June 3, 2010 by Heather.

This year’s South Berwick Strawberry Festival will be Saturday, June 26, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This yearly event is filled with entertainment, food, artisans, and strawberry shortcakes! Food is available throughout the day at the Festival Food Court.
 
The South Berwick Strawberry Festival is held at the Central School grounds, 197 Main Street.

For more information and the schedule of events, please visit http://southberwickstrawberryfestival.com/default.aspx

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June 3, 2010 by Debra.

This year’s Seacoast Harvest is now getting ready to be printed. Seeing a copy of the proof reminded me of the dedication and long hours that went into researching it — special thanks to our volunteers and especially our 3 interns who helped to contact all of the farms listed.

One of our interns, Sarah, recalls her experience in a post for the UNH internship blog:

Supporting local food, farmers, and precious farm land

This semester I have been enjoying working with Seacoast Eat Local, a volunteer organization that works to promote eating locally through the publication of Seacoast Harvest and their website SeacoasteatLocal.org. They are also the coordinators of eleven winter farmers markets…. In between market dates my intern-mates and I have been helping with the Seacoast Harvest publication. Farm information must be updated, farmers are called for confirmation, new farms are researched and contacted, all of the information is edited, and then sent to print for the 2010 season. One of the best parts of this job is to talk to the farmers either at the market or over the phone. Over simple conversation you can learn about a farm’s history, what crops are going to be successful that season, or what new legislation is causing trouble for certain farms. It becomes apparent that farming is its own microcosm that most of our society is completely unaware of. You can’t help feel instantly connected to these people, their land, and their products. It becomes more than simply promoting a green lifestyle, it is about protecting a part of American culture that needs our assistance and support.

Hillary, another intern, remembers one conversation in particular:

I had an interesting conversation with a farmer from Saco, Maine yesterday. I had left a message for him to call me back on his cell phone.  He called me back very promptly, unlike others I have left messages for.  We went through the form which consists of various questions and check boxes, and updated some of his farm’s info from last year’s publication. He then went on to say that he was very thankful and appreciative of our website and organization’s outreach.  He has a couple from Massachusetts driving north to his farm soon to purchase a roaster pig for their wedding. The couple found his farm through our website. It was great to hear how excited this farmer was and that our online guide is providing the desired connection between consumers and local farms…

While our third intern, Michelle, overcame her own fears to help us reach our sponsorship goals successfully:

Since this is a free publication for consumers as well as the farmers, vineyards, markets, and orchards, we are looking to obtain sponsorship from local restaurants, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and generous community members to help us publish this valuable resource. I have been working with Jeff Donald to contact possible sponsors and it has proven to be more difficult than I had thought. It is one thing to get over the fear of asking strangers for money, but another to follow up with those who do not return my emails or phone calls. As of now we are very close to meeting our projected goal and working on finishing up our information and sponsorship gathering…

We are very grateful to all those involved who make Seacoast Harvest possible!

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June 3, 2010 by Sara Zoe.

For the data driven among us, a very short .pdf illustrating potential areas for positive impact with scale appropriate meat and poultry processors. From ATTRA’s amazing email newsletter:

USDA Evaluating Small Meat and Poultry Processing Needs
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a preliminary study revealing existing gaps in the regional food systems regarding the availability of slaughter facilities to small meat and poultry producers. The study by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is a first attempt to identify areas in the U.S. where small livestock and poultry producers are concentrated but may not have access to a nearby slaughter facility. The data creates a county-by-county view of the continental United States, indicating the concentration of small farms raising cattle, hogs and pigs, and chicken, and also noting the location of nearby state slaughter facilities and small and very small federal slaughter establishments. The presentation “Slaughter Availability to Small Livestock and Poultry Producers – Maps” may be found at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/KYF_maps-050410_FOR_RELEASE.pdf.

The first things I notice is how much state meat inspection is working in Wisconsin, and how much York county could use a poultry processor!

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