Archive for June, 2008
Southwest Marketing Network Conference 2008
Post Date: Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
May 5-7th, more than 250 people from all over the Southwest and beyond attended the 6th Annual Southwest Marketing Network Conference held at the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe. The attendees were a diverse group of farmers, ranchers, community organizers, students, and representatives of governmental agencies.
The conference began with an all-day tour of three Northern New Mexico farms and a stop at the Feasting Place for a delicious lunch. 
Concurrently, Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap, and Keecha Harris, consultant for Harris & Associates, led participants through the ins and outs of developing a food and agriculture policy council. Farm to School stakeholders also participated in a regional meeting and training session led by Le Adams, Farm to Table, Marion Kalb, Community Food Security Coalition, and Craig Mapel, NM Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, Ra Vernon, Director of the Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance, engaged ranchers and other interested folks in a lively discussion about the future of grassfed beef in the SW and how to build your direct-marketing business.
Tuesday morning began with two inspiring keynotes from Anthony Flaccavento, of Appalachian Sustainable Development, and Gary Nabhan, author of Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Marketing Place-Based Heritage Foods. Over the next two days participants attended 25 sessions on a variety of topics including:
· Alternative marketing strategies
· Food and Agriculture Policy
· Tribal initiatives
· Farmers’ markets
· Climate change and energy options
· Youth and new farmer initiatives
· Grant writing, business planning and organizational development.
Throughout the conference, participants enjoyed a cornucopia of local foods, including greens from Monte Vista Organic Farm, grassfed beef from Soaring Eagle Ranch, and cheese, jams and salsas from all over the Southwest.
The Conference also provided a number of opportunities for participants to meet, share their experiences and learn from each other. One participant said the best thing about the conference was “the absolutely incredible people. [It was] so great to have challenging conversations with people around food and agriculture issues.”
Conference participants enjoyed the “Great keynotes, great diversity of people and gracious accommodations” and noted that the Southwest Marketing Network had provided them with ”great connections; useful information in the newsletters, and collaborative project opportunities that we need to pursue more assertively.”
The conference could not have happened without the help of the expert presenters, the steering committee of the SWMN, the great staff of La Fonda Hotel and the support of the USDA Risk Management Agency.
Thanks to all who attended, and we hope to see YOU at the SWMN conference next year.
Topics: Farm To Table Conferences, Workshops, and Trainings |
Chef’s tips help students enjoy healthful snacks: Paradise Valley school cart is big hit in lunch room
Post Date: Thursday, June 5th, 2008The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz. May 19, 2008
May 19–Renowned Valley chef and restaurateur Eddie Matney was joking with the lunch crowd he served Friday, addressing most customers by name as he handed out fruit and vegetable kabobs and low-fat cookies.
And it’s a good thing he knew them, too, because the students shopping at Chef Eddie’s Snack Wagon in the Cherokee Elementary School cafeteria are also his son’s classmates at the school in Paradise Valley.
Even though Matney sometimes comes in to see the students and help serve, the local television personality doesn’t claim this is his venture.
The idea for the snack cart came from Sue Bettenhausen, the Scottsdale Unified School District’s food services director, as a way to encourage kids to eat healthful snacks while reducing the wait time in the lunch line.
“The entire trend is once they get out of the meal line, anyone who is interested in additional items can go to the snack table,” Bettenhausen said. “We’re not encouraging kids to eat a fruit stick first before their entrees.”
It was an accident that Matney got involved at all.
Bettenhausen wrote a letter home to parents explaining the benefits of the a la carte options coming to campus. Matney saw the e-mail message and responded, asking if he could help.
So Matney came in and met with the schools’ fourthand fifth-graders, asking what kind of food they’d want. He took those requests and made some sample dishes for Bettenhausen’s staff to look at, who weighed those and other options as they developed the menu.
Matney said the students’ top request was roasted salmon. While that hasn’t made it on the menu — at least, not yet — there are several other healthy options, like fruit with yogurt dips and salads.
Matney hopes that giving students healthy food options will encourage them to keep making healthy choices, even outside the Cherokee cafeteria.
“It’s awesome that the kids say they want hummus and pita chips,” Matney said. “They can’t keep edamame (a soybean concoction) in this place.”
The food cart has proved popular so far. Cafeteria staff said it brought in about $370 its first day of operation and generally attracts between 320 and 350 of the school’s approximately 550 students daily. The upscale snacks go for 50 cents to $2 apiece.
And this is just a pilot project — Bettenhausen wants to replicate the carts at other elementary schools starting this fall.
“I’d like to see two more starting at the beginning of the (school) year,” she said. “We weren’t even sure it was going to be successful, but now it is.”
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Copyright (c) 2008, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.
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Topics: Education, Regional News |