Huge levels of antibiotic use in US feedlot farming revealed
February 27th, 2018
“The difference in rates of dosage rises to at least nine times as much in the case of cattle raised for beef, and may be as high as 16 times the rate of dosage per cow in the UK.”
See the full text from the link:
“Nearly three quarters of the total use of antibiotics worldwide is thought to be on animals rather than humans, which raises serious questions over intensive farming and the potential effects on antibiotic resistance, which can easily be spread to people.”
Washington Pears!
October 2nd, 2017
Did you know Washington and Oregon together grow roughly 86 percent on the nation’s pears? Read on to find out more facts residents should know.
Starting a Specialty Food Business
August 18th, 2017
Cultivating Success: a curriculum for local food systems
“Starting a Specialty Food Business”
When: August 21 @ 4:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Where: Olympic College, Poulsbo, Room 220
Sponsored by Farm Services Agency, WSU Extension and Kitsap Community & Agricultural Alliance
Presented by Kim Hoffmann, Washington State Department of Agriculture, with guest speakers.
Learn about how you can start a specialty food business, including home-based production. Kim Hoffmann from the Washington State Department of Agriculture–plus specialty food producer guests–will talk about operations and requirements, product and cost considerations, & helpful resources and programs.
This class is the second in a series of monthly, local food systems courses for new and beginning farmers and producers. To learn about the series, visit http://extension.wsu.edu/kitsap/agriculture/business-2/
Doors and registration open at 4:00 pm
Course fee $20
Day-of-class registration $20 permitted on a space-available basis; cash or check only.
Light refreshments served, but please bring a sack lunch.
Growing Veterans – Farm-based Peer Support
May 1st, 2017
Justin Blotsky picks beets in Mt. Vernon, Washington on Wednesday, September 7, 2016. Photo by Clay Lomneth / The American Legion.
“I’ve known a lot of people who have been to combat and came back quite changed,” explained Kenny Holzemer, a 22-year retried navy air crewman and the executive director for of Growing Veterans.
Growing Veterans is a Washington-based organization that aims to help veterans successfully transition into civilian life through sustainable organic farming. Launched in 2012, co-founders Marine Corps veteran, Chris Brown, and mental health counselor, Christina Wolf, recognized that farming can be both a therapeutic activity for returning veterans and a way to explore a potential new career path.
“It’s a really great opportunity to bring the healing powers of nature to people,” explained Wolf. “And the healing powers of having a community of people who you can rely on.”
Recent studies have looked at the mental health benefits of gardening. But Wolf says she doesn’t need any scientific research to know farming can be therapeutic. “Those of us who do it just know instinctively that it helps us feel better. Researchers are like, ‘How can we study it and prove it?’ But it’s just something so innate to people. We just get it.”
The organization has also developed its own three-day peer-support training for staff members, volunteers, and anyone else interested in taking the course.
“As we were working with a lot of veterans on our farms, we found that a lot of people wanted to be kind of a support system for others, but they didn’t feel like they had the skills to do that,” explained Wolf. In addition to the veterans who enter the program as farmers and volunteers, veterans make up eighty percent of the organization’s staff.
“Our training is really on both sides. How to be a helper to someone else, and how to get help for yourself when you need it,” Wolf explained. “We just see that as a normal human experience. It’s not a bad thing for me to support you—it’s just a human thing. We all need that sometimes.”
Find out how to help Growing Veterans efforts at:
KCAA Hosts New Farmer’s Market in Silverdale
April 22nd, 2017
The Central Kitsap Farmers Market was established in 2017 by the Kitsap Community & Agricultural Alliance in response to the community’s requests to provide a centralized outlet for producers as well as an easily accessible market for all.
The market takes place every Tuesday from 3pm – 7pm in Old Town Silverdale, between the Waterfront Park and boat launch. The 2017 season starts Tuesday, May 2nd and goes through Tuesday, October 10th.
Questions about the market? Contact info@kitsapag.org
Kitsap’s Own Local Food Trust
April 19th, 2017
Nothing is as universal or as personal as food – we all eat, we are all consumers.
Strong local food systems positively impact every aspect of local economies and culture.
By supporting local food you make an enduring investment in your community.
That said – we welcome The Local Food Trust!
Their mission is to grow culture and community through strategic investments in our local food system. Initial target areas are the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas.
Teamed with organizations in the food industry and through the Trust their hope is to pair them with grants and investments from foundations, corporations and individuals. These investment will help recipients build and sustain their work and allow them to connect and collaborate with their peers all along the food system.
The Trust was formed last October as a non-profit organization. Their partners include the Kitsap Community Foundation (fiscal sponsor), Washington State University Extension Program, and 1% for the Planet sponsorship of Grounds for Change, a local coffee roaster with global reach.
Now all they need is YOU!
Please share the mission, vision and goals of the Trust with others.
If you know of an organization, individual, a project or program that could benefit from The Trust, encourage them to apply for funding support.
You can make a tax deductible donation – join and become a food matchmaker and ambassador. They are participating in the Kitsap Great Give on May 2nd – another great opportunity to donate.
To receive more info contact Patricia Hennessey at info@supportlocalfood.org
HORSE Project, Update – 6 Month Extension Approved
December 21st, 2016
The mechanical HORSE is temporarily employed adjacent to our parking lot. Initially permitted for six-months, the Pub was able to negotiate one six-month extension to keep the unit operating for demonstration purposes. The self-contained HORSE, which stands for High solids Organic waste Recycling System with Electrical output imitates other biological ruminants (barnyard animals). When optimized, it steadily “eats” or otherwise diverts over 100 pounds of our carbon-based wastes from our waste bins.
Partnered with Puget Sound Energy and Impact BioEnergy, the Pub’s HORSE pilot demonstration is in full swing. Having arrived in September, 2016, the unit has been put into full production mode over the past few months. Because this is the first unit using nothing but food waste, the Pub is documenting the practices that work best with its particular blend of food wastes and volume.
During startup, the Pub and the engineers from Impact BioEnergy have been met with a few challenges. Each one has been overcome, so far, and the unit is operating as expected.
As of printing, we are generating 2.7ft3 of biogas (methane)per lb. of food waste (currently 3.3 MMBTU/ton of food waste) – the goal is to come as close to 5.7 MMBTU/ton as possible. When we can reach 5.7 MMBTU/ton of food we will be able to say “1 ton of food scraps is yielding the equivalent energy in 1 barrel of crude oil.”
The goals of this particular demonstration have remained the same:
1. Demonstrate to the community that this project and ones like it are viable.
2. Inspire a public dialogue about resource recovery through coordinated projects like this one.
3. Develop strategies for locating and funding permanent projects.
WSU-Kitsap offers Pork Production 101
October 20th, 2016
No Horse’n Around
September 28th, 2016
Partnering with PSE and Impact BioEnergy, the Pub has set up a HORSE pilot demonstration (more detail at Fresh Connections). Because composting can be both an art and a science, we’ll be attempting to discover the practices that work best with our particular blend of food waste and volume. The mechanical HORSE will be temporarily employed adjacent to our parking lot for about six-months – imitating other biological ruminants (barnyard animals). We expect that it will “eat’ or otherwise divert over 100 pounds per day of our food and carbon-based wastes from our waste bins.
Also, of great interest to our partners, the electrical output will be monitored and analyzed. Remember watching Doc Brown power up his time-travel machine with banana peels among other items scavenged from garbage in “Back to the Future II”? Well, that may be our new reality. We hope to power part of our electrical use during the pilot phase of the project with the same food waste.
See how it works on YouTube
We’ll be keeping you updated here over the next few months.
Oh, and being Bainbridge Island, even though the project is community-based, it still has its detractors. So, if you think this is a cool project, keep the positive comments coming!
Mindful Farm-to-Fork Dining Experience at Dayaalu Center
July 28th, 2016
The Dayaalu Center, one of Bainbridge Island’s beloved yoga and holistic body healing centers, will host an enchanting communal meal beneath the stars on Saturday, July 30th from 7 – 9 PM, as they join forces with the green Quince Blossom Kitchen to serve a four course, farm-to-fork dinner on their patio. Both of these holistic businesses focus on transforming body and mind through various mediums, ranging from plant-based meals prepared with love, to yoga, music, and meditation. The convergence of their missions, along with the missions of local farms, will culminate in a conscious dining experience that connects you deeply with your community, the land, and prana, the life force, which flows through these plants and transfers into your body through conscious consumption.
Quince Blossom Kitchen’s Emily Abby Klein has been seasoned in many of Seattle’s fine restaurants and is an up-and-coming caterer with a focus on simple and elegant plant-based meals. She will be utilizing the summer harvests of the island’s local farms, abundant in fruits and vegetables of all varieties. By attending this farm-to-fork dinner, you will expand your culinary prowess of vegetarian meals and open the possibilities of healthy, clean eating, while supporting local farmers, dedicated to stewardship of the land and the practice of ecologically sustainable farming that utilizes natural landscape and nature’s rhythm and cycles.
In addition to expanding your community and rejuvenating your relationship with plant-based food, the Farm-to-For Dinner with Quince Blossom Kitchen is expanding the scope of their mission by promoting egalitarian access to healthy, organic food for all, in partnership with downtown Seattle’s Green Plate Special. A portion of the proceeds from the evening’s dinner will be donated to this youth-centered educulture organization, bringing a hands-on farming experience to fourth- to eighth-graders. At Green Plate Special, kiddos learn about basic food and nutrition and grow from there, planting, growing, harvesting, cooking, and eating their own vegetables! In an urban setting—particularly low-income—access to organic food is difficult. This organization provides crucial gardening, health, and cooking skills that empower and inspire a healthier youth and sustainable future.
This joyous event is also meant to bring acquaintances and even strangers together around a table to celebrate in the space we call “home” with laughter, storytelling, skill-sharing, and general elation. The Dayaalu Center guides many on the path to mindfulness, raised consciousness, meditation, yoga and pilates, sound healing, and aryuvedic care, with a desire to “help us hear, see, smell, taste, touch, and move in ways that cultivate AWE-filled moments, compassionate engagement with life, and connections to self and others,” according to their site.
If you want to participate in this conscious community meal, register here. Seats are $50 per person, which includes gratuity and taxes, as well as your contribution toward Green Plate Special. For four courses of local, organic food, prepared with love for you and your community, this is one meal you don’t want to miss. Email Jeny at jeny@dayaalucenter.com or Emily at quinceblossomkitchen.org with additional questions.