ADVOCACY: Upcoming Events

Support People’s Garden NYC’s Effort to Plant a Garden at City Hall!

People’s Garden NYC is actively petitioning Mayor Bloomberg to plant a vegetable garden at the front steps of our City Hall. The petition calls for the garden to be tended by NYC public school students, in collaboration with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and our region's talented gardeners and farmers. The harvest will be donated to a nearby food pantry to feed the hungry.

In the next few weeks, folks from People's Garden NYC will be visiting Chubby Bunny’s pickup site to gather signatures and talk more about the petition campaign. You can also visit http://www.PeoplesGardenNYC.org to sign the petition online and learn more!

Greenmarket Chef’s Tour and Taste Luncheon
Thursday, July 22^nd, 11:00am

Help bring farm fresh food and farmers into NYC schools while enjoying a great lunch! Henry restaurant and Chef Mark Barrett will lead a behind-the-scenes tour of the local 116th Street Greenmarket followed by a seasonally inspired lunch menu made from the day’s bounty. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Greenmarket’s Youth Education Project. Make reservations with the Greenmarket Manager or at Henry’s (2745 Broadway at 105^th Street).

Basics of Local Seasonal Cooking

Wednesday, July 21st, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

In this class, you'll learn how to create meals centered on the bounty of locally-grown produce.

Cost is $18 and pre-registration is required by Monday July 19th. Click here to download the registration form.

Location: 197 East Broadway (near the East Broadway F)

ANNOUNCEMENT: Annual Grill Night Seeks Volunteers

Please join us for our annual 'Grill Night' on July 27th. Watch for the evite coming soon. And if anyone is willing, please volunteer, we need you! Contact Laurie Godfrey at Godfrey565@yahoo.com to volunteer.

ADVOCACY: Activist Vandana Shiva Speaks in Harlem

Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm ACTIVIST VANDANA SHIVA SPEAKS IN HARLEM The Riverside Church 490 Riverside Drive   Together with the Sisters of Earth, CSSR, The Riverside Church of New York, Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice, Green Faith, New York Faith and Justice, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, WE ACT is pleased to welcome Dr. Vandana Shiva and her sister, Dr. Mira Shiva to speak at New York's Historic Riverside Church at 7 pm on Wednesday, July 7. This event will be open to the public for a free will donation. See the Food Systems Network's event page for more information.

EVENTS: Annual Potluck Dinner

The events committee is ready to kick of the season with our annual Potluck dinner on June 15th immediately after pick-up at the church!!! You will be receiving an Evite shortly but start digging into your recipe box and come out to celebrate the beginning of the growing season with other Chubby Bunny members. If you are interested in joining the Events Committee please contact Stephanie at events@chubbybunnynyc.org.

EVENT: ROOFTOP FARM VISIT

Visit a Rooftop Farm in NYC!

Rooftop Farms is a 6,000 square foot organic vegetable farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that serves the needs of its local community and restaurants. Learn how an imaginative idea transformed a defunct bagel factory into a bounty of vegetables.

Bring your family and join Annie Novak and Ben Flanner, founding farmers, for a sunset visit on Saturday, October 3rd from 5:00-6:00pm (a suggested donation of $5/pp is requested to help support the farm). Read more about Rooftop Farms at their website.

Please RSVP to Sas at Sastewar@gmail.com to join us!

EVENT: Annual Grill Night!!!

EVENT: Save the date for the annual Grill Night!

Our Annual Grill Night will be Tuesday, August 4th from 5:30 - 7:00 pm

Burgers, hot dogs and veggies

Dessert Potluck

More details coming soon!

A visit to the farm...

This was posted on Anri's blog. She is our amazing recipe coordinator and did a great job documenting the visit. You can click the link above to see more photos.

Do you know where your food comes from?

July 13, 2009 by anrielizabeth

This past weekend I had the great pleasure of visiting Stonewall Dairy in Cornwall Bridge, CT and Chubby Bunny Farm, in Falls Village, CT. They are the farms that provide the dairy and vegetables for my CSA. A group of about 30 of us (all CSA members), made the two hour plus drive from Manhattan, early Saturday morning.

At Stonewall Dairy, we first toured the milking area. We were able to see where the cows stand when they are milked as well as where the milk is stored and cooled and then bottled. Milk that the CSA receives on Tuesday afternoon has been milked Monday evening and Tuesday morning. It doesn’t get any fresher than that. We also got to meet three extremely cute dairy calves. During the tour we learned of the many safeguards that are in place to keep the milk from coming into contact with any harmful bacteria, something that is crucial when it comes to raw milk (which is unpasteurized). We also learned that there are strong movements to try to shut down Connecticut’s raw milk dairies, but the dairies themselves are putting up a good fight.

Next, we were able to see the chickens (Kosher Kings) that are raised for meat. In order to help cultivate the grass (chicken waste is high in nitrogen which enriches the soil), the chicken coop is moved daily so that the chickens are exposed to fresh ground. We also got to see the hens who lay the eggs that come to the CSA. They are free to roam an entire swath of land around the hen house. Some members got to pick up the fresh eggs from the laying berths along the side of the hen house.

After touring Stonewall, we all headed to Chubby Bunny Farm for a picnic lunch (catered by yours truly, more on that later). After lunch, we met Dan and Tracy who own and run the farm. We were able to see where all of our vegetables come from, from things we’ve already received like chard, salad mix, and broccoli, to things that are to come such as sweet corn, onions, and celery. Dan talked a lot about soil fertility and how his main goal at the farm is to rehabilitate the land. He said that in the six years that he has owned the farm, he has seen earthworms return to the soil in increasing numbers, which, for him, is an indicator that he is succeeding. One way in which he increases the fertility is through his use of cover crops, for example arugula, which we are able to see. Cover crops provide the soil with key nutrients and help replenish some of what is taken out by other crops. Dan also spoke about how he chooses what he wants to plant, then works out how he is going to make a profit; unlike large-scale organic farms, driven to plant monocultures of crops that are going to bring in the largest profit.

Towards the end of the tour we walked through the raspberry bushes and were allowed to pick and eat the slightly tart berries. As we were eating, I asked Beatrice (Dan and Tracy’s daughter) what her favorite thing was that her Daddy grew. She responded, “wild blackberries, but Daddy doesn’t grow them.” She then led Dave and me into some bushes behind the raspberries, where we sampled some of the wild blackberries. Delicious.

We ended the tour at the main barn, in front of which we were able to see the seedlings that are awaiting planting. It was a wonderful afternoon, spent learning important lessons about the food we eat.

EVENT: July 11 Farm Visit Details

Finally a few more details on our trip to visit Stone Wall Dairy and Chubby Bunny Farms on Saturday, July 11th. Please print the attached document and bring it with you as it has detailed directions and a few helpful tips. Remember, this is a great event for the whole family!

The day will begin at Stone Wall Dairy. They are the amazing farm that supplies our raw milk, eggs and chickens. Let's plan on meeting there at 11:00 am on Saturday for a very instructive tour of the dairy farm. If you get there later, then please walk around the property and find us. The kids love the tour even more than the adults because they get to meet the cows and the chickens up close and personal!

After the dairy farm visit, we will drive to Dan and Tracy's farm, Chubby Bunny, where all our wonderful vegetables come from. As soon as we get there we will have a picnic lunch. We are in luck as this year our amazing Recipe Coordinator/chef has volunteered to cook for our picnic. All you need to bring is your own drinks and a picnic blanket.

After a picnic lunch we will get to tour of the farm with Dan and Tracy and hopefully their 2 kids, Beatrice and Baxter. If you haven’t been on one of these farm visits yet, I highly recommend it! Last year I learned so much about organic farming and the work involved, that I gained an even greater appreciation for our farmers........ and for the amazing products we get!

In order to get an accurate headcount for the picnic lunch we need you to please RSVP. Email me at stephny_2005@yahoo.com and let me know how many people you will be attending with. Remember, this is a great event for you and your kids so please bring the entire family!

If you need a ride or have space in your car and would like to give someone a ride, please contact Gabrielle at gabichka@gmail.com . She will be coordinating the rides.

We look forward to seeing you. Feel free to email me with any questions.

Stephanie

Chubby Bunny Events Committee

EVENT: FARM VISIT ON JULY 11

PACK UP YOUR FAMILY AND JOIN US!!

We will be visiting Dan and Tracy's farm and will also include a visit to one of our other farmers. The day will include a picnic lunch and a farm tour where you will get to ask Dan and Tracy all your questions and learn about organic farming and life as a farmer.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THIS FUN COMMUNITY EVENT! JULY 11...

*Details will be sent out soon. We will be coordinating car pools.

EVENT: FIRST PICKUP OF THE SEASON...

And a little something special. Mark D'Alessandro, the chef/nutrionist at Westside Campaign Against Hunger, has agreed to make something special for us to eat next Tuesday. We don't know what it is, but we are sure it will be worth coming to the site to find out. 

Remember that pickup is from 5-7pm. See you there!

Fresh the Movie

Unfortunately, it's too late to go to a screening here in NYC for this film since it happened last week, but if you are a die hard and willing to travel it is being screened in several other locations in the very near future. We are looking into the availability of a DVD in the future, but until then... you can either host your own screening or just watch the trailer repeatedly.