Message from the Chair, David Layland
Welcome to the September edition of Napa Local Food.
You could sum up the August 27 Special Meeting of the Food Council just by saying the groundwork has been laid for the month of September and beyond. A subcommittee was formed to revise the Food Council’s Bylaws so that food security would be addressed. Also, the subcommittee will consider changing the composition of Council membership and term length.
The existing Outreach Subcommittee has been tasked with determining how the Food Council can increase its visibility within the county. Developing relationships with the people and organizations the Food Council should be intersecting with is a high priority. Going forward, networking by Food Council members will be stressed.
The education component of the September 24 Food Council meeting will focus on Cottage Food Operations and Approved Sources. Both represent opportunities for people to produce food from their homes or gardens. More information on these programs can be found on the
county’s website . Another opportunity that may be available soon is a proposed law that would allow the preparation and sale of meals prepared in home kitchens.
AB 626 – Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations, would allow people to sell up to 60 meals a week that are made in their home kitchen.
Adding an interactive map to the Napa Local Food website was discussed and will be further evaluated. An interactive map could be used to show the location of many components of Napa’s local food system including farm stands, farmers markets, and food bank locations to mention a few.
The Council spent time discussing the Napa County Strategic Plan. They learned that there are not many questions about food production or food access in the survey. There is a section for the public to add other areas that the county should focus on. Please follow this
link and add your voice today.
September means that the kids are back to school but don't forget that
Napa’s farmer’s markets are still in full swing and offering the finest in locally grown foods. They are a great place to pick up tasty foods for those school lunches and snacks. (
Read our school lunch tips) If you’re up valley check out the Calistoga Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, mid-valley you’ll find the St. Helena Farmers Market on Friday mornings and in the south is the Napa Farmers Market on Tuesday and Saturday mornings.
Recent Food Council meetings have shown an increase in attendance by the public. We hope this continues as we welcome input from the public and encourage people to see firsthand what the Food Council is doing.
You can find more information on these events and the Local Food Advisory Council by visiting
NapaLocalFood.com.
LFAC Chair
David Layland
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Local Food Advisory Meeting Information
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Local Food Advisory Regular Meeting: 9/24/18
4:00 - 6:00 pm
The Local Food Advisory Council’s next regular meeting is Monday, from 4:00pm to 6pm at the UCCE meeting room, 1710 Soscol Avenue. The Council will be learning more about the Cottage Food regulations that directly impact food producers in Napa County.
The public is welcome and encouraged to attend Council meetings
and we greatly appreciate your participation. Please contact
Joy Hilton
or visit our
Napa Local Food website
for information.
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Local Food Advisory Council Openings
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The Council has two current openings. We are looking for a City of Calistoga Representative and Community At Large representative
. Please visit the County Clerk
web page or the City of Calistoga's
web page
to apply for the open seats.
We seek participants who have some or all of the following skills and attributes. Knowledge of and expertise in the food system - Experience working within the food and agriculture sector - Ability to deliver results - Research and evaluation capacity - Ability for networking and facilitating.
We are continuously searching for community members for subcommittee participation. If you are interested in participating in a subcommittee please visit our
website or contact
Joy Hilton.
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Sonoma Master Gardeners - Pollinators and Honey Makers: 9/1/18
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
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Master Gardener Denny Pedersen will discuss the secret life of the Honey Bee, as he takes you on a tour of life in a Honey Bee colony. His discussion will also include what it is like to be a Bee Keeper and what you can do to help our busy and fragile pollinators. Find out what plants you should grow for bees in Sonoma County, especially in times of drought. FREE. No registration required.
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Sonoma Master Gardeners - Healthy Gardens Weed Management: 9/1/18
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
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Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a method of dealing with garden pests in a way that considers the whole ecosystem, not just the pest. The focus in this talk is weeds. The IPM principles give the home gardener a set of strategies and tools to manage weeds while minimizing risks to people and the environment. In this talk you’ll learn the principles and how to apply them to your garden, whether small or large, whether you’re growing vegetables, fruits, or landscape plants. We’ll cover common weeds and have time for your questions too. Presenter: Master Gardener DJ DeProspero. Free. No registration required.
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Master Gardeners - Create Your Own Pollinator Garden: 9/4/18
5:30 - 6:30 pm
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Create Your Own Pollinator Garden - Learn the keys to creating a good habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators. Create a beautiful and lively garden while providing food and shelter for the good insects. Observe the pollinator garden installed by Master Gardeners at the back of the St Helena Library as an example.
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NOAA Planet Stewards Webinars "The Soil Story": 9/4/18
4:30 pm
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NOAA Planet Steward is pleased to welcome Jessica Handey, Education Coordinator for Kiss the Ground, and Whitney Cohen, Education Director of Life Lab as our featured speakers this month.
How would you like to teach your students about a solution to global warming that is right under their feet? One of the biggest contributors to climate change is excess carbon in the atmosphere. The question of our generation is: How can we bring the carbon cycle back into balance? In this Webinar, we’ll explore a free, online middle school unit in which students explore the incredible ability of soil to draw down carbon from the atmosphere and store it, allowing it to be use to make more nutritious food and build healthier ecosystems. The Soil Story Webinar and activity guide were created by Kiss the Ground, a nonprofit committed to inspiring global participation in soil regeneration, and Life Lab, a nonprofit that cultivates children’s love of learning, healthy food, and nature through garden-based education.
Space is limited! Reserve your seat
here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email.
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Build Your District’s Garden to Cafeteria Program Webinar: 9/4/18
4:30 pm
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Build Your District’s Garden to Cafeteria Program
A four month series providing technical support for the Garden to Cafeteria toolkit designed by Slow Food USA. The Garden to Cafeteria (GTC) toolkit leads a district through the design of food safety protocols to minimize risk in using school garden produce in the cafeteria, so that students can get the true garden to table educational experience.
Each webinar, led by Andrew Nowak of Slow Food USA, will cover a portion of the toolkit and will feature special guests from school districts that have successfully launched their Garden to Cafeteria program using the toolkit. There will be opportunities to ask questions and get assistance for your district’s process.
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Napa County HHS Free Market Friday: 9/7/18
2:00 - 4:00 pm
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On the 2nd Friday of each month Napa Valley Health and Human Services Agency (in partnership with
Community Action of Napa Valley, CANV) hosts a Free Market, with a variety of seasonal produce, OPEN TO EVERYONE at our South Campus location, In front of Building “B” (2751 Corporate Drive, Napa, CA 94558). There are no eligibility requirements, but it is first-come first-serve. Please Bring a Reusable Bag. Call (707) 253-4279 for more information or visit the
HHS Website.
Free Market Friday rotates to the following locations each Friday.
- 1st Friday - Hope Christian Center/Good Shepard Church
- 2nd Friday - Napa County HHS
- 3rd Friday - OLE Health
- 4th Friday Napa Spanish SDA Church
- 5th Friday - Covenant Presbyterian Church
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Farmer-to-Farmer - Farm Stands & Direct Marketing: 9/11/18
3:00 - 6:00 pm
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Farm stands offer a direct sales outlet for your farm goods, cutting out middlemen, reducing labor costs and bringing your customers closer to the farm. At our next Farmer-to-Farmer Field Day, we'll visit Table Top Farms where they've succuessful managed farm stands in Pt Reyes for several years. Come talk shop and trade tips with fellow farmers about farm stands as well as other direct market channels that increase revenue, cut down on costs and provide convenience to your customers. We'll explore not just the marketing involved, but how these sales outlets affect production, from crop selection to harvest.
This is a FREE event open to farmers as well as to farmworkers, interns and students of Ag.
Tour will conclude with an on-farm potluck happy hour, so feel free to bring something to share.
This is USDA-supported project of The Farmers Guild, CAFF, California FarmLink and Kitchen Table Advisors, with help from Johnny's Select Seeds.
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U.S. EPA Sustainable Materials Management Webinar 9/13/18
10:00 am - 11:00 pm
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This webinar will present the latest information about trends in U.S. materials generation, recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery, and landfilling as described in EPA?s newly released Advancing Sustainable Materials Management (SMM):
Facts and Figures 2015 report . The report also includes data on construction and demolition debris generation as well as an economic indicators and trend data such as jobs, recycling and commodity values and tipping fees. In addition to highlighting the latest information contained in the report, this webinar also will describe EPA?s transition to presenting the data in a new web-based format.
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LHNC Livable Communities Meeting: Built Environment Assessment 9/13/18 - 3:00 - 5:00 pm
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Please join us on Thursday, September 13th at the Napa County Health and Human Services Agency South Campus to take our next steps to address these domains and the Livable Communities portion of LHNC’s Community Health Assessment.
Attendees at this meeting will provide important feedback on possible “indicator” data we can use to help frame and measure Napa’s status in each of the three domains. These data will eventually be made publicly available to inform LHNC members’ built environment-related activities – both those taken together and those pursued individually. Come share your insights, expertise, and informational needs so we can improve livability and health for all in Napa County!
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Napa County Coastal Cleanup Day: 9/15/18
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
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Clean your way to the coast and help keep Napa clean during the 34th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day! This event is part of International and California Coastal Clean-up Day where thousands of volunteers in all 50 states and 100 countries take part in the world’s largest waterway and beach cleanup of the year!
In Napa County last year, over 450 volunteers cleaned 2,783 pounds of trash and 1,700 pounds of recyclables from Napa’s waterways!
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U.S. EPA Webinar: Preventing Food Waste Upstream - A Source Reduction Approach Part II: 9/20/18
10:00 am - 11:00 pm
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The top tier of EPA's Food Recovery Hierarchy is source reduction, which is reducing the volume of surplus food generated before it becomes a waste to manage. Businesses and organizations can learn to effectively prevent wasted food by taking source reduction steps, such as inventorying supplies, changing processes and buying less. Looking through a Sustainable Materials Management lens, preventing wasted food provides the greatest potential for cost savings and resource conservation relative to the other Food Recovery Hierarchy activities, as demonstrated by the U.S. EPA Waste Reduction Model (WARM). Because source reduction can be challenging to understand, quantify and implement, in this webinar, you will learn about the definition of source reduction, and examples of successful cases of a supermarket, college and elementary school that prevent wasted food at the source.
You can find Part 1 of this series
here.
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2018 Agriculture in the Classroom Conference: 9/27 - 9/29/18
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Join us in beautiful Palm Springs for the 2018 Agriculture in the Classroom Conference! Open to educators (formal and informal) who want to LearnAboutAg! Come find new and exciting ways to bring food, fiber, forests, flowers, and fuel into your learning environment. Registration is now open!
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Hands Across The Valley- Napa Safety Net Fundraiser: 9/29/18
4:00 - 10:00 pm
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Hands Across The Valley, guided by its Board of Directors, is committed to working toward the goal of a community without hunger
. This is the only fundraising event that raises funds for the Napa Valley Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, The Table, Salvation Army, food vouchers, and turkey and holiday baskets. Join them at their 26th annual event at the Historic Charles Krug Winery. 2800 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574
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School Garden Grant Contest
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Evergreen Packaging and KidsGardening are proud to present our fifth annual Carton 2 Garden Contest!
Open nationwide to public and private schools, grades PreK-12, contest winners will be selected based on their implementation of an innovative garden creation featuring creative and sustainable uses for repurposed milk and juice cartons. This year, we’re awarding fifteen prizes, including a $5,000 grand prize!
Start your school year by collecting at least 100 empty cartons from your home, community, or cafeteria. Then encourage your students to get creative! We can’t wait to see your project. Entries are due by Monday, March 25, 2019 but are accepted on a rolling basis.
Register your interest to participate and receive access to an exclusive collection of online lesson plans inspired by past winners. Designed to integrate your Carton 2 Garden project into your classroom, these lessons explore STEM, health and nutrition, art, and environmental stewardship.
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Napa Farmers Guild Meeting & Potluck: TBA
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The Napa Farmers Guild is a community of farmers, food advocates and local food enthusiasts who come together to support local food production in Napa County. They meet regularly around the county and enjoy a potluck, educational sessions and seed sharing.
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Pack A Healthy Lunch Your Kids Will Love!
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The school year is here for students, teachers, and parents and packing daily lunches are now on the agenda. With a busy family, traditional bag lunches can be an afterthought, being poorly balanced, boring and not eaten during school lunchtime. Fear no more – there are many ways to plan and prepare healthy, quick, affordable, and easy lunches to get everyone ready for back to school!
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Napa County Farmers' Markets
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Summer is here and so are your local farmers’ markets! One of the most important things that you can do to help our local food system is to shop at one of our wonderful farmers’ markets. You can go to a market Friday, Saturday or Sunday! Pick the day that is right for you and support our local farmers!
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Join us at the market. You will find fresh, locally grown seasonal produce, vine and tree-ripened fruits & vegetables, colorful cut-flowers & nursery grown ornamental plants, gourmet & pre-packaged food, Mediterranean deli items, olive oils & vinegars, fresh seafood, smoked salmon, crepes, quiches & fruit pies and savory breakfast treats. You will also find unique and creative crafts & gift items. For more information visit our
website.
Saturdays - Year Round - 9:00 am–1:00 pm- Sharpsteen Museum Plaza, 1399 Washington Street, Calistoga
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Long Meadow Farmers Market
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The farmer’s market is where it all began for the Halls with their first garden at the Long Meadow Ranch Mayacamas Estate. You’ll still find Laddie at the market every week selling our organic produce, beef, honey and more. For more information visit our
website.
November - April: Friday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM and Saturday & Sunday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
738 Main Street, St Helena
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The Napa Farmers’ Market is open!
We continue to provide a celebration of community, world-class produce and artisan goods for which our beautiful region is known. Napa Farmers’ Market has more than 40 local farms throughout the season offering fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, meats, seafood and eggs from small regional farms, many are certified organic. For more information visit our
website
.
Regional artisans, and gourmet food vendors featuring fresh bakery items, honey, cheeses, and jams. Chef Demonstrations, Children’s Activities and More…
EBT & WIC Accepted
Tuesdays & Saturdays 8 am – 12:30pm -195 Gasser Drive, Napa
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St. Helena Farmers Market
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The St. Helena Farmers’ Market Started it's 32nd season! They are open every Friday, 7:30-12:00 pm, May 4th – November 24th, . They are very excited about the wonderful team of Growers. Food Purveyors, Artisans and Community Groups who will be at the Market this year.
For more information visit our
website
.
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Support our Local Farmers
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Local Farmers
Check out the following folks growing food in our county! Visit
Napa Local Food for details and contact information for more local farmers.
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Get Involved in Local Food
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CanDo's Napa Food Project
How is it that there are people in the Napa Valley who don't have enough to eat?
Make a powerful and positive difference. Just a couple of hours every other month. Come on...you CanDo it!
FFI:
Email us or call 707.252.7743
Gleaning & Garden Help Needed
The Covenant Garden
Volunteers are always welcome. Call Barbara Pahre, Garden Facilitator 224-7129 to volunteer time, talent, dollars, equipment, or just encouragement to the Covenant Garden. Napans should not be food insecure.
St. John's Lutheran Mission Farm
Volunteer gleaners needed to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables for distribution to families through the Napa Valley Food Bank.
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