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Accomplishments
Grants Given - 2010
 Food for People - $3,000
to hire six local farmers to grow specific crops for clients of the local food bank. Locally Delicious™ funding through the "Locally Delicious Food Fund" was matched with $3,000 from St. Joseph Hospital. Crops were selected which provided a diversity of produce throughout the growing season and items that FFP knew their clients would know how to use and enjoy eating.
The Locally Delicious Food Fund generated over 4 tons of produce. The combined grant funds made it possible to contract with six local farmers, Neukom Family Farm, Earthly Edibles, Organic Matters Ranch, Green Fire Farm, Wild Rose Farm, and Camp Grant Ranch. Together these farmers donated a wide variety of produce including squash, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, chard, kale, spinach, beets, cauliflower and more! Due to the success of this program, the Food Fund was planned to continue in future years (see 2011 grants). To support local agriculture while providing fresh produce for low-income children, seniors and families, please consider a donation to Food for People's Locally Delicious Food Fund.
Humboldt Poultry Cooperative - $400
to purchase a scale needed to complete the Mobile Processing Unit. This unit allows local organic farmers to process poultry in adherence to USDA regulations and to sell at farmers' markets or from their farm that increases our local food security. We will now all be able to enjoy local pasture raised poultry and local rabbit. Read the North Coast Journal article and Food For Thought blog to learn more.
Potowat Garden (United Indian Health Services) - $300
to purchase seeds for plant starts that were distributed to Yurok and other local American Indian Tribal members in the rural, economically depressed region.
Humboldt County Office of Education - $400
for busses to transport over 400 elementary school students to farms in Farm to School program. Locally Delicious funding was matched by $400 from the Humboldt chapter of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF). The Humboldt County Farm to School program is part of CAFF's statewide initiative to provide nutrition education for youth, including farm and farmers’ market fieldtrips, farmer-in-the-classroom visits, school garden activities and teacher trainings.
Humboldt Community Alliance with Family Farmers - $300
to help produce a calendar and general work that supports their mission.
Grants Given - 2011 (To Date)
 Potowat Community Food Garden (UIHS) - $500
to purchase seeds for plant starts that distributed to Yurok and other local American Indian Tribal members in the region, and to provide transportation for students from Klamath River Early College of the Redwoods (KRECR) to visit the reknowned Potowat Community Food Garden run by United Indian Health Serivces. Students learned about planting, gardening, harvesting, and cooking fresh food from the garden under the supervision of the "Heirloom Tomatoes", UIHS Potowat Coordinator Alison Aldridge, Head Gardener Ed Mata and Assistant T. Griffin. At left, students at Potowat enjoy a nutritious, simple lunch that they helped to harvest.
Food For People - $3,000
to hire farmers to grow specific crops for clients of the local food bank. Matched with $4,000 from community fund-raising; $1000 from individuals and $3000 from St. Joseph Hospital. Contracted farms included Green Fire Farm, Luna Farm, Earthly Edibles, Organic Matters Ranch, Neukom Family Farm, Valley Flower Vegetable, and Home Plate Farm. Over 7,000 lbs of fresh produce were distributed in 2011. See the Food for People "Locally Delicious Food Fund" for more information and how to contribute.
Education
Book: Wrote Locally Delicious: Recipes and Resources for Eating on the North Coast (First and Second Editions) to educate people on the need to create a local, sustainable, organic food system and to show them how to buy, grow, cook and eat local foods.
Bookmarks: Educational piece entitled "Why to Eat Locally". Distributed free to the public.
TV Appearances: Once a month 5-minute segment on how to eat locally on KIEM Channel 3.
Radio: Numerous Radio Interviews on public and private radio channels.
Cooking Classes: at the North Coast Co-op Community Kitchen.
Teaching: given through Humboldt State University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program - Spring 2011 & Fall 2011.
Conferences: Heirloom Tomatoes are asked regularly to participate and speak at various conferences and events.
 Students from KRECR learn from Potowat Head Gardener, Ed Mata.
Projects
The Heirloom Tomatoes are networking agents and have facilitated projects with Humboldt County Department of Social Services, Food for People (local food bank), Humboldt County Office of Education, the North Coast Cooperative, and the Humboldt County Chapter of Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Watch Suzanne "Brandywine" Simpson speak about Locally Delicious projects completed as of April, 2010 in a short video produced by Dave Berman of Manifest Positivity. Locally Delicious projects include the following:
 Lawns to Gardens
Worked with the City of Arcata's Historic Sites Committee to create an ongoing demonstration garden at the historic Phillips House Museum. The Lawns to Gardens project teaches people how to grow food cooperatively in urban/suburban areas by turning lawns into gardens. The project includes brochures, a sample contract between land owner and gardener, and ongoing demonstrations. The garden was premiered at the 4th Annual 2010 Plan It Green conference in Arcata, CA.
McKinleyville High School Organic Garden
Facilitated the reorganization of the McKinleyville High School organic garden that has been dormant for some years. Placed a HSU grad student on site to coordinate with administrators and ag teacher to revitalize the gardens.
North Coast Co-op Food Security Forum
Ann Anderson, the Locally Delicious editor-in-chief, was a panel member at this event that attracted over 200 attendees to map out how to create better food security in our bioregion. Visit the Co-op's website for more information and outcomes from the February 27th, 2010 meeting.
Community Open Sourcing Event
Suzanne Simpson was one of the leaders in a community Open Sourcing event that was held to create an action plan to make our communities strong and resilient.
Humboldt County Social Services, Department of Health & Human Services Matchmaking
In the spring of 2010 we were contacted by the Deputy Director of the county Social Services Branch and asked to give the agency ideas on how to use a federal ARRA grant to benefit children's nutrition. We helped them create a program to benefit low-income children in our community, as well as farmers who have struggled during the year due to bad weather conditions. A group of farmers received funding from the ARRA grant to provide fruits and vegetables to Food for People, who in turn provide boxes of fresh, local healthy food to families in the CalWorks program. This project feeds struggling families and helps to support our farmers, while keeping the money in the community.
Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) 2010 Salsa Chef All Stars
We worked with HCOE on a Nutrition Department project, the 2010 Salsa Chef All Stars contest. The competition was held at the Arcata Farmers' Market on September 25th, 2010 during Humboldt County's Local Food Month. Teams of 4th through 6th grade students from six county schools, created award-winning salsas. Local chefs mentored the student teams to develop salsa recipes that emphasized fresh, local ingredients. A panel of city officials, culinary experts, educators and the general public judged the salsas. Heirloom Tomatoes helped design the project and created the judging criteria and guidelines used for writing the recipes. In addition, we were instrumental in inviting most of the chefs and judges to participate. The second annual NorthCoast Youth Culinary AllSTARS Salsa Competition was held on October 8th, 2011 - organized by HCOE Nutrition Educators, Linda Prescott and Megan Russin through the Harvest of the Month Program. The competition has become a new community staple, with participating students and school teams gaining peer recognition and honor for their skills in cooking. We are looking forward to the salsas of 2012!
Humboldt Healthy Heroes
Chosen in 2011 by the Humboldt Community For Activity & Nutrition (HumboldtCAN) to be one of their Healthy Heroes. This is a campaign to encourage community members to include eating healthy foods and adding exercise to their daily lives. In December 2011, we participated in HumboldtCAN's Digital Storytelling Workshop, with facilitation by Kelley Kyle and Lou Moerner, where Locally Delicious and other organizations gained indespesible training in creating multimedia that supports our work towards a healthier community.
Humboldt Food Policy Council
Heirloom Tomatoes, Ann Anderson and Suzanne Simpson participated in the four meetings facilitated by the California Center for Rural Policy during 2010/2011 to establish the Humboldt Food Policy Council. Heirloom Tomatoes are now key members in several of the task forces created and active participants in monthly Policy Council meetings.
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Locally Delicious Backgrounder