Hi Good Food Funners!One of the main projects we work on with Share Our Strength is the Great American Bake Sale.  As summer is upon us, so are bake sales all across the country that help end childhood hunger!  Kids can host their own bake sales and learn what it's like to do something good for other kids.  Register at www.strength.organd join in the fun!Below are some fantastic bake sale stories we received recently and had to share:

Dylan and Caitlin Fitzpatrick, 7 year old twins from Folsom, California, held their 4th annual Great American Bake Sale in June. They baked for weeks in preparation, making cookies, cupcakes, breads and their personal favorite, candy sushi.  The twins raised more than $1300 at their bake sale. Many of their friends and family members came to visit their bake sale, even their teachers.  As a thank you to some of the businesses that donated baked goods and raffle items to their bake sale, Dylan and Caitlin each wrote stories about Great American Bake Sale.

The Slippery Muffin

Written by
Dylan Fitzpatrick, age 7

            Once there was a Great American Bake Sale run by the Fitzpatrick Family.  They baked tons of treats: cookies, bread, candy sushi, brownies and other delicious treats.  One treat was a very slippery muffin.  He was made of bananas and if you ever bought him, he would slip right out of your hand and go back to the bake sale to be sold again. 
            One day while he was giving a customer the slip, he slipped on a banana peel himself.  He squealed with laughter.  Unfortunately, while he was laughing so hard, he did not see the puddle of chocolate ganache in his path.  He fell right in and became a chocolate banana muffin.  He brushed himself off the best he could and returned to the sale.  As he walked up, all the customers screamed, “Wow, he looks delicious.  I am going to buy him!”  He was so scared, he ran off and found a hungry child.  He figured that if he was going to be eaten, it should be by a child who needs healthy food.  The customers were so amazed by the kindness of the muffin that they donated lots of money to Share Our Strength.  All of the money that they donated went to make sure that other children were not hungry.

The End

The Runaway Cookie

Written by
Caitlin Fitzpatrick, age 7

Caitlin and Dylan were holding their 4th annual Great American bake sale.  They baked lots of goodies.  They had cookies donated from The Cookie Connection and made candy sushi.  On the day of the bake sale, one cookie, Chippy, was so nervous that he ran away from the bake sale.  Caitlin and Dylan shouted, “Come back here Chippy!”  Chippy ran and ran until he was safe.  He looked at a store and found one quarter.  Then Chippy looked at the bakery and found 50 cents. He went to the pet store and found another quarter.  Chippy ran back to the bake sale, threw his money in the jar and as he ran off he shouted, “I just bought myself, nobody can eat me now!”

The End

This summer, Food Network and Good Food Gardens are going local!  The Edible Garden is The New York Botanical Garden’s summer-long celebration of growing and eating fresh, locally grown food. Learn to grow and prepare delicious garden produce, meet celebrity and Food Network chefs and gardeners, and spend time with family and friends exploring the many summer exhibits all within the garden’s spectacular 250-acre landscape, just minutes from Manhattan, the boroughs, Bergen County and Westchester.
 
The Edible Garden is anchored by two Festival Weekends (June 27 & 28 and September 12 & 13), and features seven Edible Evenings, cooking demonstrations at the Conservatory Kitchen, a Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a medley of Family programming across the Garden. Plus we'll unveil the next Good Food Garden there!
 
Special offer: buy one adult general admission ticket to The Edible Garden and get the second one at half price!  Just visit nybg.org/promo, click on ‘Friends Ticket’ and enter code EGDIG09.  Offer valid Tues-Fri, June 30-Sept 11 on online advance sales only.

Food Network is supporting our neighbor, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Center and their annual foodie event, the Garden Party on June 22! Garden Party is the only LGBT tasting event in the country, benefiting and produced by The Center. Join the Center and 2,300 friends and supporters, and over 35 restaurants and food purveyors for an amazing culinary festival the likes of which you've never seen! For more info, visit http://gaycenter.org/specialevents/gardenparty <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

“Tastes from the Meatpacking District through Chelsea” brings more than 25 top chefs and samples of their delicacies to the cobblestone paths of Gansevoort Plaza on Saturday, May 30th from 11:30 am to 3 pm in a culinary festival benefitting the New York City Lab School, one of the city’s premier middle- and high-schools serving a combined general ed and special ed group of city students. Buddakan, Spice Market, Pastis, Son Cubano, Matsuri, Ono at Hotel Gansevoort, Tia Pol, the Red Cat, Cookshop and 18 more fine eateries will join the new festival at the plaza, located on Gansevoort Street between Ninth Avenue and Hudson Street.

$35 buys six tastes before the event, $45 day of – and supports arts and enrichment programs for public school students. Information and buy tickets at www.tastesnyc.org or call 917-862-0209.

Go Green Expo This Weekend!

Good Food Gardens at the Good Green Expo! Food Network and Share Our Strength® are at it again, and will feature a Good Food Garden on the show floor of the Go Green Expo this weekend. This trade show for everything green will help us showcase Good Food Gardens and why fresh food is so important for our kids!Saturday & Sunday, April 18 & 19th, the event is open to the public, families welcome(kids under 12 are free). Admission is only $10. For half price admission please visit www.GoGreenExpo.com and use promo code FOODNETWORK. This offer is only available on line.In addition, see over 200 booths & Learn from industry professionals, best selling authors & eco-celebrities on how to "green" your life & business; Mariel Hemingway, Nigel Barker, Josh Dorfman (the Lazy Environmentalist) Jen Boulden (founder of Ideal Bite), Ken Rother (President of Treehugger) Gay Browne (founder of Greenopia) Sarah Beatty (founder of Green Depot) Julie Edelman & Seth Leitman (best selling authors) and many other leaders will be joining us for this annual event from co's such as GM, Dell, Green Depot & more.

Reader's Digest Building Good Food Gardens!  For many families, fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to find and expensive. That's why Good Food Gardens are so important. They're nutrition-teaching tools that provide kids with access to the healthy food they need to live active, productive lives. In partnership with Share Our Strength and Food Network, Reader's Digest and our sponsors are underwriting the creation of five new edible Good Food Gardens in schools and communities like yours. It's part of our joint commitment to nutrition education and healthy food. Good Food Gardens will be awarded to nonprofit 501(a)(3) organizations, schools with a valid NCES code or local government entities that serve children and youth.
Enter: http://www.rd.com/rdconnection/goodfoodgarden/index.jsp?trkid=gardengrown.

Start a Garden in Your Community!

We are planning more Good Food Gardens this year, but you can help in your own community! You can start a garden in your own "backyard" - whether a school or your local community center.
Here's some info on how to do it, from our friends at Teich Garden Systems:
1. Organize a School Garden Committee - A school garden is a community project, so you'll need lots of support. Look into your school's Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and get them fired up about your mission. They can help let you know what is and is not possible within your school system, obtain teacher support, fundraise, faciliate legal and administrative approvals and much more.
2. Faculty Involvement - Teachers need to be with you for this to succeed! Enlist the support of one teacher who can be the connection to others. If teachers don't seem to be an option, try the principal or other administrative staff. You want at least one teacher or principal to be a member of your School Garden Committee in order to ensure a smooth process and garden success.
3. Preliminary Organization - Once you've formed your Committee it's time to think about a few things. Location - if you haven't already established this think about a site near an entrance to the classroom near a water source, if possible. Size and shape - how big of a garden do you want to build? What works with the site? What should it look like? And, finally, identify "showstoppers" - are there any economic, legal, regulatory, political or other factors that could bring your garden to a screeching halt? Figuring these out ahead of time will save everyone time and effort.
4. Pricing and estimates - Start thinking about costs to both build and maintain the garden. We recommend Teich Garden Systems of course, they can help walk you through this section if you are interested - www.teichgardensystems.com.
5. Approvals and Fundraising - Start fundraising for your garden immediately after you've obtained the necessary approvals from the school board, zoning, and others. The School Garden Committee should create a timetable for fundraising and set goals. You can advocate with local suppliers for deals on materials and labor for your garden - it never hurts to ask!
6. Site Visit, Final Plans - Walk through the garden with your vendors before construction begins. Finalize contracts to be sure your interests and that of your school are covered. Be sure to estimate how long construction should take and finalize prices.
7. Construction! - Building day is a big event. If you were successful in receiving in-kind donations, you'll want to make sure their delivery is coordinated in time for construction.
8. Enjoy! - Our Good Food Gardens come with a "user guide" with ideas on using the gardens, but you can find much of this info at www.teichgardensystems.com and other online resources. Hold a harvest day and reap the benefits of all your hard work! The children you've created this for will never forget it.