Got a great idea to help foster local food in Hastings County? Want money to do it?
Harvest Hastings, in collaboration with Plainfield Heritage Farm, is supporting and attending STONE SOUP on September 10 — an opportunity for farmers, local community groups and community folks to seek funding to turn their ideas of local food initiatives into a reality. As in the children’s story, STONE SOUP is an event where folks share a little to achieve something fantastic for everyone in our community.
There are two awards: one for farmers and one for community folk. All you have to do is submit a SINGLE page briefly telling Harvest Hastings what your idea is. If yours is selected, at the September 10th STONE SOUP event, you will be given 5 minutes to speak to attendees about why they should vote for your idea. Awarded amount depends on the number of event attendees. 100% of the $10 event admission fee is split between the two awards.
Your idea can be anything such as diversifying local food, building a duck pond to retain water/ prevent run off or planting/ enhancing a pollinator, water retention, disability or community food garden. Other ideas include starting a garden-share, food saving or distribution program or maybe its reducing food waste. Ideas are limited only by your imagination.
When developing your food idea for Hastings County, consider these factors. It doesn’t have to meet all, but the more, the better. Does your idea make food in Hastings County:
• More sustainable?
• More environmentally friendly?
• More resilient to climate change?
• More diversified crops such as reflective of our cultural diversity?
• Effect better food distribution?
• Foster local community participation?
• Increase community cooperation?
• Address barriers to folks accessing local food, such as poverty?
• Foster local food preserving?
• Reduce food waste?
So get writing that SINGLE page. Include your name, address, contact information including phone number & email as well as farm name /community organization /group, if applicable. Submit your page to [email protected]. Put STONE SOUP PROPOSAL in the subject line. Harvest Hastings will review submissions and contact those who’ve been selected to present at STONE SOUP on Saturday, September 10th!
Download the complete call for proposals and brochure here. Join our Facebook Stone Soup event page to stay in the loop for updates! Read the full article on STONE SOUP by Michele Vindum on page 34 of this year’s magazine!
Get visioning, get writing, make your local food idea a reality.
Do you have a special event coming up that is related to local agriculture or forestry? We’d love to include it in our new Special Events Calendar, as well as share it on our social media! Please email Karen at [email protected] with details!
