One of the challenges for consumers is finding out where they can buy locally grown food. CORE is tackling this challenge by creating a Texoma- Grown Directory for NE Texas. This will include Fannin, Grayson, Cooke, Hunt, & Lamar counties and will be available on our website and in printed form. Other counties may be added, as interest and need arises. If you are a local grower/producer in this area, we want you be included. You can visit our website, www.texomaCORE.org, to find the Texoma- Grown Directory form.
You may submit the form online or simply print and complete the form. Then, mail to CORE; P.O. Box 86, Ravenna, TX 75476. If you prefer sending us the information handwritten, that is also acceptable. Contact Paula Brennecke at paulabren@cableone.net; 903/583-9508, with any further questions.
Here's what we will need to know:
1. Your Name/Name of Operation.
2. Your County (preferably what part of the county or closest town...e.g. North Fannin/Ivanhoe).
3. Your Contact Information (phone number; e-mail address; website, if you have one). Addresses will be listed only if requested. You can also indicate whether you want to be called or to be contacted by e-mail.
4. Product(s) Grown:
(a) Fresh fruits & Vegetables (itemize various types available)
(b) Specialty Food Products ( honey, jellies, herbs, etc.)
(c) Meats, Eggs/Poultry, Fish, Specialty Meats & Dairy (itemize various types available)
5. Growing Method:
(a) Conventional (use of chemicals, genetically modified seeds, etc.)
(b) Certified Organic
(c) Chemical-Free Products (such as grass-fed beef; produce grown without chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, etc.
6. When Your Products Are Available (whether year-round or seasonal, including months available. You are encouraged to include a brief description of your operation.
If your community has a Farmer's Market, you can send that information as well. Please include the location (address); the dates and times these are open to the public; and contact information.
Seeds sown at the Films & Forums meeting included the possibilities of creating a local Farmers' Market; of creating neighborhood, church, or community gardens; of creating local food cooperatives; and of learning more about CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture-- in which families make a contractual agreement with a local farmer to produce food for them). We can also encourage our local supermarkets to carry locally-grown foods.
Roger Skipper, Fannin County Extension Agent, presented at the meeting and told us that he has received many questions recently about creating a Farmers' Market. He said that persons interested in pursuing this project would simply need to organize and create a set of operating by-laws. Sample by-laws are available on the Extension Service website, and Roger can serve as a consultant.
Wylie Harris, communications specialist for the Kerr Institute in Oklahoma, was the guest presenter at the meeting. He helped to organize the Cross Timbers Cooperative, in which members can place orders weekly and have products dropped off in Denton, TX, for pick-up.
Dr. Harris is willing to serve as a resource person for those in the Texoma area interested in organizing a Red River or TexomaLand Cooperative. He stated that, according to statistics, the number of farms and ranches in Fannin County has increased above the statewide average, but the food production of Fannin County is well below the statewide averages. That means that there is room for GROWTH!
A Community Garden has already been started in Sherman, TX, so these organizers could help others interested in creating such gardens.
Once such seeds are sown, it takes patience, persistence, nurturing, and effort on the part of us humans to make them sprout and grow abundantly. There is a Local Food Makes $ense survey available on www.texomaCORE.org for you to fill out your level of interest in promoting a local food economy in NE Texas.....even if you just want more information about how to grow your own backyard garden!
CORE is hoping to be a catalyst for buying and growing locally, so "Let's Get Growing," folks!