The PLG Food Coop has started a Meetup Group! Join here. Made up of CSA and non-CSA members, the PLG Food Coop is hoping to address some food issues in PLG and neighboring communities.

The first planning meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 7 p.m. Location TBA.

We will be discussing:

• Food Coop mission/vision
• Steps for planning a food coop in PLG. (A food coop is a cooperative grocery store that offers healthy foods with a focus on sustainable products at reasonable prices. Some coop models require members to work monthly shifts and aren’t open to outsiders, while others allow anyone to shop there and have no work requirements.)
• Food advocacy in our neighborhoods: Such as assisting local businesses (like Western Beef, Associated, and the various bodegas) in improving their selections; enticing businesses from Manhattan and other parts of Brooklyn to open branches here.
• Planning for a community-wide food issues meeting

We need community support and action to make a food coop on this side of the park a reality. Join Us!

For more information, please email contact@plgfoodcoop.com.

The PLGCSA picnic was held on a beautiful day on August 16, 2009.

Photos by CSA member Heidi Hass.

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So, most of you know that we donate our leftover shares and vegetables to Food Not Bombs. Ever wonder what happens after that? Well, board member and founder of the CSA Diana Liss and board member Karen Oh went to volunteer at Food Not Bombs to help them cook our leftovers and other donations and then serve them to the public at a local park.

Food Not Bombs is housed at 123 Community Space, a shared community space in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Currently located at 123 Tompkins Avenue, 123 Community Space has just been through a nasty eviction battle and will probably move in September. The space hosts four grassroots groups: A New World In Our Hearts, Freegan Bike Workshop, Misled Youth Network, and NYC Anarchist Black Cross and hosts a variety of community programs from free/low cost screenprinting workshops to bicycle repair to political prisoner letterwriting. Read the rest of this entry »

Miles Okazaki, Guitar
Guillaume Perret, Tenor + Soprano Saxophones and Electronics
Damion Reid, Drums

Wednesday, July 22
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery, New York
7:00-10:00pm (one show)
$14, $10 students

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Perret, he is a young wizard of the saxophone and longtime explorer of its potential as an electric instrument. He has traveled from Paris for a residency in New York to work with this trio, which is collectively writing new material dealing with rhythmic and electronic textures. We will present new compositions and improvisations for the first time on Wednesday night:

This project has been made possible with support from Chamber Music America and French American Cultural Exchange’s CMA/FACE French-American Jazz Exchange Program, funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Le Bureau Export de las Musique Francaise and CulturesFrance.

Our first ever Progressive Dinner was a great success. Everyone who participated had a great time. Many good recipes were shared and demonstrated by fellow CSA members. Read the rest of this entry »

The outreach night was a big success! Board members Darren and Pavani and members Maya and Barbara set up and tabled the event. They had fliers and put out the leftover vegetables and took donations to sample Woodbridge Farms bounty. Cabbages, peaches, herbs, potatoes, even some garlic made it out to the general public which was a huge draw for people. Seeing, touching, and smelling the food really made a difference and for people who were in a hurry but took a brochure were also given a free peach for the road. For people who expressed some more interest a ‘generous sample bag’ was offered for a $5 donation. All proceeds will support the outreach materials and low income shares. Almost 200 brochures were given out and about $60 was collected.

Last Saturday we visited Woodbridge Farm to meet with the farmers and help with some spring planting. One member was kind enough to share her thoughts on the trip…

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The Brooklyn Food Conference is being held on May 2 at John Jay College in Park Slope. Created by the Brooklyn Food Coalition, over 500 people have already registered for the conference and thousands are expected. There is a fundraiser dinner featuring local/sustainable foods that is almost sold out.

• Over 60 workshops are planned from everything from growing food in your backyard, to getting healthy food to underserved communities, to the obesity and diabetes epidemics, to organizing food workers, to global issues around food. Food demos, including Teen Iron Chef, a bookstore, child care (at the John Jay HS site only), are all free. Lunch, dinner and a cocktail party to celebrate our accomplishments together are priced low (to cover costs).
• Over 150 community organizations are partners for this huge event and we are expecting over 2000 people to attend from all the neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
• Over 10 elected officials have confirmed their attendance and experts will be on hand to tell us about accessing the Stimulus Package funds for food-related businesses and community projects.

For more information and to register go to www.brooklynfoodconference.org

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Due to the rain this weekend, our trip to Woodbridge Farm has been postponed to next Saturday, October 4th. Check your email for a new Evite coming soon. We’ll need to move fast to arrange transportation, so please RSVP as soon as you can.

Our friends from the new Grand Street CSA in Manhattan will be there too, and David will be roasting a pig for lunch! Members will also be bringing pot luck food to share, so there will be vegetarian options as well. Don’t miss it!

Our second annual PLG CSA farm trip is coming up soon!

Where and When
Date: Saturday September 27th
Leave PLG: 10 am
Arrive at Farm in Salem, CT: 12:30 pm
Return to PLG: TBD (probably around 7 pm)

Activities
We will be going on a walking tour of the farm. Please be prepared for tall grass and muddy areas. In case of a forecast of rain, please also bring rain gear. If you are a photographer, please bring you camera!

Food
The farm will be preparing hamburgers and hot dogs (meat and veggie versions) for us at a small cost. Please also plan to bring a potluck dish to share. We will also need to bring hot dog and hamburger buns, condiments, beverages, and plates and napkins. We expect about 40 people.

You will also be able to purchase pork and beef while at the farm. Please visit woodbridgefarmonline.com for prices.

This is a great opportunity to meet the farmers, get a feel for how a biodynamic farm operates, and see where all of our beautiful food comes from!

If you plan to attend, please email Dara with the following information:

- Your full name and if you will be bringing someone along.
- Do you have a car? If so how many seats are free?
- If you do not have a car how many seats do you need?
- What food item do you intend to bring for the picnic?