Visiting farmer lecture at Clarkson

Clarkson University's Shipley Center for Innovation will host the first event of its new Visiting Farmer lecture series on Wednesday, May 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Petersen Board Room on the third floor of Bertrand H. Snell Hall (#20 on the map. All area farmers and the public are invited to attend.

Brian and Ann Bennett of Bittersweet Farms will present on farming in the North Country and ways to connect college students with farms to educate and benefit both. 

"We hope that this event jumpstarts communication and connections across disciplines in business, engineering, and our administration to drive interactions and create value that stays in our region," says Shipley Center Executive Director Matt Draper. "This series fits seamlessly into the Regional Economic Development Council’s focus on agribusiness as part of the $500 million statewide competition for 2015, but our bigger aim is to connect students, faculty, and stakeholders with farmers to keep wealth in the North Country." 

Clarkson through the Shipley Center for Innovation has developed a focus on regional farming through its work with Agbotic (a regional startup focused on advanced agricultural production equipment), Blue Sphere Industries (a startup founded by Clarkson students focused on closed environment high-rise farming), and this year’s sophomore honors class project, which focused on technology in regional farming. 

The impetus for the first lecture is the sophomore honors project on farmer outreach and the student’s desire to maintain the momentum of the project, which investigated ideas to make Clarkson University students a part of the area's farming community."

"We envision opportunities to connect not just technology but our business environmental/sustainability, and purchasing areas with local farmers in a number of areas," says Draper. "These include value-chain analysis, supply chain analysis, energy efficiency, sustainable farming, policy, food-to-table, marketing/branding and distribution.

"The May 13 session will identify additional areas of opportunity and will focus on how we can both formally and informally connect students and classroom experiences with regional farmers."

For more information, contact the Shipley Center for Innovation at 315-268-7610 or ShipleyCenter@clarkson.edu .

FOOD INSECURITY LINKED TO DEPRESSION, SLEEP PROBLEMS

The odds of depressive symptoms increase as the severity of food insecurity increases, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition that examined depression, food security, and SNAP participation status among 3,518 people with incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty level. Those who were very low food secure had 3 times greater odds of depression than those who were food secure. Though SNAP participants had a higher prevalence of depression, the odds of depression were lower for food-insecure SNAP participants than for food-insecure non-participants, which suggests SNAP may have a protective effect on mental health.

An article in the same issue of the Journal revealed that food insecurity is associated with poor sleep outcomes in adults. Very low food security was associated with sleeping half an hour less among women. The study authors found both men and women in households with very low food security were twice as likely to report sleep complaints to a health care professional, compared to food secure households.

Source: Food Research Action Center, 4/29/15, Food Insecurity & Mental Health

Food Bank helps local programs with a "garden in a bucket"

Yesterday, I posted about the Food Bank of Central New York's work to encourage gardening at local food pantries and community kitchens.  I was also intrigued to learn about this program for those programs that might not have room for a garden...

Garden in a Bucket is open to all Food Bank Partner Agency food pantries and soup kitchens interested in container gardening through our regular menu ordering system.

Here’s how it works:

• Each agency that is interested in receiving the Garden in a Bucket program will order a Garden in a Bucket Kit through the regular ordering system at any time during the year!
• Each Garden in a Bucket kit will contain 20 drilled buckets, 20 seed packets or seedlings, and instruction handouts.
• The gardening kits will be delivered to agencies with regular deliveries.
• The agency will be responsible for finding a soil donation or purchasing 6-8 bags of topsoil. If a topsoil purchase is necessary, the cost will be reimbursed at a maximum of $20.00 by the Food Bank once per year. 
• The bucket gardens will be planted at the local agency. The agency can plant the buckets on their own, recruit a local volunteer group or request assistance with finding a volunteer group from the Food Bank.
• Each food pantry and soup kitchen will be eligible for two kits per order.
• Garden in a Bucket can be done across the growing season and a variety of fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers.

See the planting suggestions below for suggestions of what to plant May through August.

• After last frost in May: bean seeds, beet seeds, broccoli seedlings, carrot seeds, lettuce seedlings, kale seeds, radish seeds, spinach seeds
• June: eggplant seedlings, herb seedlings, tomato seedlings, pepper seedlings, onion seedlings
• End of July: kale seeds, lettuce seeds, radish seeds, spinach seeds
• Middle of August: beet seeds, broccoli seedlings, carrot seeds, lettuce seedlings, turnip seeds 

STUDENTS ARE GETTING HEALTHIER SCHOOL LUNCHES

Elementary schools have improved school lunches consistently since 2006, and the trend has continued throughout implementation of USDA’s new national standards for school meals, updated to align with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A new study shows more schools are offering healthier items, and fewer schools are offering unhealthier items.  Schools have increased or maintained the amount and variety of fresh fruits and vegetables they offer. Other studies have shown that the new standards have resulted in students selecting and eating more fruit, and throwing away less food than before the changes.

Source: Bridging the Gap, 4/15, School Lunch

FOOD BANK GARDEN GRANTS STILL AVAILABLE

It was good to learn today about how the food bank that serves our area promotes growing fresh food for distribution to people in need...

The Food Bank of Central New York has Garden Grant awards available of $250 each. Grants will be awarded to local food pantries or community kitchens that are already food bank partners and that do not currently have a “growing food” garden, or would like to expand  their current garden.

Awards will be allocated to partner agencies on a first come first served basis. It is a rolling application process which means there is no deadline to apply. Agencies will have to meet the criteria outlined in the application and provide all the information to receive the award. 

The application can be accessed on the Food Bank website under Get Help/Community Services/Garden Grant. Applications being accepted all year allows for spring, summer or fall garden installations, meaning your edible garden can be planted and grown all throughout the year.

10 MILLION SENIORS FACE HUNGER

Nearly 10 million seniors faced the threat of hunger in 2013, that’s 15.5% of Americans age 60 and over. Between 2007 and 2013, the number of seniors experiencing the threat of hunger has increased by 56%. Seniors living in the South and Southwest, those who are racial or ethnic minorities, those with lower incomes, and those who are younger (ages 60-69) are most likely to be threatened by hunger. Most of those seniors who face the threat of hunger are white and have incomes above the poverty line.

Source: National Foundation to End Senior Hunger, 4/23/15, Senior Hunger

SNAP EFFECTIVENESS

SNAP is the nation’s first line of defense against food insecurity and undernutrition. A number of studies released within the past year demonstrate the program’s effectiveness in improving food security and health among participants. One such study found that participating in SNAP for six months reduced the percentage of SNAP households that were food-insecure by up to 17%. In addition, USDA has released a number of reports which reinforce earlier evidence that SNAP reaches those most in need of food assistance in our country, including children, the elderly, people with disabilities, those who are very poor, and working adults struggling to make ends meet. A new issue brief describes these recent findings on participant characteristics, and the associations between SNAP and food security and health.

Source: Food Research Action Center, 4/29/15, SNAP Works