The interview gives a glimpse into Hesterman’s book, Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All.  You’ll hear about “Double Up Food Bucks” and the importance of Farmers Markets and home gardening.

Connecting to Your Local Food System – Visit our booth at the Chelsea Spring Expo, Saturday, April 14, 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM, in the WSEC cafeteria. The Expo opens at 10 AM and ends at 3 PM.

Do you want to know what’s going on in and around Chelsea when it comes to finding, enjoying and supporting sources of food that is locally grown and raised?  If so, you’ll want to stop by the WSEC cafeteria at 11:00 AM or 1:00 PM  for the presentation “Connecting to Your Local Food System.”  Jane Pacheco, Chelsea Community Kitchen board member and co-owner of Lunasa, is the presenter. Take advantage of Jane’s in-depth knowledge of and enthusiasm for this topic and your opportunity to chat with other members of the Chelsea Community Kitchen Board.

Growing, Preserving & Cooking with Herbs – Saturday, May 12, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM, in the McKune Room of the Chelsea District Library.

Deb Harrington, who is active with the Chelsea Community Garden and often serves as chef for Chelsea Soup and Yellow Door fundraisers, will lead this session.  Plan a Saturday morning excursion: stop by the Chelsea Garden Club’s plant sale, the Chelsea Farmers’ Market, and the Library’s book sale – then take a load off your feet at our herbs workshop.

Please let us know which event(s) you plan to attend, so we can be sure to have enough materials ready.  Just send us a message via our “Contact Us” page.

“Local Food to the Rescue” a talk by Joel Salatin
Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI
Tue, Apr 24, 2012 08:00 PM
Tickets $15 at the People’s Food Co-op or through Ticketmaster.com

Joel Salatin’s “beyond organic” small-scale family farm was featured in Michael Pollian’s bestselling book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and in the documentary films Food, Inc. and Fresh.  He is inspiring people throughout the world. His charismatic nature and ability to produce provocative and poignant proclamations about the unfortunate state of our food system have made him one of the most influential voices in the sustainable food movement today. Salatin operates his farm with the idea that nature is the best teacher when it comes to agriculture. This talk, delivered in Salatin’s refreshing style, will focus on the solutions to the ills he observes in our food system. He’ll share how his farm serves as a prototype to the way local food can lead to our agricultural, environmental, and nutritional salvation. Noting that our food system now faces challenges in biosecurity, food safety, energy integrity, and humane animal husbandry, he will explain how local production, processing and distribution, and those who support local food can reshape our food future. Presented by The Peoples Food Co-op of Ann Arbor.

The Concentrate e-newsletter recently carried a story about the planning that is currently underway for a facility that will likely be located in the Ypsilanti area.

If you are interested in renting a kitchen for a business you have or are planning, we suggest you go to the Washtenaw County’s web site and take the survey on the Seeds for Change page.  The more kitchens available for rent, the greater the chance one will meet your needs.

You can pre-register on the Contact Us page.

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.