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On Wednesday night, we wrapped up our inaugural season of LI agriCULTURE: Celebrating Local Foods with the Power of Film. It was our honor to host a powerful online conversation with Charlene Gilbert, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Toledo, and director of HOMECOMING: A STORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FARMERS. We were also fortunate to be joined by Melanie Allen, Program Director at Black Farmer Fund.

When we conceived of the LI agriCULTURE series, our primary purpose was to promote locally sourced foods with outdoor and online programs that celebrate Long Island's sustainable food options. When it came time to build the series, the lack of black-owned farms on Long Island was something that demanded closer attention. For our final installment of our LI AgriCULTURE series, we took a closer look at the history and impact of black farmers in America. We have updated our LI AgriCULTURE page with some of the resources that were shared during Wednesday's conversation.

While our series has come to a close - for now - our LI AgriCULTURE page is full of resources, including a directory of where to buy locally produced foods, recipes, a downloadable brochure with produce storage tips, and more.

We are grateful to all our partners who made this extraordinary series such a great success. Special thanks to the Long Island Community Foundation for critical funding, and to all of our program partners including Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning; Suffolk County Office of Cultural Affairs; Choose Long Island; Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) & Suffolk County Farm and Education Center; Peconic Land Trust; The Sound Cellar; and more.

Visit www.chooseli.org/pledge to commit to spending 10% of your weekly food budget on local and independent food goods. Choose LI is a collaborative initiative to raise awareness, advocate and inspire the community to support local and independent businesses by spending 10% of their weekly food allowance on local and seasonal food goods across Suffolk County, Long Island. The vision of Choose LI is to inspire the community to choose goods from local and independent farmers and fishermen to preserve our heritage industries and cultivate a vibrant, diverse and robust economy. Support the growth of a well-nourished community that is unique and resilient by fostering healthy food choices and creating dynamic life experiences.

As you may have seen, our timeline for reopening has been delayed. A number of elements have combined in a perfect storm and the work is going to take just a little bit longer. The Omicron variant has resulted in supply-chain issues, as well as delays from workers having to take leave from work due to illness. Just in the past month, our contractor, architect, designer, structural engineer, advisor, and many construction workers and electricians, have been out with COVID.

Our team is on the mend and work continues at an accelerating pace. While we await an updated timeline, we will keep you informed as we progress toward our reopening. CLICK HERE for ongoing updates.

As we prepare to reopen, we are excited that we will once again be able to deliver the full benefits of membership, including discounts on tickets to screenings and events, Member Appreciation Mondays and more.

One of our benefits to members is exclusive discounts to local restaurants, merchants, and service providers though our Reel Deals program.

Right now, we are reaching out to all of our Reel Deals participating businesses to confirm these exclusive discounts. If you own a local business and would like to be included, please contact rene@cinemaartscentre.org.

We will be promoting our Reel Deals businesses robustly upon our reopening. There is no fee to participate, just offer our members a discount that follows our guidelines.

CLICK HERE for more info.

Thanks to Stuart and Ginger Polisner for their historic support of our Real-to-Reel and Creativity Series.

Thanks to Lynn & Jonah Kaufman, Brandywine Living, and Goidel Law Group for their generous support of our 2020 Making Memories Programs.

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