SNAP TO HEALTH WEBSITE RELAUNCHES

snaptohealth, a virtual town hall that provides information on SNAP now also includes resources on WIC. The website is a one-stop-shop for a wealth of resources and interactive tools for the two programs, including the latest nutrition news, informative blog posts, meal recipes, discussion forums, policy reports, and links to thousands of nutrition resources. The new website is mobile and tablet compatible to help better reach low-income populations who overwhelmingly access the internet via mobile devices.

Source: PRweb, 12/20/16, SNAP to Health

SOME STATES WANT TO RESTRICT SNAP PURCHASES

Officials in Arkansas and Maine are gearing up to ask the Trump administration for permission to impose new restrictions on what SNAP dollars can buy. Maine Health and Human Services commissioner Mary Mayhew intends to submit paperwork to the USDA desk as soon as Trump takes power, she told the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal. The proposal is likely to reflect Gov. Paul LePage’s (R) previous attempts to enact such rules, which would have barred SNAP dollars from being used to purchase any grocery item that’s subject to state sales tax, such as granola bars, trail mix, shelled nuts, and deli-made potato salad. Republican lawmakers in Arkansas have filed legislation that would ban products not approved for the separate, dietarily specific WIC program that supplements food budgets for low-income mothers.

Source: Think Progress, 1/4/17, SNAP Restrictions Looming

Shiitake mushroom workshop coming up

The Cornell Small Farms Program is offering a one-day workshop on Sunday, January 29 titled, "Log-Grown Shiitake: Viability for Small Farms" at the Paul Smith's College VIC in Paul Smiths, NY, co-sponsored by Franklin County Cooperative Extension.

The cultivation of shiitake offers farmers and woodlot owners a good opportunity to utilize their forested lands while turning a profit.

Anyone who a resident of New York State and growing commercially, starting up, or considering commercial production is welcome to attend. The workshop content will cover post-production aspects including safety, sanitation, marketing, and regulations.

NOTE: Participants should be versed in the basics of how to produce log-grown shiitake mushrooms prior to attending the workshop. Take a class, or view our free online resources.

On the day following the workshop, current and prospective farmers can schedule FREE one-on-one consultations with extension educators to review their farm goals, resources, and discuss challenges and opportunities for their own production.

 To see the Schedule and Register: visit www.cornellmushrooms.org/viability

Cost: $30/person

Funding for this project is provided by the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant  and administered through the New York Farm Viability Institute.

Upcoming webinars on IPM in Greenhouse/High Tunnel

Save the Dates!

We will be holding a series of short webinars on Greenhouse/High Tunnel Vegetable IPM on Thursdays from 12-1 in February and March.  The intent is for each topic to be briefly covered and then followed by discussion:

Feb 2                  Introduction to the project
Feb 9 & Feb 16    Basics of light, water fertility, media as they relate to pest management
Feb 23                Vegetable crop production in gh/ht
Mar 2                  Disease management in gh/ht
Mar 9                  Insect management in gh/ht
Mar 16                Weed management in gh/ht (lamb)  especially in winter production
Mar 23                How to write/use an IPM plan

Zoom information for each webinar will be coming soon.   All webinars will be recorded in case you can’t attend in person.

During the week of April 24 there will be a training session in Geneva to follow up on these webinars. More information to follow on that, too.

Contact Cornell Cooperative Extension for more information.

Campus Kitchens volunteers

Last night, a crew of friends of GardenShare volunteered to help cook, serve, and clean up for the weekly meal served by St. Lawrence University's Campus Kitchens program.

Kate and Margaret Harloe help load the
van with supplies to transport to the church.

 While this program is operated by students, they are committed to serving every Monday evening, so community volunteers are needed at times when the students are on break, like now for the winter break.

Campus Kitchens started at St. Lawrence in 2010 when one of its students applied for a grant as a Senior project. It has since become a vitally important service that community members-at-large depend on for shared meals and fellowship.

Through this project St. Lawrence students and community volunteers turn food that would otherwise be wasted from campus dining halls and local farms into delicious, nutritionally balanced, three-course meals.  The meals, prepared at St. Lawrence and served at the Canton Unitarian Church, are open to anyone free of charge.   It takes many volunteers to procure food, and prepare and serve these meals. If you'd like to help, please contact SLU Volunteer Services at 229-5135.

GardenShare recently received a grant from the State of New York to increase the number of volunteers engaged in fighting hunger in the North Country.  Last night's efforts was one of our first attempts.  Thank you to these friends who volunteered to help last night:  Mark Berninghausen; Gwen Cunninghan; Margaret, Bart, Ben, and Kate Harloe; Anneke Larrance; Gloria McAdam; Carol and Tom Pynchon; Carol Strome; Jennifer Whittaker; and Theresa Witmer.

Faith-based organizations connecting people to healthy food

Faith-based organizations (such as churches, mosques and synagogues) frequently play important roles in supporting the health and well-being of their congregations and neighborhoods.  In recent years, these organizations have often moved beyond the food pantry or soup kitchen to find new ways to help low-income families access healthy food.

Over the past few years, the Food Trust developed two resource guides to help connect congregations and farmers and share best practices, lessons learned, case studies and key considerations. Click on the guides to learn more if you are interested in pursuing such a partnership. 

Faith in Food: A Resource Guide for Farmers

Faith in Food: A Resource Guide for Congregations

While Philadelphia-centric, these guides could be useful to our thinking here in St. Lawrence County.  If you look at them and find something of interest that you'd like to explore further, please be in touch!

MLK Food Drive to benefit local backpack programs

In keeping with the MLK Day theme, "Make it a day on, not a day off," volunteers from GardenShare and SLU Volunteer Services in Potsdam and Canton are joining forces on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to help hungry students in their communities.

“We will be gathering and sorting food that will be donated to the Golden Bear Packs program at Canton Central School and to the Snack Pack program at Potsdam Central School,” explained Rhonda Rodriguez, Volunteer Coordinator for GardenShare. “We are asking community members, families, students, school groups, and service organizations to go door-to-door to collect the food.”

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is a national movement, explained Ashlee Downing, director of volunteer services at St. Lawrence University. “This is a day when school is not in session and many people have the day off from work, a holiday for the majority of the community. It’s a great opportunity for families to come together to help others.”

The Golden Bear Packs program and the Snack Packs program are designed to provide healthy food to students over the weekend and during school vacations. The food supplements the meals that students receive in school during the week.

“It’s our hope that between now and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, people will make a point of stocking up on the specific foods that the programs are looking for, and have it ready when community members come knocking,” Rodriguez explained. “If it so happens that people have food and nobody knocks on their door, they can simply bring it to our central collection point in each town.”

On Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 16, 2017, GardenShare volunteers will be collecting food at New Hope Community Church, 33 Grant Street, in Potsdam from 12:00 noon to 4:00 PM. Students from SLU Volunteer Services will have a food collection van located in the parking lot next to the Canton Municipal Building, 60 Main Street, during the same hours.

If community members wish to donate food but cannot do so on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, there will be an additional collection on Wednesday, January 18^th at Gunnison Memorial Chapel on the St. Lawrence University campus, during the multi-faith Service of Songs and Readings featuring the SLU choirs. Students from SLU Volunteer Services will be on hand to accept and sort food donations at the chapel.

Food needed for the Canton Golden Bear Packs program includes: single-serve boxes of unsweetened cereal, oatmeal packets, granola bars, cereal bars, peanut butter, plastic jars of jelly, canned pasta, canned tuna or chicken, soup, mac & cheese, canned vegetables, pudding cups, juice-packed fruit cups, trail mix, raisins, unsweetened applesauce, nuts, whole wheat crackers, microwave popcorn, and 100% fruit and vegetable juice boxes.

The Potsdam Snack Packs program also has specific needs, which include: fruit cups, hot chocolate, juice boxes (sugar free or reduced sugar), pretzels, Ramen noodles, breakfast bars, and small packs of almonds or mixed nuts.

Any food collected that does not work for the school programs will not go to waste, according to Ms. Rodriguez. “We’ll bring it to the Potsdam Neighborhood Center and to the Canton Church and Community Program for their food distribution,” she added.

“Everybody Eats – that’s what our agency is all about,” stated Ms. Rodriguez. “There was great awareness around the holiday season about how many hungry people there are in the North Country, but it’s important to remember that this need doesn’t end when the holidays end. That’s especially true for children, who can’t expect to do well in school if they don’t have enough healthy food to eat at home.”