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A Local Food Cooperative in Sonoma Valley?

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Thanks to the Sun for running these columns.

This is the #11th and has a very interesting subject close to our interests – food cooperatives!

A local food cooperative in Sonoma County?

Recent happenings at the Hall

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Hi all

 
What a year so far!
In case you haven’t noticed, the Springs Hall has been actively serving our community during these trying times.  
 
The Hall has felt these tribulations, with the shut down of activities followed by the unfortunate loss of our great Steward and my friend Terry Mahood, who passed away last month.  We will be dedicating a tree in our new landscape to Terry to honor him for years to come. 
He was a man who saw the value of community service and will be sorely missed.
 
Many of the events you’ve come to know us for have been put on hold, including the popular pancake breakfasts and other events held by the Hall and our partners and tenants. 
 
While this has impacted our ability to fund operations and provide service, the Hall has been lucky to partner with Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS).  
 
Having heard that SOS was looking for space to move their expanded food program, we moved to secure the location as a safe and available facility to serve those most in need.
 
The result has been a great success, with free community meals being served Monday through Friday at the Hall 9:am-12:pm, hot and well prepared breakfast and lunch served in a safe and professional manner – I have had lunch there several times myself.  Great credit goes to Kathy King, Chef Dan and an amazing group of volunteers. 
 
With the loss of most Hall activities, we’re launching a program to serve the community outside the building named “Growing in the Springs” which expands on our mission of Healthy Farms, Healthy Food, Healthy Community.
 
This program seeks to empower and educate our community through the support and creation of community gardens and food production.  We are working to partner with local businesses, nonprofits, and residents to beautify our Springs community.  
 
In doing so, the Hall seeks community support and partners.  Look for opportunities in the near future to join in this effort, or contact us directly at this email.  
 
There will be Fun – fundraising events and other ways to be involved in improving our community, and as always, donations are welcome and go directly to supporting these efforts. 
 
The Springs Hall is a 501(c)3 nonprofit working to support Sonoma Valley agriculture and the Springs community.
 
Thank you for your presence in our community!

Food Distribution at the Hall

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The Hall is being used as a pick up location for Council on Aging meals, with food for all age groups, suggested donations are modest and allow for the delivery of prepared meals and other pantry staples.  Pickup is at the Springs Hall Wednesdays and Fridays  10:30am – 12:30pm. The following menus have more information:

Local Food During a Crisis

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The following is a brief addendum to a recent column written for the Sonoma Sun newspaper on this very subject.  (see previous column here https://sonomasun.com/2020/03/22/sonoma-farm-scene-the-winter-market/) .

As we have seen, food becomes extremely important when society is disrupted, with empty store shelves and supply chain overloads and safety concerns impacting food availability.  Local food, grown and produced here in our Valley, becomes that much more important for our local resiliency during crisis.  In addition, many farms rely on restaurant business as an outlet, one which has been reduced to extremely low levels.  The following is an evolving list of the availability of locally grown and produced food during this crisis.

  • The Friday morning farmers’ market at Depot Park continues weekly, with new safety standards and rules in place, be prepared for longer waits for some vendors.
  • Ross Canard is offering CSA vegetable boxes from his infamous Sonoma farm, please contact ross@vom.com
  • Oak Hill Farm is now open Saturdays at the Red Barn store, 15101 Hwy 12 in Glen Ellen.  They are also found weekly at the Friday morning market at Depot Park.  more info on their facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/OakHillFarm1/
  • Pauls Produce has been extremely popular on Fridays, and has offered an express box pickup, with a set selection available.
  • Paul is also working with FEED Sonoma, which has a local box pickup in order to shift from restaurant supply to getting local food to our community, see:  https://shop.feedsonoma.com/Products
  • Mike the Bejkr continues to sell local bread at Fridays market.
  • Fridays market also has produce from Ortiz family, Hector, avocados and other items from Rhodes farm, Sprouts from sweetwater, mushrooms from Bohemian farm, baked good from Baker and Cook, citrus and other fruit from Gertz farm and more, support these producers that feed us!
  • Green String Farm store is open just over the Hill in Petaluma, more info at: https://www.greenstringfarm.com/
  • Flatbed farm in Glen Ellen has been open Saturdays 10:am – 2:pm, find out more:  http://www.flatbedfarm.com/
  • The starting date for the popular Tuesday Night Market on the Plaza is still in question, word is they are working on ways to start sooner rather than later.

Springsapalooza and other Springs Hall events postponed until further notice.

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The Springs hall is following recommended safety protocols and is postponing Springs Hall events including Springsapalooza and the Chasing Coral Film event in March.  Hopefully we can come back together shortly.  Stay safe and support your local farmers and businesses, now more than ever!

 

Please follow this link for more information on this growing public health emergency:

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCOV2019.aspx

Community Film Nights! Starting Friday 2/28

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The Springs Hall, in partnership with Transition Sonoma Valley, is proud to partner on the upcoming community film night series starting Friday, February 28th. The first film, Ice on Fire, explores the accelerating impacts of climate change and ways we can address them in our own community.

Superbowl Sunday Pancake Breakfast!

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Pancakes are back at the Springs Hall Sunday February 2nd.

Meet your friends and neighbors at the community Hall for an amazing breakfast event.

$15 adults, $6 12 and under

Farewell to a Farmer – An interview with Farmer David Cooper

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A farewell gathering at the Hall

A portion of the following interview was printed in the Sonoma Sun newspaper published for Friday December 20th. The entirety of the interview is found on the following page:

https://springshall.org/sonoma-valley-agricultural-cooperative/

Holiday Market at the Hall

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Two exciting events coming up this month at the Springs Hall!

Holiday night Friday December 13th with a Holiday Cookie bake for those in need 2:00pm-6:00pm and a showing of a holiday classic, the Grinch, at 7:00pm .. folowed by the return of the Holiday Market Sunday December 15th from 9:00am – 1:00pm