January 2021
"Warm wishes for a safe and healthy new year." Potsdam Food Co-Op. Potsdam, NY.
Image courtesy of the Farm-to-Table Initiative led by Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County
Submit a Video for Your Community Food Hero Today
Saturday, January 9th (tomorrow!) is the last day to submit a video for inclusion in our online Celebration of Community Food Heroes.

Is there someone who helped keep you or our community fed this year? Show them some much deserved appreciation by filming a short video explaining their heroic impact on the community.

Community Food Heroes can be anyone who has impacted the local food system in a way that you find meaningful. Your hero(es) could be:
  • a teacher who helped organize school meal pick-ups,
  • your local farmers,
  • a neighbor who shared produce from their garden,
  • food pantry volunteers,
  • a grocery store that really prioritized shopper safety
Still need a bit of inspiration? Check out the example video our Outreach Coordinator, Sonja, made.

Videos that are submitted will be shared on social media and our website during the week of January 18th as a Celebration of 2020's Community Food Heroes. In the midst of continued stress and hardship, we'd like to spend a bit of time highlighting ways that our community came together to support each other.
GardenShare Recommends
The new year always presents itself as the perfect time to pursue new projects. While we've included recommendations for books and resources before, one thing we'd like to do this year is to include a recommendation for something to read, watch, or listen to each month relating to the food system and our work at GardenShare.

Our first recommendation this year is All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America by Joel Berg. Joel Berg is the CEO of Hunger Free America, a prominent voice in the anti-hunger movement, and an expert on US politics, hunger, poverty, food, volunteerism, and nutrition.

His first book, written in 2008, remains relevant today as we've seen unprecedented demand for emergency food assistance amid the pandemic. This book dives into food insecurity's impact on Americans, its root causes, and steps to take as a nation towards lasting change.
For a quick introduction to the ideas in this book, Joel Berg's TedxManhattan talk, Bucket Brigades and the Fight Against Hunger, is a great watch.
What Do You Think about our eNewsletters?
The new year is always a time of reflection and, at GardenShare, we are spending these first few months of the year really looking at our work and impact in the community.

Do you like the idea of book recommendations? Do you wish we had more information on food policy? What about local food events? This monthly email is one of our most powerful communication tools and we want to make sure we're sharing information that our supporters find relevant and interesting.

Help us out by taking a few minutes to let us know what you think of our eNewsletter.
GardenShare Board Committed Through the Pandemic
In December 2020, the GardenShare Board of Directors considered the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on our governance. To make sure our leadership remains consistent through this challenging period, Directors have committed to extending all terms by one more year. Thank you to our fantastic Board for their contributions and for their dedication through this season!

Pictured is our current Board of Directors. From top to bottom, left to right:
Patrick Ames, Vice President
Sarah Bentley-Garfinkel
Valerie Ingram, Secretary
Anneke J. Larrance, Treasurer
Jennifer McAvoy
Carol Smith Pynchon, President
Sanford (Sandy) Stauffer
Lee Kepes Van de Water
Angela Villeneuve-Bronson