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Sustainable Communities Network is a  commnity-based  non-profit organization located in Lexington, Ky that endeavors to educate, inspire, build, create and empower sustainable cities

2011 Fundraising Letter
with highlights of our work in 2010

We welcome any amount of contributions to our on-going programs.
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We encourage you to read our

SCN Annual Report 2009

Back 2 Nature project Report

Sustainable Communities Network contributed articles, photographs and quotes for this book.

 

Join the Bluegrass garden network!


For list of current Community Gardens  in Lexington,
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JUST ADDED!!!!!!  Kentucky Wine and Food Tasting
April 21, 5-7pm
Kentucky Proud Market Lexington Civic Center Shops

As part of the Bluegrass Local Food Summit and will include fashions made from Kentucky fiber shown by Lexington Fashion Collaborative

Bluegrass Local Food Summit-Eating From Our Own Soil

EDUCATE   MOTIVATE    POLLINATE


When:    Thursday April 21, 2011 8am-4:30pm
Cost:      $45.00 per person

Fees and Registration
The registration fee for the Summit is $45 per person. But no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Scholarships are available to cover registration fees.
To Register Click here
To make payment click this button below
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For resources on local food system click here

Bluegrass Local Food Summit

                               Eating From Our Own Soil                              

EDUCATE   MOTIVATE  ... POLLINATE

April 21, 2011 8am-4:30pm
 Crestwood Christian Church, 1882 Bellefonte Dr. Lexington KY

8:00am-8:30am Check-in & Registration

 8:30am Welcome and Introductions

Jim Embry, Sustainable Communities Network

Rev Kory Wilcoxson, Crestwood Christian Church

Mayor Jim Gray, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government

9:00-9:15am Food and Farming Transition to a Post Carbon Food System

Michael Bomford, Kentucky State University,

9:15-10:00am  What’s working and how do we enhance our support of Kentucky farmers?

Farmers Roundtable

Speakers: John-Mark Hack, Marksbury Farm Market; Jeff Dabbelt, Lexington Farmers Market

Resource people: Terhan Jewell, Jewell Farms; Willis Sautter, Walnut Hall Beef; Dan Shelley Tucker, Tucker’s Turkey Farm; Maria Turner, Garrard County Farmers' Market,  Dean Tandy- Lexington USDA Office

10:00-10:30 Local Government and Re-building our Local Food System

Sara Fritschner, Joshua Jennings, Louisville Metro Government, Farm to Table, Health Equity & Food Policy

Support:  Cheri Bryant Hamilton, Louisville Metro Council Member 5th District

http://www.farmlandinfo.org/documents/37121/FarmersMarketFeasibilityStudyFINAL.pdf

Building Louisville’s Local Food Economy 

Louisville KY State of Food

http://council.nyc.gov/html/food/files/foodworks_fullreport_11_22_10.pdf

Louisville KY State of Food

10:30-11:15am How Community Groups Connect with Local Foods

Lucinda Masterton, Family Court Judge;

Shelia Taluskie, Chrysalis House, Purple Lunch Box;

Diane Fleet, Jessica Ballard, Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program Farm;

Rob Rumpke, Bluegrass Tomorrow;

Erica Horn, Faith Feeds

11:15-12 noon Educational Institutions and Local Foods

K-12 Schools and Local Foods

Michelle Coker, Tresine Logsdon, Fayette County Public Schools  

 Sylvia Moore, Mercer County Schools-Farm-to-School

Higher education

Mark Williams, Keiko Tanaka, Tim Woods, University of Kentucky

12 noon-1pm Lunch

Lunch speaker: First Lady of Kentucky, Jane Beshear

1:15-2pm Higher Education continued & State Government

State Representative Rita Smart, House District 81, House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Small Business

David Cooke, Berea College, Grow Appalachia

Mac Stone, Kentucky Department of Agriculture

Matt Chaliff, Kentucky Department of Education, Future Farmers of Kentucky

2pm-3:45pm Afternoon Working Groups

These Working Group sessions are meant to discuss strategy, develop action steps for each sector that will serve to increase the growing, distribution, processing, procurement, affordable access, education, consumption and policy making of local foods. Recommendations from each Working Group will be compiled and submitted to Mayor Jim Gray/LFUCG, other local governments, Governor Beshear and KY congressional representatives.

Working Group #1 Faith and Food Invites all faith community leadership and laypersons to discuss local food, community food security issues and to provide entry points for people of faith to work together to make important connections between our local food systems, our lifestyles, social justice, environmental stewardship and, respect and care for the created order. Faith-based organizations and faith communities representing different traditions will share their work to support local farmers, develop community gardens, and increase healthy food accessibility.

Facilitators: Erica Horn-Faith Feeds; Carol Devine-Green Chalice/Disciples of Christ

Resource people: Phyllis Fitzgerald-Earth and Spirit Center; Danny Everett-United Methodist Church: Lisa Satin,  Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass; Caleb Mathis, College Ministry, Crossroads Christian Church

Working Group #2 Scaling Up: Meeting the Demand for Local Food

Robust local food systems offer social, environmental and economic benefits. Increasingly, wholesale buyers are demanding locally grown food and growers are looking for new regional markets. In order to meet the demand for locally and regionally grown food and move significant quantities of  this food into markets such as restaurants, mainstream grocery stores and institutions, local food systems need to be scaled up or expanded from farmer-direct sales of small quantities of product to wholesale transactions. This session will include representatives from farmers, wholesalers, institutions, retailers and will develop strategies and action steps.

Facilitators:  John-Mark Hack, Marksbury Farm Market; Dan Arnett, Good Foods Market and Café; 

Speakers: Dan Arnett, Good Foods Market and Café;  Rick Christman, Employment Solutions; Beth Richardson,TarletonTavern Farm; Andre Barbour- Barbour’s Farm LLC;

Resource people: Jeff Dabbelt-Lexington Farmers Market; Maria Turner, Garrard County's Farmers' Market, Willis Sautter- Walnut Hall Beef; Dan Shelley Tucker-Tucker’s Turkey Farm; Terhan Jewell-Jewell Farms; John McAlonan, Fire on The Ridge Farm

Working Group #3 Growing an Urban Agriculture Food System Economy
This groups invites everybody interested in urban agriculture to participate by sharing needs, experiences, questions, and project ideas that address the most important and controversial issues of poverty alleviation, environmental and waste management, local economic, social and community development. How do we collaborate, share resources and build the infrastructure for urban agriculture

Facilitators: Sellus Wilder-Commonwealth Gardens; James Coles, Community Ventures Corporation

Resource people: Tresine Logsdon-Fayette County Public Schools; Steve Austin-Bluegrass Community Foundation; Timothy Mayer-Community Farm Alliance, Deborah Messenger, Field to Fork Festival, Matt Chaliff, FFA ,
Louise Caldwell-Edmonds, LFUCG, Jessica Mansfield,   The Rock/LaRoca United Methodist Church,

Working Group #4 Creating a Local Food Policy Council This session will work on education and development of food policy councils. It is appropriate for anyone who is interested in or involved with any organized effort to influence local and state food, agriculture, or nutrition policy. This session is an opportunity to learn more about policy, projects and partnerships that make up local food systems. It is also an occasion to network with individuals on the cutting edge of local and state food policy issues and will develop strategies for contributing to the development of the state food policy council and local councils throughout the state.

Facilitators:Aloma Dew, Sierra Club;  Joshua Jennings, Louisville Metro Government

Working Group #5 Growing Food and Partnerships in Appalachia Building regional partnerships is critical to creating just and sustainable local food systems in any region of Kentucky. This session will discuss ways to build even greater collaboration and capacity-building projects that address needs such as: educating children about growing gardens, diet-related health concerns – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, affordability of fresh produce, local food in school lunches, preserving traditional knowledge, small business development, and much more!.

Facilitators: Mike Stratford, Christian Appalachian Project; David Cooke, Berea College;

Resource people: Eveyln Knight, UK Appalachian Center

3:45pm-4:00pm Working Group Reports & Adjourn

 

5pm-7pm Kentucky Wine Tasting at Kentucky Proud Market, Downtown Civic Center Shops(Rupp Arena

When:    Thursday April 21, 2011 8am-4:30pm
Cost:      $45.00 per person(no one turned away for lack of  money: scholarships available)

More info:
http://sustainlex.org,  sustainlex@gmail.com , (859)379-9046  

Bluegrass Local Food Summit Co-sponsors: Employment Solutions/CTE, Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass, Bluegrass Community Foundation, Good Foods Market and Café’, Green Chalice/Disciples of Christ, Kentucky Proud Market, Walnut Hall Beef, LFUCG Environmental Commission, Crestwood Christian Church, Community Ventures Corporation, Temple Adath Israel, Erica Horn, Lisa Satin, Sierra Club-Cumberland Chapter, EcoC2 Services, Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice, Kentucky Department of Agriculture


The goals of this Summit are to:
  • Describe the size and scope of Kentucky’s local food systems and discuss the performance of local food markets; including price, product availability, marketing
  • Discuss impacts on rural economic development, environmental consequences and sustainability, food safety and quality, and social welfare issues;

  • Explore the range of current Government involvement in local food systems, including existing programs that foster local food distribution at the Federal, State, and local levels,
  •  Discuss barriers to growth in re-building Kentucky’s local food systems;

  • Build connections and collaborations so that institutions, hospitals, faith community, retail stores and citizens can become active supporters of a local food economy.
  • Organize the Bluegrass Food System Alliance and inspire the development of food policy councils
  • Inspire greater collaboration for community food security and urban agriculture

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Bluegrass Local Food Summit-Eating From Our Own Soil

EDUCATE   MOTIVATE    POLLINATE

April 21, 2011 8am-4:30pm
 Crestwood Christian Church, 1882 Bellefonte Dr. Lexington KY 

Rationale

Robust local food systems offer social, environmental and economic benefits. Increasingly, wholesale buyers are demanding locally grown food and growers are looking for new regional markets. In order to meet the demand for locally and regionally grown food and move significant quantities of  this food into markets such as restaurants, mainstream grocery stores and institutions, local food systems need to be scaled up or expanded from farmer-direct sales of small quantities of product to wholesale transactions. By scaling up, local food systems have the potential to borrow some of the economic and logistical efficiencies of the industrial food system while retaining social and environmental priorities such as sustainable agricultural practices and profitability for small- and mid-scale family farms and businesses.

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the topic of local food systems. This heightened interest can be found among policy makers, planners, public health professionals, environmentalists, community developers, academics, farmers and ordinary citizens. While there are common characteristics that most local food systems share the purpose of this conference is to explore the unique challenges and opportunities associated with local food systems located within our Bluegrass rural and urban regions.

The conference aims to bring together policy makers, planners, public health professionals, environmentalists, community developers, academics, farmers and ordinary citizens to share their knowledge, experience, and expertise with regard to developing and maintaining local food systems in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.




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Fresh Start Plan  Contributions(Jim Embry) 

Embry Web Articles
Embry Ace Articles
Brattleboro 100year plan

ACE Weekly download articles

Gardens of Eatin

Shovel Ready

Lexington Gardens Grow

Dig It: Gardens Root

HOBY Eco-Art 2009
HOBY Eco-Art 2008

Model of the Year
Closing the Food Gap


Greening of Bryan Station High School

Growing Food & Justice conference

Community Garden Tour Report

Gardening with Class

Bluegrass Food Security Summit 2010

The Great Work

The Great Turning

Farm to School

School gardens

Catherine Ferguson Academy

Catherine Ferguson "O" magazine article

Asenath Andrews

 Grown in Detroit_

 

Food and Sacred Earth Connections

Religion and Environment

Closing the Food Gap 2008

Profile of Food Policy Councils by State

interactive map of food policy councils

 Climate Change  portal information

Climate Change Books

African Americans Climate Change:Unequal Burden_REPORT

African Americans Climate Change Ex Summary

African Americans Climate Change Bullard Bibliography

Slow Food Newsletter