Minutes
REAL LOCAL RVA
Monday, March 6, 2017
Southbound
10:30 – 11:45AM
Welcome/Announcements: Rick Hood
• New Participants & Supporters
o Ames Hot Southern Honey (participant), Georgianne Ginder (supporter)
• Stresses importance of attracting young farmers into the industry, acknowledging Tricycle’s
fellowship program is a tremendous asset to this effort. Encouraging local and employee
owned businesses actively build local. Ex: Supporting small local media who focus on the
local story. Feels that’s a good fit for Real Local RVA, urges group to build those
relationships.
Introductions: By All
Local Food Focus:
• Matt McShane/Monica McShane Fahey: Great Wicomico Oyster Co.
o Symbiotic operations of land and water farming. Makes own fuel for their boats using
spent oil to create biodiesel to fuel their farm, soap, etc. Sustainability is huge in their
operation. Oysters, water & facilities inspected 4 times annually.
o Diploids oyster vs triploid oyster. Triploids do not breed so can be harvested year round.
Diploids breed in the summer. Great Wicomico grows both. Uses direct delivery to
avoid distributor markups. Offers higher quality oysters in a variety of salinities & price
points, shucked or unshucked.
• Janet Aardema: Broadfork Farm
o Farm: WEBSITE | Certified Naturally Grown: WEBSITE
o Started 6 years ago as a Certified naturally Grown farm in Chesterfield, they think it’s
important for all to know how their food is grown.
o Janet & husband Dan Gagnon are full-time farmers, with approx. 50 veggies on one
acre. Diverse selection grown in close space with few weeds.
o CSA-driven operation. Farm is organized based on a diverse and complimentary mix of
vegetables which is the key to their sustainability.
o Additionally, they sell at farmers markets & some wholesale (less than 5%) but are
looking to grow that piece, which only works with a fair wholesale price. They are
currently clearing more land to allow for this growth
o Mainstays: Salad and cooking greens; Next focus: high-quality tomatoes.
o Certified Naturally Grown: NP based in NYC, formed as a grass roots alternative for
farmers to Certified Organic. 3rd party inspection annually on a peer review basis, using
same national code for the organic standards. Cons are that it’s largely unknown,
requires a lot of consumer education.
o
o
Organic farming: inputs you use come from plants, animals or minerals / feed the soil,
allow plants the nutrients they need to be healthy. Used also for disease and pest
control.
§ Non-organic farming: chemical inputs (99% of our domestic agriculture).
Synthetic fertilizers create runoff pollution, kills soil microbiology, and many of
the chemicals are known carcinogens.
Spring Farm Tour: April 29th! Attend, see them at a farmers market, join their CSA!
Events: Colin Beirne / Donnie Caffery
• RMA’s First Friday: this Friday March 10th, 7:30am, U of R Jepson Center
o Topic: Farm to Table with a panel from Real Local RVA members | Register here
• Joel Salatin’s Building a Local Food System that Works: March 16th, 6-9PM at St. Stephens
o 90 tickets sold to date
o Sponsorship opportunities still open, contact Colin at
[email protected] if you are interested.
• 2017 Spring Farm Tour: June, date TBD
Education Committee Update: Hunter Hopcroft/David Barrish
• Inspired by Food Solutions New England: Like-minded group creating action and policy
based on same principals to ours using institutional resources. Their goal based on their
research: by 2060, NE will produce 50% of its own food
o Created ideal regional diet, identifying stakeholders, what is necessary to reach this
goal
o Our inspiration: how can this translate to work for OUR community?
• Grant: Local Food Promotion Program
o Available through USDA; could be utilized by RLRVA. Has been used to create
similar community-based programs to increase with healthy food access, help
farmers get their products to market, etc.
o 48 states have gone for this and have been awarded grant money.
o Research would be critical to know how to spend these funds most effectively.
o Education Committee proposes that RLRVA supports a planning grant for a year,
starting in September 2017. Decision deadline: March 27th
i. Potential Focuses: Farmers Market promotion or Local Food Promotion
program
ii. Reynolds Community College has a department dedicated to grants which has
agreed to manage the program
iii. Planning phase would inform larger decision in the future on how we grow our
efforts in areas identified in the research conducted & synthesized.
Networking
Next Meeting: Monday, April 3 @ Southbound 10:30 – 11:45AM
PLEASE PAY YOUR ANNUAL DUES SO THAT YOU CAN CONTINUE TO ATTEND