Buy Local Food In Kitsap

Were you just too busy to make it to the KCAA monthly meeting in February?

Check out what you missed in the meeting minutes, posted below. I’m developing the format, so any formatting requests or suggestions are welcome. Hopefully the notes will provide you with resources to make the presenter information that much more valuable, even if you did attend the meeting.

The KCAA meets regularly, on the second Tuesday of the Month, at 6:30pm.

In March, we are beginning to meet at the Silverdale Grange on Clear Creek Road – hope to see you there!

Summary:            Jean Schanen spoke about her experience and about her new store in downtown Bremerton: “Fresh Local”

Jim Freeman absent tonight, VP Jade Pope leading the meeting.

General Announcement:

-         Granges in Western Washington organized a committee to address regulations and the effect of state and national farming regulations on small and medium sized farmers in the state.

-         Peas and fava beans might be things to start with – the soil is starting to respond to the weather.

-         WA Agriculture Strategic Plan: glossy magazine type document with 5 key recommendations (1) make Ag a priority, (2) eliminate regulatory barriers (complex local, state & federal regulations threatens competitiveness), (3) protect resources, (4) Strengthen support services (to compete effectively in global markets thru research, technology, transportation, education, etc); (5) Harness emerging opportunities.

Jean Schanen: “Gimme some more, Kitsap growers!”\

“Fresh Local” – 540 Fourth Street, Bremerton, WA; (between Pacific & Park)

T-F 10a-6p; Sa 10a-5p (closed Sun & Mon)

www.freshlocal-bremerton.com

(building “freshlocal.org” right now)

• February 24^th – Fresh Local meeting; @ Unitarian Universal Fellowship in Bremerton; will adopt bylaws, members will receive this info via email; looking for board member candidates (you can nominate yourself)
• Market share captured by local produce/meats is less than 1% in Kitsap
• Over 200 signed up for Fresh Local before it opened; hundreds of fans on Facebook, too
• Need to increase the supply of local food in Kitsap!
• Before you put in a big crop, you need to know where you’re going to sell it; market for local produce/meat has been farmer’s markets – don’t offer sufficient opportunities to really push production and make a dent in the market
• Jean’s Power Point presentation
• Will Allen – founder & CEO of Growing Power, “Fresh” the movie featured Will Allen; working in Milwaukee & Chicago, started with as small as Fresh Local; “Inspiring communities to build sustainable food systems that are equitable and biologically sound, creating a just world, one food-secure community at a time.”  http://www.growingpower.org/
• Store is there – up & running – just needs more local food
• Membership: fill out the form, pay annual $50 fee; get the benefits of buying ingredients wholesale and use Evergreen Kitchen at wholesale cost (difference of about $4 per hour) (see below) no need to barcode items, almost nothing is bar coded in the store; You DO have to label your products, a list of ingredients in the order of magnitude in the recipe; the products made there have to be sold there (to get the benefit of the liability coverage of Fresh Local)(you can sell it elsewhere, but you’d need a state license to do so); 
• Why Fresh Local?
  • Best food – safer than anything in the local market
  • Concerns – “The End of Food” – developing food crisis in general; food safety;
  • Ground beef at Fresh Local comes from Port Orchard – from one animal – you can be sure it does not have ammonia or E. coli in it!
  • We got used to the global commercial food system; but it is dependent on oil and price of oil will bring the system down.
  • From the News: inventories of Ag products are lowest they have been in decades, yet commodity prices are down 70-80%; food shortages are possible in the US and the rest of the world (reported in Dec 2009); there is undeniable evidence that the world will run out food this year; UN reports world consuming more food than it can eat
  • The US gov’t is putting more land into biofuels instead of agriculture!
  • Fire insurance – you buy it even though you never think your house will ever really burn down; the probability of food shortages is higher than the risk your house will ever burn down. Take the opportunities available to you now to grow your own food and support your local agriculture!
  • Fresh Local buys at wholesale prices. It is a not-for-profit business, but it has to cover overhead costs to stay open. So, farmers out there, grow as much as you can, sell it at the farmers markets and then bring it over to Fresh Local.
  • We need more city farms; there will be a spot at Fresh Local for growers
  • Info for Sellers interested in selling at Fresh Local:
    • Fresh Local Insists on sustainable growing practices, and no pesticides or herbicides on the food.
    • Need to have the name of the seller and the address of the farm.
    • No need for permits/licenses for produce.
    • Meats have to be USDA inspected (or WSDA inspected) – it has to come to Fresh Local cut, wrapped, and frozen.
  • Food-tracking: If you’re farming, MAP your crops & keep documented notes of how you raise them.
  • Value-added: Fresh Local has an agreement with commercial kitchen across the street (Evergreen Kitchen); you need a food handler permit & the know-how and you can get ingredients and time in that kitchen at wholesale prices and then you can sell your wares at the Fresh Local shop. (e.g. jams, bakery items, etc…).
  • Creating a haven for the buyers in our area to buy the food that they really want to eat.
  • Selling “Green Bank” farm from Whidbey Island
  • Examples of produce requests:
    • Shiitake mushrooms
    • Full range of produce from the area: beans, grains, etc
• Kitsap Poultry Growers Co-op: proceeding, ordering plucker and scalder; would like to put it within an enclosed mobile slaughter trailer with Washington State inspections (allows to sell to individuals at a store). There are three different types of permits: less than 1,000 – you can sell off the farm on the day of slaughter; 20,000 or greater – you can sell to restaurants or a store; (Fresh Local has grass fed beef, fresh oysters from Seabeck, and needs the chickens that this mobile processing unit would provide)
• Small Farm & Direct Marketing Handbook – get through smallfarms@agr.wa.gov – or get thru county extension office (Used to be called the “Greenbook” – NJ called it the “farmer’s bible” – but it’s been re-written and more clear than before)
• “Food Hub” – foodhub.org – set up to bring together buyers and sellers of all kinds of farm products in the NW
• Kitsap Food & Farm Council – First meeting at 5pm on Thursday Feb 11^th, in Port Orchard – Courthouse, in the council chambers; public can come and watch (it is a working council, so there is no public address)
  • When the populace cares, change can be made; when you don’t show up, it seems like you don’t care
• Attra.org, sare.org: great resources for new farmers
• Clellam County: at Port Angeles, 14-week sustainable farming class, $120; (WSU also offers the class in Kitsap County)
• Peggy Hall & Nikki Johanson: Upcoming Events:
  • VENUE CHANGE: For the next 6 months, KCAA monthly meetings will be held at the Silverdale Grange on Clear Creek Road (where Clear Creek meets Hwy 3, it is about 1 ½ miles north; just north of the Clear Creek Nursery, on your left as you drive north)
  • Volunteers: Looking for folks who have time to give and will help put a face on KCAA by participating on behalf of KCAA in events around the region to promote local food (e.g. Great Peninsula Future Fest, County Fairs); act as an ambassador to the organization. Email Peggy or Nikki at:
  • peggy.hall@med.navy.mil

• o ♫

nikkijwa@yahoo.com