Email Newsletter

Read our current newsletter below, and sign up to receive them in your inbox!

Newsletter Archive >>

We invite you to browse our current email newsletter.

Pass this newsletter along to your friends by filling out the following form.

Enter your email address: Enter your friend's email address:

Current Newsletter

		9/17 GGFN e-news: food assessment presentation, goat's milk, and more IN THIS ISSUE:  – GGFN: Community Food Assessment presentation, September 24! – GGFN: Harvest Dinner thanks! – GGFN: Come to the market this week! – EVENT: The Big Look meeting, September 29 – EVENT: New Sustainability Group meeting in The Dalles – EVENT: Farm Fest, Goldendale, September 20 – EVENT: Wind Power workshops – ARTICLE: Food Banks Finding Aid in Bounty of Backyard – DAIRY: New licensed goat dairy in WA
GGFN: Community Food Assessment presentation, September 24! You've been hearing updates on this project all year.. now it is finally time to unveil the results! Ever wondered how many people go hungry in Hood River County? - And how we can reduce that number? How many folks are gardening at home or at a community garden? - And how many more want to learn? How much are local farmers growing, and where is it going? - And how strengthening local farms might strengthen our local economy? Learn the answers to all this and more next week at a public presentation by Gorge Grown Food Network to present and discuss the results of a year-long research project: the Hood River County Community Food Assessment. Hood River County Community Food Assessment: A Big Picture Look at Food and Farming in Hood River County Wednesday, September 24, 2008 6:30 PM Hood River Middle School Auditorium The interactive presentation will be led by Sarah Hackney, of Gorge Grown Food Network, and Ken Meter, of Crossroads Resource Center. Ken is a nationally recognized food systems analyst. A Community Food Assessment is a collaborative, participatory process that examines a range of community food issues and assets with the goal of improving food security, farm viability, and community health and education. Partners and volunteers in Hood River conducted surveys, facilitated focus groups, and gathered extensive research for this project. Partners in the project include the Mid-Columbia Community Action Council, Soul Café, Nuestra Communidad Sana / The Next Door Inc., the Hood River County Commission on Children and Families, FISH Food Bank, the Hood River County Health Department, the Oregon State University Extension Service, and the Oregon Department of Human Services. You definitely don't want to miss this - and please do pass the word on! Back to Top
GGFN: Harvest Dinner thanks! We'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all who attended and helped out with the Gorge Grown Harvest Dinner last weekend. It was a fun, wonderful evening for so many, and a great success for our organization as well as the local community. We at GGFN were just astounded by the number of supporters who came out to enjoy an evening with us in the cherry trees - nearly 250 of you came out! We hope that you all had as much fun as we did. Not only was this a wonderful evening, it was a successful fundraiser that will provide GGFN much-needed funds for this fall. Each and every dollar makes a difference. We couldn't have done it without the many smiling volunteers, the generous farms, and the chefs and restaurants throughout the gorge who contributed outstanding dishes. We don't even know how to pick a favorite dish, everything was so delicious. A special thanks to our event business sponsors -- Gorge.net, Blue Sky, Jay Sherrerd, Attorney at Law, and Your Party Center -- for their generous support of the harvest celebration. And did you hear that our event was powered by renewable energy? Blue Sky sponsored the extra costs to offset all electricity used at the Harvest Dinner with 100% renewable energy. By doing so, we effectively prevented 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, which is the equivalent air emissions reduction of a person not driving their car 2143 miles! Thank you, thank you, and thank you all again! Back to Top
GGFN: Come to the market this week! Thursday, September 18, 2008 4-7 p.m. at the Hood River Middle School (1602 May St.) The Gorge Grown market just gets better and better as the season rolls on! At the market this week you can enjoy everything the Gorge has to offer from field and orchard, from apples and pears to arugula and zucchini. Come by early for the best selection of summer favorites TOMATOES AND SWEET CORN, plus HUCKLEBERRIES, strawberries, all kinds of vegetables, fresh cut herbs, grass-fed beef, fresh bread, cut flowers, and more! It’s tree fruit season in the valley, and you can find your favorite pears and apples too, including Honeycrisps and Bartletts! This week we also have fresh-made cheeses from Jacobs Creamery and luscious tarts from The Market Gourmet, ready to take home for dessert. And don't forget to visit our website's market section for info on other great local markets, like The Dalles Farmers' Market, Goldendale Saturday Market, and more! Everything you need to know about every market in the Gorge is online here! Back to Top
EVENT: The Big Look meeting, September 29 On July 29th, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles,The Big Look Task Force will be gathering input from citizens regarding suggestions on how to restructure Oregon's land use system. This is one of ten town hall meetings around the state when it's your turn to tell representatives what you think about draft recommendations the task force has created. Not since Oregon's land use system was put into place over thirty years ago has there been an interactive, statewide look at Oregon's landmark land use system. With Oregon's population expected to increase from 3.5 million to 5.2 million by 2040, and Hood River's population expected to increase from 21,470 to over 30,000 by 2035, the need for continued strong growth management policies is critical if we wish to combat global warming and protect our resource land. CARPOOL HRVRC is inviting anyone interested in attending the meeting to meet at the Park & Ride across from China Gorge in Hood River so folks can carpool out to the event. Meeting time is 5:30 pm in the parking lot for a brief, informal informational gathering session before leaving around 5:50. Folks can then carpool out to The Dalles. Visit http://www.hrvrc.org for more information. Back to Top
EVENT: New Sustainability Group meeting in The Dalles A new community group has begun meeting monthly in The Dalles to discuss how our consumption choices affect our local and global environment, economy, and social systems. Together we will explore topics such as how to eat locally, use fully recyclable resources, and live simply and sustainably on a budget. The group will meet at 7pm on the second Tuesday of every month at Zion Lutheran Church (downstairs) in The Dalles. The address is 101 W. 10th St. This is not a church event. All are welcome! Please contact Heidi Kramer at hkramer001@yahoo.com or 541-370-2742 with questions. Back to Top
EVENT: Farm Fest, Goldendale, September 20 Members of the Columbia Basin are organizing a Farm Fest, where they'll have a cafe serving goat meat, animals for sale, information about goats, fun stuff for the kids, and more! September 20th 8am to 6pm Klickitat County Fairgrounds in Goldendale. For more in.formation, visit their website! Back to Top
EVENT: Wind Power workshops Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (NWSEED) is conducting a series of workshops (cosponsored by USDA Rural Development) in eastern Oregon to help demystify the wind power opportunity for the layman. If you are a rural landowner wondering how viable and desirable wind power is on your property, this workshop is for you. It will give you the chance to understand the complexities of wind power development and make better-informed decisions about whether wind is an option you want to pursue, and if you do, help you understand all the factors that you will need to weigh in deciding how to participate. Daylong (8:30-4:30) workshops will be held at: Hood River - September 16 Moro - October 21 Pendleton - October 28 Baker City - October 29 To register, and for details, contact NWSEED - 1-866-759-SEED Back to Top
ARTICLE: Food Banks Finding Aid in Bounty of Backyard Perhaps an idea we could apply to the Gorge? Food Banks Finding Aid in Bounty of Backyard By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN, originally published in The New York Times, 9/14/2008 Natasha Boissier did not expect an epiphany while pushing her baby's stroller exhaustedly around the neighborhood. But eyeing her neighbors' yards, Ms. Boissier began noticing the abundance of fruit trees - and how much of their succulent bounty wound up on the ground. "There was all this fruit going to waste," she said of the apples, pears and plums in her midst. "It seemed like such a natural way to deal with hunger." Thus was born North Berkeley Harvest, part of a small but expanding movement of backyard urban gleaners - they might be called fruit philanthropists - who voluntarily harvest surplus fruit and then donate it to food banks, centers for the elderly and other nonprofit organizations. In an era in which fruit canning, drying and preserving are for many no longer everyday skills, harvesters like Ms. Boissier, a 40-year-old social worker, are bringing a new spin to the concept of U-Pick-'Em. A renewed emphasis on locally grown organic foods, along with higher food prices and increased demand at food banks, has inspired a new generation of community harvesters to search for solutions in their backyards. Read the full article HERE Back to Top
DAIRY: New licensed goat dairy in WA Looking for a licensed local goat dairy where you can purchase goat milk? Interested in making goat cheese or goat milk yogurt at home or for commercial sales? Marlee's Dairy is a brand-new USDA Grade-A licensed goat dairy in Goldendale. Her prices are currently $3.00 per half gallon from the farm. Interested buyers should call Martha Horal at 509-773-5190. Visit her website for more information! Back to Top
Gorge Grown info@gorgegrown.com www.GorgeGrown.com Please add "info@gorgegrown.com" to your white list or your "not spam" list. Back to Top

Email Powered By Locus