Don’t miss these items in local food and agriculture news from around our region:
DownCity Design / CityWorks Fellows
Providence needs YOU! DownCity Design is excited to announce their CityWorks Fellows program. CityWorks Fellows are changemakers, working together to improve the city of Providence using tools of design.
This year’s guiding theme is Resilient Providence, with the goal of promoting community resilience in the face of climate change. The 2018-19 CityWorks Fellows will oversee a design competition for a project along the Providence Riverwalk, and will select and coordinate fabrication of the winning design.
This year’s inaugural cohort will play an important role in shaping the future of this exciting new pilot program.
NOFA/RI: Advance Growers Seminar on Feeding People Year-Round with Winter Growing Strategies
Date and Time: Sunday, November 18, 2018. 1-4:30 PM
Location: Hope and Main. 691 Main Street. Warren, RI 02885
Cost: $25Chuck Currie will share the different strategies employed at Freedom Food Farm, a 90 acre certified organic farm in Raynham, MA, used to feed people all year round. We will discuss the equipment, infrastructure, and regulations involved in growing root crops, greens, grain, and beans, and preserving the summer abundance through canning and fermentation.
Freedom Food Farm follows organic and biodynamic principles, striving to mimic natural ecological systems on the farm. This means we practice cover-cropping, field rotation and we never use any chemicals or pesticides on our food or GMO seeds on the farm.
Chuck has given dozens of workshops and short courses. He was recently awarded Massachusetts ACRE grant for plans to implement best “green” practices on the farm, honored as Farm Credit East 100 Fresh Perspectives, identified as one of Brown University’s preferred partners for their BMSP food distribution program, participated as a panelist for the Agricultural Justice: From Farm to Table program held in Boston, MA among other endeavors. He started Freedom Food Farm in 2012 with the goal of creating a sustainable farming operation that would supply the local community with fresh, healthy and affordable meat and produce throughout the year. Chuck studied biochemistry and chemistry at UMass Amherst and has a B.S. in Plant, Soil, and Insect Science.
Save the Date: Rhode Island Food System Summit
The University of Rhode Island will once again host the third annual Rhode Island Food System Summit. Join government, business, and community partners as we discuss the implementation of the Rhode Island Food Strategy and how we can support the food sector and our state into the future.
Friday, January 18, 2019
9 a.m.–2 p.m., formal program, lunch will be provided
2:30–5 p.m., optional tours of food-related businesses
URI Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences
Kingston, R.I.The event will include a panel discussion and break-out sessions to discuss the key areas of the state’s food strategy.
Registration will open in November.
For more information, please contact Gus Cantwell at 401.874.2596 or angus_cantwell@uri.edu.
