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Edgartown School’s Farm to School Project Gallery

MV Ag Fair Link

150th Fair Winners of 2011 for Junior Fruit and Vegetables
by Martha’s Vineyard Ag Fair :

JUNIOR FRUIT :

Slow Food MV  Presents :

Going Local To Solve Our Global Crisis : A New Documentary To Screen In Chilmark

“THE ECONOMY OF HAPPINESS”

An award-winning documentary film, THE ECONOMY OF HAPPINESS, will be shown at the Chilmark Community Center, Saturday, April 7, with special guest Helena Norberg-Hodge, the documentary’s creator. The event, which includes a soup dinner, is sponsored by Slow Food Martha’s Vineyard

Five years in the making, THE ECONOMY OF HAPPINESS is a global tour-de-force—going beyond identifying problems, it outlines realistic solutions, drawing inspiration from the emerging worldwide movement for economic localization—urban gardens in Detroit, Transition Towns, hands-on education in Japan, community farming in India, cultural preservation in Peru. All around the world, people are resisting globalization and consolidation of corporate power  and coming together to rebuild more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm - the economics of happiness..  The film shows that the solutions to our most pressing environmental, economic and social crises can simultaneously improve our quality of life.

THE ECONOMY OF HAPPINESS features acclaimed economists, environmentalists and scholars including Vandana Shiva, Zac Goldsmith, Bill McKibben, David Korten, Juliet Schor, Richard Heinberg, Bhutanese film director Khyentse Norbu, and the first Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, Samdhong Rinpoche.

“A powerful film that cuts deeply to the heart of the global crisis.  Magnificent!” says David Suzuki, television presenter and environmentalist.

Author and philosopher Joanna Macy writes: “It is good news indeed to find so persuasive an explanation of our ailing world as THE ECONOMY OF HAPPINESS.  This film connects the dots between climate chaos, economic meltdown, and our own personal suffering—stress, loneliness, and depression.”

Zac Goldsmith, a member of the UK parliament, called it “A must-see film for the future of the planet.”

Tickets for the event will be available at the door :

$5 for the film or $10 for a soup  dinner/film.

Dinner starts at 6 p.m., followed by the movie at 7;  discussion with Helena at 8.

For additional information, contact :

Slowfoodvineyard@gmail.com
or
Slow Food MV Facebook

Slow Food Contacts:
Abigail Higgins,  ahiggins@ttlc.net
Sumner Silverman, szs@comcast.net]

Film Production Contact
International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC)
PO Box 9475 Berkeley CA 94709

Official Trailer :

The Economics of Happiness – Official Trailer from The Economics of Happiness on Vimeo.

As seen in MV Gazette – Friday March 23, 2012 article

She’s a Maine native who is trying to save much of the Island’s shellfish population. He’s a Vineyard high school student with a passion for sustainability.

From shell recyclers to waste-management aficionados, seven Vineyarders have been named recipients of prestigious Island fellowships, receiving funding for individual educational and professional endeavors. But the entire Island will also benefit from the awards, with the fellows pledging to use their knowledge and experience to better Island sustainability.

Named the Vision fellowship, the award was established in 2006 by the Kohlberg family’s Philip Evans Scholarship Foundation, goes to individuals who “demonstrate a commitment to the Island and to the ideals of sustainability.” The recipients must be residents of Martha’s Vineyard and demonstrate a commitment to remain on or return to Martha’s Vineyard after the fellowship ends.

Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg own The Vineyard Gazette.

The foundation received a record number of high-quality applications this year, and the winners “show the most promise for short-and long-term impact in areas that are a high priority for the program,” according to the foundation. Fellowship recipients work with on-Island mentors.

This year’s fellowship recipients, announced last week, include two high schoolers who plan use their passion for waste management and farming for the good of the Vineyard.

Tony Lima.

For high school senior Antone Lima, 17, the fellowship will fund his education at the University of New Hampshire, where he plans to study environmental engineering — and experience a place that feels like home, he said, without having to worry about boat schedules.

But in the future, he plans to come back to the Island. “I was born and raised here — I’ve always felt the need to come back,” he said.

The Island is already benefitting from his interest in sustainability: For his senior project, Antone has been working with South Mountain Company to recycle waste such as windows, doors and wood. And after his four years off at school, he plans to come back to the Vineyard to address what he calls “the waste problem here on the Island.”

“We spend so much money getting rid of it and we spend so much money on energy,” he said. His plan is to solve both problems and look at how to convert waste to energy using methane digesters and incinerators that can produce energy.

Antone, an Oak Bluffs resident, said he’s “always been a math and science kind of guy,” interested in where things come from and how they work.

The fellowship “took a lot of pressure off,” Antone said: the scholarship will allow him to go to the school and come back to the Island without worrying about paying off college loans.

Emma HallBillsback.

Classmate Emma HallBilsback’s fellowship centers on her love of farming, a passion that she said started in the second grade with a visit to the FARM Institute. Now a high school senior, she still works on the farm: she was there Thursday, helping with chores and looking forward to baby pigs and chickens.

“I just fell in love,” she said of her first visit to the Institute.

When she got the phone call that she received the fellowship, she said, “I was speechless.” She then called her mom at work, “and burst into tears.”

The Vision Fellowship will take Emma far beyond the Vineyard to learn about farming: first to New Zealand for a gap year, where she’ll stay from November through April to work on a sheep and cattle ranch during lambing and calving season and learn about farming and sustainability. After that, it’s on to Hampshire College, where she plans to study sustainable agriculture management and political science.

After her time in New Zealand, she said, she’ll bring her newfound knowledge back to the Island, working on compost and waste management techniques with the Farm Institute, and focusing on making the farm more tourist friendly.

“Food is something that’s never going out of style,” she said. “Everybody has to have farmers in their lives.”

“It’s so much fun.”

Other fellowships will go toward those affiliated with Vineyard organizations. Camron Adibi, who serves on Tisbury’s wastewater planning committee, will use his fellowship to further his professional training in water quality analysis, stormwater management systems and wastewater systems, working with Tisbury Waterways, Inc., and the Department of Public Works.

The Vision Fellowship will allow Kristen Fauteux, the director of stewardship for the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, to pursue a Master of Science degree in resource management and conservation at Antioch University New England, while Zoe Turcotte’s fellowship will lead to a master of education program at Lesley University. A Felix Neck Sanctuary employee, Ms. Turcotte plans to work on environmental education efforts at the sanctuary, including establishing a Sustainability Club for middle and high school students, with participation from conservation groups.

“I’m very excited because I feel like a program like this could be very beneficial,” Ms. Turcotte said. “The interest is there.”

Phillipe Jordi.

Fellowship recipient Phillipe Jordi, executive director of the nonprofit Island Housing Trust, will apply to a professional training program offered through the Harvard Kennedy School of Government that explores issues facing community development organizations.

Jessie Kanozak, originally from Maine, received a fellowship for her shell recycling project, which aims to keep the Island’s abundant shell refuse on the Vineyard, and ultimately back into Vineyard waters. Ms. Kanozak worked with the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group to launch the Shellfish Recovery Project last year.

Shell recycling helps reduce bulk waste from the Vineyard’s waste stream, she said, which is transported off-Island. The recycling program “winterizes the shells” over one season to prevent cross-contamination from pathogens (some shells are from other parts of the country). They are then returned to the water as a source of calcium carbonate, which new shellfish require to grow and also reduce the negative effects of water acidification.

Jessie Kanozak.

The award “really lets us grow the project and really expand it,” Ms. Kanozak said. “Without the fellowship I feel like the project would have grown stale.” She added that through the fellowship, she can look at shell recycling programs in other areas for ideas.

The program thus far has focused on down-Island restaurants, she said, and was limited to what she could do on her own. But she underestimated the production of shell from residents, she said.

“People go shellfishing . . . and they’re really eager to help.”

Working with the Shellfish Group, refuse districts, and Bruno’s trash service, her goal is to create several drop-off centers, either at refuse centers or private properties, where Islanders can recycle shells along with glass, plastic, and other refuse.

“With the help of the fellowship, we’ll make the shell recycling an Island-wide program,” she said, “and also expand it to the community, to residents and fishermen.”

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Article via the MV Gazette : March 19, 2012.

Seven Vineyarders have received a 2012 Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fellowship with this year’s fellows receiving funding to study and work on projects ranging from shellfish recycling to wastewater management issues.

The Vision fellowship was established in 2006 by the Kohlberg family’s Philip Evans Scholarship Foundation, and the awards go to individuals who “demonstrate a commitment to the Island and to the ideals of sustainability.” The recipients must be residents of Martha’s Vineyard and demonstrate a commitment to remain on or return to Martha’s Vineyard after the fellowship ends.

This year’s fellows are Camron Adibi, who will work on wastewater management issues on the Island; Kristen Fauteux, director of stewardship for Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation; high school senior Emma HallBilsback, who is involved in the FARM Institute and wants to study sustainable agriculture; Philippe Jordi, the executive director of Island Housing Trust; Jessie Kanozak, who launched the Shellfish Recovery Partnership; high school senior Antone Lima, who will work with South Mountain Company to recycle construction and demolition waste, and Zoe Turcotte, who will work on environmental education efforts at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary.

The foundation received a record number of high-quality applications. The winners “show the most promise for short-and long-term impact in areas that are a high priority for the program, according to the foundation.

Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg own The Vineyard Gazette.

The biographies of this year’s fellowship recipients, provided by the foundation, are listed below.

Camron Adibi has a Master of Science in Sustainable Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Restoration and Waste Management from Mesa State College, and is interested in taking on some of the wastewater management issues confronting Martha’s Vineyard; he has also recently been appointed by the Board of Selectmen to the Town of Tisbury’s Wastewater Planning Committee. Through the Vision Fellowship he intends to enhance his professional training in water quality analysis, grant writing, alternative stormwater management and wastewater systems. Over the summer he’ll work with Tisbury Waterways, Inc., under the mentorship of President Melinda Loberg, to learn water analysis. He’ll also work with Fred LaPiana at the Department of Public Works on stormwater management designs and implementation.

Kristen Fauteux began as an intern in 2002 at Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and currently serves as Director of Stewardship, overseeing the management of all 2,000 acres owned by the Foundation and monitoring its 41 conservation restrictions. She is also active in the community through her roles as a Supervisor for the Dukes County Conservation District, Plant Conservation Volunteer for the New England Wildflower Society, and member of the Martha’s Vineyard Prescribed Fire Partnership. A native of Martha’s Vineyard, Kristen holds a B.A. in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic, and plans to pursue a Master of Science degree in Resource Management and Conservation at Antioch University New England. She’ll continue in her position at Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and will pursue her professional and educational development under the mentorship of Executive Director Adam Moore.

Emma HallBilsback is a senior at MVRHS and has been involved in one way or another with the FARM Institute since the second grade. She is equally passionate about improving her farming skills and learning about the policies that drive local agriculture outcomes. She is currently doing her senior high school project at the FARM Institute, learning all aspects of running a farm as well as helping with the development of education and tourist programs under the supervision of Education Director Sidney Morris, who will also serve as her Vision Fellowship mentor. Emma participated in the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Leadership Summit in 2010 and 2011, and has served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Statewide Youth Council since January 2011. Emma is delaying her freshman year in college to participate in an immersion year program in New Zealand focused on sustainable agriculture through the Communicating for Agriculture Education Program (CAEP). She’ll begin college in 2013 and will major in Sustainable Agriculture Management and minor in Political Science.

Philippe Jordi is Executive Director of Island Housing Trust, a nonprofit aimed at increasing the availability of ecologically and socially responsible affordable housing on Martha’s Vineyard. As head of IHT for the past six years, Philippe has been responsible for developing and/or selling more than 45 affordably priced houses to working families in five island towns, using a nationally recognized community land trust model that ensures permanent affordability and a relationship with the homeowners for as long as they own the property. Philippe is applying to an 18-month professional training program entitled Achieving Excellence in Community Development sponsored by NeighborWorks and offered through the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The program explores issues facing community development organizations with a close look at strategic analysis and planning, performance measurement, community building, alliances and partnerships, and leadership and organizational alignment, among others. Richard Leonard, President of Island Housing Trust, will be Philippe’s on-island mentor.

Jessie Kanozak graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Aquaculture and Fishery Technology. A native of Maine, she worked as a Hatchery Assistant at Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group during the summers between academic years and moved to the Island permanently upon graduating, eventually making her way to a job at the Offshore Ale Company. Moving between the restaurant and aquaculture worlds, Jessie began to notice that while the Hatchery was purchasing shell from off Island to provide optimal growing environments for burgeoning oysters, Vineyard restaurants were discarding thousands of pounds of shell on a weekly basis. She devised an idea to recycle discarded shell and, together with the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, launched the Shellfish Recovery Partnership in 2011. Last summer Jessie garnered the participation of eight Island restaurants. Her goal through the Vision Fellowship is to expand participation to include many more restaurants, increase public awareness and involvement, and contribute significantly to the improvement of oyster habitat and reduction of ocean acidification, another benefit of shell recycling. Rick Karney, Executive Director of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group will serve as her mentor.

Antone Lima is a native of Martha’s Vineyard with a vision to restore the health of the Island by finding ways to convert waste to energy. Currently a senior in high school, he sees waste disposal, wastewater and energy as the three most pressing challenges facing the Island. In 2009 he began building what he calls his “small-scale sustainable complex,” experimenting with a home-built methane digester, developing a small production garden and raising chickens and ducks. He chose South Mountain Company both as the site of his high school senior project and his Vision Fellowship sponsor, and is currently working with them to develop a mechanism for recycling construction and demolition waste. As part of his Vision Fellowship internship with South Mountain, he’ll learn about all aspects of the company’s Energy Department, including solar installations and energy analysis, and will have a chance to work on a larger model methane digester. Marc Rosenbaum and John Abrams will serve as mentors. Antone plans to major in Environmental Engineering at the University of New Hampshire.

Zoe Turcotte earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from Unity College in Maine, where she focused her studies on public speaking, writing, leadership and science education. Her love of science increased during her four years of college, and she came to realize that great science teachers could be instrumental in fostering a love of learning as well as stewardship of the environment among young people. She began working with Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, her sponsoring organization, upon relocating to the Island in 2009, first conducting wildlife surveys and later as an environmental educator with their Fern and Feather Camp. She is currently completing her second year as a teacher’s assistant at the West Tisbury School. Zoe sees an opportunity to teach problem solving skills to middle school students through environmental education. She recently started a Master of Education program at Lesley University, with a focus on Middle School General Science. Zoe plans to establish a Sustainability Club for middle and high school students and to engage teachers, island nonprofits and the public in the learning process. She will integrate her environmental education efforts with those at Felix Neck, under the mentorship of Sanctuary Director Suzan Bellincampi.
Last updated on Monday, March 19, 2012

Presented by Slow Foods of MV :

Slow Food Sunday Brunch – We Love our Farmers!

When :
Sunday February 12th, 2012.
10am – 12:30pm
Where :
Chilmark Community Center
Cost :
$7
Farmers are free!

***Please bring our own flatware and utensils***

Invest in Food, Invest in Kids By Noli Taylor :

For almost 30 years, under the pressure of shrinking school budgets, communities across the country have experimented with handing control of school food to private, for-profit corporations. This has taken many shapes, from candy and soda vending machines in the hallways to chicken nuggets on the lunch tray, to the transference of entire meals programs to private companies.

Today roughly a quarter of American schools have privatized their meals programs, primarily to a few massive corporations. These companies make all decisions about staffing, menu planning and ingredient sourcing.

Here on Martha’s Vineyard, three of seven island schools have been under contract with a major multinational food service corporation for 23 years to serve lunches to their students. It has always seemed incongruous to me that our community, which strictly limits the ability of chain stores from opening on the island, would turn over control of the food served to local children to a corporation. I’m not the only one who has felt troubled by this. There has long been concern about the quality of these meals, and about the morality of abdicating responsibility for feeding children to a non-local, for-profit company. There has also been a desire to provide all dedicated local food service workers with a fair, living wage.

I coordinate Island Grown Schools, the island’s farm to school program, and for the past two years, we have worked with dozens of dedicated community members to find a way to end the corporate contract and move control of the meals program back to the schools themselves. We started with community outreach and education about the possibilities, practicalities, and importance of bringing healthy food to our kids. School gardens, taste testings, community local food suppers, farm field trips, and in-class learning about food, agriculture, and nutrition have helped build enthusiasm among the children towards eating healthy food, and showed parents the spectrum of fresh, healthy, locally grown foods their kids would actually eat.

Next, we reached out to plumbers, electricians and builders, who volunteered their skills to expand one school’s kitchen facility to make meals from scratch on-site, rather than having them trucked up daily from the central corporate kitchen. Architects donated their time to draw up plans that would make the new kitchen as functional and inexpensive to build as possible. Owners of restaurants and commercial kitchens offered to donate kitchen equipment. Together, this community good will brought the estimated cost of the kitchen renovation from $500,000 to $81,000.

Parents, grandparents, farmers, and community members flocked to School Committee meetings to show their support for these changes in the school meals program. And finally, in December, at the last budgeting meeting for next school year, the School Committee voted to end the corporate contract, expand the kitchen, and take community ownership again over the food served to our children at school.

Assuming next year’s school budget will be passed at town meetings in the spring, the renovated kitchen facility will be expected to provide 500,000 meals over the next 25 years to island children. Four local workers will be employed at a living wage to create and serve made-from-scratch meals for the kids. And these changes help our kids see that we aren’t just telling them to eat better — we as a community are willing to invest in the food they are served at school to help them grow up as healthy, smart, and strong as they can.

For more information, please contact Noli Taylor, Program Coordinator of Island Grown Schools,noli@islandgrown.org. To learn more about IGS, watch this short film.

When : Friday, February 3, 2012 - 6:00pm until 9:00pm

Where : Morning Glory Farm
120 Meshacket Rd. Edgartown, MA 02539

What better to do on a Friday night in February then enjoy Farm Institute pork and Morning Glory Farm beef creatively turned into a delicious dinner by Beetlebung farm’s Chris Fischer in the comfort of the wood stove in the Morning Glory Farm Stand? Bring your friends and family to watch the e new film American Meat: a non finger pointing, eye opening look at meat in America. (http://www.americanmeatfilm.com/)
Cape Cod Friends (of Julies…)! you can sleep over!

We are asking $5 per person / $10 per family for movie viewing and food will be available for purchase.
Cupcakes for dessert by the amazing Elizabeth Patterson.

6-7 pm : TFI and Morning Glory prepared by Chef
Chris Fischer of Beetlebung Farm.
Hot drinks by Chilmark Coffee, Company

7pm: Screening of American Meat

Directed by Graham Meriweather

“American Meat is a solutions-oriented macroscopic documentary surverying the current state of the U.S. meat industry. Featuring Joel Salatin,
Chuck Wirtz, Fred Kirschenmann, Steve Ells, Paul Willis and tens of farmers across America, we take an even-handed look at animal husbandry.”

We are trying to get an idea of how much food we need so let us know if you are coming!

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