Bluegrass Local Food Summit

March 22-24, 2012

Crestwood Christian Church, Lexignton KY

What is the Bluegrass Local Food Summit? We convene farmers, statewide government and business leadership, educators, chefs, faith members, community activists and all concerned citizens to promote the health and well-being of children, families, farms, local economies and the environment by increasing access to locally grown and processed food in schools, hospitals, restaurants, institutions, groceries, food pantries and by supporting food and garden-based education in Kentucky.”

The Bluegrass Local Food Summit serves as a place to celebrate food, learn from each other, and develop common understandings about the links between food, health, the environment, and local economies.

If you want to register for the Food Summit, you can do so online. Everyone who eats (”…eating is an agricultural act”) should attend the event to learn as much as they can and to go back to their respective communities to make our communities healthier: economically, socially, spiritually, mentally, physically, etc. through changing the food system holistically.

Current sponsors include Employment Solutions, Bluegrass Community Foundation, Community Ventures, Faith Feeds, Sunnyside Up Radio Program, Temple Adaith Israel, Crestwood Christian Church, Sierra Club, Interfaith Alliance, Good Foods Market and Café, and Sustainable Communities Network. However, we are actively seeking additional financial sponsorships. If you want to become a sponsor, you can do so online at http://sustainlex.org/2012_Local_Food_Summit/online_sponsorship.php.

Local residents can help connect Louisville’s youth to healthy, sustainable food and enjoy the musical talents of two of Louisville’s up-and-coming artists, Justin Lewis and Reading Group, at 8pm on Thursday, February 23rd at The Bard’s Town.

The odd musical pairing of Justin Lewis’s acoustic, singer-songwriter style with Reading Group’s gritty pop-punk sound is a result of their shared enthusiasm for the work of The Food Literacy Project. “We are so excited about doing this,” said Reading Group’s front-lady Lacey Guthrie, “we all support The Food Literacy Project and wanted to do what we could to help them.” Justin Lewis likewise commented, “It’s pretty great that I get to help an organization which makes such a positive impact in the community by playing my music.”
All proceeds from the evening will benefit The Food Literacy Project, which provides experiential education programs that create opportunities for young people to have positive experiences with fresh, healthy food in their outdoor classroom at Oxmoor Farm.
The concert is all-ages and will be at The Bard’s Town, located at 1801 Bardstown Rd. There is a suggested donation of $4.

This is your opportunity to introduce yourself to your legislator and tell him or her about the issues facing Kentucky agriculture that matter to you.  CFA has published a list of the major agriculture issues currently facing the 2012 General Assembly.  Late last year, CFA released our organizational priorities for 2012: support for young and beginning farmers, development of local and regional food systems and the establishment of a statewide food policy council.  Of course, there may be an issue that you’ve encountered on your farm or in your community that you would like to address with your legislator.

We will meet in room 131 in the Capitol Annex (the building behind Kentucky’s State Capitol) from 8:30 am until 9:30 am for orientation.  Please try not to arrive after 9:30 am!  We will break up into lobbying groups following orientation in order to meet with legislators. Lobbying will continue until legislators go into session at 2:00 pm.  There is a cafeteria in the basement of the annex for lunch.

Please register in advance of the 23rd so that CFA staff can work to pre-schedule meetings with your legislator.  We don’t want you to waste a trip!

Thursday February 23rd

8:30 am – 2:00 pm

Register (very important!)

Room 131 of the Capitol Annex (the office building behind the Capitol)

15Thousand Farmers Beginning Food Growing Workshop

This is a beginner’s workshop to teach you how to grow your own food in your back or front yard! We’ll teach the Square Foot Gardening method as one simple method of food growing. We’ll also show you how to grow food in other simple ways, including container gardening and we’ll create a No-Dig garden. We’ll show you how to simply and easily compost your kitchen and yard scraps to build amazing soil for your food growing.

There is a $10 suggested donation per person for this workshop (sliding scale.)

Saturday, February 25th – held at:
15Thousand Farmers’ Growing Center
at Dismas/St. Ann, 1515 Algonquin Parkway
10am – noon

We’ll have Heine Brothers’ Coffee to share! Come join us to begin the new growing season. It’ll be fun!!

Learn the best practices of rotational hyper-grazing techniques this Friday at Fresh Start. This technique, developed in New Zealand, creates healthier animals and improves grazing pasture. This is excellent management for all ruminants.

Starts 2pm Friday, February 17. Done by 4:30. Space is limited so call to reserve your spot. (502) 442-7883.