Meredith residents are invited to a public discussion about what it takes to make a farm-friendly community. The Town is creating a farmland protection plan ensuring the town’s economic success through agriculture and wants community input.
Nan Stolzenburg of Community Planning and Environmental Associates, the town's consultant, will lead the public presentation, answer questions and explain what a farmland protection plan may look like and mean for the Town of Meredith. The Town hired CPEA with a New York State Ag & Markets grant designed to help rural communities identify their agricultural strengths and plan for a future in farming.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 8 at 6 p.m. at the Meridale Community Church, County Route 10 across from the Meridale Fire Hall. Light refreshments and snacks will be available.
Bring your ideas and creativity and help Meredith realize its place as a family farm friendly community! If we build it, they will come!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
September meetings
The Farmland Protection Plan Working Group will meet at Meredith's Town Hall at 6 p.m. on Monday, September 12 and 26. This month we'll review the farmer survey results; listen to landowners and farmers needs, suggestions and concerns; and devise a survey for residents to complete. Please stop by and share with us your thoughts on Meredith farmland and how we can protect this finite resource within our community.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
On a Hot Day in July
Check out this "cool" video from Hanford Mills Museum "Catskills History YouTube Channel on the annual ice harvest, a practice that the whole town used to come out for and help with loading up the ice house.
Be thankful for that cold ice tea today.
Monday, June 13, 2011
June 13, 2011 Agenda
Meredith residents are encouraged to attend and contribute to biweekly meetings of the Farmland Protection Plan working group which meets the 2nd and 4th Mondays each month at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. Below is a draft of tonight's agenda:
6:10p Call in to Nan Stolzenburg
Dairy Fest update
Map status
Survey status
Online resident survey
Blog posting
Other resident outreach/education?
6:30 Review/update Timeline
6:45 New Business
Definition: What is agriculture?
Identification of farmland – continue ID’ locations on the map
Brainstorm/Discuss role agriculture plays in Meredith. It is important that we identify the many roles ag plays in town
Brainstorm/Discuss definition of agriculture. What do you consider agriculture in Town? How do you define it? Is it a commercial farm? By size? By income or commodity? All these come into play. We need to have a definition of agriculture to frame the plan’s treatment of it.
Brainstorm/Discuss the positives and negatives about farming in Meredith. I’d like to start understanding the opportunities and constraints related to farming in Town.
6:45 Next Steps
Continue to identify farm types in Meredith on map; due to CPEA by _____
Continue to post information for upcoming meetings/TOM website/press release
Other?
7:30 Adjourn
Next meeting: Monday, June 27, 6 p.m. at Town Hall
If you would like to be added to an upcoming meeting agenda, please contact Town Supervisor Keitha Capouya (607) 746-3833
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Embarking on a Farmland Protection Plan
Meredith’s consultant, Community Planning & Environmental Associates, led by planner Nan Stolzenburg, is coordinating the process with the five-member working group. Town Supervisor Keitha Capouya sits on the group along with town board members John Janiszewski and Paul Menke, both farmers. Local beef farmer Ken Jaffe and resident Tara Collins round out the working group. “This is an open process,” noted Capouya, “and we rely on our residents to participate, so that we can create the best farmland protection plan possible. The working group, although several of its members are farmers, is primarily administrative—the most important part of the plan is in the observations and ideas that will come from our resident farmers themselves. It is their problems we are here to address, and their ideas that are of primary importance.”
“Farming has been at the center of life here since the founding of the Town, “ says Capouya, “and we want to ensure that Meredith remains an agricultural community. As a town, we want to foster and support farm business activities to serve our resident farmers and to attracted new farmers to the area. In Meredith, close to 25 percent of the town’s parcels have agricultural exemptions, and that’s a good indicator of the strength of farming as a way of life in Meredith. Moreover, the survey we did for the 2006 Comprehensive Plan indicated that the people of Meredith, farmers and non-farmers alike, value immensely the rural character of our town and the farming activities that create that character. The Farmland Protection Plan we’re working on will formalize that commitment, and, we hope, temper the hardships that farmers have to contend with.”
The Farmland Protection Plan will take the Town roughly a year to complete. “First, we collect data,” said Nan Stolzenburg of CPEA. “We have printed out a big map of the town, showing all parcels and soil types, and are in the process of identifying parcels that are actively being farmed or that have a potential for farming. We have also prepared a confidential survey, soon to be mailed to all farmers and farmland owners, so that we might find out from them what they need to help them continue farming. Those maps and surveys can be seen at the Meredith Dairy Fest on June 11 and 12, and we very much hope you will come by and see them. Once the surveys come back, the group will begin drafting a plan, conducting focus groups and participatory public meetings, revising the draft plan for public review and finally presenting the Plan for Town approval.” There will also be presentations by key farming representatives from such agencies as Cornell Cooperative Extension, Delaware County Farmland Protection Board, American Farmland Trust and others. All discussions will be open to the community and announced and reported through the Town’s website, a blog and press releases.
“We urge the community to respond to this farm-parcel map and the mailed survey” said Capouya. “In order to make an accurate assessment of the town’s agricultural assets, I appeal to everyone who receives the survey to return it by June 25. It’s completely confidential, and CPEA will compile the results and data for us. As for the map, you can help us identify farmland either at the Town Hall or at the Meredith Dairy Fest on June 11 and 12. Copies of the survey will also be at the Dairy Fest.”
Working group meetings are open, and we need residents to attend and participate in the informal sessions on the second Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Meredith Town Hall. Working sessions will also be held on the fourth Monday of the next few months to deal with such administrative matters as data collection, public meeting scheduling, and research.
The Farmland Protection Plan process will be posted on the Town’s website, www.townofmeredith.org, or the Meredith Farmland blog www.meredithfarmland.blogspot.com. Meetings minutes, agendas and relevant resource materials will also be posted. Residents may also participate by email to meredithfarmland@gmail.com (cc tomsuper@delhitel.net) or in writing to PO Box 116, Meridale, NY 13806. Town Supervisor Keitha Capouya is also available at Town Hall most Thursday mornings, and can meet with you by appointment at other times. Please call her at (607) 746-2431 to arrange a meeting.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Regionalizing a Food System
The Urban Design Lab at Columbia University has a way of putting complex systems into understandable diagram form and then proposing solutions.
In this presentation, UDL (with the help of MIT) began looking at childhood obesity and how the heathcare issues are tied to our food systems. They then found much larger problems existed, and that the key to fixing the healthcare issue was to overhaul the food system.
Take a few minutes to view Regionalizing the Food System for Public Health and Sustainability, a 27 slide presentation with comments at right.
So what's childhood obesity got to do with farming in Meredith? As we build stronger regional food systems, we inherently begin accessing better foods for ourselves, our children and our institutions. As Meredith farms gain capacity, they will be able to provide our local schools, and our kids, with healthy and fresh lunches at affordable prices. The argument that schools can't provide better food to students because they can't afford it has to be overcome at the local level. Food grown locally can arrive at the school cafeteria kitchen the same or next day at a competitive price compared to food trucked in from NYC, Albany or abroad. As we embrace the concepts of regional food systems we build stronger local economies from the bottom up. Collectively, we benefit from the efforts for growing and eating local food. Regionally, it's far easier to tackle the problems of infrastructure, food distribution hubs, and new access models to healthy food at the local level than it is to solve the problems nationwide. Here's a classic case of "Thinking Globally. Acting Locally."
In this presentation, UDL (with the help of MIT) began looking at childhood obesity and how the heathcare issues are tied to our food systems. They then found much larger problems existed, and that the key to fixing the healthcare issue was to overhaul the food system.
Take a few minutes to view Regionalizing the Food System for Public Health and Sustainability, a 27 slide presentation with comments at right.
So what's childhood obesity got to do with farming in Meredith? As we build stronger regional food systems, we inherently begin accessing better foods for ourselves, our children and our institutions. As Meredith farms gain capacity, they will be able to provide our local schools, and our kids, with healthy and fresh lunches at affordable prices. The argument that schools can't provide better food to students because they can't afford it has to be overcome at the local level. Food grown locally can arrive at the school cafeteria kitchen the same or next day at a competitive price compared to food trucked in from NYC, Albany or abroad. As we embrace the concepts of regional food systems we build stronger local economies from the bottom up. Collectively, we benefit from the efforts for growing and eating local food. Regionally, it's far easier to tackle the problems of infrastructure, food distribution hubs, and new access models to healthy food at the local level than it is to solve the problems nationwide. Here's a classic case of "Thinking Globally. Acting Locally."
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Ag IS Econ Dev; See for Yourself April 6
On April 6th, the Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship co-hosts "3rd Rural Issues: Agriculture IS Economic Development." The forum, spearheaded by the Central New York Agricultural Council, is an all-day workshop featuring insights from Department of Ag & Markets Commissioner Dennis Aubertine, Meredith resident beef farmer Ken Jaffe of Slope Farms and the Town of Meredith's farmland protection planning consultant Nan Stolzenburg of Community Planning & Environmental Associates.If you're questioning whether agriculture has a future at all, let alone in the Town of Meredith, head out to Cooperstown next week and find out for yourself. The conference brochure outlines the speaker panels and is an affordable $35 ($45 after 4/1). You may even run into Town Supervisor Keitha Capouya. Share your thoughts and concerns with Keitha next Wednesday or post them below.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
CSA Shares Delivered to Meredith
I'd eat more fresh vegetables from my local farmer if I knew how to cook them. I'm learning, but along with my culinary shortcomings, I struggle with arriving at the farmstand before it closes.One solution to my buying dilemma is to purchase a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, share from Lucky Dog in Hamden. Holley Giles always gave me recipes ideas for vegetables off my radar and when all else fails "olive oil, salt and pepper" did the trick. I bought a CSA two years ago, and loved it. But with last year's economic crunch, I thought I'd save money by reducing the number of nonrecipe vegetables rotting away in my refrigerator's dark recesses. So, last year, no CSA...but the rotting continued.
I have an idea for Meredith: our community should buy local food in bulk this year through collaborative CSA shares. Until we have a farmer in Meredith who sells fresh, organic produce through a CSA, we can explore this option and have our CSA shares delivered to a central location in town and save us all the trip to Hamden each week. We'd reduce our carbon footprint, support a local farmer and nourish our bodies with good wholesome food. The location could be the East Meredith or Meridale fire hall, town hall, even the Meridale Store or Stone &Thistle's farm store.
The Lucky Dog CSA runs June through October (20-22 weeks at $485) which averages $24.25 a week for 7-10 organic vegetables. Lucky Dog also offers a flower CSA at $75 a share and an egg CSA for $100 (one dozen a week). You can take a look at Lucky Dog's 2009 CSA brochure here. We could even arrange a meat CSA through a Meredith beef/pork producer and enhance our local CSA project that covers all the major food groups.
Some people may balk at the upfront cost, but really, $475 is a bargain. You can always split the share (and the bounty) and be out of pocket a mere $12.12 a week...but you'll have saved on gas to Oneonta. If we had enough people express an interest, I'm sure we could figure out a way to arrange payment by food stamps and EBT (electronic bank transfer). If we really want to support our local farmer AND our local economy, we need to start making choices that reflect those values. A CSA is a good start.
Interested? I'm curious what your thoughts on a Meredith delivery of Lucky Dog CSA shares are..
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Getting Involved to Move Agriculture Forward in Delaware County
It's obvious (and wonderful) that people are committed to buying more products directly from their local farmers. Purchasing half a cow or pig at a time is a boon for producers, even better if you arrange (and pay for) the sale at the beginning of the animal-raising cycle. Dedicating 20, 30 even 50% of your grocery basket food choices to local food first goes a long way to keeping family farms alive, too. Each dollar we spend with our local farmer continues to circulate through our local businesses 3-7 more times. It's called the Multiplier Effect, and farming is by far the best way of building strong local economies.
But individuals can only do so much.
What we need are pro-agriculture people in key policy-making positions. For starters, we need "Voices for Agriculture" involved with local government and regional agencies that are making decisions about food purchasing, business development and public policy.
Take a look at this list below. If you support the concepts of
- local food,
- vibrant communities,
- strong regional economies,
- common-sense food safety and
- social justice issues relating to access to clean water and fresh food,
Getting Involved to Move Agriculture Forward in Delaware County starts with:
- Your
- town council
- town planning board
- school board
- Delaware County
- Board of Supervisors
- Farmland Protection
- Industrial Development Association
- Economic Development
- Planning Department
- Nonprofit agencies and agricultural advocates like
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Annual Farmers Luncheon Features On-Farm Energy Speaker 1/15/11
The Hobart Rotary Club is holding its Annual Farmers' Luncheon on Saturday, January 15, 2011 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Community Hall, Cornell Avenue in Hobart. the luncheon will feature a special presentation, "COST EFECTIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY OPTIONS FOR LOCAL FARMS" with Dick Riseling and Sonja Hedlund of Apple Pond Farm in Calicoon. The couple have combined energy technologies and found the way to make their farm run eessentially independent of outside energy sources. NYSERDA incentives made the energy improvements possible with payback periods of 10 years or less for installed technologies. Dick and Sonja will talk about the trends and opportunities in renewable energy and how you can apply them on your farm.
Please RSVP by January 10th to reserve your seat call John Adams at 607-538-9983 or email jobe60@directv.net.
Please RSVP by January 10th to reserve your seat call John Adams at 607-538-9983 or email jobe60@directv.net.
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