The World Affairs Council of Northern California presents the WorldAffairs 2010 Live Webcast on March 11 and 12, 2010: “The world that the Obama administration inherited a year ago is already a very different place. From global economic crisis to climate change, from international security dilemmas to development challenges, the path forward will require innovation from all sectors. Governments, non-governmental organizations, private sector initiatives and individual actors must all contribute.”

Topics include environment, economy, development, and security—all global issues. (Download the Webcast agenda in PDF format here.) Both days end with a session entitled Local Solutions to Global Problems, and Josh Viertel (president of Slow Food USA) will be speaking at this closing session on March 12.

The webcast is free, and no log in or registration is required! Simply go to the WorldAffairs 2010 Live Webcast page on March 11 at 12:45 PST and begin watching!

Via Nada Haddad, Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension:

Growing Your Farm Markets and Profits: Alternatives to Cash Payments

Who should attend this workshop? Growers selling at summer or winter farmers markets, farm stands, PYO operations, or selling through Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs); market coordinators and volunteers; and anyone exploring alternatives to cash payments. Besides growing your farm markets and profits using alternative to cash payments, you will also make food accessible to low-income families and increase nutrition for the well-being of individuals and families.

Sponsored by UNH Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County, the workshop will be held on Thursday March 18, from 3:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., at the Rockingham County Nursing Home Auditorium in Brentwood.  The workshop will cover alternatives to cash at farmers’ markets and farmstands. The alternatives include Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) coupons; (WIC and Senior) coupons;  Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food stamps/EBT cards; as well as debit and credit cards.

Speakers:

• Laurie Desmarais (Vendor Manager, Nutrition and Health Promotion Section, NH Department of Health & Human Services)
• Peter Conti (Assistant Director, Field Operations, USDA Food & Nutrition Service, Northeast Region)
• Diane Souther (Grower, Apple Hill Farm, Concord, NH)
• Amy Miller (Farmers Market Coordinator, Lebanon, NH)
• Joel Breton (President, MJM, Associates Merchant Service, Hooksett, NH)
• Nada Haddad (Agriculture Extension Educator, UNH Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County)

No cost; registration is required. Email Deb Stevens or Nada Haddad or call 603-679-5616.

Hope you’ll be joining Slow Food Seacoast for its public potluck supper on March 7th. Bring a dish to share and your own reusable dinnerware, and share in a feast created by the whole group. After the meal, Erika Zollett, a marine scientist in fisheries management as well as proprietor of the sustainability consulting business Green My Restaurant, will be speaking on the topic of Sustainable Seafood. Discussion about seafood that’s both sustainable and slow will follow!

For those who’d like to prepare a seafood dish with a view toward sustainable sourcing, Erika has a few recommendations. “For fish that qualify as both sustainable and somewhat local, I would suggest Gulf of Maine shrimp, farmed mussels, clams (farmed is better), farmed scallops, or line-caught haddock.” She says. She also invites everyone to have a look at Seafood Watch, a site created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Check out our Events page for details about this Sunday’s potluck, and please take a moment to read About Our Potlucks if you’ve never attended before!

Photo credit: Culinary Delights Farm

From Local Harvest, just in time for CSA/CSF Day at the Wentworth Greenhouses Winter Farmers’ Market in Rollinsford this Saturday, 2/27 (and 12+ other CSA fairs around the region on Sunday, 2/28), comes an informative article entitled How to Choose a CSA.

More resources:

List of all Seacoast Eat Local Winter Farmers’ Markets: http://www.seacoasteatlocal.org/winterfarmersmarkets/index.html

Slow Food Seacoast blog post on local 2010 CSA fairs, Feb. 27 and 28: http://www.slowfoodseacoast.org/category/blog/2010/02/csa-csf-days-for-2010/

Get information about showings in the 3rd Annual Film Series, food events, and more happening in and around Boston from Slow Food Boston:

3rd Annual Film Series - Two Angry Moms
When: Sunday, 02/21/2010 3:30PM

The City Meets The Sea: Beer Meets Oyster
When: Wednesday, 03/03/2010 7:00PM

Maple Sugaring Outing at Natick Community Organic Farm
When: Saturday, 03/13/2010 11:00AM

3rd Annual Film Series - Bullshit
When: Sunday, 03/14/2010 3:30PM

Summer CSA harvest

Seacoast Eat Local is sponsoring yet another great event to connect consumers and food producers in the Seacoast! They’ve planned a community-supported agriculture (CSA) and community-supported fisheries (CSF) event to coincide with the Winter Farmers’ Market to be held at Wentworth Greenhouses (141 Rollins Rd, Rollinsford, NH—a mile past Red’s Shoe Barn on Broadway in Dover), on Saturday, Feb. 27, from 10 am to 2 pm. (Similar events will take place at 12 locations in Maine and in Newburyport, Mass., on Sunday, Feb. 28.)

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about CSA and CSF, keep reading … then attend the event that’s local to you. Learn, ask questions, meet 15 participating farms and fisheries, make connections, and maybe sign up for your own 2010 share.

Learn more: Download the Choosing a CSA flyer (PDF) from Seacoast Eat Local.

Learn more: Read a comprehensive list of CSA farms in Rockingham, Strafford, and York Counties in Seacoast Harvest: A Local Food Guide.

Learn more: Get dates, times, and directions for all of the Seacoast Eat Local Winter Farmers’ Markets.

From a Seacoast Eat Local press release:

Seacoast CSA + CSF Day Coming to Winter Farmers’ Market

Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a partnership between consumers and farmers in which members buy shares of the farm’s harvest and receive regular allotments of food throughout the growing season. For farmers, this provides much needed cash flow for the beginning of the season, as well as a ready market and community of supporters. Shareholders join in the risks of the growing season but reap the benefits of the harvest.

Community Supported Fisheries, or CSFs (modeled after CSAs), are a way to buy seafood directly from fishermen and support our local fisheries by purchasing seasonal shares.

Each CSA and CSF has its own pricing structure and distribution schedule, and some farms have work requirements. Signups for CSA and CSF shares often begin in February by directly contacting the farm or sponsoring fishery.

Participating Farms & Fisheries:

Brookford Farm
Connolly’s Organics
Eastman’s Local Catch
Farmer Dave’s CSA
Heron Pond Farm
Meadow’s Mirth
New Roots Farm
Riverside Farm
Riverslea Farm
Stone Wall Farm / Osprey Cove Organic Farm
Touching Earth Farm
Two Toad Farm
Wake Robin Farm
Willow Pond Community Farm
Wolf Pine Farm CSA

Take a virtual tour of a Seacoast Winter Farmers’ Market in this story from Seacoast Online!

For some of us, the farmers’ market is the social event of the week … or fortnight, or month, as the case may be. So come to EXETER tomorrow (2/13) and ROLLINSFORD in 2 weeks  (2/27—also community-supported agriculture [CSA] day at the market) to get your goodies! See the full market calendar on the Seacoast Eat Local website.

Other markets will be held next Saturday (2/20) in RYE (info on Local Harvest) and NEWMARKET (info on Local Harvest).

See you at the market!

Via NOFA-NH:

The theme of this year’s Northeast Organic Farming Association, New Hampshire Chapter (NOFA-NH), Winter Conference is “A Place at the Table”. It encourages everybody to become involved in shaping an organic farming and food future. There is a place at the table for everyone at the NOFA Winter conference, but we are especially encouraged by the prospect of young voices participating in the discussion. Keynote speaker Sharon Astyk will offer a special family-centered workshop on the topic of creating a viable way of life. The conference has many informational sessions that would be relevant to future farmers and consumers interested in organic food and farming. In addition, there is a special track for youth presented by youth.

Early registration discounts are available through February 26.

WHEN: Saturday March 6, 2010

WHERE: Rundlett Middle School, Concord, NH

CONTACT: Winter Conference Coordinator Scott Morrison, (603) 226-9434, WinterConference@nofanh.org, NOFA-NH website

News from Slow Food Portland:

February 18: Rob Shetterly, Maine artist of the famous “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series, will speak about what it means to stand up and take action at important moments in history, like today.  After a reception of local food, he will lead a community discussion about what needs to happen in our communities, and how we can stand up to take action.  (Freeport Community Center, February 18, 6:30 pm)

February 23: Suburbia and all it promises has become the American Dream.  But in the 21st century, serious questions have emerged about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, the film The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. (Frontier Café, February  23, 7 pm; $5 admission)

March 6: Celebrated economist and environmentalist Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature, will talk about his upcoming book, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, and his work with 350.org. (Freeport Performing Arts Center, March 6, 7 pm; suggested donation $5)

The following event is being planned by students in the UNH Hospitality Program. They are interested in sourcing as much produce as possible from local farmers. They have proposed a menu but are willing to take inspiration from local offerings. If you have large quantities of produce available, please contact Amy Winans (amy.winans@unh.edu).

From a UNH press release:

Enjoy Some Sinful Indulgence at the UNH Gourmet Dinner March 5 and 6

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire will serve up seven courses of sinful indulgence at two gourmet dinners in March.

Organized by the hospitality management students at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, “Sinful Indulgence” gourmet dinners will be held Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6, 2010, at Stillings, 20 Ballard Drive, Durham, NH, beginning with a cocktail hour and hors d’oeuvres at 6 o’clock and dinner to follow.

The concept of the dinner revolves around the Seven Cardinal Sins. Each course will include locally produced foods and represent each of the sins. The menu will be paired with elegant décor that will transform Stillings into an atmosphere where guests will experience the seven indulgences representing greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, pride, sloth, and envy.

“This event challenges the students of UNH’s Advanced Food and Beverage Operations Management class to design, organize, and direct two gourmet dinners for approximately 200 guests per night. The event prepares students for what to expect in the world of hospitality management beyond the college classroom, and it provides hands-on management experience from the beginning to end of formal event planning,” said Bridget McCartney, marketing manager for Sinful Indulgence.

Students have six weeks to plan and execute the dinner, and take on real-world executive management positions in the process, including general manager, chief financial officer, front of the house manager, executive chef, human resource director, and director of marketing.

Tickets for Sinful Indulgence are $50 per person and may be purchased through UNH event online ticketing.

The UNH Department of Hospitality Management combines business fundamentals as well as classes geared toward the service industry sector. Hands-on education proves to be a strong and integral part of the experiential and academic curriculum. The department also offers the first-ever EcoGastronomy Program, which integrates UNH’s strengths in sustainable agriculture, hospitality management, and nutrition to offer a unique academic program emphasizing the interdisciplinary, international, and experiential knowledge that connects all three fields.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state’s flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.