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On the Ground Update: UVM Food Systems Summit 2016

6/22/2016

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​Our staff recently attended a conference at University of Vermont called the UVM Food Systems Summit. The conference was dedicated to answering the question “what makes food good?” with a specific emphasis on creating a more sustainable food system.

The topics ranged from food rescue programs to farming techniques to incorporating food justice into initiatives.

We learned a lot about sustainable food systems that we will continue to strive to bring to our work at UMass. Thank you to UVM for hosting the summit and sharing your inspiring food initiatives!
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On the Ground Update: Medicinal Herb Tour & Tasting

6/17/2016

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Last week during the Chef Culinary Conference, our staff hosted a garden tour featuring many of the herbs that we grow in the permaculture gardens. While most people have some experience with using herbs to build flavor in dishes, many herbs have been used for centuries for their medicinal and preservation properties.

Thyme, for example, has a plethora of medicinal properties. It can be used as an anti-septic, anti-viral, anti-fungal, detoxifying, digestive aid. Using herbs like thyme in recipes is an extremely easy way to incorporate medicine, tradition, and love into the food you create.

For the garden tour, we prepared a couple unique recipes to highlight the medicinal powers of some of these herbs. We made a pesto derived from chives, an herb that lowers cholesterol. We also served a rhubarb, strawberry, honey, and lemon balm refreshing drink made entirely from garden items, except for the honey.

Thank you to everyone that came for our garden tour and took in our message that food is medicine and food is love.

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On the Ground Update: Strengthening the Farm/Community Connection

6/2/2016

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Last week, our staff visited Warm Colors Apiary to discuss how to strengthen the connection between the apiary and surrounding communities. The event was organized by CISA, a non-profit dedicated to improving the viability of local agriculture by bridging the gap between farms and local consumers.

The visit included a tour of the apiary as well as a tasting of several honey varieties that Warm Colors produces such as wildflower, apple blossom, and American basswood. Each variety has a distinct flavor and unique medicinal properties.

The event included a broad range of stakeholders including other local beekeepers, culinary students, and interested community members. Artisan Beverage Company, based in Greenfield, MA, even gave a demonstration on how to use honey to produce mead!

The meeting served to strengthen the idea of how critical bees are for the environment and, more specifically, agriculture. For example, our staff learned that one bee hive can increase the yield of the crop it is pollinating by as much as 60%!

UMass Dining has sourced honey from Warm Colors for many years, making it one of our longest-running local partnerships.

Warm Colors Apiary is located in South Deerfield, MA and is run by Dan and Bonita Conlon.
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Bonita and Dan Conlon of Warm Colors Apiary.
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Welcoming a New Member to our Team

6/1/2016

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​An important change has come to our staff. We have said goodbye to our longest tenured staff member on the Sustainability team, Lilly Israel. Her presence on the team will be sorely missed and we are all so grateful for the contributions she has made over the last few years to UMass Permaculture and UMass Dining.
 
While Lilly’s accomplishments will not be forgotten, there is no one more capable to take over the position of Sustainability Coordinator of Campus Gardens than Xochi Salazar.
 
When Xochi Salazar was 4 years old, her father placed a kernel of corn in her hand and asked her to grow it. When she did, he asked her what it took to grow that corn. She responded with water, and soil, and sun, and when she had exhausted all the options her young mind could allow, her father looked at her and told her, “that seed needed you mija.”
 
Xochi’s father planted a seed in her that day, a seed that would grow into a love for all things food, nourishing both humans and the planet.
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PictureXochi teaching a group of Chicopee students how to maintain a garden.
In April of 2014, Xochi received an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, ranking first in her class. Although cooking will always be her first love, Xochi recognized the serious environmental implications plaguing our food systems, and wanted to be a part of the solution.

So, she applied to the Sustainable Food and Farming (SFF) program at UMass Amherst for the Fall 2014 semester. It was then that her love for UMass Permaculture grew, during her enrollment in the one credit permaculture practicum sponsored by the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. Xochi received a Permaculture Design Certification through courses offered at UMass in 2016, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in SFF that same year.

 
All of her experiences have contributed to her well-rounded expertise of food that is so invaluable in this position.
 
Permaculture inspires Xochi because its principles reflect indigenous practices that have been applied to agriculture for thousands of years. The buzzword “permaculture” was only coined by white Australian men in the 1970s to describe and synchronize these ancient methods of tending to land. Since then, the permaculture community has been largely white, exclusive, and inaccessible.
 
Xochi, however, hopes to raise consciousness among those she reaches through her work that indigenous communities deserve credit for their contributions to regenerative agriculture. Empowering inclusion and diversity in permaculture is a goal that Xochi will always strive for.
 
We wish the best of luck to Lilly going forward and congratulations, Xochi!

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