps students plant seeds to grow their own vegetables!

So far, working with the ELFS F2T Child Care pilot has been nothing but fun, and we can’t wait to see more orders come through from more child care sites. Be sure to catch the radio spot TODAY at 4:40 on KBCS/91.3FM!

Posted by Emma Brewster on April 14th, 2011