The Equitable Food Initiative

From Farm to Table: A new model for growing food fairly and safely

From Farm to Table: A new model for growing food fairly and safely

Flyers!

Here is a flyer of the Community Mural Painting at the Festival. Click the link to check it out!

Mural Painting Flyer!

Here is a flyer for the Healthy Housing presentation by Cathe Bullwinkle. Click the link to check it out!

Healthy Housing Flyer


Here is the flyer for the Farmers' Health Clinic! Click the link to check it out!

Farmers' Health Clinic!

The Festival is quickly approaching and it is down to the last day to get everything set in stone. Yesterday we contacted a Milk Hauler in Saint Lawrence County to ask if they could hand out flyers of the Farmers' Health Clinic. They gladly accepted to hand them out on Friday, today, when they make their rounds to farms. We hope to see you all at the Local Living Festival to help paint and enjoy all of the workshops happening at the farm! It is going to be a blast!

Farmer Stories!

There hasn't been a post in a while about Farmer's Health and Safety. I was looking up some information and I found this website for you to check out: National Safety for Farmers Health

It is great that websites like this one exist for farmers because the internet can be a great resource. Most farmers are completetly busy 24/7 and don't have the time to be on a computer. It doesn;t hurt to spend 20 minutes researching ways to make your job safer for you and your workers. With new technology in today's society, there are many things we can do to protect our health. At Occupational Health we want all jobs to be safe for everyone. Over these past 6 weeks I have heard so many farming accidents stories. Most of the stories I have heard, could have been prevented if taken the right precautionary measures. I would like to hear other stories from around the world. Tell us at Occupational Health Clinical Center (OHCC)  your story in the comments below.

These stories are pretty powerful. Click the video to watch the personal stories:

Don't forget on the right hand side is a poll about farmers health and safety please cast your vote on what you feel is the most hazardous for farmers.

The 27 is quickly approaching...

       As you all know that Saturday April 27 is quickly approaching and there is still some work to be done for the Local Living Festival. We have some tasks completed at the office, but we still have some more to go. The three murals are coming along nicely, but we would still like to get your feedback. If you have a few minutes to spare, please fill out our North Country Local Living Survey, for your ideas to be portrayed in one of our three murals! (Link is located on the right side) Our artist would love to have more ideas from the community members, so we have nine different images that represent an underlying theme on the three murals.


      At the festival we plan to have someone representing NYCAMH doing some demonstrations either of animal handling or tractor safety for the community. The representative from NYCAMH may also bring samples from their catalog to show the public of what they have to offer. We also plan to have a representative of the Finger Lake's Region to share their knowledge of Migrant Farmworker Safety.
We hope to see you at the Local Living Festival! Make sure to stop by one of our exhibits, we would be glad to share our information with you!

Marion and Miles Meeting

     Yesterday Relani and I had a meeting with Marion Bradish, a local painter who is helping with the three murals and Miles Manchester, who is building the frame to the murals. The ideas came flowing from both of them, which was great. Each mural will be 8' by 4' and have 3 panels with 9 different images. With the 9 different images they will all relate, have an underlying message, to one another but are different at the same time.

     When visiting the county historian yesterday, they had come up with great ideas for each mural with a theme that connects all 9 images. I won't tell you what we've come up with so far because we want you to come help paint the mural and for you to figure out with the theme is with each three. Remember you can help by filling out the Local Living in the North Country Survey. The link to the survey is on the right hand side of the page. Help us figure out what should be dipicted in the Murals by filling it out!

Below are some of the photos we found at the historian yesterday.




Picture at the Historian in town.



Picture from the Historian in town.



Picture from the Historian in town.





Local Living Festival Webpage!

The Local Living Festival has created a page on their website of the Community Mural Painting! Check it out, click the link below:

Community Mural Painting!

Only 2 more weeks left until the Local Living Festival! We would love to hear your ideas for the mural! Fill out the Mural Survey to contribute your ideas of Healthy Living in the North Country! Click the link below to contribute your ideas:

Community Mural Painting Survey!

Once the ideas are put onto the canvas anyone is welcomed to come paint the three murals at the Local Living Festival on Saturday April 27.

Farmworker Health

       There are many aspects to Farmworker's health that we want to make sure are taken into consideration when working on farms. Here are some links that talk about facts about farmworkers.
Here is a fact from the FLC Health website that surprises me every time I read it: "Agriculture is consistently ranked one of the three most dangerous occupations in the nation."


National Center for Farmworker Health, Inc.


Finger Lakes Community Health Facts


Here is another fact to make you think about farmworkers:
"The health status of migrant farm workers is at the same standard as third-world nations, while the country in which they work, the U.S., is one of the wealthiest nations on earth."



Don't forget to fill out our Community Survey for the three murals being painted at the festival! 
The link to the survey is:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zzccKYH4l_YlBtj1ufAKiX4RhUTr8wk0SxcxyegIk1k/viewform

Please fill it out! Anything you contribute to the survey will be contributed to the murals that will last a lifetime! The link is also on the right hand side



References:
Finger Lakes Community Health (2012). Did you know? interesting facts. Retrieved fromwww.ncfh.org. 

Community Survey!

      At the Occupational Health Clinical Center, we would like to invite you to fill out our community survey. Since the three murals are "Community Based Mural Painting Project" we would like feedback from the you. Anything you can provide us will be great!

What is the Survey about?     

We are looking for community input into a mural painting project that will reflect a common vision for an attainable and sustainable future that that honors the gifts, rhythms, and resources of the land, people, and wildlife our region.  Presented by Potsdam High School students, Massena Middle School Students, a Little River Student, and local farmers and friends.recreating, growing, growing up, growing old, caring for, preparing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, picking, processing, preserving, baking, singing, knitting, shaping, mowing, splitting, teaching.

Click the link below to fill out the survey!

North Country Local Living Survey



Meeting at Saint Lawrence University

If you haven't yet but are interested, Please Fill Out the Registration Form on the right hand side!! This Friday, April 12 is the last day for us to give our activity to the students!!

       Relani and I headed over to Saint Lawrence University on Friday to meet with Jon Ignatowski. He is working with Relani doing GIS Mapping of Saint Lawrence County with houses from pre 1970 that have lead paint on them. Little did we know he would actually help shape the ideas of the mural.
       We originally went over there to talk about what Relani wanted him to do with the GIS mapping at the Local Living Festival (Which is only two and half weeks away!). They started talking about the festival but then ended up talking about farmers health and safety and what our ideas were for the mural. He had wonderful ideas of what he could picture on the mural. An example he said " I could see two farmers at a fence smiling with a rooster or chicken of some sort on the ground". I could see that being protrayed in the mural. He also gave out the idea of having a picture of a farmer smiling looking healthy. He helped steer us in the right direction as to what we plan to give to the artist. I plan to try and IHMC CMap the ideas into a document to give to the artist so she can figure out how to put it all together.





Don't Forget the Local Living Festival is Saturday April 27! We hope to see you there!


Also Worker's Memorial Day in Massena: We are trying to find a place where we can get bricks made and engraved for the public to buy and donate to the Memorial. If you know of a local place in Saint Lawrence County that does this, send the contact information in a comment or email at ohccnc@gmail.com . Thanks, it would be greatly appreciated! The Memorial plans to be done before Labor Day. Sunday April 28 around 11am plans to be Worker's Memorial Day in Massena. I'll keep you posted on future details if things change.

Meeting With a Farmer

       Relani and I headed to meet up with a retired farmer, Judy Aldrich today. She knows so much about farming it was unreal. She stated to talk about things that I hadn't even considered to be a hazard on the farm. She also gave us an idea of what we should do for two of the murals. She is a great resource to be able to talk to and pick her brain of knowledge. I am so glad we had the chance to sit down and talk with her that I am completely sure we will be doing it again in the next few weeks.

A reminder to those reading the blog, it is only about 3 weeks away from the Local Living Festival! Saturday, April 27th is the date, so come and support the community and come paint the murals! For more information go to the right side of the blog and there is a link to the festival information. Also Worker's Memorial Day in Massena, New York is taking place on Sunday April 28th. The time is not set, but when it is I'll make sure to post an update. These next couple of weeks are going to fly by fast!

If you have any questions feel free to email us at ohccnc@gmail.com

We would love to hear what you think!

NYCAMH

NYCAMH stands for New York Center for Agriculture Medicine and Health. Their mission is to "Enhance agricultural and rural health by preventing and treating occupational injury and illness" (NYCAMH, 2013a). Some of the current research they are doing in agriculture is Injury Surveillance, Community Collaboration, ROPS, and Manure Ventilation. One of the most important is the ROPS, or Rollover Protective Structure. According to NYCAMH, tractor rollovers is one of the most fatal causes of death on a farm that could be prevented (2013b). With the ROPS, fatalities on a farm could drop by twenty five percent (NYCAMH, 2013b).

Here is more information about the ROPS:
Rollover Protective Structures


Let us know what you think about what is one of the most hazardous things for farmers by filling out the survey on the right hand side or by leaving a comment! Feel free to email us at ohccnc@gmail.com




References:
New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), (2013a). Our mission.
         Retrieved from http://www.nycamh.com/about/history/

New York Center for Agricultrual Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), (2013b). ROPS. Retrieved from
         http://www.nycamh.com/research/current/rops.php

Local Living Festival!!

T h e   L o c a l   L i v i n g  V e n t u r e 

L o c a l   L i v i n g  Festival (LLF) ~  April 27, 2013

            Rural Skills Workshops ~ year-round!

           315. 347. 4223    *     PO Box 736 Canton, NY 13617

LocalLivingVenture@gmail.com * www.SustainableLivingProject.net

Sharing Knowledge from the Past  ~  Building Skills for the Future

  The Local Living Venture is part of Seedcorn, a 501(c)3 non-profit

          educational organization in the St. Lawrence River Valley

Local Food for Local Folks
.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As you already know the Local Living Festival will be held on Saturday April 27th from 9am-5pm. It is at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm, 2043 Route 68 Canton, NY. This event is held every 18 months, once in the spring and once in the fall. This year the event is in the Spring of 2013! We are very excited to be attending this event and have been attending meetings to hear what things will be taking place. There will be hourly activites for everyone. If you would like to volunteer please email: LocalLivingVenture@gmail.com    ASAP to find out further details of what you can do.

Admission is 5 dollars per person, but it is free if younger than 16 years old.

Our three murals will be at the Local Living Festival ready for the community to paint it. Anyone is welcome to come and paint!

We have a link on the right hand side that goes directly to the Local Living Venture Website and the Festival details.

Solar Powered Tractor (St. Lawrence Nurseries) on display at the *Local Living
Festival* in 2011" PHOTO: *Local Living Venture* 2011*


For more information click the link below!
www.SustainableLivingProject.net/local-living-festival

We look forward to seeing you there!

Experiences in the Classrooms!

     We had a great couple of days in the classrooms this week! The students had so many great ideas and drawings! Here are a couple of pictures of Relani and I with the students.

(Premission of pictures from the Potsdam High School)

First we had the students do some hazard mapping of a layout of a farm. We wanted to students the get ideas of the different types of hazards on a farm. From there we had them pick one of the hazards that they felt was the most important to portray on the mural. Once they had picked a hazard we wanted them to come up with a solution to preventing it from happening on a farm. With the solution they picked, we wanted them to visualize how they could see it portrayed on the mural.

Relani and I explaining what to do with the harzard mapping of the farm.



Helping out groups with hazard mapping.







Potsdam Arts Teacher helping a group to come up with ideas.





Here are some photos of how some of the students would portray their ideas on a mural. This is what some of the groups had come up with.

There are more to come!

Let us know what you think of the ideas so far at Occupational Health. We want ideas from the community! Any input of your ideas would be great. Feel free to leave a comment or email us!!

Farm Safety Videos

Here is an awesome video that talks about Plan. Farm. Safety. It is an award winning Safety video made by the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association. It helps put to perspective why we need safety plans on farms. Take a look, you might learn something!

Farm and Safety Video

This video is called "A Farm Accident Could Happen to Anyone!". It has five personal stories telling us what happened and how each incident could have been prevented. One mistake could cost you your life, if you do not take the extra minute to make sure everyone is safe. Take the time to look at this video, it is worth your time even if you think that an accident couldn't happen to you.

This week!

This is the week we start to go into the schools for our Community Mural Project! Stay tuned for posting of pictures and experiences with the students in classrooms.

There will be three murals for the community to paint at the Local Living Festival on April 27. Each one a little different but with the same concept. Marion Bradish, a local painter, will be creating all three murals with the help of a local student. Before she can create the murals, we need the students perspectives on Farmer Health and Safety.

The links:
NYCAMH: is New York Center for Agriculture Medicine and Health. Their mission is to:
"Enhance agricultural and rural health by preventing and treating occupational injury and illness" (NYCAMH, 2013). Click on the link above to find out more.

NOFA: is the Northeast Organic Farming Association. "Founded in 1983, NOFA-NY is a statewide organization leading a growing movement of farmers, consumers, gardeners, and businesses committed to promoting sustainable, local, organic food and farming that's good for the people and the planet" (NOFA, 2013). Click the link above to find our more.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing: Talks about the fatalities of Occupational Injuries and Fatal Occupational Injuries in AgFF, or Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing. Click the link above to find out more information.



If you are intrested in contributing your ideas to our project feel free to email me at:
ohccnc@gmail.com
Or leave a comment below. We would love to hear what you have to say!

The Healthy Farms Community Mural Painting Project

Whether large or small; Amish or English; organic or non-organic; and no matter what kinds of foods or other agricultural products are produced – farms are dangerous places.  In fact, farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in the nation, which is why we, at the Occupational Health Clinical Center of the North Country (OHCCNC), are sponsoring The Healthy Farms Community Mural Painting Project.

This community-based program is designed to highlight the importance of health and safety on farms and to gain much needed fresh perspectives on how to meet safety and prevention needs for these workers as well as ensure their access to adequate clinical services.

How to get involved?

Register
Interested group leaders arrange for a visit with OHCCNC submitting the Registration Form at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aX3xJG5F2wTQWgn6QwQCSHHZBMzXEFrEHHNYBYc8wyE/viewform
by March 25^th with contact information and possible meeting times.


Group “Think Tank”

OHCCNC representatives will meet with you and facilitate group “think tank” activities to exchange knowledge and experiences and to generate ideas for healthier and safer farms.


Design
Marion Bradish, a celebrated community artist, will create a mural design with all of the ideas we gather from various community groups.

Paint
The community members will be invited to join in the process of painting the design onto a large canvas. Details TBD.


Enjoy!
The finished mural will be presented at the Local Living Festival, Saturday, April 27, 2013 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm, in Canton, as a symbol of our commitment to and vision for supporting Healthy Farms!

Sponsored by The Occupational Health Clinical Center of the North Country

39 West Main St|Ste #2|Canton, NY 13617|(315) 714-2049 |www.upstate.edu/cnyohcc

National Agriculture Week

Happy National Agriculture Week!!

    Tomorrow March 19th, is National Agriculture Day! http://agday.org/ Help out by buying a local farmer's produce or volunteering for a couple of hours.


Make sure to check out the blog about National Agriculture Day
             http://agdayblog.blogspot.com/
 

What have you done today to support your local farmer?

Share your stories!

     "Agriculture ranks among the most hazardous industries" (CDC, 2012). The Occupational Health Clinical Center in Canton, New York is getting the word out about hazards at occupations. This year we have decided to honor Farmers in our area and the hard work they do every day. By honoring them we will have a mural painting presented at the Local Living Festival on April 27.

     We plan to go into schools to get feedback from students about farmer health and safety. The activity will be focusing on farming hazards, prevention of farm dangers, special issues in farming, and ways that can improve health and safety for farmers. It will be an interactive activity to get the students engaged in discussions with their peers about what dangers they see farmers encounter. We want to get their feedback of what we could do to make farming safer and healthier for them.

     With this activity we are getting the students to think outside of the box. We would like to invite the students to be a part of a mural painting by contributing their ideas about celebrating the work done by the farmers. With this blog we plan to update of how our project is going until the Local Living Festival.