Seacoast Eat Local

Congratulations to Cheryl Dixon for winning a national award of excellence for her work as the food service manager at Kittery’s Horace Mitchell Primary School! In addition to teaching good nutrition and promoting healthy eating habits, Dixon’s award-winning program includes a Farm to School initiative to provide schools with farm fresh foods, and a third component on composting and recycling. As reported by SeacoastOnline.com:

Kittery school has nation’s best: Food manager takes top award for initiatives at Horace Mitchell

First it was state recognition. Then it was regional acclaim. Now it is national notoriety.

 

Cheryl Dixon, food service manager at Horace Mitchell Primary School, has had quite the summer.

 

Having already received the Maine School Food Service Association’s Louise Sublette Award of Excellence for 2010, Dixon was then selected as the regional winner from the six New England states and New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

 

The accolades then cast her into the national spotlight, and Dixon hasn’t looked back.

 

On July 11, before thousands packed in the Dallas Conference Center in Texas, Dixon received the National Louise Sublette Award of Excellence. She was chosen out of six regional winners.

 

Dixon was honored for her work teaching good nutrition and promoting lifelong healthy eating habits among the students at Mitchell School.

Her award-winning program combined the elements of two existing nutrition education programs in her school: the 5-2-1-0 Program, which teaches students to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, watch less TV, exercise more and eliminate sugary beverages; and the Farm to School Initiative, which provides schools with farm fresh foods.

 

Dixon also added a third component to the program to teach students about composting and recycling.

 

“I don’t think my feet have hit the ground,” Dixon told the Herald during a recent interview. “This honor is not just for me, but it’s for my school and Maine…”

 

She said perhaps the most rewarding experience aside from the award was realizing that students actually learned something from her project.

 

Having never been taught the importance of nutrition and healthy living when she was in school in the 1970s, Dixon said the role she plays in the schools these days is just as vital as that of educators.

 

“The award is wonderful and it’s totally awesome, but I’m really hoping that somehow, someday, I made a difference for these kids.”

 

To read full article > 

Cookbook author, Susie Middleton, will be at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, on Thursday, July 29th at 7 pm, demonstrating using her favorite ingredients and tools:

Susie Middleton talks about one of the biggest cookbooks of the summer: FAST, FRESH & GREEN

 

Susie’s cookbook has been named one of the top cookbooks of the summer by both NPR and The Washington Post! Fast, Fresh & Green is a collection of more than 90 vegetable recipes, organized by 9 great techniques for cooking vegetables. Eight of those techniques-from quick-roasting and quick-braising to stir-frying and even no-cooking-are perfect for weeknights. The ninth technique-baking gratins-is a slower-but-worth-it idea for weekends. The recipes, which use more than 50 vegetables, are designed to be side dishes, though many can move to the center of the plate. Sample recipes include: Quick-Roasted Cauliflower with Zesty Orange-Olive Dressing; Sweet Potato “Mini-Fries” with Limey Dipping Sauce; Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas with Salami Crisps, and Stir Fried Swiss Chard with Pine Nuts and Balsamic Butter.

 

Top Ten Tool & Ingredient Tips for Making Fast, Tasty Vegetable Side Dishes:

This will be a demo using Susie’s favorite ingredients (fresh herbs, lemons, garlic, ginger, Parmigianno Regianno, etc.) and her favorite hand tools (microplane zester, julienne peeler, ceramic knife, etc.) to show folks how to add flavor to and get the most out of weeknight vegetable dishes. Tips include peeling fresh ginger with a spoon, making zucchini “ribbons” with a handheld julienne peeler, adding flavor with sweet/sour combos like balsamic vinegar and honey, and more. Susie will bring a tasting sample of her Caramelized Roasted Tomato “Sandwiches” with mozzarella and basil.

About the Author:

SUSIE MIDDLETON is a food writer, magazine consultant, chef, and recipe developer. She is the author of Fast, Fresh & Green, a collection of delicious vegetable side dishes published by Chronicle Books. Susie is the former Editor and current Editor at Large for Fine Cooking magazine. She was consulting editor for the startup of Edible Vineyard magazine in 2009, and consults for Edible Communities Publications, which now includes 62 Edible magazines nationwide.

Susie is a member of the Institute of Culinary Education’s Alumni Hall of Achievement, and has developed hundreds of recipes for publication. She lives, cooks, writes, and grows vegetables on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. She blogs about cooking and growing vegetables on her website, www.sixburnersue.com, and about sustainable food on the Green Page of the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com/susie-middleton).

For more information about RiverRun Bookstore and this event >

The Greater Seacoast Permaculture Group is hosting a composting workshop with Rian Bedard of EcoMovement. The meetup workshop is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 8, in Barrington:

Come learn from Rian Bedard the basics of backyard composting, the do’s and don’ts, how to keep your pile active, and the basic science behind it.

Rian will also talk about his company and how it is done on a large scale at commercial facilities.

Rian Bedard is a certified Permaculture Designer and instructor. He received both certificates through the Urban Permaculture Guild of SF. Upon his return from CA, he started the first Zero Waste program as manager of the Me and Ollie’s cafe in Downtown Portsmouth. After his time at Me and Ollie’s he worked as Assistant Director of the Green Alliance, where he realized that there was a demand for compost hauling service. In November of 2009 he decided with his business partner to venture into the hauling industry and started a company called EcoMovement. They currently have 30 clients and are diverting and estimated 20,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill a week.

We are charging for this on a sliding scale of $5-20. Please dress for being outdoors. We expect this to go until about 4pm.e charging for this on a sliding scale of $5-20. Please dress for being outdoors. We expect this to go until about 4 pm.

To RSVP and more information about the workshop >