ALFN Local Food Club:  The Market Is Open

ALFN Members,

The market is open for another year of rain and sun. Though it is January, we still have loads of fresh vegetables with plenty of meat and eggs.

Refurbished Website Categories

As mentioned in a previous weblog, we have slightly changed the market categories on the left side of the page. For the most part, categories have remained the same. Foods are separated into kind with prepared foods in various sub-categories under “Locally Produced Goods.” I hope the new organization will simplify and clarify your shopping experience. As usual, you can see the sub-categories only if you click on the main category link. Please let me know how they work this week!

Plastics

I remember the first goat we had die due to eating plastic bags. We were living in Mozambique, trying to get a small goat project up and running with a small village. The goats ranged throughout the surrounding fields of the village, and it was impossible to find all the plastic bags littered throughout the area. As a satellite community of the nearby capital, the village suffered with an influx of cheap plastic bags used for everything. When we cut open the dead goat, I pulled out plastic bags from his intestines. The bags could have been washed off and used again.

The turning of numbers seems to offer ways to calculate and quantify. So with the turning of 2015 to 2016, I thought it would be interesting to count plastic. A new study has found 3-10 times more plastic in the world’s oceans than previously thought. The study only quantified microplastics that could be measured with nets and did not consider the heavier plastics that sink to the bottom of the ocean. Americans throw away 185 lbs of plastic a year on average. These plastics spend decades in landsfills or migrate to the oceans where they break up into millions of pieces which are often ingested by the marine biology of the oceans. Consequently, there is a good likelihood, actually studies suggest a one-in-four chance, that the fish we eat has plastic in its body.

Plastics are petroleum-based products and carry the same burden on the world’s ecosystems as the fossil fuel industrial-complex. What if the city only picked up our trash once a year? What would our plastic load look like? For the locavore movement, such long-term problems can be hard to handle. Should we be concerned about random bits of plastic in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? I don’t know how to translate this concern into viable action except through personal behavior change and a deeper philosophical conversion. I can reduce and even try to cut plastics out of my lifestyle.

I’ve been watching the Arkansas River rise over the last few days. Inevitably, the floating trash along the margins, caught in drifts, captures my attention. Water runs down. A locavore with a global awareness realizes that we are located on a specific point within a larger watershed. All my trash drifts down the watershed into the great planetary basins of the world. And we all learned the hydrological cycle back in 5th grade. We are on a huge conveyor belt. Call it Karma, or call it cause and effect.

As we continue to cultivate our own local economy, we should also find ways to regenerate the bags which hold our local goodness!

Come volunteer this Saturday! You can sign up at Volunteer Spot.

Thanks

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

Siloam Springs, AR:  Weblog Entry

Dothan, Alabama:  Welcome 2016

Market News

WELCOME 2016!

THANK YOU for your participation in MarketatDothan.locallygrown.net This message is just a brief announcement about upcoming market dates and a few tiny items concerning market transition as we enter the new year!

1.You noticed that the newsletter looks different. This is because the new administrator is learning html. Please bear with me as I navigate a part of the internet that is quite new and very different!


2. Market will reopen Saturday January 9 @ 5pm till Tuesday, January 12 @ 5pm. Pickup is at Dothan Nurseries Friday January 15 from 10am – 12pm. If it is too cold to be outside pickup will be in the Greenhouse.

3. We are transitioning to market bags only. If you have not already furnished the market with re-usable bags we can supply them. Cost is $1 per bag which is refundable when returned or when you furnish your own. For customers with large orders, please be mindful to furnish enough to hold your purchases. For most people rotating two bags from week to week works great!

4. New vendors are coming! Stay tuned!

5. As in the past, we strive to bring you the highest quality FRESH LOCAL produce in the Wiregrass. This has always been a chemical fertilizer and pesticide free market. It is the reason the market was started, and the reason we are still here. Our farmers are not large scale certified or commercial producers, but smaller growers who are passionate about quality and proud to offer the kind of whole and healthy food they put on their own plates.

Thank you for your time – we’ll send a notice next week with food and grower updates. Till next time, God Bless – - – - Ros Horton

United States Virgin Islands:  This Week in VI Locally Grown

Happy New Year!
The market is now open for orders and we have lots of new meat cuts available. I also have some veggie burgers and muffins too. Stop on by. Get a flower bouquet, grab some greens from Bijou farms or Ridge2Reef Farm. How about a refreshing local drink from Queens Maubi?

Interested in weekly food deliveries from ridge2reef farm? Check out their CSA program. Signup is right now for the 15 week season starting Jan 9! You essentially get a weekly delivery of produce, fruit, egg, or coffee (your choice), with some items at a discounted rate from the marketplace by paying for the season up front. http://ridgetoreef.csasignup.com/members/types

Thanks!

Carolina Foothills, SC:  The Market is Open!!!!

Hello All,

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year. I hope the holidays went well.

I am sorry for opening late, my week always gets turned upside down when my husband works the weekend.

Anyway, stop in and take a look around, hope to see you Tuesday.

Susan.

http://carolinafoothills.locallygrown.net/market

Tullahoma Locally Grown:  Tullahoma Locally Grown Market is Open

Happy New Year.

Your Tullahoma Locally Grown Market is currently open for normal business. You can order from now until Wednesday at noon.

Growers will drop off on Thursdays: 3:30 – 4:15

Customer pickup will be on Thursdays: 4:15 – 5:15

Here is the link to the market: Tullahoma Locally Grown Market

Thank you for your support. Have a great day,
Fuel So Good Coffee Roasters*

Spa City Local Farm Market Co-op:  The market is now open for ordering

The market is now open for ordering

Good Morning Everyone!!! Happy New Year!!!
The Spa City Co-op market is now open for ordering at spacity.locallygrown.net. Please place your orders before Tuesday at 9 pm, and plan to pick up your orders at Emergent Arts on Friday January 8th from 3:30 – 5:30, the earlier the better.
Don’t forget – this market has no paid positions, so we NEED VOLUNTEERS to run every market. It’s fun, you get a $5 gift card, and you learn so much about local foods in Arkansas.

this market’s manager
Karen Schuman
karenschuman9@gmail.com
501-276-3318

Spa City Local Farm Market Co-op:  The market is now open for ordering

Good Morning Everyone!!! Happy New Year!!!
The Spa City Co-op market is now open for ordering at spacity.locallygrown.net. Please place your orders before Tuesday at 9 pm, and plan to pick up your orders at Emergent Arts on Friday January 8th from 3:30 – 5:30, the earlier the better.
Don’t forget – this market has no paid positions, so we NEED VOLUNTEERS to run every market. It’s fun, you get a $5 gift card, and you learn so much about local foods in Arkansas.

this market’s manager
Karen Schuman
karenschuman9@gmail.com
501-276-3318

Middle Tennessee Locally Grown:  Time to Order Local Farm Products!

Good morning, friends!

The market is back on a regular operating schedule after the holidays, opening this morning as usual, and will remain open for your orders till Tuesday evening at 10 pm. See the section of this message entitled “Important Ordering and Pickup Information.”

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NEWS AND NOTES

Sand Dragon Farm has added dark fall honey and strawberry jam to the market.

CnG Outdoors & More has listed several more essential oil blends from DoTerra. If you’re not sure how to use essential oils, I’m sure Christina will be glad to help you by e-mail.

Brighten your indoor winter with a beautiful houseplant, hanging basket, or herb basket from Dogwood Valley Greenhouse.

And how about some delicious nutritious bread? Tena Grenell offers several varieties to delight any preferences.

Frontier Family Farm will continue to supply us with hydroponic vegetables throughout the winter. Three types of lettuce, as well as spinach and broccoli, should be available all winter, barring crop failure, with brussels sprouts being available for one more week.

But our farmers’ market is not just about vegetables. Please take note of some of the seasonal items available this week: Live Water Kefir Grains and Square Bale Grass Hay from Triple B Farms; Ground Beef from Paccman Ranch; and several flavors of grape jelly from Weaver Farms.

We also have lots of our regular year-round items: perennial, herb, and fern plants, as well as a good selection of houseplants; local milk, eggs, and honey; lots of different pork cuts; several dried herbs and fresh, as well as lots of homemade herbal products too.

(L to R) Lavender Essential Oil from CnG Outdoors & More; Strawberry Jam and Wildflower Honey from Sand Dragon Farm; Banana Bread and San Francisco Sourdough Bread from Delicious Nutritious Bread.

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Important Ordering and Pickup Information

Ordering will be open until TUESDAY at 10 p.m., and your order will be available for pickup on THURSDAY between 4:00 and 5:30 at Square Books, 113 East Main Street, Manchester. We can also hold your order in the refrigerator till Friday, if it’s more convenient for you to pick it up between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm. If you prefer to utilize this free service, please make a note on your order or call my cell at (931) 273-9708.

Thanks so much for your support of Manchester Locally Grown Market, and your friends and neighbors who have grown and produced these items. Please encourage our local farmers by helping to spread the word about our wonderful market to everyone you know. We offer a great variety of local farm products, and our items will be in your hands in time to plan for the weekend. Although the Saturday markets are closed for the season, wonderful local products are available for ordering from the comfort of your own computer.

We have some new farmers considering joining our market, if they can expect large sales to help pay their transportation costs. Please help us grow the market by sharing this e-mail with your friends, calling their attention to the later pickup hours, which may be more convenient for them. And if you haven’t ordered from Manchester Locally Grown for a while, please check out our wide variety of offerings this week. Also please let us know if we can improve our selection or scheduling in any way to better suit your needs.

Blessings,
Linda

Here is the complete list for this week.

Statesboro Market2Go:  Happy New Year!

The market is open!