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News from

Vol. 2, No. 4 Summer 2014

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Managing organics: food wasted, opportunity foundA workshop on managing food

waste will be held 8 am to 2

pm on Thursday, July 31 at

the UNO College of Business

Administration, Suite 300 Mammel

Hall on the UNO campus. The

workshop has the purpose of

helping people become part of

the effort to develop solutions

in collaborative, broad-based

systems that divert organics from

landfills.

The event is intended to

stimulate dialogue and increase

awareness of the full cost of

“wasting organics” vs. the costs

and benefits of “using organics” as

feedstock int eh creation of value-

added products.

Lori Soccafava, Executive

Director of the US Composting

Council, will be the keynote

speaker on the topic of “The

National Perspective: Food Waste

Comes of Age.” There is limited

seating for 50 attendees. The cost

is $25 and includes snacks, drinks

and a local food, zero-waste buffet

lunch catered by Michelle Dill of

The Big Green Tomato.

For more information, contact

Kay Stevens at (402) 709-5462 or

kstevens@nomoreemptypots.org.

This event is being co-

sponsored by No More Empty

Pots, UNO College of Business

Administration, US Composting

Council, WasteCap NE and the

Green Omaha Coalition.

Climate change affectingfood nutrition levelsA study from a project co-chaired

by former 1st District congressman

Doug Bereuter says climate

change threatens to undermine

not only how much food can be

grown but also the quality of that

food, as altered weather patterns

lead to a less desirable harvest.

Crops grown by many of the

nation’s farmers have a lower

nutritional content than they once

did, according to the report by the

Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Research indicates that higher

carbon dioxide levels in the

atmosphere have reduced the

protein content in wheat, for

example. Read more: http://

journalstar.com/business/local/

climate-change-producing-less-

nutritious-food-report-says/

article_8147ba90-6016-5726-

8720-db59200d6be6.html

Omaha Farmers Market makes plans to go year ’roundVic Gutman, who manages the

markets in the Old Market and

Aksarben Village, has signed a

purchase agreement to buy a build-

ing on 10th and Pacific Streets,

adjacent to the site of the new Blue

Barn Theater. He plans to turn

the Postal Annex Building into a

year-round fresh food market that

will house permanent stalls sell-

ing mostly locally produced meat,

cheese, eggs, honey, jam and jelly

and other prepared foods.

Gutman said his model for the

market is the North Market in Co-

lumbus, Ohio.

“This has been a dream of mine

since 1987,” he said in an email.

“Our goal is to open the market in

the next three to four years.”

He said the market won’t open

for a number of years because it

will take time to re-purpose the

building, secure the vendors and

raise the money to build and oper-

ate the market.

Officially, the owners of the

building will be the Friends of the

Community Crops Feast on the

Farm will be held 5–8:30 pm on

Saturday, August 9 at Prairie Pines,

112th & Adams in Lincoln.

The event, a fund-raiser for

Community Crops, features the

best of local foods from local chefs

and an auction featuring goods and

services from landscaping and wine

to massage/yoga packages and

tickets to local cultural events.

The evening on a bucolic

sustainable farm is intended to

provide support for Community

Crops, which helps families to grow

nutritious food.

Local food will be featured

from local chefs, accompanied by

a fantastic selection of beverages.

Beer by Zipline Brewing Co and live

music by Lye Soap.

Tours of Prairie Pines will be

offered throughout the evening

and Community Crops staff will

be on hand to share details about

the organization and the families it

helps.

To learn more and purchase

tickets or sponsorships, please

visit the link on Community

Crops’ website: http://www.

communitycrops.org/farmdinner

Community Crops Feast on the Farm slated for August 9

Farmers Market, but he said he will

likely form a separate nonprofit to

own and manage the building. Gut-

man has already hired the Project

for Public Spaces, a New York

group, to consult on the project.

Once a niche business, locally

grown foods aren’t just for farmers

markets anymore.

Across the country, growing

networks of companies and organi-

zations are delivering food directly

from local farms to major institutions

like hospitals and schools, and busi-

nesses like restaurants and grocer-

ies, eliminating scores of middlemen

from farm to fork. Along the way,

they’re increasing profits and recog-

nition for smaller farms and bringing

consumers healthier, fresher foods.

Over the past five years, with

more than $25 million in federal

aid, these so-called food hubs have

helped transform locally-grown foods

into a bigger business, supplying

hospitals, schools, restaurant chains

and grocery stores as consumer de-

mand grows. Along the way, jobs in

processing, marketing and distribu-

tion are created.

The Joslyn Institute for Sus-

tainable Communities, along with

a number of other stakeholders,

has begun exploring the idea of

undertaking a feasibility study for a

food hub in Lincoln. The proposal

would include the possible retrofit of

Pershing Auditorium as the physical

location of the Southeast Nebraska

Food Hub.

In an initial proposal to the

US Department of Agriculture by

the City of Lincoln and Community

Crops, the following reationale was

provided: “Lincoln has community

and city government support for

improving food security, with numer-

ous collaborative efforts already

underway, but our food policy work

is still in the early stages and needs

technical support and resources

to create a strong food system. …

We have a strong urban agricultural

organization in Community Crops,

which has developed community

gardens, farmer training and youth

garden education programs for over

ten years in Lincoln. The local food

movement is steadily growing in our

area, with new farms starting each

year, and more restaurants and

grocery stores sourcing local, as

well as a growing number of farmers

markets, but we also need to expand

programs that provide Lincolnites of

limited means with access to fresh,

healthy food.”

JISC is working with Nebraska

Cooperative Extension, UNL Rural

Futures Institute, Nebraska Farmer’s

Union, Clark Enersen Architects, the

City of Lincoln, Nebraska Investment

Finance Authority, Lincoln Local

Foodshed Working Group, Com-

munity Crops, Buy Fresh/Buy Local,

and others to explore conducting the

feasibility study.

JISC leads efforts for regional food hub feasibility study