.

RFFP Creates Capital Region Teacher Education Program

(March 7, 2005) The Regional Farm & Food Project is collaborating with the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center, a New York State organization that produces professional development programs for public and private school teachers, to create teacher education programs that foster greater agricultural literacy in our classrooms and communities. This summer the education series kicks off with Food is Life, a two-day, 15-hour program offered for credit according to Teacher Center guidelines.

Day one of the program will focus on food itself with an introduction to sustainable agriculture and local foods followed by a trip to the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market where each participant will be asked to purchase something they've never eaten before. Lunch will include a fresh vegetable cooking demonstration highlighting the way cooking changes the taste of food. Two very short films on food will be shown to set the stage for group discussion about the social, economic and environmental power of food. Participants will receive a copy of the cookbook From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Farm Fresh Seasonal Produceproduced by the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition.

Day two of the program will focus on understanding food as a system with an introduction to farmland preservation followed by a tour of three family farms in the Washington County area. We will return to the Battenkill Kitchen for lunch and a cooking demonstration on ways to enjoy seasonal "farm-to-table" foods. Finally a documentary film on the future of the food system will be shown. Participants will receive a copy of the book Northeast Farms to Food, Understanding Our Region's Food Systemby Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.   

Billie Best of the Regional Farm & Food Project, and Annette Nielsen, Washington County resident, food journalist and caterer will teach the program.