Thanks Kati and Valorie! Excellent pointers on the entire food processing setup, Katie.
I'll second the solar dehydrator concept. I built a small scale unit three years ago with my brother. Thanks, Ryan On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:29 AM, Valorie Rockney < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > How about adding solar food dehydration to the mix? Dehydrated food > is light-weight, requires no energy to store, and does an outstanding > job of retaining flavor and nutrients. > > Think sun-dried tomatoes, dried cherries, pear or raspberry fruit > leather. . . . yum! And dehydrated onions in late winter when most > of our stored local ones are going mushy. > > Valorie > > PS. Community root cellars would also be very good to have, though > maybe organized as a part of a different effort. > > On May 28, 2008, at 10:28 PM, marlo capoccia wrote: > > > i think the ithaca festival might be doing some sort of preservation > > demos in their "taste of tompkins" section of the festival. if > > anyone is interested in coordinating with the festival or seeing what > > they're up to, this is a good person to contact: > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mackenzie ryan) > > > > if she doesn't know, she can send you to the right person. this > > might be a good way to get a gauge of community interest and begin a > > little networking out into the community to see what kinds of > > resources are out there for preliminary thinking. > > -marlo > > On May 28, 2008, at 9:58 PM, Ryan Hottle wrote: > > > >> Dear Katie, Elan, Tom, et al, > >> > >> I would be happy to gather regarding setting up a meeting on this > >> most > >> important topic of food preservation. > >> > >> I think Katie's idea of doing a general presentation on the > >> importance of > >> food preservation with a short demonstration is an excellent idea. > >> I would > >> be happy to prepare a short presentation on the subject matter, but > >> think it > >> would probably be best to find someone (else or also) who has > >> extensive > >> experience in this arena to present. > >> > >> My vision is a large, well-designed Community Kitchen and Cannery > >> facility > >> located in a central area of Ithaca (perhaps somewhat close to the > >> community > >> gardens) that would be publicly accessible and which would also be > >> responsible for preserving a large amount of food purchased > >> exclusively from > >> local growers for an emergency food bank that could be used for > >> peak oil > >> preparedness. Contracts could be signed with local farmers in > >> advance of > >> the growing season such that it would guarantee local growers a > >> solid market > >> for their produce. This has the potential of vastly increasing > >> demand for > >> local and sustainably grown produce. The Emergency Food Storage > >> could be > >> cycled through by selling the 2-3 year old food to the public at > >> competitive > >> prices in order to help pay for the project or incorporated into > >> local food > >> bank programs. The facility could/should incorporate solar hot > >> water, > >> methane digester, and other RE technologies where applicable and a > >> dehydration system that captures and uses the waste heat. > >> Cornell's and > >> Ithaca College's departments of architecture, engineering, > >> business, and > >> city and regional planning could be brought into the project as > >> well as the > >> Ag Extension agency, Greenstar, Taitem Engineering, Renovus, > >> Performance > >> Systems Contracting, Snug Planet, local food banks, non-profits, > >> etc. in > >> order to define and develop a solid social, structural, and > >> business plan > >> for the facility. > >> > >> A fairly decent discussion of the factors that need be considered > >> regarding > >> setting up a Community Cannery can be found here: > >> > >> http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/7280/1/Resurgence-of-Community- > >> Canneries.html > >> > >> I'm really excited about this concept. Though this will obviously > >> require a > >> significant investment of resources, energy, labor, and organizing, > >> designing and building such a facility will undoubtedly be worth it > >> considering the current world food crisis that will invariably > >> cause much > >> suffering right here in Tompkins County if we remain apathetic to > >> the clear > >> and undeniable information that is coming to us, especially in > >> regards to > >> peak oil and the utter unsustainability of centralized industrial > >> agriculture. In five years time, everyone will admit that such > >> ambitious > >> projects were certainly worth the cost. The question is whether we > >> act now > >> when we have the best resources to do so... > >> > >> Ryan D. Hottle > >> > >> -- > >> Ryan Darrell Hottle, > >> Climate Change Solutions Thinker > >> > >> Performance Systems Contracting, > >> Building Performance Analyst > >> > >> Global Climate Solutions > >> www.GlobalClimateSolutions.org > >> <http://www.globalclimatesolutions.org/><http:// > >> www.globalclimatesolutions.org/> > >> (coming soon!) > >> > >> Ohio Peak Oil Action (OPOA) > >> Co-Founder, Director > >> www.ohiopeakoilaction.org > >> > >> 803 Coddington Road, > >> Ithaca, New York 14850 > >> > >> (740) 258 8450 > >> _______________________________________________ > >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > >> area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > >> > >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > >> [email protected] > >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > Marlo Capoccia > > Garden Gate > > www.gardengatedelivery.com > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > > [email protected] > > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > -- Ryan Darrell Hottle, Climate Change Solutions Thinker Performance Systems Contracting, Building Performance Analyst Global Climate Solutions www.GlobalClimateSolutions.org (coming soon!) Ohio Peak Oil Action (OPOA) Co-Founder, Director www.ohiopeakoilaction.org 803 Coddington Road, Ithaca, New York 14850 (740) 258 8450 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
