Near North Locavore's Annual General Meeting, Tuesday March 16, 2010 at the North Bay Public Library, 5-8pm

Please, Join us at our Annual General Meeting, Tuesday March 16, 2010 at the North Bay Public Library (downstairs in the auditorium) from 5-8pm.

E-mail us at nearnorthlocavores@hotmail.com for a copy of the agenda

A few photos from the seed exchange

Hi Everyone:
We have added a few photos to our blog from the seed exchange which took place earlier today (Saturday Feb. 27, 2010) at Discovery North Bay Museum 100 Ferguson St.
Check out the article on the North Bay Nugget at:http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2470558

Thanks to all who volunteered and who participated in the event: Near North Locavores, Heritage Gardeners, Master Gardeners, The North Bay Horticultural Society, City of North Bay Waste Managemnt Department, Phelps School Community Garden, Vested Interest, Greening Nipissing, Pie Bird Bed & Breakfast, Hibou Boutique and Golden Beef.

Photos are copyright of Michael Puccini, thanks Michael for letting us use them for the blog.

We look forward to a bigger and better event next year!

Door Prizes and Winners:

Thanks to all the donors of door prizes for this event.

• The Cottage Gardener's Container Garden Heirloom Seed Collection donated by the Near North Locavores was won by Elspeth A.
• A second Cottage Gardener's Container Garden Heirloom Seed Collection deonted by the Near North Locavores was won by Kevin B.
• The Jiffy Heated Greenhouse donated by the North Bay Heritage Gardeners was won by Maryanna N.
• The Seed Keeper binder donated by Pam H to the Heritage Gardeners for the event was won by Maureen R.
• The Spring bulb container garden donated by the North Bay Horticultural Society was won by Kim M.
• The Haworthia faciata houseplant donated by the North Bay Hortcultural Society was won by Muriel A.
• The Cactus houseplant donated by the North Bay Horticutural Society was won by Charles D.
• The large Kleeen Kanteen donated by Hibou Boutique was won by Nicole D.
• The Green ball cap donated by Greening Nipissing was won by Andrea D.
• The T-Shirt Donated by Greening Nipissing was wn by Vicki A.
• The Cook Book donated by the Phelps School Community Garden w won by Charles G.
• The Turtle and Hannah's story donated by Vested Interest was won by Liz L.
• The Concert Tickets and Soggy Creek Seeds donated by PieBird Bed & Breakfast and Farmstay was won by Marg G.

Congratulations to all the winners and we hope you to see you all next year!

Near North Locavores and Heritage Gardeners Host a seed Exchange Saturday February 27, 2010 from 2-4pm

On Saturday February 27, 2010 from 2-4 pm, The Heritage Gardeners and the Near North Locavores are hosting a “Seedy Saturday” at the Discovery North Bay Museum in the upper gallery. Admission to this event is free.

Come and trade seeds with others or purchase them from our seed exchange table for a nominal fee if you have none to trade. You may also purchase seeds from local independent growers or commercial seed booths. Learn how to start seeds and how to save seeds for next year. Ask questions of a Master Gardener; learn more about local gardening and environmental groups. Learn about the local food movement or purchase some local food. There will also be some environmentally friendly products available for purchase from local vendors.

Food, Inc. is Screening in North Bay!

If you are a person in Northern Ontario that is concerned about food and farming, you definitely won't want to miss this!

Food, Inc. is going to be screening in North Bay's Galaxy Cinema on Wednesday October 21st, 2009 at 7:30 pm. The show is being hosted by North Bay Film {go check out their webby for other awesome movies coming to town!}.

This blurb is from North Bay Films info page about Food, Inc.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

And here is a trailer:

Conference about Local Food & the History of Subsistence Comes to North Bay

This week from October 2nd to the 4th, there is a Conference about local food and the history of subsistence coming to North Bay. It is being hosted by Department of History and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental History at Nipissing University and Network in Canadian History of the Environment.

The Conference is being kicked off with a panel discussion with some Near North Locavores members, as well as a local producer. The info about this even was forwarded by one of the organizers, James Murton:

Contemplating Local Food: An Evening at the Kennedy Gallery

Where does your food come from? Does it matter? How do you "eat locally" in northern Ontario?

On Friday evening, October 2, join a panel of local food providers and activists for a lively discussion of why local food matters, and what they are trying to do about it.

Brought to you by the Department of History and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental History at Nipissing University, and the Network in Canadian History of the Environment.

Panelists

Jeremy St. Onge, wild foods enthusiast, aminita to zinania
Dave Lewington, Dalew Farms, Lavigne, ON
Lucy Emmott, gardener

Where and When

Friday, Oct 2, 6:30 pm (panel begins at 7:30)
W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery
150 Main St E
North Bay, ON

For more information contact James Murton at jamesm at nipissingu dot ca (replace "at" and "dot" with appropriate symbols) or 705 474-3450 x4402.

The actual Conference will be held at Nipissing University's Monastery Hall from October 3rd to the 4th. You can find more info about it here.

Harvest Festival at the North Bay Downtown Farmers' Market!

Woman Harvester by Kanuty Rusiecki, 1844.

This is a press release from the North Bay Downtown Farmers' Market:

Well folks, we are drawing close to the end of another North Bay Downtown Farmers’ Market season...

WAIT! IT’S NOT OVER YET!!

This coming Saturday September 19, the Downtown Farmers’ Market will be hosting

their Annual Harvest Festival. Friends & family are welcome to visit the

same great location – the parking lot on McIntyre St. East – across from City Hall.

This Saturday only from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, kids can stay & play awhile at the FREE

Activity Centre. There will even be pumpkins to decorate!! There are a limited number of FREE

giveaways, so get there early to claim yours! Kids are also welcome to enter the

Harvest Festival Colouring Contest and prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

Participation at the Activity Centre including the colouring contest is FREE!

All kids will receive a Certificate and goodies for joining in the fun.

There is lots of free parking, and the Market is OPEN until Thanksgiving weekend (October 10th) “rain or shine”, every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

See what your North Bay Downtown Farmers’ Market, has to offer you!

For more upcoming Special Event dates & information, or to learn more about the Market’s vendors please visit the NEW Market website at: http://www.northbayfarmersmarket.com/

Buy Local, Share Local

Yesterday at the North Bay Downtown Farmers' Market Buy Local, Share Local had a booth for the day.

By Local, Share Local is a food security campaign sponsored by the Ontario Association of Food Banks and the RBC Foundation, along with partners Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Turkey Farmers of Ontario, Homegrown Ontario, and Ontario Farm Animal Council.

The project has been touring farmers markets across Ontario, where they are encouraging folks to buy local produce and to donate some to food banks, along with accepting food donations on the spot.

When they stopped by North Bay yesterday, they were collecting food for the North Bay Food Bank, and we had many generous folks stopping by the Locavore booth to purchase food to donate!

I am not quite sure how much food donations were collected, but the information should be on the Buy Local, Share Local blog. To see the rest of the farmers markets they will be stopping at
(and where they have already been) click here.