2013 Farm to City Expo
Monday, March 4, 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 W. 34th St

Attend panels on local purchasing and food infrastructure, followed by networking opportunities, and learn about GrowNYC Wholesale from GrowNYC executive director Marcel Van Ooyen, on a panel devoted to exploring regional wholesale infrastructure (12:20-1:10 p.m.). Enjoy all day access to over 40 New York farms and food companies at the Pride of New York MarketPlace.

Register by February 28 using this link: http://bit.ly/WP1rgI

View the flyer:

It was a “Wheat and Greet” that set the tone for the weekend as attendees arrived on a Friday night late last month for NOFA-NY’s annual Winter Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York. Local breads, pastas, beer, and spirits flowed freely as tasters chatted with the growers and processors who created them. Standout products included Flour City’s emmer fusilli and Kelso Brewery’s Rauchbier made with a smoked triticale malt, both of which consistently surprised people with outstanding flavors not normally associated with beer and pasta. To the question most heard throughout the night — “Where can I buy this?” — suppliers could happily point people to the many stores now stocking their products. Not bad for a region that just a few years ago did not have much in the way of food-quality grain.

On Saturday, Greenmarket and the Organic Growers’ Research and Information-Sharing Network, hosted a workshop on grain processing where presenters shared their products and experiences with a crowd of current or aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to launch their own thriving business in the delicious world of grains – be it growing, malting, milling, baking, or distilling, to name just a few. Greenmarket and OGRIN debuted their recently completed technical assistance video: A local Grain Renaissance in the Northeast.

Each year, the conference features a “grains track” with workshops covering topics like how to set up a malting facility to work with the many new regional distilleries; how to grow and mill food-grade grains, and new research on crop yields and disease resistance among the many grain varieties in the region.

While there is still much to be done, the NOFA-NY conference showed that the links in the supply chain are strengthening, new infrastructure is being built, and the wonderful symbiosis from farmer, to grain processor, to consumer continues to grow.

If you missed the conference, fear not! Greenmarket and the Organic Growers’ Research and Information-Sharing Network host a Shortcourse on Grain Processing in the Northeast on March 2 at Glynwood in Cold Spring, NY. Contact Elizabeth Dyck at OGRIN (edyck@ogrin.org) to register.

In the coming months, GrowNYC's Open Space Greening Assistant Director Lenny Librizzi will be presenting a series of Stormwater Management workshops at NYC botanical gardens.

These two-hour workshops will cover stormwater management best practices for community gardeners and homeowners. Learn how to conserve water and help prevent pollution from stormwater by discussing topics such as rainwater harvesting, swales, rain gardens, enhanced tree pits, permeable paving, and more.

Information about sources for start-up materials and how-to tips will be discussed.

New York Botanical Garden (Bronx) Wednesday, February 6, 6pm to 8pm
Watson Education Building
Registration required; e-mail bronxgreenup@nybg.org or call 718.817.8026. 

Brooklyn Botanic Garden 
Wednesday, February 27, 6pm to 8pm
Registration required; Enroll here. 

Queens Botanical Garden
Saturday, April 6, 11am to 1pm
Fee: Free with Garden Admission (pre-registration required)
Registration required; e-mail schoolprograms@queensbotanical.org or call 718-886-3800 x.230.

On Sunday, city officials, community partners, and compost enthusiasts gathered at the Carroll Gardens Greenmarket to celebrate a benchmark for GrowNYC’s food scrap collection program: ONE MILLION POUNDS!

Since the pilot program launched in March 2011, one million pounds of food scraps have been dropped off at Greenmarket’s collection sites, diverting that much food from the waste stream.

Emily Rubenstein, Assistant Commissioner of Sanitation, Recycling and Sustainability at DSNY, City Council Member Brad Lander, Birdie NYC and GrowNYC Executive Director Marcel Van Ooyen applauded the efforts of all those who have made this achievement possible.

“We’re thrilled that Speaker Quinn and the New York City Council helped launch the compost program last year and that DSNY stepped in this year to bring the successful pilot to the next level.  We’re demonstrating that the City of New York is not lagging far behind California and other places where compost has taken root. New Yorkers across the City are eager to participate and reduce waste while creating a valuable resource that will benefit local gardens and farms,” said GrowNYC Executive Director Marcel Van Ooyen.

Look up your nearest food scrap drop-off site here, and find out what can be contributed here. Once it’s dropped off, the material is transported to compost sites and urban agriculture projects within the five boroughs. We’re also signing people up for our winter incentive program—the Winter Compost Warrior. Visitors can sign in at our info tent when they visit the market, noting their weekly attendance and compost contribution. There’s a compost-related prize in it for those Winter Compost Warriors who check in ten or more times in the coming twelve weeks.

At the beginning of the New Year, this monumental benchmark lets us set a new goal for the year ahead. How much compost can we make in 2013?

Looking for a New Year's resolution you can stick with? One that makes you feel good, look good, and doesn't require a monthly membership fee? Look no further, here are 11 simple ways to make 2013 a happy and healthy year.

1) PASS ON PLASTIC. We know you have tons of reusable bags in your apartment; carry a few with you while shopping at Greenmarkets and give up plastic bags for good.

2) FALL IN LOVE WITH RUTABAGA. Boil them, steam them, roast them, or put in tarts, soups, or salads - turnips, beets, rutabagas and the rest of the root vegetable family are versatile and delicious.

3) DROP OFF YOUR FOOD SCRAPS. Start small – keep a bag of all of your carrot tops and coffee grounds in your freezer and drop it off at a market once a week. Your trash will start to have no odor - honest! Plus, think of all that rich compost being made instead of helping our landfills grow. Locations and times.

4) CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSETS. Do your spring cleaning early and drop off all of your old textiles at one of 16 markets that collect year round. Locations and times.

5) JOIN A DINNER CLUB OR RECIPE EXCHANGE (or start your own!). Baby, it's cold outside. Warm up with friends and share dishes and recipes.

6) BECOME A WINTER WARRIOR. Stay devoted to Greenmarkets. The farmers that are there want to see you and most year round Greenmarkets (there are 22 of them!) have a frequent shopper program beginning in January where you can check in each week and get a fun market-y prize at the end of winter.

7) TRY A NEW INGREDIENT EVERY WEEK. Fresh horseradish, kohlrabi, celery root, creamed honey, purple potatoes - even in the winter, chances are pretty good that there are some ingredients at Greenmarkets that you've never tried. Take a closer peek and see what's there.

8) EAT AT A LOCAL RESTAURANT. For those nights you just don't feel like cooking (never, right?), there are many restaurants around NYC that purchase from Greenmarket and GrowNYC Wholesale all year long.

9) VISIT A MARKET YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO BEFORE. Explore New York City's greatest asset - its communities! With 22 Greenmarkets open year round, you have many opportunities to visit markets in Inwood, Jackson Heights, Cortelyou/Ditmas Park, and many more neighborhoods. Greenmarket map and schedule.

10) BECOME A GREENMARKET VOLUNTEER. Greenmarket hosts volunteer orientations and provides opportunities (indoor and outdoor) year round.

11) CREATE A MEAL USING LOCAL GRAINS. Can you think of anything better than homemade bread made with local grains slathered in some fresh farm butter? We can't either.

Another ancient grain is roaring back to life in the city’s Greenmarkets and restaurants -- and this one is grown by farmers right here in our very own state. Emmer, the sweet, robust grain that adds dreamy texture to any soup or salad, grinds into a fine flour used in pasta and bread, and makes an incredible pilaf or hot cereal all on its own, is taking its well-deserved place in the spotlight. In just the latest example, Gramercy Tavern Executive Chef Michael Anthony is featuring emmer grown by Cayuga Pure Organics, a farm located in the Finger Lakes region, in the soup he created for Hale and Hearty and being served in its restaurants this week (12/10/12-12/16/12).

Emmer, called farro in Italy, is among the oldest forms of wheat. Its cultivation dates back 10,000 years to ancient Egypt and Israel, where it was used to make matzoh as well as leavened bread, pasta and beer. It gradually fell out of favor because emmer seed has to go through an extra step after it’s threshed called dehulling, which removes the seed from its hull, or husk. It was replaced by wheats that broke free from their hulls in the threshing process, like modern bread wheat and durum wheat (commonly used for pasta). Thankfully farmers throughout Europe, Turkey, and Ethiopia still appreciate emmer’s special qualities and grow it aplenty.

The hardy crop hit American soil in the late 19th century, when German farmers migrating from Russia planted it in settlements across the northern plains of North Dakota and Montana. The USDA quickly spotted its merits: Not only was it extraordinarily high in protein and fiber content, but it proved remarkably tolerant to extreme weather, assuring a harvest even when the wheat crops failed.

Emmer found its way to this region in 2009, when organic farmers in North Dakota who were willing to share this potentially high-value crop relatively new to the U.S. -- which they alone possessed – sent a seed shipment to organic growers in New York and Pennsylvania. The momentous hand-over was part of a USDA-funded collaboration among farmers, crop scientists and sustainable agriculture advocates (Greenmarket) intent on introducing farmers and consumers to this new-old grain.

The group also hopes to clear the confusion people have between emmer, spelt and farro -- which has long frustrated farmers and researchers. In a rare show of annoyance, a 1911 USDA report cited the necessity “to protest strongly against the use of incorrect names for emmer.” Now that chefs in our region have their very own source of home-grown emmer -- no need to import farro from Italy anymore! -- they are only beginning to discover the subtle differences between this hardy grain from the plains, and the crop of the same species that took another path to the Mediterranean, acclimating to Italian conditions over the years.

Cayuga Pure Organics began selling emmer at Greenmarket, where it has been embraced by regional grain enthusiasts, including Chef Anthony. Chef Patti Jackson, late of I Trulli, made a memorable emmer pasta at a regional grains tasting in 2010 that folks are still raving about. With its rise in popularity, you can expect emmer to pop up more and more on menus around the city. You’ll surely see it in a range of forms, whether the whole grain, a bag of flour, a loaf of bread, fresh pasta or flatbreads. At some point in the not-too-distant future you might even be toasting an emmer beer or savoring an emmer whiskey cocktail.

Local food for lunch just became that much easier to access.

During the week of December 10-16, look for emmer, a locally grown grain from Greenmarket producer Cayuga Pure Organics, in a special soup at Hale and Hearty. The New York chain of popular lunch spots will feature guest chef Michael Anthony’s “Kabocha Squash Soup with Emmer and Cranberries” as part of its Chef Series of signature soups. The Gramercy Tavern executive chef and long-time Greenmarket devotee applied his penchant for local ingredients to a recipe that will reach the masses of noshing New Yorkers.

It’s not uncommon to bump into Chef Anthony at the Union Square Greenmarket, which is just a few blocks from his acclaimed fine dining establishment. It’s a short enough distance to tote fresh products from the farmers market back to his kitchen via hand trucks. But Hale and Hearty has 28 restaurants throughout the city, as well as a 20,000 square foot USDA-certified commissary kitchen in the heart of Brooklyn. They serve 125,000 customers per week.  Thanks to GrowNYC Wholesale, GrowNYC’s new wholesale distribution service that delivers regionally grown produce to bodegas, groceries, and restaurants around the city, Hale and Hearty was able to receive deliveries of the same high quality, locally grown product Chef Anthony calls for in his recipe. This means more New Yorkers will be eating New York-grown food for lunch—a win for city eaters and upstate farmers alike.

“The Chef Series came about in an effort to connect with some of New York's top Chefs while giving back to the community,” said Simon Jacobs, CEO. “This collaboration with Chef Anthony, GrowNYC Wholesale and God's Love We Deliver is bringing this idea full circle by not only donating a portion of proceeds to charity, but supporting local farmers by using ingredients grown in New York communities." Next week, 10% of each Kabocha Squash Soup sold will be donated to God’s Love We Deliver.

What’s in the soup? Emmer, a regionally grown grain known to Italians as farro. GrowNYC Wholesale has delivered 250 pounds of emmer to Hale and Hearty on behalf of Cayuga Pure Organics, a farm located in the far north Finger Lakes region of the state. This integral farm to restaurant connection enables broader distribution of local ingredients on the wholesale level. It also means that even if you’re not able to make it to Gramercy Tavern for lunch, you can easily enjoy a locally-sourced bowl of soup at multiple locations around the city—likely there is a Hale and Hearty near your office!

Photo by Vitaliy Piltser

 

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New Yorkers have shown an abundance of compassion toward one another. One unintended result of this generous spirit has been an oversupply of material donations, particularly clothing. Piles of unneeded clothing have created a waste disposal problem in many communities affected by the storm, compounding the challenge of removing the damaged contents of homes. This excess of donations creates a new burden of storing, disposing or transporting items that cannot be used by storm victims, such as summer clothing. An estimated 60% of donations received are unusable and, while well-intentioned, this outpouring of material support has helped to create landfills out of parking lots in these communities.   Before donating supplies, please check which items are specifically needed at relief locations. Rather than donating used items to relief sites, consider bringing them to a charitable resale store, where they can help to raise funds for disaster recovery. For more information on waste-free donations, visit NYC WasteLess. Excess clothing collected for storm victims can instead be dropped for reuse or recycling with GrowNYC’s textile recycling partner, Wearable Collections, at several Greenmarket locations. Wearable Collections has announced that despite losing their fleet of collection trucks from flooding in Red Hook, they will double their monetary return contribution for clothing donations to the charity of your choice. For other items that are still usable, find new homes at one of our upcoming Stop ‘N’ Swaps, a free community reuse and exchange event. One of the best ways to help is to donate money to GrowNYC, the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City or other reputable Sandy-Relief charities.  Cash donations ensure that the right supplies are purchased for those in need and also removes logistical problems such as storage and waste disposal. Blood is also in high demand; find a donation site via The Red Cross. GrowNYC is on the ground providing staff and resources to help the victims of Sandy through collecting and distributing Greenmarket food to community kitchens and other outlets in impacted neighborhoods, helping to redistribute unwanted clothing donations, rebuilding devastated school and community, volunteering at shelters and supply distribution facilities and more. We will continue to work our utmost to provide New Yorkers with programs to reduce their environmental footprint and support our local economy. Please consider donating to GrowNYC or signing up to volunteer.

Donate a bag of market produce to help feed hungry New Yorkers. Donate-A-Bag opportunities are available at the below Greenmarkets through the month of December. Help feed hungry New Yorkers affected by Hurricane Sandy by purchasing an extra bag of produce while you shop and bring it to the Market Information Tent to make a direct donation to a kitchen that is serving hot meals to those in need. So far, Greenmarket customers are donating harvest season items in record numbers in response to the immense need for hunger relief that Sandy created, over 25,000 pounds have found their way to community kitchens, churches, shelters, food pantries and others serving victims of the storm. Volunteers Needed!  We need volunteers to assist with collections for our Donate-A-Bag program. Volunteers will help promote Donate-A-Bag throughout the market and collect items as they get donated. If interested, please email Liz Carollo directly at lcarollo@grownyc.org and specify which market you are interested in. DONATE-A-BAG SCHEDULE Wednesdays, thru December (8am-1pm) Union Square Greenmarket  Saturdays, thru December (8am-1pm) Manhattan Greenmarkets Union Square Greenmarket Brooklyn Greenmarkets Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket McCarren Park Greenmarket Fort Greene Greenmarket 

GrowNYC is proud to announce the completion of El Jardin del Pueblo, a 5,300 square-foot community garden at 2358 Pitkin Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. El Jardin del Pueblo was originally three vacant lots owned by NYC's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The community based organization Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation approached HPD with the idea of turning the lot into a temporary hub for community building, urban agriculture, and organic chicken production.

In April, GrowNYC started site work on El Jardin, and brought 50 volunteers from Timberland to the garden for Earth Day 2012. Our Timberland volunteers cleared 2 of the 3 lots, covered the garden with landscape fabric and mulch, built 30 raised garden beds, and installed a 1,000 gallon rainwater harvesting system.

In June, the garden received 25 heirloom chickens, which produce organic eggs that are distributed to the garden's members.

In September, GrowNYC and volunteers from Bank of America cleared the 3rd vacant lot, laying down landscape fabric and mulch, and prepping the site for further development.

In October, GrowNYC and volunteers from Swiss Re developed the 3rd lot, building 5 raised beds, constructing and raising a 200 square foot shade structure, installing a 500 gallon rainwater harvesting system, and building 2 picnic tables.

A huge thanks to all of our volunteers, to NYC HPD, and to Cypress Hills Local Development Corp!