February 2021 Newsletter

The Teach a Person to Fish Society

February 2021 Newsletter

“Our food system is broken and does not serve its employees or customers. We must invest in sustainable family farming, for our health and the safety of our workers.” ~ Senator Cory Booker 25Feb21

Just a quick recap of our latest activities: 

• Since our last newsletter we have donated 934 meals, along with various dry goods and fresh produce, worth $3,216.00. Many of our friends and partners contribute the produce and dry goods that go into making the meals for donation (grocery store gift cards are much needed and very appreciated). For example, Rustic Acres Farm and The Station on Kings respectively contributed $251 and $266 worth of goods in the past month. Thank you both so much for your continued contributions.

• We have contacted the Department of Education to volunteer with their Summer Food Program which provides meals to children when they are not in school. Area schools already participate in this program, but we hope to serve outlying communities that are a prohibitive distance from school distribution sites.
  
• We are currently working to develop partnerships with local corporations, churches, and businesses who have done amazing charitable work within our community. Please share our contact information and this newsletter with friends and business associates who may be seeking charitable partners for their organization.
  
• Cass is continuing his work on the greenhouse prototype and is planting seedlings. We are looking forward to scheduling ground-breaking events in March and April at various community and private garden sites. Please let us know if you or someone you know would like to host a garden site. We envision a community with a vegetable garden in every back yard! Our organization’s level of involvement in the maintenance and management of each garden can be specifically tailored to each site, as much or little as needed. 

Welcome Aboard!

Our friend and mentor Dr. Michela Coffaro has been our “co-conspirator” and sustainability consultant long before the idea for our organization was conceived. In addition to her robust network of local, state, and nonprofit connections, Michela works tirelessly to advocate for sustainability initiatives as an outgrowth of her work with the Town of Milton’s Sustainability Committee. 

Sustainability reasons for using Venison in our meals rather than Beef:

“Inside the University of California, Davis, a Holstein cow has its head and neck sealed airtight inside a large, clear-plastic chamber that resembles an incubator for newborns. While giant tubes above the chamber pump air in and push air out, the cow calmly stands and eats her feed. Equipment inside a nearby trailer spits out data.”

This is how Frank Mitloehner measures gases that come from cows’ stomachs and ultimately contribute to global warming. Quantifying these emissions is key to mitigating them, and Mitloehner is one of several UC Davis researchers investigating economical ways to make livestock production more environmentally sustainable around the globe.” (https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/making-cattle-more-sustainable)

Key Point: Venison is a high-protein meat that is low in fat and total calories. B vitamins and zinc are the most significant nutrient the meat contains (https://www.nutritionadvance.com/venison-meat-nutrition-benefits/#:~:text=Venison%20has%20a%20lot%20of%20great%20benefits%3B%20it,this%20guide%20to%20bison%20meat%20and%20its%20benefits)