EAT Minutes March 2023

March 26, 2023 at 6:30 pm, TFREC Lunch Room

The meeting began at 6:40pm and concluded at 8:00pm. Next meeting is April 30, 2023 from 12:30-2pm at the Wenatchee Valley College in Van Tassell conference room 5006

Members Present:

Joan Qazi; Angela Schaub; Michel Wiman; JoEllen Colson; Mike Brogan; Rozanne Lind

Dates to Watch For:

  • April 7: Paul Roberts, author of The End of Food. Wenatchee Valley College Lecture Series presents All You Can Eat community lecture at 7pm.
  • April 28: Dr. Wangari Maathai, 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Free Methodist Church courtesy of Chelan-Douglas Land Trust and Sleeping Lady. 7:30pm.
  • May 15: Food Policy Workshop, Seattle. Joan Qazi will be participating on a guest panel discussing community food assessments. Mark Winne from the Community Food Security Coalition will be the keynote speaker. Free workshop and any EAT members are encouraged to attend from 8:30am to 3:30pm.

Treasurers Report:

JoEllen submitted the treasurers report that shows a balance of $4242.38. This balance does not include an outstanding reimbursement coming in from the John Newbery PTA. STEPS $3000 grant for community food assessment work was deposited this last month.

Old Business:

  • We heard that CFC received a $63,000 grant from the Icicle Creek Foundation. Grant monies will be used to cover operating expenses of Farmhouse Table, a cooperative CSA.

New Business:

  • Welcome to Rozanne Lind! She is the enrichment coordinator for both Newbery and Columbia Elementary School and the staff liaison for the Newbery school garden.

Committee Reports

  • CFA The focus group tapes are being transcribed by Sherri. Andrea Romero is transcribing the Hispanic focus group tapes and also acted as the translator at those meetings. John Newbery Elementary has expressed interest in letting its 5th graders take part in the photo novella project. 3 teachers responded with 1 of them using magazine pictures instead of photos from the disposable cameras. Joan will be contacting them. Joan passed around a sign up sheet for the seasonal-eating calendar project. Sign up is by the month. Joan, Michel and Marcy are also updating the Chelan County Food Atlas. This will include summary information from the CFA and a Food Service Director survey that was conducted last spring regarding public school interest in a farm to school program.
  • Consumer Education The photo novellas created by students of both Foothills Middle School and Clovis Point Middle School are currently displayed at The Wenatchee Valley Museum, Wenatchee Valley Mall and the Wenatchee Public Library.
  • 501c3 Exploratory Committee Three voting options for EAT were presented. They were to establish themselves as a 501c3 organization; use CFC as a fiscal sponsor or become a Heifer International Project. It was mentioned that as its own 501c3, EAT would be able to freely apply for grants, but be responsible for its own accounting and paperwork. Concerns with CFCs relative new 501c3 status were brought up at previous meetings and that interest paths might be crossed. The latter concern was rebutted when it was clarified that CFC is intended to take on larger financial projects, remaining autonomous from EATs small scale projects. With regards to being a Heifer project, it was pointed out that a fair amount of paperwork due to report writing should be taken into consideration. Angela Schaub made a motion to vote for one of the three options. Joan seconded. No votes were cast for EAT as its own 501c3 or as an extension of CFC. It was approved that EAT become a Heifer project for the three to five year period in order to receive Heifer grant funds and to learn from the Heifer organizational model. Workshops, mentoring, and information exchange through the Heifer network would be made available to EAT as a project group. This is an interim opportunity in order to help EAT build capacity. Reconsideration of 501c3 status or fiscal sponsorship would take place near the end of the Heifer project period. The vote result will be shared with the larger membership to gain consensus for this decision.
  • Grant Work None to report. Lowes has offered at cost pricing for Newbery Elementary when it goes to purchase gardening implements and supplies.
  • School Garden Committee The garden committee met prior to this meeting. Items covered included updates for Newbery Elementary and Foothills Middle School. Please see attached meeting minutes.
  • Website Ben Fields is the current webmaster for EAT. He became acquainted with EAT through a focus group meeting and volunteered his services. Please check out the updated calendar, Our Farms page, and soon-to-be added Buyers Wish-list and Article discussion group links.
  • Media The paid advertisement for the Wenatchee World focused on area CSAs here in the valley. Michel Wiman designed the ad. STEPS paid for it to run 4x throughout the month of March. The Wenatchee Farmers Market was approached for partnership in this promotion, but chose to remain separate from the advertisement. It was suggested that the 5 Things to Know column in the Wenatchee World be adapted to for CSAs and Rochelle Feil has contacted EAT for an interview. Joan is still working on the editorial.
  • Farm to Table This event has been postponed until the Fall, 2023

Follow-up on Topic(s) that were discussed in this meeting:

  • CFA Calendar (everyone will choose a month to work on)
  • Photo Novella displays at the local libraries in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee. (Judy Preston)
  • Foothills Middle School garden progress (Angela Schaub)
  • Farm-to-Table Workshop (Marcy/Joan)
  • National Nutrition Month paid advertisement (Michel/Marcy/Joan)

Committee Sign-Up:

  • Working Group Chairperson Joan Qazi; Meeting Facilitator: Joan Qazi; Minute Taker: Angela Schaub; Treasurer: JoEllen Colson; Webmaster: Dave OConnor; Newsletter: Fran Taber; Media Diva: Kim Langston; Fundraising: Scott Parsons
  • Community Food Assessment Chairperson Joan Qazi; Billie Jo Ellis; Fran Taber; Colleen Donovan; Kim Langston; Judy Preston; Angela Schaub (Data Analysis); Marcy Ostrom; Laurie Riegert; JoEllen Colson; Consuelo Coronel
  • Consumer Education Chairperson None; Kim Langston; Billie Jo Ellis; Shawn Hansen; Joan Qazi; Ginny OKelley; Laurie Riegert; Judy Preston
  • Community Garden Chairperson None; Jenn Crawford; Sharlynn Cobaugh; Kim Langston; Shawn Hansen; Dawn Fisher; Michel Wiman
  • 501c3 Exploratory Chairperson Angela Schaub; Angela Schaub; Fran Taber; Colleen Donovan, Sharlynn Cobaugh;
  • Edible Schoolyard /Farm to School Chairperson Angela Schaub; Angela Schaub; JoEllen Colson; Joan Qazi; Scott Parsons; Dawn Fisher
  • Farm-to-Table Chairperson None; Fran Taber; Marcy Ostrom; Bill and Vonnie Smith; Michel Wiman

Suggestions for next meeting:

  • Next Meeting April 30th from 12:30pm to 2pm in Van Tassell 5006 at WVC. This is a new conference room for us in the Student Union/Bookstore building.
  • Meeting Minutes Responsibility Angela Schaub will have copies for distribution
  • Treasurers Report Responsibility JoEllen Colson will have copies for distribution.

NCW Food Events