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Welcome to Fair Food Matters website! Read below for current news and follow the links for more information about our organization and wonderful programs! ________________________________
The Garden Buzz This week marks the start of our program's 10-week summer classes for local youth groups! We are really excited to have so many great students involved in another season of hands-on growing and learning at the gardens. Are you interested in learning more about organic gardening? Perhaps you are curious about what we do out at the Growing Matters Garden? Or maybe you would like to get outside and work together with some great folks in your community? If so, we could really use your help the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month (May through September) at our Community Volunteer Nights! You, your family, and your friends are welcome to join us at our main garden site (2119 N Westnedge Ave) as we work together on garden projects. A potluck of snacks, desserts, appetizers, and sides begins at 6:00 pm (please bring food to share and your own tableware). Gardening follows from 6:30-8:00 pm. For more information or for directions, please email Heather Crull or call the garden line at 269-903-9765. We would love to see you at the garden!
Richland Farmers Market Moving to Richland Community Center! After two weeks in operation and great turnouts by both farmers and customers, the Richland Farmers Market has already outgrown its site. Starting Wednesday, June 25, the Richland Farmers Market will move to the Richland Area Community Center, 9400 East CD Avenue, in Richland. (From M-43, turn east at the Richland Post Office.) The Market is open every Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m., June through October, offering freshly-picked local produce, flowers, plants, and local food products at a festive gathering place. On Wednesday, June 25, to celebrate June Is Dairy Month, Dan and Sandra Weigel will bring a calf to the Farmers Market and hold a contest for children to name the baby. In coming weeks, the Market will feature live music, speakers on nutrition, health and cooking, and demonstrations. The Richland Farmers Market brings together the whole community to share that universal interestgood fresh food. Consumers can find just-picked produce, get to know the farmers who grew it, learn how to prepare healthy meals with local seasonal foods, and have a chance to visit with neighbors. A local market reduces transportation costs and gives farmers the encouragement and flexibility to try new crops and organic and sustainable growing methods. The Richland Farmers Market is a gathering place for Richland area residents as well as neighbors from Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and beyond. Farmers interested in becoming vendors at the Market may contact Jim Collier, 269-629-4944 or 269-629-3020, or Sandra Weigel, 269-629-0212, for application forms. Space is available at $5 per session or $20 for the season; all vendors must be pre-approved and pre-registered. Applications and promotional flyers may be downloaded at http://www.firstpresrichland.org/announcements.htm. Eating local: It's about connecting. Do you want to connect with others who are trying to access and eat locally produced food? With the help of the internet and a lot of passion, residents of SW Michigan and Northern Indiana can easily support each other in the quest to eat more locally grown and produced food. If you are a grower, consumer, restraunteur, retailer or anyone else interested in the local food movement join Eat Local SW Mich today. You will find more information and support than you can imagine. ________________________________ About
Fair Food
Matters ABOUT FAIR FOOD MATTERSDownload a PDF version of our brochure! Download a PDF version of our 2006 Annual Report! OUR MISSION: To build, educate, support and empower our community around local food. OUR VISION: We envision thriving local communities worldwide growing and distributing safe, nutritious, locally produced foods that foster healthy communities, environments, and economies. OUR BOARD: If you have any interest in joining a working board, interested in promoting healthful and just eating opportunities in our community, please contact us! The following people have a blast volunteering to bring Fair Food Matters' programs to the community:
OUR VOLUNTEERS: The following people currently build community around food and food systems by helping out in various ways with Fair Food Matters projects: Donna McClurkan, Arlene Brislen, Rosie Florian, Seema Jolly, Chris Moore, Bradley Post, Kara Purcell, Kylie Schultz, Scott Stevens, and many gardener-helpers. If you'd like to see your name on this list, please contact Scott Weber. Tax-Deductible Giving to Fair Food MattersThe majority of our funding comes from concerned individuals and institutions who want to see the health and vitality of Kalamazoo and Southwest Michigan improve. If you are interested in helping Fair Food Matters, please mail your fully tax-deductible donation to: Fair Food Matters, 323 N. Burdick Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 49007. A receipt will be sent to you. If you have any questions about donating or any other issues related to Fair Food Matters, please contact Scott Weber or call 269.492.1270. |
Our Projects and Partnerships |
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Eat Local, Kalamazoo!--September 23-29, events in celebration and exploration of local foods. Learn more.... Growing Matters Garden--An urban educational youth development gardening project. Learn more.... Future Chefs--A summer program for teens to learn to cook from scratch. Learn more.... Community Kitchen--Soon to be a place for individuals and organizations to process food for resale or public consumption. Learn more.... Farms-to-K College--A student group at Kalamazoo College interested in helping to bring more local food into their cafeteria. Learn more.... Southwest Michigan Community Harvest Fest--A celebration of local food, local farming, and sustainable living. Learn more.... Kalamazoo Area Food Systems Inventory--An assessment of the food system. Learn more.... |
Fair Food Matters is a 501©3 Non-Profit Charitable Organization. Copyright © 2007 Fair Food Matters