Thanks to all who came out for the Eat Local Challenge Kick Off Sunday April 29th!  If you would like to challenge yourself to eating locally for the rest of the month of May – perhaps going to a fun community celebration at the end of the month – then check out Hogtown HomeGrown‘s Eat Local Challenge page below:

441 Farmers’ Market YouTube Video

The Gradual Vegetarian Cooking Demonstration

Union Street Farmers Market, Bo Diddley Communty Plaza, Downtown Gainesville

Wednesday April 4, 2012

4-5pm

Michael Pollan says “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” but how do you do that? Learn how to start with Meatless Mondays and move forward though the week with less meat and more variety. Try different herbs, spices and textures that remind you of classic flavors. Sharpen your taste buds with old favorites from other cultures, made new for today! Class will be about 45 minutes, with samples afterwards.

Stefanie Samara Hamblen owns Hogtown HomeGrown and The Illegal Jam Company, teaches classes for CHOICES of Alachua County, is a founding board member of Blue Oven Kitchens and a member of Slow Food.

More info to come, so stay tuned in to Blue Oven’s updates!  And if you haven’t already:  “like” us on Facebook!

CONTACTS:

Evily Giannopoulos; 863-698-8261; evily@greenbergcommunications.com

Trish Riley, Director; 352-327-3560; Trish@CinemaVerde.org

Cinema Verde hosting community potluck to honor local farmers

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The third-annual Cinema Verde Environmental Film and Arts Festival invites local farmers and the Gainesville community to join us for a sustainable potluck dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Local farmers who would like to attend are encouraged to RSVP with director Trish Riley at Trish@CinemaVerde.org before Tuesday. They will be VIP guests and receive free admission to the festival for the night. Community members are invited to come celebrate the work our local farmers do by bringing in a dish made with locally grown products to share in the potluck.

“This way we can show our farmers the unique dishes we make with the bounty they provide for us,” Riley said.

The potluck will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. as part of Tuesday’s overall theme about food issues. All films and events throughout the day will highlight the importance of local sustainable and organic foods. Tuesday’s festivities are sponsored by the Alachua County Sustainability Office.

A special short film about Gainesville’s own local farmers’ market will be featured during the event on Tuesday. Several other international films and documentaries about food sustainability issues will also be shown throughout the evening.

Vegucated is a feature-length documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. The film showcases the rapid – and at times comedic – evolution of three people who share a journey and ultimately discover their own paths in creating a kinder, cleaner, greener world.

Planeat features the life-long searches of three doctors for a healthy and environmentally beneficial diet. The film showcases their groundbreaking research in the areas of exploring the link between diet and disease, the use of diet to treat heart disease patients, and how our food choices contribute to global warming, land use and oceanic deadzones.

Mad City Chickens brings to light the benefits and misconceptions about growing one’s own food in an urban setting. Author and director Christine Heinrichs will be attending the festival and will engage in thought-provoking discussions with the audience about these issues.

Cinema Verde, an ongoing effort to promote environmental awareness and sustainable solutions, will be held at Villa East, 301 N. Main St., from Feb. 24 to March 2. Tuesday’s potluck is just one of many exciting events that will be held during the festival. Other events include the Eco-Art Walk, Eco Fair, “Vintage Verde” recycled fashion show and 27 international environmental films and documentaries.

For more information, visit the Cinema Verde website at www.cinemaverde.com

CINEMA VERDE’S IMPACT – Cinema Verde is an environmental film and arts festival focused on the promotion of sustainability and green living. The third-annual Cinema Verde Environmental Film and Arts Festival is a production of GoGreenNation.org. The organization’s mission is to showcase natural resources, workshops and other educational activities for community organizations, local businesses and citizens in order to create sustainable solutions for the future.

For more information, visit the Cinema Verde website at www.CinemaVerde.org or call 352-327-3560.

Thanks to all who mobbed the 441 Farmers’ Market with their $20 or more on Saturday, February 4th!  Thank you to the Waste Watchers, the NGO’s, and our star volunteers who made the event so much fun, run smoothly, and provided educational literature and activities for the community.  One farmer said it was the busiest market day he had seen in the three years he has sold his products there.  Another said she sold $200 more worth of vegetables than she normally does.  Mayor Craig Lowe, City Commissioner Wells, many Alachua County staff members, and lots of first-time farmers’ marketers from our community came out to support our local food economy with the ever-important market regulars.  Thank you, thank you!

Check back soon for more information!

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Organic Growers, Alachua County Office of Sustainability, Little Bean Productions, Blue Oven Kitchens and Buy Local North Central Florida are pleased to announce a Cash Mob at the Alachua County 441 Farmers Market (5920 NW 13th Street). The goal of the event is to gather a crowd to promote local economic development through community education and solidarity.  Each person is asked to spend $20 at the 441 Farmers Market. The event will take place on Saturday, February 4th, 2012, and will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This family event will have a bounce house, a vegan and local foods vendor (The Loving Hut), Waldorf school kid’s activities and other exciting events for kids. A short film will be produced about this event to educate our community about farmers markets in Alachua County.

Cash Mobs encourage people to support local businesses by spending a small amount of money as a group to give a big economic boost to local business owners. The February 4th 441 Cash Mob aims to support the local food economy by increasing the viability of farm enterprises. Everyone benefits when local farmers are supported: the community’s capacity to provide access to healthy, fresh food is enriched, citizens become healthier and this all promotes sustainability. Florida Organic Growers (FOG) Executive Director, Marty Mesh said, “This fun filled family oriented event demonstrates how easy it is to make a significant impact on our local economy though investing in our local businesses and community.” Continuing, he said “Small ideas can have big results.”

FOG will additionally be incentivizing SNAP beneficiaries by doubling the first ten dollars of someone’s SNAP purchase while funds are available. Funds are limited so corporate contributions are welcome.

Cash Mobs have been sprouting up throughout the United States recently and are modeled after Flash Mobs, events where large groups of people gather to celebrate artistic expression. Cash Mobs add the element of supporting local businesses by encouraging people to show up, as a group, with a $20 bill and use it to support the local business of your choice. The spirit of a Cash Mob is encompassed with the motto, “We each do a little. We all do a lot.” By joining forces in our community, we are able to have a greater impact than our singular actions could.

FOG is funded by Alachua County to operate EBT technology at the Saturday 441 Alachua County Farmers Market through Sept. 30, 2012. The USDA, through the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), has also funded education and outreach for FOG to conduct this work.

For more information about the EBT project, visit www.foginfo.org/farmersmarket.php, call 352.377.6345 or email education@foginfo.org.

Saturday, February 4th
8:30 – 1:00

Alachua County 441 Farmers Market

5920 NW 13th Street in Gainesville, FL

at the corner of State Road 121 (NW 13th St)
and U.S. 441 in an open air metal pavilion
RTS: Shands to Northwood Village (Sat.) – #408

The Goal:

To educate the community about local economic development by each spending $20 at the farmers market to support
farm enterprises in North Central Florida

SNAP Benefits doubled up to $10 while supplies last

#cmgnv FB Event: 441 Cash Mob danielle@foginfo.org 352.377.6355

This presentation is based on work supported under the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) Grant Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, under Award #FL-367-2011-6-1321, and by the Alachua County Board of County Commissioner’s Community Agency Partnership Program.

Cash Mob Flyer

BUY LOCAL NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA!!

Interested in learning more about buying local?  Blue Oven Kitchens and Slow Food Gainesville have created the Buy Local North Central Florida campaign to educate our community about the importance of buying from local and independent businesses, and to make it easier for our community to identify those businesses.

Want to help the Buy Local NCF movement learn more about what our community knows about “buying local” and wants to see more of locally?  Please complete the SURVEY by January 31st on the Buy Local North Central Florida website.

So what have we accomplished in the past year?  WELL, we’ve been busy on volunteer power:

• Taught 15 Cooking Classes
• Information Table at 10 Community Events
• Held Second Annual Farm-to-Restaurant Workshop & Culinary Fair (with Slow Food Gainesville)
• Kicked off the Buy Local North Central Florida Campaign
• Held Second Annual Winter Gift Fair
• Presented at 12 City and County Commission Meetings in North Central Florida on the Importance of Buying Local
• Continuing Research into Strengthening Our Local Food System and Local Food Economy

We are continuing our fundraising campaign to support our activities and – most importantly – for a facility; our goal is to strengthen these efforts next year.  Inspected kitchen facilities can be quite costly (which is why many entrepreneurs cannot afford to build them themselves), so we welcome community support to further our goal.

Interested in learning more about buying local?  Blue Oven Kitchens and Slow Food Gainesville have created the Buy Local North Central Florida campaign to educate our community about the importance of buying from local and independent businesses, and to make it easier for our community to identify those businesses.

Yes, it may be raining a bit off and on, but we will be at the Sun Center and SE 2nd Place (we have closed part of it off) from 3 P.M. until 7 P.M. today!  Come out and support your community by buying your holiday gifts and goodies locally!

Get a treat at Amelia’s, Boca Fiesta, Maude’s, The Midnight, or any one of the Sun Center food businesses or our Winter Gift Fair food entrepreneurs.

Make sure to bring cash or check.