Working group meeting

Posted on June 13, 2012 by

The Communications working group (John G., Tina and Gabor) had a very energetic meeting on June 13th to plan the Internet presence of the ‘All Things Local store’ (ATL) project. Here is what we discussed:

The project will be documented on the Transition Amherst website, as we mutually want to support each other in our goals, since they are similar: to make our community more resilient, food or otherwise. But the project would get a larger representation than just this single blog page, with information on static pages, a facebook page and ways to sign up. Our names below represent who does what. All content will be sent to gaborzol at gmail dot com, so Gabor can update the site with the changes.

Under Projects we would have a description/summary page (Tina) and several sub-pages under that, for example about:

  • Who are we (working groups, task teams, advisors) (John)
  • Timeline (history and future) (Tina)
  • Collaborators (check with them first) (Tina)
  • Resources (Local roots documents, other info) (John)
  • Links (Blogs, external info on Co-operatives, etc.) (John, Gabor)

We also would have ways to get involved (signup for mailing list) (Tina, Gabor)
A facebook page (Emily could work on that?)
A little box announcing the next event (Gabor)
All activities announced on the calendar (everyone)
These pages/locations would be linked from other appropriate pages (Tina, Gabor).

Monitor the rest of this site for these changes in the near future!

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Meeting: Growing food in Community

Posted on June 12, 2012 by

Amherst Growing Food in Community Meeting
Amherst Town Hall
June 7, 2012

(Pdf version)

Who is in the room and what is your interest?
Betsy Krogh – growing at home since the early 70’s including an edible forest garden, root
cellar, canning and drying, neighbors sharing eggs, expand the community gardens
Molly F alsetti-Yu – part of Transitions Amherst, teach at Smith, encourage students
Kathleen Doherty – UMass Permaculture, worked with Northampton to produce a
brochure on how to create a permaculture garden, more accessible to non-homeowners
Michelle Chandler – specialty micro-farm, hens and rabbits, Master Gardener, all about
growing food, canning
John Root – gardening for years, permaculture, working at Triple Brook, Earthwise
Landscaping is a new business, chair of refuse and recycling committee, need to compost
Julie Federman – Health Director, 5-year community transformation grant called “healthy
hampshire” looking at high rates of obesity, food and fitness at the policy level, how to
promote community gardens or local store, making food part of the local landscape
Valerie Cooley – teaches policy, knows food policy, students coming to home, social
entrepreneurship training, micro-agribusiness incubator
Bill Cooley – North Amherst, property which is overgrown, interest in bees and chickens
with neighbors, makes beer and mead, permaculture ideas into zoning, working with
Stockbridge students
Bernard Brennan – Amethyst Farm, Ag Commission, Transition Amherst, Master
Gardener, horses, bees, goats, maybe a cow, CSA member, grow community, host a CSA
and farmer training program, large herb garden, edible forest garden
Mona Naimark – Transition Amherst, compost toilets, yes I care, we are all needed
Sue Morrello – gardening in public spaces, apartments need public space, grow food
everywhere programs
Stephanie Ciccarello – Town Sustainability Coordinator, new position, town is supportive
of green issues and energy conservation, growing more food is important, students need
to be encouraged to grow food, education is needed
John Gerber – I would like to be a cheerleader for all of these wonderful ideas
Wide Ranging Discussion: Conservation Department manages community gardens and
it has been difficult to maintain, there are different models for manages community
gardens, clearing house or inventory to identify land opportunities for sharing space and
ideas, help people figure out how to share space with their neighbors, Gardening in
Community and garden together rather than dividing up plots works because it was
focused on social gathering and learning, community garden at the Survival Center, bread
and other food from the Survival Center to raise animals, Cambodian gardeners need
space, focus on different populations, shared kitchens for teaching workshops especially
connecting with the faith community – this will keep costs down, network to connect
people, yahoo group or phone number to call to connect people who want to plant with
land, growers dating service, gardensharing, online gardening clearinghouse, connect to
libraries, hyper-locavore, yardsharing, sharing backyards, perennial food gardens at
schools lower maintenance costs, is there a place to store equipment, tool library, seed
library, outreach to colleges, wish list on town web site, connection with ag school, does
the business school provide opportunities for students to gain experience, lets focus on
hunger, lets feed the hungry, Rachels Kitchen for gleaning, glean orchards, and more.

Some Specific Ideas
 canning workshops
 edible landscape trees in town
 shade tree committee for gardening
 neighborhood experiments
 town farm
 town gardens
 gardening in community (work together)
 wish list on town web site
 community farm
 grow food and grow community
 Transitions Amherst event
 skill sharing open mike
 gleaning events
 Portland Fruit Tree Project (gleaning for the hungry)
 database connecting people
 work with Stockbridge students on town projects
 tool registry – by neighborhood
 nut trees at the Survival Center
 town and gown relations
 block party in fall with Alex and the BID
 engaging students
 educational event in the fall with Kathy Harrison
 permaculture brochure (like Northampton)

Next Steps
1. Stephanie will facilitate the next meeting on July 11 at 10:00am
2. We will invite others to the next meeting
3. We will identify 3 top ideas and form working groups to take action
Finally
Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts and passion around growing food in
community in Amherst . Attending this meeting is not a commitment to continue to
engage in this conversation. Everyone is busy. However, we do hope you will continue
to share your time and energy to the best of your ability.
Thank you.

Attending
Betsy Krough
Molly Falsetti-Yu
Kathleen Doherty
John Root
Julie Federman
Valerie Cooley
Bill Cooley
Michelle Chandler
Bernard Brennan
Mona Namark
Sue Morrello
Stephanie Ciccarello
John Gerber

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Half-day schedule for the event

Posted on June 12, 2012 by

Emily reworked the schedule for the Great Celebration:

Condensed Timeline for the Great Celebration Event

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The State of Biking

Posted on June 8, 2012 by

Along with the additional pictures I talked about last time, I thought I mention some more things about the bike week or about biking in general.

To start with a line of invigorating data, Massachusetts ranked as the 3rd most bicycle-friendly state among the 50 states by the League of American Bicyclists, an advocacy and educational organization. This is dramatic improvement, as last year MA ranked the 9th place, and in 2010 it was on the 19th. I am happy about this trend, even though the changes are more tangible in the eastern part of the state, because as a European, I saw the positive influence the bicycle as a transportation tool had on our lives.

And not just as a transportation tool. Many events during the week in Amherst or in surrounding towns have grown to become associated with fun and joy. People smile a lot, and get engaged in lively conversations, bring up conversation lines they are really interested in, because they feel safer among people they perceive a common interest with in biking. And this is not only true in our area. The same goes for the Ciclovia events in larger cities and in around the world, during which some streets are closed off for car cross-traffic, and people on bicycles take over for a few hours, or for most of the day.

Why is this all that important, non only for bikers but for all of us? Because by living the way we are, especially in the United States, we use a lot of energy, and increasingly feel the negative side-effects of this, and that doesn’t make us all that happy any more. Energy is increasingly expensive, and we tend to have to bend over backward to make the needed funds up. That puts us into scarcity, where we have to think twice on what we spend our money on, after we paid for the essentials, like a place to live, utilities, transportation (car), food, and being connected (phone/Internet). Or even WHILE we are trying to pay for these essentials.

I have heard people mention their struggle with a lack of money in the face of overwhelming amount of expenses a lot more frequently, than I complain about not having a car or getting wet, cold or cut off by car-drivers on the road as I bike around. And having to scramble making ends meet sounds a lot more stressful, than being inconvenienced by the weather or by how our transportation system is set up, while I am on the road. Also, being cold or wet may make me stronger if I push myself to get somewhere a bit warmer and maybe even dryer, but lack of money tend to wear people down.

So this is very important, because it affects the people who live around me, my friends, as well as myself. I imagine a life where I am more in charge, as I can:

  • cover my expenses without having to give up most or all of my free time.
  • fix up the tools I use, instead of feeling intimidated by them.
  • travel around without being boxed in by one of those tools, made by a car company, who I know to be on my side only as long as I mean profit for them.
  • predict within reason when I reach my destination without getting stuck in traffic, being daunted by a mechanical problem that is totally over my head, or being monitored by the police on the road, who need to make up a certain quota each month.

So I am happy every time I am riding, regardless to the circumstances, because it takes me that much closer to a life I want to live.

Of course I still want to be able to do all the things I could with a car. There are only two areas which stand out: going far and fast, and carrying things. I am lucky enough to live in an area where I can get some help with the first from public transportation. And the second part is where cargo bicycles and bicycle trailers come in, of which you will hear more, reading this blog.

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Riding in the rain

Posted on June 3, 2012 by

I meant to put more pictures up about the bike week this week, as I have now many more of them, but I just had such a good ride on the Yuba Mundo, that I rather write about that.
This day (June 2nd) was going to be busy. I wanted to get to the Amherst Farmers Market in the morning, just before a trip to Henion Bakery, then rush to some three miles to the North Amherst Community Farm, for a workshop by John Roots that he titled Edible Wild Plant Walk. Then touch on another Farmers market in North Amherst where they sell butter, hard cheese and delicious ginger cookies, and then an open house by the same farm where the workshop above was held.

I got a cold a few days earlier, and Saturday was forecasted to be a heavily rainy day. Great, I thought behind my aching forehead sinuses, as I woke up in the morning hearing the rain come down outside the window. But such an interesting workshop is not frequent, so come what may come, I decided to go ahead with the plan.

At 9 I took the Mundo out to load with mugs and a plate for the bakery and a basket for the farmers market. Marianne sat on the back platform as usual for Saturdays, to start her work at 10 am. She likes the comfort, I like the feeling of a robust bike not flexing, not even a little bit, under our weight, for this short ride. The rain kept coming down, so I donned MuckMaster boots, rain pants, and a bright yellow biking rain jacket. I have to get something better for my head than the baseball hat I found – I only wear a helmet for commuting, but don’t wear it for running shorter errands – I know, I know…

Anyway both the downtown farmers market, and Henion bakery happened smoothly and easily and with comfort – plates, basket and all remained dry, as the Go-Getter bags coming with the Mundo keep the water out very well, and they are certainly large enough for a basket. Or for Marianne, if she preferred remaining dry to looking at the world passing by. Luckily my cold was a bit better than the previous day, so the workshop also seemed manageable as I slurped some hot tea with my cheese croissant inside the bakery.

As I left the bakery, it first was cold and wet, but after 10 minutes of riding in the heavy rain, I started to be happy for it. Both because it kept many cars driving slower or off the roads all together, and also because I could blow my nose without a handkerchief, and immediately have fairly clean fingers afterward. The hat held up well protecting my eyes from the rain, and I kept marveling how the raindrops gathered up on the smooth blue paint of the Mundo.

I arrived a few minutes late to the rain gear-clad group of twenty, where John was just about to start. Because of the rain we spent a bit more time inside the open barn seeing slides of wild edible plants, but we did go out on the walk for part of the time and became/remained plenty wet just the same. Several participants and farm workers asked about the bike, as it is a pretty impressive sight – especially with all the raindrops.

After the fascinating workshop, I headed to buy my butter and cookies, and decided to jump into the hardware store, while I was up in North Amherst, getting steel angle iron pieces and other things. The bike’s bag come with a space separator so I could keep my hardware and dishes in separate compartments, an extender, so I could load all the things into the bag, the flop is large enough so it covers the goods even when quite full, the whole think keeps its shape well and it has a clamp tie so I could easily mount the six-foot long angle irons onto the back platform.

What did I learn this trip:
* Summer rains seem scarier than they are, even if it is only 50 degrees.
* The importance of a double legged kickstand: Yuba makes one (it is being shipped to me already), but the temporary kickstand I have now didn’t hold up the bike straight enough with one bag loaded, and the heavy steel pieces on the top, so fastening them to the bike was a bit more challenging in the rain.
* The Mundo, as it comes, is best to be loaded. It is too light a bike for the gearing it has, thus I quickly run out of high gears, especially on any downhill or when I am rushing to get out of the rain.
* How much I love the robustness of this bike. It just works: The fenders keep me and the bike out of the mud, the bag is spacious and remains dry even in heavy rain, even the handlebar and the grips on it feel wider and gives a feeling of full control.

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More feedback from Local Roots in Ohio

Posted on June 3, 2012 by

At the first meeting on May 22 in Town Hall, about 75 people joined us to learn about food and craft coop in Ohio called Local Roots and to generate a list of questions to be answered at the next meeting.  About forty people attended the follow-up meeting on May 29 to form teams to work on different tasks.

Jessica Eikleberry, former Market Manager and still on the staff of Local Roots, and three producer members of the cooperative, shared stories and perspectives to give us a deeper understanding of how the market works.  Here are some of the questions and answers:

  • Did you consider what if any Fair Trade items to include (non-local, such as chocolate & coffee?)

We recently (this year) added some fair trade items to the market.  We (Local Roots) buys and resells at an approximately 35% mark up.  We do this to round out the product selection and be more of a one stop shop for customers.

  • How do you organize volunteers? How many do you have? What sort of business hours coverage do you fill with this help? How do you train them?

Our market manager does the organizing and training according to the needs of the market.  We found it is best to have recurring volunteers who have “jobs” that they are trained to do (be it cash register, cleaning, inventory, etc) who come at regular times.  We usually (try to) always have 1-2 in the market with the manager at all times to do the normal business or running the market (like cash register or setting up displays) under the direction of the manager which frees the manager up to do things like: talk with customers, producers, email, train new volunteers, etc.  We have about 130 hours a month for these sort of activities. 

Volunteers also do things like our newsletter, and all board members volunteer for projects as well (and sometimes recruit their own volunteers).

  • Do you, and if so how do you recruit volunteers? How do you assign them to tasks? How do you coordinate and schedule volunteers? Do you find you have times when volunteers aren’t available, or when you have too many?

We post needs in our newsletters and mass emails.  Many people actually come to us looking for opportunities.  We have found it is best to talk to the person first to see what their interest and needs are then try to match it with a “job”.

  • What is the maximum time a volunteer puts in? Pull-time, part-time? Minimum hours requested of volunteers?

It is 10 hrs/year to pay for your membership.  A few producers put in the minimum so they can sell with us.  Most people who volunteer do much more!  It is about being involved, not the hours.  We have several people who come 3 or so hours each week.

  • Are volunteers responsible for quality control? If not, who is?

The manager ultimately is responsible for what goes on in the market

  • Do you have a customer request box?

Yes, we have had customer request sheets, comment cards, etc.  We had a little trouble with customer requests because sometimes they would request things that were not legal (raw milk) or were not local, etc and then would be peeved that we did not come through!

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Another question that came up during our Town Hall meetings was “won’t All Things Local hurt sales at the downtown Saturday market during the summer?”  We have posted some thoughts and suggestions for your consideration here.

In addition to answering these questions, Jessica sent us background information on their management policies.  We’ve included these below:

  1. Information on membership in Local Roots
  2. Local Roots bylaws
  3. Guidelines and policies for producers
  4. Rules for selling in the market
  5. Guidelines for rental of market space
  6. Legal compliance by product
  7. General guidelines on how to choose products for the market

If you are willing to review any of these documents and tell us what you like about them and what you don’t, or have any questions or suggestions please either post your thought below of send send them to

allthingslocalamherst@gmail.com

Thank you for your continued interest in the creation of All Things Local in Amherst!

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Movie Night: The Farmer and the Horse

Posted on May 31, 2012 by

From award–‐winning journalist Jared Flesher comes The Farmer and the Horse, a film that digs into difficult questions about sustainability, self–‐sufficiency, and why we do the work we do. Flesher’s film goes beyond the usual platitudes of smiling organic farmers talking about the good life. Farming is hard work, especially if you don’t use a tractor.
Followed by Q&A with local farmers that use draft horse power.

We have a half-page flyer and a full-page flyer.

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New local-products market planned for Amherst

Posted on May 31, 2012 by
By Scott Merzbach                         06/01/2012         Published on GazetteNET (http://www.gazettenet.com)

Bernard Brennan and Tina Clarke speak about All Things Local at the Amherst Town Hall public meeting

A market that would provide space for all local growers, producers and craftspeople to sell items throughout the year is in its formative stage.

The idea of what is known as an “All Things Local” store is coming from a working group made up of members of Transition Amherst, an entity aimed at responding to climate change, rising energy prices and economic instability.

John Gerber, a professor at Stockbridge School of Agriculture and a member of the group, said two informational meetings at Town Hall have brought out more than 75 people, including small-scale farmers and those making products with local ingredients, who are interested in the idea.

“The hope is we get a lot of enthusiasm and build community partnerships,” Gerber said. “Without that, it won’t work.”

Organizers are hoping to follow a producer-consumer cooperative market model used by Local Roots in Wooster, Ohio, a store that has 800 members and 170 producers. The store would be similar to the weekly winters farms markets, which become social occasions where people can have a cup of coffee, pick up a supply of produce and listen to music, Gerber said.

In the meantime, an enterprise that has served a similar function, the Meadow Street Market, will come to an end Saturday after two years.

Joseph and Sarah Swartz, who have run this local food hub from the Big Blue Barn at their 11 Meadow St. farm, have announced plans to close, in part because of the time it takes to operate their farms, the Swartz Family Farm in North Amherst and Sky Farms in both Bronx, N.Y. and Brockton.

The two introductory meetings for All Things Local, held this week and last, can be seen as a “first date” to gauge interest, Gerber said.

“In order to provide enough customer base, there needs to be a commitment for enough vendors to make it worthwhile,” he said.

Organizers would like the store to be located in downtown Amherst. Gerber said committed volunteers will be needed; the Wooster store has just one full-time employee and one part-time worker despite being open six days a week.

The next steps will include forming subcommittees that can begin identifying potential space, talking to real estate agents, and then outlining the range of products that could be offered, from produce and meats to what Gerber calls the “silks and sweaters.”

The Swartzes say it is a good time to close their Meadow Street Market because of the support they are seeing for the All Things Local concept.

In a memo announcing their decision, the Swartzes wrote, “This new model offers the buying public the much-needed seven-day access to local food, as well as a cafe, education and a community space. At the same time it allows farmers the opportunity to have a supportive place to sell their goods while still being able to concentrate their efforts on full-time farming.”

The North Amherst farmers market began in the parking lot at Watroba’s in spring 2010 and moved to year-round at the Swartz farm last year, with about 14 vendors participating regularly.

The Swartzes’ announcement came after previous expansion plans were publicized, with Tuesday and Friday afternoons being added and an option for a Community Sustaining Agriculture pickup.

Gerber said he was sad to learn of the closing because the Swartzes didn’t require vendor participation every week, had children’s activities such as face painting, and chair massage and music for adults.

“Unlike the downtown market on Saturday morning, the Meadow Street Market was a place that encouraged small and start-up growers and crafters who might not have enough product to be there every week,” Gerber said.

The last market on Saturday runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature a book signing by Claire Hopley.

Gerber said some of the vendors who have participated at Meadow Street are now part of the Wednesday Market at Kendrick Park and also may see the All Things Local store as an outlet for their products year-round.

Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2011 All rights reserved

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For more information, see the All Things Local blog page or contact allthingslocalamherst@gmail.com to join the mailing list
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First meeting of All Things Local video

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

TO:  Friends of local food, crafts and homemade products…..

If you missed the first public meeting of All Things Local, the video is linked below.  Don’t forget to join us for our next planning meeting on:

Tuesday, May 29; 7:00-9:00pm in Amherst Town Hall

The market manager and several local farmers will be joining us by Skype to share their experiences starting the Local Roots Cooperative in Wooster, OH.

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Group process information

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

This blog is the home for skills, techniques, activities and practices to foster group collaboration.

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