Community

Have you ever heard of a food forest? I hadn’t, until reading this story from Grist.

This spring, a group of Seattle residents will experiment with a new urban food concept that they’ve been working on since 2009. The food forest will be grown on nine acres of public land owned by the Seattle Public Utilities and will include traditional community garden plots in addition to orchards and “edible arboretums.”

Blog Categories: Community, Growing Matters

The energy of the Growing Our Own workshop series continued with the Growing Communities Workshop on February 11th and 12th at the Grange Audubon Center. The workshop is based on the American Community Gardening Association's curriculum.

This two-day leadership-oriented workshop was more than I anticipated in the best way possible. Gardeners and leaders from communities around Ohio came to participate and share.

Blog Categories: Community, Events

(photo by flickr.com/photos/inferis)

Even though much of Local Matters' work is low-tech (driving around in vans, playing with kids, digging in the dirt...), we definitely live in a high-tech world. In 2012, over half of all cell phone sales are projected to be smartphones sales.

With the growth of smart phones comes new ways to find and connect with restaurants, activities, and each other. Of the 500,000+ apps in both the Android Market and Apple App Store, a few "food apps" have emerged which make it easier to access local food.

Blog Categories: Community, Health

The final revised nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program have been released and will begin to be implemented during the 2012-2013 school year. These guidelines are supposed to be updated every 5 years, but this is the first update since 1995—finally!

The new standards are one of five components of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and are designed to fight childhood obesity and hunger. The National School Lunch Program also provides free or discount meals to eligible students by reimbursing public schools for providing meals that fulfill requirements.

The new standards require schools to:

Blog Categories: Community, Growing Matters

*** Download a PDF version of the schedule by clicking here***

There's always something new to learn when it comes to growing and gardening—whether it's planting a tomato plant for the very first time, learning how to test your soil (and interpret those confusing chemistry results), or collaborating with your neighbors on a community garden. 

That's why we're very excited to announce a free workshop series in the upcoming months, co-coordinated with OSU Extension.

Blog Categories: Community, Events, Growing Matters

Our circle of friends is growing every year, and we at Local Matters are so excited about the work we've accomplished with your support. This year we've connected with new partners such the Hoover YMCA, where we farmed an acre of land to use for kids education, and Share Our Strength, with whom we're launching the Cooking Matters program in 2012. We've also strengthened old relationships with partners like Head Start of Franklin County and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. 

Blog Categories: Community

It's easy to eat local in summer, when farmers markets are everywhere and the garden is thriving. But in winter we often rely on the ease of quick grocery trips to Kroger, forgetting that local foods are still available and waiting for your dinner plate!

Blog Categories: Community