April 8, 2009
Welcome to our new Farm Blog. It's my hope that you'll follow us
through the long process of our quest to start a small scale (20
acres) organic farm, education center, and event space. We're proud to
present our first entry and i've got a few people to thank and
introduce first.

SUNDAY FORUM

April 26, 2009
9:15 to 10:15 am

"Earth to Plate"

Daniel Whittaker
Managing Partner
Green Planet Catering

Green Planet Catering is a unique catering company whose philosophy is to give back to the community and the world through sustainable catering solutions.  This includes the use of locally grown foods that are pesticide and hormone free and meet their high standards of quality.

Managing Partner Daniel Whittaker will share with Forum his enthusiasm for sustainability in business as well as his personal life. He will provide us with insight and real ways that we as individuals and a congregation can become more sustainable as we celebrate the week of Earth Day.

Food Forests Across America!

In an uncertain economy and changing world, local food security is an
essential element to becoming sustaibable in this emmerging Green
Economy. Join the campaign for local food security and learn how you
can help to transform gardens, lawns, parks, and empty spaces into
thriving edible landscapes that are beautiful, regenerative, and
produce an abundance of delicious, locally grown food!

What is a Food Forest Garden?

Imagine a forest where every single tree is dripping with fresh fruits
and ripening nuts. Every shrub is packed with delicious berries, and
every other plant is a medicinal herb, culinary spice, or beautiful

Dear Local Food Advocates:

As part of the Farm to Fork "Building a Local Food Economy in North
Carolina" initiative-summit scheduled for May 11 and 12, one of the
CEFS Working Issues Teams has suggested legislation in the state to
establish a sustainable local food policy council.  Bills have now been
introduced in both the senate and house, and I thought you may be
interested in reviewing these.

H1163:

April 21, 2009: Good Agricultural Practices for Fresh Produce Safety Workshop

7:00-9:00 pm
Agriculture Building Auditorium
Pittsboro, NC

I know farmers will soon be getting ready to enter the busy summer
planting season, but I wanted to slip these two workshops in before it
got too crazy because I think they are important.

The Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension will
offer a workshop on Good Agricultural Practices for Fresh Produce
Safety as part of its Enhancing Sustainability Series on Tuesday, April
21, from 7:00-9:00 pm in the auditorium of the Extension Agricultural
Building in Pittsboro.

Model Policies

Planning for Healthy Places has developed several model policies
that complement the material in our toolkits. These model
policy "packages"
explain why land use policies are important for supporting and
protecting community gardens and farmers' markets, and provide model
general plan and zoning language to encourage these uses. The language
is designed to be tailored to meet individual communities’ needs.

Dear NC Community Gardeners, Advocates and Leader(s),
 
Are you part of a group of people that garden together (whether it be in your neighborhood, at your school, worksite, church, housing complex, or any other place) or do you know of a group that does? 

Home, home on the range: Grass-fed beef a welcome addition to dining halls
(Environmentally friendly grass-fed beef a welcome addition to University dining hall fare)

Published: Sunday, March 22, 2009

Updated: Sunday, March 22, 2009

Carolina Dining Services demonstrated its commitment to the health and concerns of University students by deciding to serve grass-fed beef in Ram’s Head Dining Hall once a week.

Serving the more expensive grass-fed beef will not take any money away from the University’s budget.

Dining services gets its money from vending and student meal plans — it does not receive any money from the state.