Trend: hospitals, colleges, schools in Virginia, the District, and Maryland buying more food from local farms, taking local food movement to next level

CONFERENCE IN LANSDOWNE, VA JAN. 13-14 WILL HIGHLIGHT SURGE IN INTEREST IN INSTITUTIONAL LOCAL FOOD BUYING, BUT LIMITS OF CURRENT SUPPLY

ANNAPOLIS—The local food movement that made farmers markets all the rage in recent years is expanding to large institutions in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland, as hospitals, colleges and school districts buy increasing amounts of produce and meat from local farmers. The trend has the potential for major positive impacts for the environment and for the survival of small farms in the region. The nature of the trend, its hopeful signs and obstacles, will be the focus of the 13th Annual Conference, of Future Harvest—a Chesapeake Alliance For Sustainable Agriculture, Jan. 13-14, at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, VA.

The conference will include workshops by farmers aimed at helping other farmers with practical information about production, marketing, even butchering demonstrations. Workshops also will help food service and procurement officials learn how to succeed in buying and serving local food.

If large institutions purchase food from local farmers who use conservation practices that trend could help convince other farmers to become more sustainable. That’s good for local rivers and streams and the Chesapeake Bay. It’s also good for small, local farmers, who struggle to stay in business. The institutions also benefit. Hospitals, colleges, schools and other institutions are realizing they can provide healthy, tasty menus at comparable prices.

The conference will explore the biggest obstacle to the trend: more institutions want local food than farmers can now supply. Panelists will discuss how to build business relationships between farmers and institutions, possibly nurturing intermediary organizations to collect, process or deliver farm food. One session, for instance, will highlight the work of the Local Food Hub serving Charlottsville, VA that collects food from 50 farms within a 100 mile radius of the city and delivers it to the University of Virginia dining halls, the Charlottesville City Public Schools and other schools.
An attached fact sheet provides other examples of leading institutions and practices in Virginia, D.C., and Maryland, as well as contact information.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a member of Future Harvest, a Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. Future Harvest—CASA is a network of farmers, agricultural professionals, landowners and consumers living and working in the Chesapeake region. Future Harvest—CASA promotes profitable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable food and farming systems that work to sustain communities.
                                                           

Annapolis Seafood Market Joins Oyster Recovery Partnership, First Regional
Shell Recycling Alliance Continues to Expand
Shells Returned to the Chesapeake Bay Improve Ecosystem, Result in Cleaner Water

Annapolis Seafood Market, a trusted distributor of high-quality seafood products to the Annapolis area, has partnered with the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) to collect used oyster shells -- a limited natural resource -- from their stores and participating restaurants to help promote the expansion of oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay. As part of their program, Annapolis Seafood Market will display educational signage inside each store for their customers to learn how they can participate in this important recycling effort.
 
"Partnering with Annapolis Seafood Market is a fantastic opportunity as it allows us to leverage their existing relationships and delivery routes to maximize the number of shells collected and expand our reach," said Stephan Abel, Executive Director for the Oyster Recovery Partnership. "To meet our restoration goals, it is critical that a greater number of shells be recycled for reseeding and we hope this alliance will encourage increased participation in the coming year."
 
Not only critical to the Bay’s fishing industry, mature oysters contribute to the health and cleanliness of the water by filtering over 50 gallons per day per oyster.  By collecting used shells, the Oyster Recovery Partnership is able to transport them to the Horn Point Lab Oyster Hatchery in Cambridge, MD to be reseeded with spat (baby oysters) in an effort to help repopulate the Bay’s oyster population which has been drastically reduced in the last 100 years due to overfishing and other environmental causes.
Founded in 1969, the Annapolis Seafood Market (http://www.aircrabusa.com <http://www.aircrabusa.com> ) is a member of a family of food service companies and has demonstrated a strong commitment to sourcing sustainable, local seafood from the Chesapeake Bay. The company’s vision is focused on “providing ultimate happiness for customers through quality products and personalized service.” Annapolis Seafood Market was voted among the “Best Places to Buy Seafood” in 2011 by Washingtonian Magazine and boasts three markets: Annapolis, Edgewater, and Severna Park, Maryland.
 “We are extremely excited to begin working with the Oyster Recovery Partnership,” said Alex Torres, Director of Operations for Annapolis Seafood Market. “Our efforts can extend the educational outreach of this initiative while contributing to the Chesapeake Bay’s bounty of seafood.  Our commitment to the highest quality locally-sourced product ties in perfectly with the Oyster Recovery Partnership mission.”
 
This is the fourth seafood distributor partnering with the Oyster Recovery Partnership. The other distributors include JJ McDonnell, Pro Fish Ltd. and Congressional Seafood Co. ORP is seeking additional seafood distributor partnerships to help expand the Alliance and to collect needed oyster shell, a limited natural resource crucial to restoring the State’s oyster population.
 
How it Works

Annapolis Seafood Market utilizes five-gallon buckets at each of their locations to collect used oyster shells. During their normal delivery routes, drivers drop the empty buckets, pick up the filled ones then return them to Annapolis Seafood Market’s Distribution Center in Annapolis where they are transferred to a 400-bushel shell collection container. ORP and its partners collect the shells weekly and transport them to the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery near Cambridge, Maryland where they begin the drying and aging process.  Nearly 100 restaurants and catering companies currently participate in the Shell Recycling Alliance.
 
About Annapolis Seafood Market
Founded in 1969 in Annapolis, Maryland, Annapolis Seafood Market (http://www.aircrabusa.com <http://www.aircrabusa.com> ) is the trusted source for high quality seafood in the Annapolis area.  The company’s vision is to provide ultimate happiness for our customers through quality products, and personalized service. Thanks to the companies talented staff Annapolis Seafood Market was voted among the “Best Places to Buy Seafood” by WASHINGTONION magazine.  As a member of a family of food service companies, Annapolis Seafood Market is able to source the highest quality local Chesapeake Bay products.  The company owns and operates three markets in Annapolis, Edgewater, and Severna Park, Maryland.
About Oyster Recovery Partnership

The Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Annapolis, MD whose mission is to: Restore Our Oyster. Clean Our Bay. Preserve Our Future.
 
Since 2000, ORP has returned more than 3 BILLION oysters back into the Bay on more than 1500 acres of oyster reefs by actively promoting, supporting and restoring oysters for ecologic and economic purposes. ORP engages in numerous Chesapeake Bay-related projects by conducting science-based ‘in-the-water’ and ‘on-the-land’ recovery efforts, while conducting public outreach and education in our quest to protect our environment, our heritage, and our knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay, its marshes and rivers, and the life that it sustains. For more information visit http://www.oysterrecovery.org/ <http://www.oysterrecovery.org/> .

Growing the Next Generation of Gardeners

This is Maryland’s winner, Abby Goodman who grew a humongous cabbage and was randomly chosen by Maryland’s Agriculture Commissioner as the state’s winner. Abby will receive a $1,000 saving bond towards education from Bonnie Plants.

 MARYLAND STATE WINNER: Abby Goodman
 School: Saint John the Evangelist, 669 Ritchie Highway, Severna Park, Maryland, 21146

Kids grow green giants in the Bonnie Plants colossal cabbage contest!

It's easy going and growing green with the National Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program.  Kids across America are learning to garden and some are earning a lot of “green” participating in Bonnie’s Cabbage Program.  This season, more than 1.5 million third graders in 48 states dug in and  got hands-on gardening experience growing colossal cabbages, reaping hefty harvests and holding high hopes to win “best in state” and receive a $1,000 scholarship towards education from Bonnie Plants.

Each year Bonnie Plants, the largest producer of vegetable and herb plants in North America, with 75 growing stations across the country, trucks free O.S. Cross, or "oversized," cabbage plants to third grade classrooms whose teachers have signed up for the program online at www.bonnieplants.com <http://www.bonnieplants.com/> . 

If nurtured and cared for, kids can grow green, giant cabbages, some tipping the scales at 40 pounds!
First launched in 2002, the program awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each participating state. At the end of the growing season, teachers from each class select the student who has grown the “best” cabbage, based on size and appearance. A picture of the cabbage and the student entry is submitted to Bonnie Plants by mail or online. That student's name is then entered in a statewide drawing. The winners of each state’s drawing are randomly selected by the Commission of Agriculture’s office, state by state.



    “The Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program is a wonderful way to engage children’s
     interest in agriculture, while teaching them not only the basics of gardening, but
     the importance of our food systems and growing our own”, said Stan Cope,
     President of Bonnie Plants. This unique, innovative program exposes children to
     agriculture and demonstrates, through hands-on experience, where food comes
     from. The program also affords our youth with some valuable life lessons in
     nurture, nature, responsibility, self-confidence and accomplishment”.
 
     “Over the course of the past 9 years, the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program has
     proved to be an exciting, worth-while experience that children, teachers and parents
     across the country have embraced. We're pleased and proud to provide our youth
     with this enjoyable and enriching opportunity and engage their interest in the art
     and joy of gardening”, said Cope.
 
 
Why a cabbage?  Cabbages were the first plant sold by Bonnie in 1918. The cabbages used for the 3rd grade program  are OS Cross (over-sized), which is known for producing giant, oversized heads, making the process even more exciting for kids.

Get It Growing: Growing a colossal cabbage may seem like a giant undertaking for little kids, but it’s easier than you think.
 
To see the 2011 winners and learn more about the 2012 contest, visit www.bonnieplants.com <http://www.bonnieplants.com/>

20,000 CALL ON MARYLAND OFFICIALS TO SAVE 31-YEAR-OLD ORGANIC FARM

Popular campaign on Change.org rallies tens of thousands to save county’s only organic seed farm from private development

POTOMAC, MD – More than 20,000 people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org urging officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, to save a 31-year-old organic farm instead of destroying it to build private soccer fields.

Farmer Nick Maravell, Montgomery County residents, and the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, an agriculture conservation non-profit, are leading the campaign on Change.org to save Nick’s Organic Farm, the county’s only organic seed farm. The online campaign asks the Montgomery County Board of Education and County Executive Ike Leggett to conserve the farm and turn it into an education center rather than letting a private athletic organization turn the farm into private soccer fields.

"We are proposing to Montgomery County that Nick's Organic Farm become a learning center for school children to get a first-hand experience of a working farm that is ecologically sensitive," said Nick Maravell, the organic farmer who has run Nick’s Organic Farm for the past 31 years and helped launch the online campaign on Change.org . "Where will our next generation of farmers come from? I say they will come from the cities. We need to start developing urban agriculture experiences so that young people can appreciate the value of food production and perhaps pursue it in the future. Our farm would like to play a role in that process."

"Our brightest future lies in the health of our food system,” said Caroline Taylor, Executive Director at Montgomery Countryside Alliance.  "If we nurture our children through hands-on learning about where good food comes from and how it is best grown, we will cultivate our food, our health and our local economy. Montgomery County would do well to lead in this endeavor."

Maravell has leased his farmland from the Board of Education for the past 31 years. In March, the Board told Maravell they had rescinded his permit and would be transferring it to the County so that an athletic organization could build private soccer fields. After community members protested, the Board postponed the transfer, allowing the farm to remain on the land for the remainder of the year. Unless the Board or County Executive reverse the decision, Maravell will be forced to vacate his farm in January 2012.

“The campaign to save Nick’s Organic Farm has been started and led entirely by Montgomery County residents,” said Sarah Parsons, Senior Organizer at Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. “Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on issues that matter to them. It’s been incredible to see how many people have joined this group’s campaign to conserve organic farmland and create a sustainable food education center.” Supporters of Nick’s Organic Farm are planning a call-in day to County Executive Ike Leggett on November 16 and will deliver signatures from the online petition campaign on Change.org to the Board of Education on December 6.

To view live signatures of the petition to save Nick’s Organic Farm: http://www.change.org/petitions/turn-a-30-year-old-organic-farm-in-maryland-into-a-food-education-hub-not-soccer-fields-2