Pickling history and an Akin Bak special

The Mass Outdoors blog has a good article on pickling.

Looking for an easy way to preserve the delicious produce you bought during Farmer’s Market Week? Read more on the history of pickling. 

Served crispy as an appetizer or spicy as a snack, pickled green beans, more commonly known as “Dilly Beans”, can even be served instead of celery in a Bloody Mary. Pickling is a way of preserving food especially during the summer when there is an abundance of fresh, local produce. 

Pickling began 4,000 years ago using cucumbers native to India. Pickling was used as a way to preserve food for out-of-season use and for long journeys, especially by sea. Pickling and food preservation developed and grew in the United States during the sixteenth century with the arrival of new foods from Europe and other parts of the world. Although the process was invented to preserve foods, today pickled foods are made and enjoyed because people like the way they taste.

history of pickling

Continue reading the full article here
http://blog.mass.gov/greatoutdoors/education/history-of-pickling/



Akin Bak Farm posted to Facebook about a special they are running for those looking to pickle cucumbers

Post by Akin Bak Farm, LLC.

Akin Bak Farm is on RT 140 in Franklin

You can also find information about Akin Bak on their webpage http://www.akinbakfarmllc.com/

Volunteers Needed for Mobile Pantry and Healthy Future Market

The Franklin Food Pantry will introduce the Mobile Pantry beginning Monday June 9th!!  We will need volunteers to help out on Mondays for this new program.  To start, the Mobile Pantry will be held on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Monday of each month.   

Franklin Food Pantry truck becomes the "mobile pantry"

Volunteers are needed for the following shifts for each week:

12:00  -  Meet at Pantry to help load the truck  (3-4 volunteers-High School students okay)

1:00 - Driver needed to drive the truck to the location (Senior Center, Central Park Terrace or Winter Street depending on the week). Volunteer must have a valid license and current insurance.

1:30  -  Unload truck at location (3-4 volunteers-High School students okay)

2:30-3:30  -  Clients visit the Market.  Volunteers will be needed to help Clients, do intake forms for new clients, etc.  (3-4 volunteers - students NOT okay)

3:30 - Driver needed to drive the truck back to Pantry 

3:30-5:00  -  Reload truck and then help unload it back at the Pantry.  (3-4 volunteers - High School students okay)

*Please note that some of these tasks may require heavy lifting and the basement stairs.

Eventually the process will change a little bit as we are having the Clients fill out shopping lists for each month, so we will be filling individual boxes prior to each Monday visit and the Clients will then only have to shop for specialty items such as bread, produce, and any other items we bring each week. 

Healthy Futures

The Healthy Future Market is also beginning next week, Tuesday June 10th!   Every Tuesday through October we will have the Healthy Future Market at the Pantry. The schedule for this program is as follows:

12:00 - Bring Pantry truck to Akin Bak and Hoffmann Farms to pick up that week's CSA shares.  May involve some heavy lifting.  (2 volunteers - one will need to drive the truck and must have a valid drivers license and current insurance)

1:00  -  Setup the Market (carry tables and chairs from basement, unload product from the truck, weigh and setup the produce for the Market.  (4 volunteers - High School students okay)

3:00  -  Take inventory of stock, set limits for each item, place signage, etc.  (2 volunteers - High School students okay)

4:00-5:00  -  Market takes place.  Assist Clients with their shopping, weigh out the bags, help with demos, tastings, etc.  2nd week of each month there will be a chef from Cooking Matters running a workshop too.  (3-4 volunteers - students NOT okay)

5:00  -  Break down Market, bring produce inside and put in appropriate space (shelves, fridge).  Bring all tables, chairs, etc. back into basement.  (3-4 volunteers - High School Students okay).
 *Please note that some of these task involve some heavy lifting and the basement stairs.

We will have a calendar set up at the Pantry for each week and each shift so if you are interested in helping out on a specific day we can keep track of it that way and we will also send out reminders prior to your shift. Robin Cowper will be coordinating the Market schedule and will be in touch with you with further information.

As you can see we need quite a few people to make these both successes and we appreciate any help you can provide. 

Thank you very much!

Lisa Buccella and Maria Weiss

Volunteer Coordinators

Franklin Food Pantry

43 West Central Street

PO Box 116

Franklin, MA 02038

508-528-3115, press 5 for volunteer line voicemail

www.franklinfoodpantry.org

Harvest Festival

Franklin has a Food Pantry?
Yes, it does. Located in the Rockland Trust parking lot in downtown Franklin (across from the Fire Station).

Members of the Board of Directors will be available to talk about what the Pantry does, who it serves, and how you may be able to help. Board members will be at the Food Pantry during the Harvest Festival on Sunday, Sep 30 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

If you have food or non-food donations, we will graciously accept them during this time.

The map of the Harvest Festival showing what vendors, businesses and entertainment options you'll have to visit



Stop by the Food Pantry!

Making a purchase!

Franklin Farmers Market,  Friday,  12:00pm to 6:00pm

Located on the Town Common

Reminder that the Farmers' Market now accepts SNAP dollars and can double your purchasing power.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/franklin-farmers-market-doubles-food.html

Visit the Food Pantry tent at the Farmers' Market for details.

Where is the Town Common?


View Larger Map

"people want convenience"

Much of the expansion of farmers markets has come in the past three years, said Scott Soares, state commissioner of agricultural resources. 

Public interest in buying local products "really caught fire," he said. In part, demand seems driven by worries about food safety. 

"(Customers) get it here fresh," said Terri Kanief of Boston-based Globe Fish Company, who was in Framingham last Thursday selling seafood. "You don't (know) how long it's been in the grocery store." 

Farmers markets give customers a connection to growers and their techniques that they can't find elsewhere, Cole said. 

Shoppers also are increasingly conscious of how far their food must travel to get to their table, Soares said. 

"Consumers are really recognizing those kinds of impacts that their food choices can make on the environment," he said.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x27462244/Farmers-markets-sprouting-up-all-over-Massachusetts#ixzz1VkVKUGIV

Related post:
Food Pantry grant doubles SNAP dollars at the Franklin Farmers Market
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/franklin-farmers-market-doubles-food.html

This was originally posted to Franklin Matters