What's in season and how to enjoy it! |
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Delight in the bounty of the harvest! All the things we look forward to are here: tomatoes, corn, peaches, and so much more. And of course, there's plenty of local meat available for grilling.
Farmers' markets and farm stands are open and bursting with produce and more, and restaurants and other local businesses are making constant changes in response to the pandemic. We're keeping on top of it all with the "Open this week" function on our online guide to food and farms! Filter the list for curbside pickup, home delivery, and other coronavirus-specific purchasing options. Find local food!
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Northampton-based kids' cookbook author Deanna F. Cook joined us to talk about her range of fun, accessible cookbooks and to demonstrate a simple and delicious recipe that uses all the best of the summer's harvest: Corn and Black Bean Salsa. Highly adaptable to whatever you've got in the kitchen, and Deanna walks through how kids of all ages can join in the fun! Watch now.
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CISA's weekly Valley Bounty column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette focuses on what's happening behind the scenes at local farms. Read Valley Bounty!
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Tonight: 5th Hampden Candidates Forum |
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Thursday, August 13, 7-8pm (that's tonight!)
Streaming live on Zoom, Facebook, and airing on Holyoke Media (channel 15). Spanish translation available via Zoom.
Join candidates for the 5th Hampden District seat for Food for Thought: Food Justice & Health Equity, a discussion focusing on our region’s food insecurity and its underlying causes. This is your opportunity to learn how the candidates intend to ensure everyone has access to healthy food.
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Job openings at CISA:
Communications Coordinator and Program Assistant
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Are you passionate about sharing ideas and telling stories, and connecting them to a larger mission? Or about connecting farmers and related businesses to the resources and support CISA offers?
You might be a great fit for one of the positions currently open at CISA! We work to build a diverse and resilient food economy with viable farms, fair and just working conditions, strong environmental stewardship, and accessible and available local food in all of our communities. Our team has a range of skills and life experiences and is a mix of trainers, policy experts, fundraisers, communicators, and administrators. We are committed to understanding the history and current impacts of racism in the food system and actively work towards equity. We are committed to recruiting and retaining creative, ethical, smart, and innovative people.
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Mid-year update from CISA |
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So much remains up in the air as we move into the 5th month of our challenging new reality, but there are a few things that are certain: we all need to eat and local farmers have stepped up to get more food to more people. CISA staff are working to help farms adapt, adhere to changing safety regulations, and get products to customers as safely as possible.
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Get to know your Local Hero restaurants! |
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We're in the height of the growing season, so this is a great time of year to visit Local Hero restaurants. Things look pretty different at restaurants this year, but local chefs are still creating delicious and nourishing dishes with the best of the harvest, so don't miss out! |
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Ashfield Lake House
“Since we source as many ingredients as we can locally, the menu really varies each week to reflect what is happening on farms, and what is available." Ashfield Lake House co-owner Dre Rawlings spoke with CISA Development Associate Emma Gwyther.
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Nourish Cafe
"We eat a healthy, mostly plant–based diet at home and are all about buying local, but we didn’t really see a restaurant like that in this area. We saw an opportunity to make a difference in the community by being one of the first places in Northampton to provide this type of food, so we went for it!" -- co-owner Ethan Vandermark spoke with CISA intern Jared Shein.
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Download the brand new Eat Local MA App to find local food and farms near you. Submit pictures of your receipts through the app to level up and win local food prizes! Coordinated by the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and members of the Massachusetts Coalition of Local Food and Farms, this is a fun way to discover new local farms and food businesses!
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Addressing the hunger cliff |
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Hunger in the United States is nothing new. Nearly 12% of the people living in our country went hungry in 2018 — 37.2 million people, including 11.1 million children. This year, because of the economic impacts of COVID-19, Feeding America predicts that hunger could increase by 45%, impacting 54 million people in the United States. This includes 18 million children.
“One thing the pandemic has highlighted is not just that people are hungry, but how close to being hungry so many people really are. People are just hanging on and it doesn’t take much to put them over the edge.” -- Christina Maxwell, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
Read more about hunger during the pandemic, and how local communities, organizations, and farmers are responding, in CISA's most recent column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
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Quick Links
Check out our press page for news stories about local farms and local agriculture, along with our weekly interview series on WRSI, monthly column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and more!
Job opportunities, land, equipment.
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Please do not take images or content to use on your own site or project without CISA's explicit permission. Please feel free to link to our newsletter. Archives can be found at buylocalfood.org.
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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1 Sugarloaf Street,
South Deerfield, MA 01373
413-665-7100
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