Hudson Valley Regional Council, Feedback, Dutchess Outreach and Regional Food Rescue Partnership Kicks Off “Feeding of the Hudson Valley” series of events
Regional and Local Groups to Create Awareness about Food Waste, Food Rescue and Feeding People in the Hudson Valley
As part of a global initiative to create awareness about food waste, the Hudson Valley Regional Council, Feedback, Dutchess Outreach, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, and other regional and community organizations will be promoting solutions to food waste right here in the Hudson Valley. On Saturday, October 8th from 11am-3pm, ‘Feeding the Hudson Valley’ will be taking over the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park in collaboration with the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley’s “Walk to Fight Hunger”. Hundreds of members of the public will be provided a delicious free feast, sourced from fresh top-quality produce that would have been wasted.
Leading up to the October 8th feast a series of events will be held to bring attention to the bounty of food produced in the Hudson Valley and opportunities to reduce food waste and get food to people in need.
Below is a list of events leading to the October 8th free feast.
Events
• Gleaning at the following farms:
o September 27, 2016: Obercreek Farm New Hamburg Rd, Wappingers Falls, NY
1:00pm-3:00pm
o September 28, 2016: Poughkeepsie Farm Project 51 Vassar Farm Ln, Poughkeepsie, NY 4:00pm-6:00pm
o September 29, 2016: Fishkill Farms 9 Fishkill Farm Rd, Hopewell Junction, NY 10am-12noon
o September 30, 2016: Common Ground Farm 79 Farmstead Ln. Wappingers Falls, NY 10am-12noon
• October 4, 2016: “Just Eat It” Screening, BSP 323 Wall St, Kingston, NY 7:00pm-9:00pm
A 75-minute documentary film about food waste and food rescue followed by a discussion about the film.
• Meal Prep Events-all to be held at Dutchess Outreach Lunchbox 29 N. Hamilton St Poughkeepsie NY
o October 5, 2016 Food Prep/Chopping Party 5:30pm-8:30pm
o October 6, 2016 Food Prep/Chopping Party 5:30pm-8:30pm
o October 7, 2016 Make the Meal party 5:30pm-8:30pm
• October 8, 2016: Feeding the Hudson Valley, Walkway Over the Hudson (Poughkeepsie side)
11:00am-3:00pm
The event is a celebration of positive solutions to the issue of food waste. In addition to a free lunch, the event will include live music, expert speakers, local chef demonstrations, educational activities and resources to create awareness about food waste, food recovery, food waste prevention and feeding hungry people, not landfills.
While many benefit from the great bounty of fresh and local foods the Hudson Valley offers, there are many people in our region who suffer from food insecurity. Those who are food insecure lack easy and regular access to quality food and frequently go hungry. Yet in New York state tons of edible food goes wasted; it is estimated that food totals 18% our waste stream. Nationally, 40 percent of food in the United States goes uneaten while 1 in 7 people struggles with hunger. Across Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Ulster counties one in 10 people receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Many others do not have easy and regular access to quality food and may frequently go hungry what is consider “food insecure”,
Reducing food waste by 15% is estimated to be enough to feed 25 million Americans.
Feeding the Hudson Valley made possible by: Hudson Valley Regional Council and Feedback with partners Dutchess County Division of Solid Waste, Rescuing Left Over Cuisine Poughkeepsie, Second Chance Foods, Inc., Dutchess Outreach Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County, Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency, UlsterCorps, Rondout Valley Growers, Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Common Ground, FarmFishkill Farms, EatLocalNY
