BAM members:  you should have received your basket reservation notice by e-mail on Sunday, March 7.  If you didn't, please contact csalittlerock@yahoo.com.

Hello BAM Members:

It's HERE!  Finally after a long, wet and cold winter we are in the process of assembling the first All Arkansas Basket for 2010, making this our 48th basket distribution of local food to six communities in central Arkansas.

We regret that limited farm inventories due to weather have forced us to cancel January's Basket-A-Month pickup. We ask for your understanding in this very difficult month to organize a suitable basket of local fresh produce. 

We still aim to do 12 baskets in 2010, but like January 2009, we are unable to put together a high quality local food basket that you would value. We may expect this to be a continued pattern each year, although we have done several January baskets and they turned out nice in years past.  This year is hopefully an exception.

If you received BAM as a holiday gift and were expecting your first basket in January, we hope you will accept our deepest apologies.  You will still have three baskets owed to you; your subscription will begin in February (inventories permitting). Please let us know if you have any questions. 

For a good selection of what is available locally, please go to the CAFM Online Market. We hope you will note 7 Doves Creamery will be delivering to the Argenta Online Market pickup and they need your continued support since January BAM is cancelled. You may place orders at the online market until Wednesday afternoon.

Thanks for your continued support!

Jody Hardin
Foodshed Farm, Basket A Month CSA
www.ArkansasFood.net
www.cafm.locallygrown.net

2009-2010 CAFM Annual Market Report
From: Jody Hardin, President
Certified Arkansas Farmers Market, Inc. (CAFM)

Dear directors, members, and friends of CAFM:
Four years ago when we started Foodshed Farm and the Basket-A-Month (BAM) Community Supported Agriculture program, we dreamed that it would last forever, supporting many family farms and, equally, the families who want to eat local, fresh, seasonal foods from them.  We also wanted a consistent, twelve-months-per-year market for Arkansas' small and medium-sized farms, with policies in place that kept it strictly local and farmer driven.  Today we can say we have the foundation laid as BAM goes into its fifth year and the CAFM goes into its third year.  CAFM and BAM have served more than 40 farmers this past year, who in turn, served hundreds of local families fresh, clean food from their small family farms.

I have waited patiently for a long time to say this:  Construction on Argenta Maket has begun!  On December 14, the new Argenta Market went under the hammer, and a complete remodeling job will transform the space into a beautiful, warm and well organized community grocery store--FINALLY!!!

An Evening with Joel Salatin
Statehouse Convention Center
Thursday, November 12, 2009
6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Free Admission

Sponsors:  
University of Central Arkansas Honors College as part of its 2009 Challenge Week: “Just Food: Farm-to-Fork Food Systems for 21st Century Communities”
Heifer International

6:00 – 7:00 Local Foods Information Fair
Learn about the work of nonprofits, agencies and businesses involved with Farm to School and the local foods movement in Arkansas.

7:00 – 8:15 Joel Salatin Lecture: “Everything I Want to do is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front”
Be entertained and educated by stories of Salatin’s encounters with the legal and policy issues of the contemporary just food movement.

8:15 – 9:00 Joel Salatin Book Signing & Continuation of Local Foods Information Fair
During the continuation of the Local Foods Information Fair, Salatin will be signing his book, Everything I Want to do is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front, which will be on sale.

Parking Recommendations:
Parking is available either underground at the Robinson Center, at the parking deck one block from the Statehouse Convention Center, or at a deck at 2nd and Commerce streets.

Hello Arkavores:

Even with all this rain, several farmers plan to show up at our Argenta Farmers Market this Saturday with some great produce. Remember, the new winter hours for the outdoor market and the online market pickup are 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon.

Hello Arkavores:
The Argenta Farmers Market is open this Saturday! We have so many farmers that are still producing who have called this week to confirm they will be participating.  This is also Foodshed Farm Basket-A-Month pickup day at Argenta.  We expect to have extra milk, bacon, and a few other goodies that are surplus from the BAM program, so please don't hesitate to ask at the BAM booth if we have extra items for sale.

Dear Arkavores:
This is the biggie! Argenta Fall Foodie Fest is this Saturday, October 17, from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. We have 15 confirmed local chefs all serving local dishes at very reasonable prices (no festival or fair prices here!) There will be new arts and crafts vendors, live music, soap making lessons, corn shelling, a cider press demonstration with hot fresh apple cider, and knife sharpening. Nearly 20 Arkansas farms will be represented in almost two city blocks of local food and fun! We will have a large tent with plenty of seating. Visit the Foodie Fest page for a preview of what's on the menu!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Hello Arkavores:

This Saturday looks to be another solid market day for our CAFM Argenta farmers and customers.  And, we are only two more weeks away from Fall Foodie Fest in Argenta on October 17. Our farmers and more than 20 local chefs are gearing up for one last local food feast before winter sets in.  We hope you will mark your calendar and witness what is perhaps the largest local food event ever held in Arkansas. I think we are making history!

September 25, 2009

Hello Arkavores!

We hope you are coming down to Argenta this weekend for some more good food.  We have another interesting and full market planned this Saturday from 7 a.m. until 12 p.m at 6th and Main Street in downtown North Little Rock's historic Argenta District.  Along with the farmers market, the Argenta community is hosting the the Big Dam Bridge 100 Finale Fest.

September 22, 2009

Did anyone see that rainbow this morning, while breathing this fresh cool air and watching the sunrise? Stunning! My perspective was from my mobile office, parked at 6th and Main Street, from the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in historic Argenta. If you didn't know, today is the first day of fall, and it started off perfectly.

Produce at CAFM Argenta today (Tuesday): Turnip Greens, pumpkins, apples, personal-sized watermelons, arugula, colorful sweet peppers, a few kale and broccoli plants, pastured eggs, pasta, and a wonderful habanero hot sauce from Chef Shane Henderson at Argenta Market. 

The next CAFM report will be coming in two days with updates on all the activities in Argenta this weekend.  It's a big weekend for us in Argenta, and we hope you will go ahead and plan to come down for awhile Saturday morning. Already farmers are calling and seeing a re-growth of their gardens due to the unusual weather lately.  I already know that pumpkins and mums will be arriving in larger volume this weekend.  Stay tuned for the weekend update.

See you at the market in Argenta,

Jody Hardin
Executive Director
Certified Arkansas Farmers Market
www.ArkansasFood.net
 

Sunday, September 20, 2009
Foodshed Farm, Grady, AR

The BAM distribution e-mail has been sent to members. Please e-mail your reservation to csalittlerock@yahoo.com by 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23. To order extra milk products (keep reading for the product list), we must receive your order by noon on Tuesday, September 22. Include your full name and which day and location you will pick up your basket. Please reply as soon as possible so we can quickly get accurate orders to our farmers. Also, please pay particular attention to the basket distribution times for each day. Thank you.

September 11, 1009

Dear Arkavores:
We are expecting light showers for the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in Argenta this Saturday, yet we don't expect this to change the number of farmers or the variety of produce they will have on hand.

The Certified Arkansas Farmers Market in Searcy will end a successful first season on September 30, 2009. Come visit us and stock up for the winter!  Wednesdays and Saturdays, 7:00 a.m. to noon at the south end of Spring Park.

FOODIE ALERT!  BREAKING NEWS FROM CAFM AND SLOW FOOD USA

Mark your calendar for Labor Day at CAFM Argenta (Monday, September 7th) for a Slow Food USA potluck lunch.  The event is being held nationwide in a campaign to get real food into our schools.

It will be held at 12:00 p.m. under a big tent at CAFM Argenta (6th and Main Street in downtown North Little Rock). Everyone is asked to bring a REAL food dish, preferably made with local foods, and enjoy an afternoon together with other concerned Slow Foodies. It is also recommended that you bring a lawn chair.

The event is supported by many local chefs and cooks and has the potential to be a rare food event in central Arkansas.  For more information about the Slow Food USA "Community Potluck" go to: http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/events/.

Sunday, August 16, 2009
Foodshed Farm, Grady, AR

The BAM distribution e-mail has been sent to members. Please e-mail your reservation to csalittlerock@yahoo.com by 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19. Include your full name and which day and location you will pick up your basket. Please reply as soon as possible so we can quickly get accurate orders to our farmers. Also, please pay particular attention to the basket distribution times for each day. Thank you.