Please register on the Contact Us page by February 22.

Take a break from winter to tickle your taste buds, and have fun learning and sharing information about preserving fruits and vegetables – canning, freezing, drying.

Is learning about preserving the summer’s bounty of fruits and vegetables on your “to do” list?  This event is for you. The cost is $5 per person.

Or do you already preserve fruits and vegetables and are eager to share your enthusiasm, knowledge and a bit of what you’ve preserved?  This event is for you, too.  Bring something you’ve preserved and you can attend for free.

Terry Peyton, preserving/canning enthusiast and Chelsea area resident, will anchor the event by sharing what she knows and what she’s preserved.  The rest will be “potluck.”  We’ll see who shows up and what they have to share.

If so, don’t miss this opportunity:

Wednesdays, January 18 | February 15
3-7pm | Study Rooms Chelsea District Library | Registration Required
Register for a free one-hour consultation with an
experienced business counselor who can assist start-up
and existing business owners to define their own path to
success. In partnership with SCORE.

To register for this program:
Call (734) 475 – 8732 or go online at
chelsea.lib.mi.us and click on
the Calendar tab.

To help with the “healthy” part, we’ve just added two new items to the “Tips for Eating Better” section of our “Links” page:

The “Nutrition & Fitness” page from Healthfinder.gov, and

“Get Kids Involved in Healthy Cooking and Shopping” from Fruits & Veggies More Matters.

Please let us know about your favorite web sites for eating better.

Here’s a link to an NPR report that you might find interesting:  Winter Munchies – Do We Eat More in Colder Months?

A short summary accompanied the audio:

Corporate America is jumping on the opportunities to make people healthier, while keep their bottoms line strong. Leaders of supermarkets, hotel chains and restaurant groups gathered in Washington this week for a summit aimed at shaping private sector solutions to the obesity epidemic.

Are you familiar with Michigan’s Cottage Food Law?

Do you know what it takes to run a successful food-based business?

Check out our Links page to find related resources and contact us if you’d like to be on our email notification list for the class “Starting a Food-based Business: the Cottage Food Law & Beyond.”

10 Stubborn Food Myths that Just Won’t Die

and

10 More Stubborn Food Myths that Just Won’t Die Debunked by Science

Enjoy!

Bonus – a preview of the new version of Michael Pollen’s Food Rules

1. Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
2. Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
3. Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
4. Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
5. Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
6. Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

Among the actions we can take as individuals are:

• Take advantage of the fall harvest to buy locally-raised vegetables, fruit, meat and poultry
• Prepare tasty, nutritious meals for ourselves and our families
• Choose healthier options when eating out
• Ask local grocers to make healthier items easier to find in their stores
• Cut back on high fat, high sugar, high calorie snacks
• Visit the CCK web site’s Links page and explore resources on food safety and eating better

In addition, we can let our representatives in local, state and federal government know that we expect them to advance these goals when they draft and/or vote on related legislation.

More information about Food Day is available at www.foodday.org.