Promoting the availability, growing, and processing of healthy, locally produced food using low cost, low tech equipment

Promoting the availability, growing, and processing of healthy, locally produced food using low cost, low tech equipment

Summary

WORK ACTIVITIES
• Purchased equipment:
• White Mountain handcrank ice cream freezers, 6qt. (2)
• Fruit grinder with hopper
• Maximizer fruit press
• Country Living grain mill with wall mount and parts case
• All American pressure canner, 14 qt.
• Excaliber 9 tray food dehydrator

Events:
• 6/12/10 and 7/10/10 Ice Cream Social at Ripley Farmers Market
• 8/14/10 Information and display of equipment at Georgetown Farmers Market
• 9/26/10-10/2/10 Information and display of equipment at Brown County Fair
• 10/12/10 Cider pressing at home of one of our member families
• 10/16/10 Cider pressing at Master Gardener Clinic. Georgetown, Ohio
• 1/30/11 Buy Local Foods Seminar. Information display. Georgetown, Ohio
• 3/15/11 Farm and Family Night. Maysville (Kentucky) Community College. Information and display of equipment

RESULTS
It seems that people who know how to use the food processing equipment that we purchased already have their own. Those who don’t have it may not be interested in using it because they don’t know how. Demonstrations and education are needed.

Although food is grown and processed by many families in rural areas, there is a gap between those who know how and those who don’t, many of whom do not have the resources to either grow their own food or to process it. Gardening space, seeds, season extenders are needed, as well as access to and support of farmers markets and local growers.

WORK PLAN 2011
• Create a website link for the OK River Valley Chapter of OEFFA (Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association) from the oeffa.org website. This will feature our SARE Grant project.

• Continue to develop a process for lending our equipment (refundable deposit, checklist of all parts for all equipment, storage containers)

• Continue to promote our project by participating in community events, providing information, and demonstrating our equipment (press cider and other fruits, make ice cream)

• Organize community canning, dehydrating, and grain milling demonstrations and classes

• Purchase more equipment ( apple peelers, cherry pitters, pea shellers, food mills, copper kettle for apple butter, row cover and wire hoops to extend growing season, long-handled fruit harvesters, orchard ladder, seeds)

• Start a community garden in at least one location

OUTREACH
Attendance at events: Ice Cream Socials – Two dozen each time, Cider Pressings – One dozen on 10/12/10 and three dozen on 10/16/10, Brown County Fair – several hundred, Georgetown Farmers Market – Three dozen, Buy Local Foods Seminar – 75, Farm and Family Night – 200.

We shared information about our project by displaying our equipment, demonstrating its use in some instances, and providing a handout with pictures and a description of the equipment.

Next year we will continue to use the local farmers markets, community cider pressings, the county fair, local food seminar and Farm and Family Night (annual events). In addition, we will increase outreach to the local community through the food processing classes and demonstrations, making apple butter, involving new people in the community garden, use of fruit harvesting equipment to pick fruit for cider and apple butter, and use of season extenders to help people grow more of their food in their own gardens and in the community garden.