Special Edition: Veggie Van

[Community Nutrition Partnership]

 

	CNP Newsletter: Veggie Van Update
Friday, August 26, 2011	Special Edition
In This Issue ·    Veggie Van Pilot at Dobbins Hill ·    Veggie Van to Receive Weaver Street Grant ·    Volunteer Opportunities ·    Upcoming Committee Meetings ·    Local News and Events Check us out online! Seasonal Recipes Check out our Seasonal Recipes and Local Food Resources New Board of Directors CNP elected new members to our board this summer.  Check out our new team. Partner with CNP We love to work with local businesses, food producers, nonprofits and other organizations to develop and run new programs. Cooking Matters Learn about the cooking and nutrition classes offered by CNP.  Apply to be a host site or suggest a place we should be offering classes. Contact Us http://www.cnpnc.org in...@cnpnc.org	Dear CNP Members and Friends, It’s been awhile since we have written, but we have a good excuse! We have been hard at work getting ready to launch our Veggie Van program pilot.  This special “Veggie Van” edition of the newsletter shares information about our upcoming kick-off as well as volunteer and fundraising needs for the Veggie Van.  Look on the left under “In This Issue” to help navigate this newsletter; you can use the links to skip to a specific article or section.  You can also stay current with CNP happenings between newsletters by visiting our website or Facebook page.  We have highlighted updated sections on our website under “Check us out online!” (also on the left).  Thanks for reading!  Veggie Van Pilot at Dobbins Hill On Saturday, September 24th, CNP will kick-off the Veggie Van program at Dobbins Hill Family Resource Center in Chapel Hill.  The Veggie Van program will offer low cost bags of local and organic fruits and vegetables at reduced cost to lower income community members.  Members of the Dobbins Hill community will have the opportunity to order and pick-up bags in their community on Saturday mornings.  The Veggie Van will not only make purchasing more fruits and vegetables convenient and affordable for this community, it will also help customers learn how to better use their produce.  Each week there will be cooking demonstrations, recipes and nutrition information available to help make cooking healthy food fun and easy.   Read more about the Veggie Van on our website Veggie Van to Receive Weaver Street Grant Exciting news!  CNP was selected to receive a grant from the Weaver Street Market Cooperative Community Fund.  We will accept this grant on September 19th at Panzanella restaurant in Carrboro.  This grant will help fund the Veggie Van pilot at Dobbins Hill Family Resource Center.  We are very thankful to Weaver Street Market for their support and can’t wait to get started.  You can ensure that the program will be a great success by volunteering or donating.  We are raising funds to help fund a kick-off event for the Veggie Van as well as to support cooking demonstrations, customer incentives and other publicity for the program.  Donations to the program help ensure that we can keep costs as low as possible for our customers.  Click the “Donate Now” button on the left to learn more about how you can help get affordable fruits and vegetables to more families in our community.  Don’t forget, all donations are completely tax deductible. Volunteer Opportunities Veggie Van Volunteers Do you want to help bring fresh fruits and vegetables to more people in our community? Do you like helping others learn about the benefits of eating local and organic produce? Do you enjoy cooking or teaching others?  Volunteer with the Veggie Van! We need volunteers to assist with the following activities: ·         Pilot Kick-off Event and Publicity ·         Packing Bags of Food ·         Food Delivery/Order Collection ·         Nutrition and Cooking Education: Demonstrations, Recipe Development, Nutrition Tip Sheets etc. ·         Program Evaluation Average time commitment will be 3-5 hours/week from September to November.  Delivery will take place Saturday Mornings between 9 am. and 12 pm.; however, if you cannot be present during this time, you still may be able to help with other planning activities. Visit our website or e-mail veg...@cnpnc.org   Upcoming Committee Meetings Check out our calendar for more event info Veggie Van Committee Meeting Thursday, September 1 @ 6:15 pm. at Foster’s Market in Chapel Hill This month’s meeting will focus on planning the kick-off event for the Veggie Van pilot at Dobbins Hill Family Resource Center. E-mail veg...@cnpnc.org for more info or to RSVP Volunteer Interest Meeting Wednesday, September 7 @ 6:30 pm. at UNC School of Public Health Room 241 Rosenau Hall (Nutrition Kitchen) Come learn about what’s new with CNP and the various volunteer opportunities available.  Healthy snacks will be provided. Visit our website for more information or RSVP to in...@cnpnc.org Local News and Events CEFS Week of Sustainable Agriculture, September 12 - 18 The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) will be hosting a week-long celebration focusing on the importance of sustainable agriculture and locally grown foods. The week of September 12-18, CEFS will host several events educating the community about vibrant North Carolina agriculture. Events include: workshops, film screenings and multiple outreach events. Visit the CEFS website for more info.   Save the Date: Pittsboro Pepper Festival, October 2 The first Pittsboro Pepper Festival was in 2008 and consisted of friends and family tasting Farmer Doug’s different varieties of sweet bell shaped peppers along with a few pepper dishes supplied by Angelina’s Kitchen before she was Angelina’s Kitchen! 2009 took it up a notch and invited local chefs and had Howie Dewitt on stage. Then it went pepper-wild in 2010 and had more local chefs, more local beers and wines and we had a beautiful day in October. Over 500 showed up to eat, drink and dance to the sounds of Holy Ghost Tent Revival. So, what is going to happen in 2011…….? Wait and see!! Visit the Abundance Foundation website for more info.   If you have an event you would like to have listed in a future newsletter, please send the information to in...@cnpnc.org