tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266697431445066537.post923937320327061569..comments2023-04-11T09:17:24.863-04:00Comments on The Farmers Market at Attleboro Farms: Recap of the Fresh Food Forum at Brown, One Man's OpinionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266697431445066537.post-59681855009751146392010-06-25T19:15:41.852-04:002010-06-25T19:15:41.852-04:00Eric, thanks for the comments all good ideas.
You ...Eric, thanks for the comments all good ideas.<br />You should definitely visit the markets to engage the farmers to directly sell to schools, hospitals and caterers like you use. I think there is also coupons to buy at farmers markets specifically for congregate feeding at the senior level, MDAR is the agency which directs that program if you are not already familiar with it. See you at the market 12-4 this Sunday then every Sunday after July 11th.David Scanlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02373195874949704557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266697431445066537.post-48477156506333392392010-06-25T18:43:46.088-04:002010-06-25T18:43:46.088-04:00David, you mentioned improving sustainable local f...David, you mentioned improving sustainable local farming through sales to schools. Here's another similar, but year-round idea. I am the nutritionist at Bristol Elder Services. Various organizations like Bristol Elder are responsible for the production and delivery of meals on wheels program and congregate meals. At Bristol Elder we provide meals to about 2000 seniors in need daily. Massachusetts wide the MOW program provides about 40,000 seniors per day plus about another 20,000 meals at congregate sites. The program is of course price sensitive, but if you can provide food at a price acceptable to schools, then it will be acceptable to the MOW program. These programs generally work through caterers who actually purchase and prepare the food and our caterer currently works with one farm. I am encouraging working with more local farms through SEMAP. <br /><br />Also, another type of customer your farmers might want to get to know is hospitals. They typically serve a few hundred meals daily and could be reliable large volume customers. <br /><br />The reason I came across your site was via SEMAP (http://www.semaponline.org). My plan is to visit several area farmers' markets to get to know the local farmers better and hopefully farmers and meal programs like ours can mutually benefit. <br /><br />Thank you for raising the question and raising awareness of the value of local produce.Erichttp://www.nutritionwebservices.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266697431445066537.post-1899030151885282352010-03-07T09:33:07.737-05:002010-03-07T09:33:07.737-05:00I think I will make a pilgrimage to the winter mar...I think I will make a pilgrimage to the winter market today... Good post. I am in the research phase of starting my own small, sustainable farm. I spent years growing food on large industrialized farms. I had enough, went back to school, and I graduate this year. <br /><br />So my mission in 2010 is figuring out how to make a living as a sustainable farmer... <br /><br />See you all in Attleboro I hopeChrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04215960808062918960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266697431445066537.post-84828192304097171632010-02-07T07:03:08.845-05:002010-02-07T07:03:08.845-05:00All good points, thanks for the comment.All good points, thanks for the comment.David Scanlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02373195874949704557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266697431445066537.post-13254631923022576372010-02-06T09:51:39.073-05:002010-02-06T09:51:39.073-05:00I think it needs to be all of those things and mor...I think it needs to be all of those things and more. Schools are struggling to make ends meet and it would help them out in many ways to grow their own. We just need to show them how. I hear all the time that friends are looking for Farmers markets and don't know where to find them. They want to buy local, but get overwhelmed and give up. The markets need to be more vocal, so that everyone knows that they are there. I really believe that if more people knew what was out there, they'd buy more local foods. <br /><br />The only other thing I'll add, is that our society has gotten so far from preparing foods from scratch. Cooking demonstrations and recipes can help to show shoppers what they can do with new foods. We need to teach people how to cook again.The Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15070310346205563561noreply@blogger.com