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News from Vol. 2, No. 4 Summer 2014 Need to change your contact information? Let us know. 402.933.0080 [email protected] Managing organics: food wasted, opportunity found A workshop on managing food waste will be held 8 am to 2 pm on Thursday, July 31 at the UNO College of Business Administration, Suite 300 Mammel Hall on the UNO campus. The workshop has the purpose of helping people become part of the effort to develop solutions in collaborative, broad-based systems that divert organics from landfills. The event is intended to stimulate dialogue and increase awareness of the full cost of “wasting organics” vs. the costs and benefits of “using organics” as feedstock int eh creation of value- added products. Lori Soccafava, Executive Director of the US Composting Council, will be the keynote speaker on the topic of “The National Perspective: Food Waste Comes of Age.” There is limited seating for 50 attendees. The cost is $25 and includes snacks, drinks and a local food, zero-waste buffet lunch catered by Michelle Dill of The Big Green Tomato. For more information, contact Kay Stevens at (402) 709-5462 or kstevens@nomoreemptypots.org. This event is being co- sponsored by No More Empty Pots, UNO College of Business Administration, US Composting Council, WasteCap NE and the Green Omaha Coalition. Climate change affecting food nutrition levels A study from a project co-chaired by former 1st District congressman Doug Bereuter says climate change threatens to undermine not only how much food can be grown but also the quality of that food, as altered weather patterns lead to a less desirable harvest. Crops grown by many of the nation’s farmers have a lower nutritional content than they once did, according to the report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Research indicates that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reduced the protein content in wheat, for example. Read more: http:// journalstar.com/business/local/ climate-change-producing-less- nutritious-food-report-says/ article_8147ba90-6016-5726- 8720-db59200d6be6.html Omaha Farmers Market makes plans to go year ’round Vic Gutman, who manages the markets in the Old Market and Aksarben Village, has signed a purchase agreement to buy a build- ing on 10th and Pacific Streets, adjacent to the site of the new Blue Barn Theater. He plans to turn the Postal Annex Building into a year-round fresh food market that will house permanent stalls sell- ing mostly locally produced meat, cheese, eggs, honey, jam and jelly and other prepared foods. Gutman said his model for the market is the North Market in Co- lumbus, Ohio. “This has been a dream of mine since 1987,” he said in an email. “Our goal is to open the market in the next three to four years.” He said the market won’t open for a number of years because it will take time to re-purpose the building, secure the vendors and raise the money to build and oper- ate the market. Officially, the owners of the building will be the Friends of the Community Crops Feast on the Farm will be held 5–8:30 pm on Saturday, August 9 at Prairie Pines, 112th & Adams in Lincoln. The event, a fund-raiser for Community Crops, features the best of local foods from local chefs and an auction featuring goods and services from landscaping and wine to massage/yoga packages and tickets to local cultural events. The evening on a bucolic sustainable farm is intended to provide support for Community Crops, which helps families to grow nutritious food. Local food will be featured from local chefs, accompanied by a fantastic selection of beverages. Beer by Zipline Brewing Co and live music by Lye Soap. Tours of Prairie Pines will be offered throughout the evening and Community Crops staff will be on hand to share details about the organization and the families it helps. To learn more and purchase tickets or sponsorships, please visit the link on Community Crops’ website: http://www. communitycrops.org/farmdinner Community Crops Feast on the Farm slated for August 9 Farmers Market, but he said he will likely form a separate nonprofit to own and manage the building. Gut- man has already hired the Project for Public Spaces, a New York group, to consult on the project. Once a niche business, locally grown foods aren’t just for farmers markets anymore. Across the country, growing networks of companies and organi- zations are delivering food directly from local farms to major institutions like hospitals and schools, and busi- nesses like restaurants and grocer- ies, eliminating scores of middlemen from farm to fork. Along the way, they’re increasing profits and recog- nition for smaller farms and bringing consumers healthier, fresher foods. Over the past five years, with more than $25 million in federal aid, these so-called food hubs have helped transform locally-grown foods into a bigger business, supplying hospitals, schools, restaurant chains and grocery stores as consumer de- mand grows. Along the way, jobs in processing, marketing and distribu- tion are created. The Joslyn Institute for Sus- tainable Communities, along with a number of other stakeholders, has begun exploring the idea of undertaking a feasibility study for a food hub in Lincoln. The proposal would include the possible retrofit of Pershing Auditorium as the physical location of the Southeast Nebraska Food Hub. In an initial proposal to the US Department of Agriculture by the City of Lincoln and Community Crops, the following reationale was provided: “Lincoln has community and city government support for improving food security, with numer- ous collaborative efforts already underway, but our food policy work is still in the early stages and needs technical support and resources to create a strong food system. … We have a strong urban agricultural organization in Community Crops, which has developed community gardens, farmer training and youth garden education programs for over ten years in Lincoln. The local food movement is steadily growing in our area, with new farms starting each year, and more restaurants and grocery stores sourcing local, as well as a growing number of farmers markets, but we also need to expand programs that provide Lincolnites of limited means with access to fresh, healthy food.” JISC is working with Nebraska Cooperative Extension, UNL Rural Futures Institute, Nebraska Farmer’s Union, Clark Enersen Architects, the City of Lincoln, Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, Lincoln Local Foodshed Working Group, Com- munity Crops, Buy Fresh/Buy Local, and others to explore conducting the feasibility study. JISC leads efforts for regional food hub feasibility study
