EAT Minutes May 2008

May 28, 2008 at 6:30 pm, Farm house Produce

The meeting began at 6:37pm and concluded at 8:10pm. Next meeting is June 28, 2008 from 12:30-2pm at WVC room 5006.

Members Present:

Joan Qazi; Angela Schaub; Michel Wiman; Sherry Schneider; Beth Spadoni; Mike Brogan; Laurie Reigert; Jim Allyn; Kim Lohse; JoEllen Colson; Nadine Lehrer and Colleen Donovan.

Dates to Watch For:

  • Paul Roberts was on NPR/featured in National Geographic…Paul Roberts, author of “The End of Food”, will have a book signing on June 28th at 6:30pm at A Book For All Seasons. This is a ticket only event with refreshments catered by Pretiola’s. They have asked for help from EAT in serving refreshments.

Treasurer’s Report:

$3821.17 is the current balance. No current business activity to share

New Business:

  • Welcome to Nadine Lehrer and Jim Allyn! Nadine is working with the pest mgt program at the research station (assessment and documentation) trying to create partnerships with non agricultural community.
  • Kim Lohse announced for Gene Hammersmith that he is looking for help to farm his property, 300 acres located between Wenatchee and Chelan.
  • Last year Chelan County Fair asked EAT to develop a local harvest garden at the entrance to the fair. Are EATers interested in following up on it this year? Joan is looking for volunteers to take this on. We could also have a booth like last year and have the calendar and Mark Wynne’s quiz from the Food Policy Workshop (recently held in Seattle) be made available to distribute during that time. It was also suggested that produce from the school gardens be on display or have stories ready to share. Photo novellas could also be posted. Are there other venues for the photo novellas?

Committee Reports

  • CFA Local Food Survey Data has been compiled into a 3-ring binder. Contents include results from both English and Spanish surveys, transcriptions from both Spanish focus groups and the English focus group dated Feb 20th and the market basket analysis. The next step is to summarize the data into a final report. Michel and Joan will be designing the calendar and have asked that all recipes, photos and other items be emailed into an editable format. It was reminded that the Chelan County Food System Atlas will also need to be updated to include information from the Community Food Assessment. Colleen, Michel, Joan, and Sherry attended the Food Policy Workshop in Seattle. They suggested that a local foods lunch be held for local community leaders to introduce the results from the Community Food Assessment and increase awareness about a local foods policy.
  • Consumer Education JoEllen had several items to share with EAT including a poster entitled “Local Delicious Nutritious” which talks about the importance of local food for young children and a curriculum book called Food is Elementary. Someone pointed out that a compost and waste program is needed for green waste. Larry Riegert might like to come in and talk with us about his interest in this project. Joan suggested this as a possible future project. Sherry recommended that an EAT representative attend the city council meetings with a different representative for each meeting. The purpose would be to help maintain focus on the need for a local food policy or council. Colleen also recommended that a city planning committee member come in and talk to EAT about how they formulate policies.
  • Grant Work Kim Lohse showed us an apron that can be embroidered with the EAT logo. She also suggested that a youth garden summer camp could be held with the final produce being entered in a local county fair or be videographed to increase consumer education about local foods.
  • School Garden Committee Newbery’s after school garden club had a great turnout for its Family Fun Night event. Various plants were raffled off which brought in a small profit of $55.50 for the club. Students had displays and hands on activities demonstrating what they have learned throughout the year. Their garden is fully planted. A replacement key was obtained for the water spigot free of charge courtesy of the M/O department of the school district. It appears that there will be 10 kids who will be certified as Junior Master Gardeners. Rozanne and Angela met to talk about how next year’s garden club will be run. They both agreed that although the JMG curriculum was very good, the program is very time intensive. It was decided that next year’s club will be more loosely structured and focus less on curriculum. The certification program will be run every other year. This will allow for more kids to be certified at a time rather than just a few kids every year. Foothills garden is doing well. They will have David Granatstein help them set up a small compost trial and Bob Gillespie will come in to talk about insects and weeds. Angela met with the kids last Friday to talk about the JMG program. The kids were very excited about it. There was some concern that not all kids would be able to participate if next year’s club ran after school.
  • Community Gardens Jim Allyn said that Columbia Grove Church has about 7 acres that might be available for a community garden. Colleen pointed out that churches also welcome outside help. Angela also suggested that a bed in the WSU MG demonstration garden be used for local produce. Colleen shared about Kittitas County MG having a produce drive. Joan suggested that this be discussed further at the next meeting.
  • Website A reading club has been requested with a suggestion to meet seasonally. Kim suggested that a book chapter or article be shared at each meeting.
  • Media No discussion took place.
  • Farm to Table Farm to Chef Meeting (Monday 2:30pm for chefs wanting to use local produce). Sherry mentioned the special menu items in some restaurants generally feature local foods. Standard menu fare does not since most restaurants are required to use Sysco produce since the produce contract is held with that company. A conference call (Joan, Colleen and Marcy) on June 10th will take place to talk about the next Farm to Table Conference.

Follow-up on Topic(s) that were discussed in this meeting:

  • Farm to Table conference call results to be shared at the next meeting
  • Community garden possibility at churches follow-up by Jim
  • Clean green and food compost follow-up by Joan

Committee Sign-Up:

  • Working Group Chairperson Joan Qazi; Meeting Facilitator: Joan Qazi; Minute Taker: Angela Schaub; Treasurer: JoEllen Colson; Webmaster: Dave O’Connor; Newsletter: Fran Taber; Media Diva: Kim Langston; Fundraising: Scott Parsons
  • Community Food Assessment Chairperson Joan Qazi; Billie Jo Ellis; Fran Taber; Colleen Donovan; Kim Langston; Judy Preston; Angela Schaub (Data Analysis); Marcy Ostrom; Laurie Riegert; JoEllen Colson; Consuelo Coronel
  • Consumer Education Chairperson None; Kim Langston; Billie Jo Ellis; Shawn Hansen; Joan Qazi; Ginny O’Kelley; Laurie Riegert; Judy Preston
  • Community Garden Chairperson None; Jenn Crawford; Sharlynn Cobaugh; Kim Langston; Shawn Hansen; Dawn Fisher; Michel Wiman
  • 501c3 Exploratory Chairperson Angela Schaub; Angela Schaub; Fran Taber; Colleen Donovan, Sharlynn Cobaugh;
  • Edible Schoolyard /Farm to School Chairperson Angela Schaub; Angela Schaub; JoEllen Colson; Joan Qazi; Scott Parsons; Dawn Fisher
  • Farm-to-Table Chairperson None; Fran Taber; Marcy Ostrom; Bill and Vonnie Smith; Michel Wiman

Next Meeting June 30th at 12:30pm to 2pm in room 5006 of WVC

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