Join over 1,000 local food lovers and advocates, CSA members, community gardeners, urban and rural farmers, food professionals and entrepreneurs at the Just Food "Eat - Work - Grow the Movement" conference 2012 on February 24th and 25th!

The conference will include over 100 workshops providing attendees with opportunities to learn about:
- cooking and food preservation techniques
- CSA trends
- local and national farm and food issues
- ways to mobilize communities in order to increase access to farm-fresh, locally grown food

A Good Food Jobs Fair will be available on Friday and an EXPO featuring "exemplary local food artisans, sustainable businesses, and organizations" will conclude the conference on Saturday. For more information and schedule Click Here.

When: Friday, February 24 8:30am – 7pm & Saturday, February 25 8am – 6pm
Where: Food & Finance High School @ 525 West 50th Street, New York, NY 10019
Cost: Tickets are $30 per day or $50 for both days. Discounted rates of $15 (for one day) and $30 for both days) are available for students, farmers and low-income community members. Tickets to the Job Fair only cost $15. Register and purchase tickets Here.

We plan to be there and hope you will too!

There are only 14 hours to go - vote now!

Brooklyn Tech is seeking a grant to help cover the steep cost of building an extensive rooftop garden. The garden would enable the school to offer new courses related to food, nutrition, and agriculture while also providing healthy food for its lunchroom. Help by voting for them now!

We are pleased to announce the release of the Fort Greene / Clinton Hill Community Food Assessment (CFA) titled Get Fresh! Food access, food justice and collective action in Fort Greene & Clinton Hill, a report researched and created in collaboration with local residents and food advocates. The report serves as a “snapshot” of the local food environment in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, and will inform community-led efforts to improve access to fresh food, create opportunities for nutritional awareness and education, and strengthen advocacy efforts. Click here for the full Get Fresh! report.

Among several findings, the report concludes that access to quality, affordable fresh food is limited; SNAP/EBT acceptance by higher-quality retailers is low; and residents are ready and eager to learn more about ways of improving their own nutrition through education. For more detailed information you can read the Press Release by clicking here.

This holiday season, hopefully you’ll be gathering with friends, family and neighbors around a bountiful table filled with your favorite holiday dishes. If you can, take just a few minutes to talk about some of the findings from the Get Fresh! Report, and consider getting involved in community-led projects to transform our local food environment into a more just and robust system for all!

Three projects that are starting right now are: 1) help to increase the number of food retailers that accept EBT 2) participate in grocery shopping tours to help consumers make healthier choices and 3) help to ‘close the loop’ on holiday food donations. The latter project is already under way and involves encouraging those who are collecting food donations (and toys and coats) to deliver them to local pantries and churches for local distribution. Several merchants have already volunteered to serve as donation drop-off sites including: Five Spot (459 Myrtle), Maggie Brown (455 Myrtle), Green in BKLYN (432 Myrtle), Kiini Ibura (388 Myrtle), Brooklyn Stone Boutique (366 Myrtle), Cake Joy (364 Myrtle), Fort Greene SNAP (324 Myrtle) and St. Joseph’s College Tuohy Hall (245 Clinton). St. Joseph’s College will be donating farm-fresh produce to area pantries as well. If you have a location you’d like to add as a drop-off location or would like to help coordinate the efforts of this project please contact Kassy Nystrom at kassy@myrtleavenue.org or 718-230-1689.

Just a friendly reminder ... only 1 week left until Thanksgiving! That's just 7 days to reach our goal of $600!

Our partners at the Ingersoll Community Center (operated by University Settlement) are preparing a hot meal for 100 local residents in need this Thanksgiving. In a project they're calling "Pay it Forward", they've reached out to local residents and organizations to join their effort by donating resources, food, beverages, supplies and time to make sure our neighbors have a delicious and nutritious meal this Thanksgiving. We've stepped up to raise $600 to provide fresh ingredients from our local farm stand partner, Glebocki Farms, and a few supplies. These funds will purchase seasonal produce like squash, carrots, red potatoes, onions, apples, and greens for the event. A team of volunteer cooks will prepare Thanksgiving favorites using these ingredients. In the holiday spirit of giving, will you help us donate fresh food items for a community Thanksgiving dinner at our local community center, right here on Myrtle Avenue?

Donating is simple. Just visit our project page on HelpersUnite.com. Here's to a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Our partners at the Ingersoll Community Center (operated by University Settlement) are preparing a hot meal for 100 local residents in need this Thanksgiving. In a project they're calling "Pay it Forward", they've reached out to local residents and organizations to join their effort by donating resources, food, beverages, supplies and time to make sure our neighbors have a delicious and nutritious meal this Thanksgiving. We've stepped up to raise $600 to provide fresh ingredients from our local farm stand partner, Glebocki Farms, and a few supplies. These funds will purchase seasonal produce like squash, carrots, red potatoes, onions, apples, and greens for the event. A team of volunteer cooks will prepare Thanksgiving favorites using these ingredients. In the holiday spirit of giving, will you help us donate fresh food items for a community Thanksgiving dinner at our local community center, right here on Myrtle Avenue?

Donating is simple. Just visit our project page on HelpersUnite.com. Here's to a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Get your fresh, affordable, yummy produce here! The Myrtle Avenue Farm Stand is open for business!

What's at the farm stand today you ask? We have fresh from the farm spaghetti squash, butternut squash, red potatoes, white potatoes, red onions, carrots, pumpkin, collard greens, mustard greens, corn on the cob and apples and apple cider!!

Today's our Harvest Fest, so lots of extra activities for the kids -- face painting and pumpkin decorating (small pumpkins and markers to decorate them available--while supplies last, so come on out!).

The Myrtle Avenue Farm Stand is open every Tuesday, 3:30p to 6:30p at 177 Myrtle Ave (Prince/Navy). We offer fresh, local produce from Glebocki Farms, 12 oz Summer Flower Honey Bears from Tremblay Apiaries and Maple Syrup from Poorfarm Farm in Vermont.

Myrtle Eats Fresh Community Chef Oliver Peters will be making pumpkin chowder for all to taste! Come by and try it and receive a recipe to take home from 3:30 to 6:30.

We accept EBT/Health Bucks/FMNP/WIC and cash.

See you at the market!

Interested in joining a Meat CSA in Clinton Hill? Sign up here with High Point Farms!

High Point Farms is offering a Meat CSA share for the winter. Distribution takes place every other Wednesday, starting December 14th, right here at Five Spot (Myrtle and Hall Street). There are 6 pick-up dates in total (14-Dec, 28-Dec, 11-Jan, 25-Jan, 8-Feb, 22-Feb). Click the link above to sign up, and to find about more about the share!

Lots of tasty, healthy goodness coming your way this Saturday from three of our very own Myrtle East Fresh Community Chefs! Visit Chef Roisin at the Fort Greene Greenmarket at 11am, Chef Dominique at the Myrtle Village Green block party at noon (Kent between Myrtle and Willoughby), and Chef Oliver at 2pm at the block party. On the menu: healthy slaw with apple cider, and kid-friendly sandwiches!

The Myrtle Community-run Farm Stand operates rain or shine, so we will still be out there today under the tents near 177 Myrtle. Here's what we ordered from Glebocki this week:
Beets
Carrots
Corn (7 Bags!)
Eggplant
Lettuce
Onions
Butternut Squash
Sugar Watermelon
Red Potato

Unfortunately, the rain has foiled our "Back to School" festivities, so we've rescheduled the following for next week (9/27):
Brooklyn Public Library Mobile
Facepainting
Kid-friendly cooking demos and tastings
....again, we'll still be out there today so please come out and shop! And we'll still have one cooking demo there today as well!

Community Chef Roisin Wisneski will be at the Fort Greene Greenmarket tomorrow, demo'ing a vegetable pearl couscous dish using market vegetables. Stop by and see her between 11am and 1pm and get some inspiration for new healthy recipes!

The Myrtle Eats Fresh Community Chef Program includes a diverse group of 15 local residents who share the goal of improving the health of their neighbors by providing easy, nutritious, and affordable recipes. All chefs have completed 20+ hours of training and have conducted cooking demos at local farmer’s markets, community events, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) distribution sites. If you are interested in having a Community Chef at your event, please contact us at 718-230-1689 or meredith@myrtleavenue.org!