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Archive for December, 2008

Mid-December Update

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 12, 2008 |

December 12th,
Most recently I have made connections with Nutrition educators in NNY regarding this project. As well have made contact with Campus project partners. Will be meeting with Jo Swanson on Monday (December 15th) regarding this project. Jennifer Wilkins has asked to be kept abreast of this project while she is in Italy.

Research for Local Food indicators from Duncan and the Farmers Market Survey data from Todd have arrived this week. With this research added to the report from NCRFI I have the data sets I needed in order to conduct the thorough needs assessment. I am confident that I will be able to meet the scheduled timeline for reporting to the EDs in the region.

Yesterday, we (Dave, Dick, Carl & I) were able to establish our schedule for regular progress meetings for the coming year.  We were able to clarify and work through many of the questions that we had surrounding this project.  I was please with our progress and feel much more secure in the tasks I have ahead of me.

Regarding the NCRFI – Report: Katherine & I have been getting price quotes from printing firms in the area.  We will review the most economical and move forward with getting the report printed, and distributed to the counties in the region.   Next steps is to schedule roadshow for talks with local government etc in each county regarding the results of the NCRFI project.  We would like to have the hard copies of the reports in hand for these presenations, so we can leave them with the counties.  Each CCE office will be provided with some for use in their counties as well the digital version of the reports and fact sheets will be posted on the NNYADP website in the Regional/Local foods section of this site.

Regarding the Farmers Market Surveys:  Todd Schmit has offered to keep Allyson Brimmer-Jones on his payroll so she can finalize the data crunching, reports and any articles on this material.  Allyson and I will take the lead on getting these items completed.  These will need to be completed by the end of January as Allyson is going abroad to study in February.  Todd will continue to take the lead on the ecnometric modeling work that he hopes will provide some useful planning information for managers and vendors to improve success.  We plan to share this will the farmers markets across the region asap once the reports are completed.

Until next time
take care
Bernadette

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End of the Week – December 6th

Posted in Uncategorized on December 5, 2008 |

Sometimes it is hard to recall all that we do around a particular project.  Alongside of the radio spot,  this week.  Thursday I attended our local Chamber of Commerce meeting, this board is all fired up about local and buying local, as well as connecting with the ag community.  Alongside of myself there is another representative from the Ag community on the Chamber Board of Directors.

The Chamber is interested in doing more with Agriculture community, celebrating local agriculture and using this a vehicle to get people to the area.  I will be meeting with current and past Chamber presidents after the first of the year to plan out something for this fall with the Adirondack Harvest Festival.  This is the first time that there has been such strong support and interest from this group.  Great to see.

As well this week, I have been working on making connections with the project collaborators, and have connected with folks on Campus –namely Duncan and Todd.  Related to the research data they have.  I have requested this info.  And it should be on it’s way in this direction.  I have also shared with them this blog url, specifically the Initiative tab so they can review the project proposal and see what it entails.

I have also connected with Kristin C from CCE St. Lawrence.  She will be coming into our office for training and we will set some time aside to talk as well.  She wanted to first check out the proposal in detail before our meeting.

The NCRFI (Katherine’s project) Final Report is out and available.   And Katherine is back in the office.   The NCRFI final Leadership Team meeting was earlier this week, and that provided some insight and suggestions relevant for this project as well.

All in all the gathering of data and information for the needs assessment is coming along…or gathering.  And should be well in hand for the slated January reporting.

Until Next time

Bernadette

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December Update

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on December 3, 2008 |

December 3rd,

Time continues to race along.  Faster than expected.  We are into December.  Most recently, had great coverage in the Malone Telegram annual “Holiday Guide” with an article providing people with tips for buying local for the holidays.

Radio Spot, December 3rd echoed what was included in the Holiday Guide as well as shared some other great websites.

These include:

Beyond Adirondack Harvest, Adirondack Craft and ANCA Craft Program but also as templates for buying local we can learn from other areas such as Ann Arbor, MI with their Think Local First initiative and the BALLE (Business Alliace for Living Economies) at www.livingeconomies.org which includes 10 reasons to eating locally and sustainbly.

This information was shared with the regional DMLF team as well.

Until Next time,

Take care
Bernadette

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