Are you a farmer or gardener with love for our winged bird friends? Did you know that there are ways to support them when thinking about what you’re going to plant, or what structures to build? The Wild Farm Alliance is offering a FREE online 5-track course, made up of 10 individual classes and is designed to have participants learn more about how to support bird species while farming or gardening. Courses begin in March and continue until July.
You can register for one class or take all 10. All the classes are an hour long and start at 8:00 am (EST).
Track Topics Are:
Introduction: Birds as Pest Control Allies
Nest Boxes and Other Structures and the Birds That Use Them
Managing and Co-Existing with Birds
Designing a Farm to Be Bird Friendly
Seeing Land Through the Eyes of Birds
Sign Up HERE, the first class begins on March 14th!
We caught up with Alex French Clarkson University’s Sustainability Coordinator to ask about the recent food waste New York State mandate that went into effect on January 1st, 2022.
Alex French
Can you share the backstory about the recent activities in NYS with Food waste diversion. How are ‘large generators of food waste’ defined?
Alex: The NYSFood Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law went into effect in January of 2022. It defines large generators of food waste as companies or institutions that generate 2 tons of food waste per week. These entities are now required to donate edible food rather than throwing it out. If there is a food recycling facility (composting or anaerobic digester) available within 25 miles then inedible food is required to be sent there.
Why tackle food waste on a community level?
Alex: Tackling this environmental and social issue at the community level will give us the economies of scale to make food recycling viable. I like how NYS has structured this new law to have the larger generators get everything off the ground.
How did Clarkson become involved with this food waste diversion initiative?
Alex: This project was originally discussed by the Potsdam Climate Smart Communities Task Force. After deciding that we wanted to look into community-scale food waste management the task force asked Clarkson to take the lead. This became a win-win scenario for us because we were able to engage many students in the process through internships.
Compost piles at Blue Line Compost in Saranac Lake
How much food waste does Clarkson generate on a weekly basis?
Alex: The DEC estimates that we generate 5 tons of food waste per week during the semester. We think this estimate is high. We are still trying to understand exactly how much food waste we generate. There are so many different sources of food waste on campus! We have good estimates of pre-consumer waste from kitchen prep work but we do not have a clear understanding of our post-consumer food waste from 2 of our 3 main dining areas nor for our residential areas. We hope to have a better understanding by the end of the semester. Read more Finding a home for the North Country’s Food Waste
In December, the Local Foods team visited the newest food business in downtown Potsdam, the Hoof & Horn Butcher and Eatery. The LaClair family, with roots in Hermon and Saranac Lake, returned to northern New York eager to contribute to the local food scene. With experience as a chef and culinary instructor, Jonathan LaClair has the passion and skills to open up a farm-to-table whole animal butchery and eatery. Jon shares, “The big thing with us is that we are trying to utilize every part of an animal that we can.”
Charcuterie boards are available to order for any event. All of the cheeses and cured meats are sourced from New York State.
What will you find at Hoof and Horn? “We have our display case with all our raw cuts in it. We try to have some staples like New York strips and ribeyes when possible. But you will find some different cuts like the picanhas, sirloin steaks. We do a lot of beef tips and several different kinds of house-made sausages.” Think sausage flavors like maple brown sugar and chimichurri lamb.
Come take a seat and stay for lunch.
In addition, they offer eat-in or to-go lunches, such as warming ramen bowls and delicious lamb shoulder tacos. You can find other menu items like house-made chorizo sausage dressed with kimchi and garlic soy aioli.
Jon cooks up some of his homegrown purple potatoes.
LaClair, doesn’t stop there. It seems the longer Hoof & Horn is open, the more options become available to diners. With an indulgent brunch menu on Sundays featuring a variety of benedicts (crab, veggie and beef tenderloin). He says for brunch menus they are “trying to stay as hyper-local as we can and really celebrate the farms of the area.”Read more Hoof & Horn in Downtown Potsdam
