Green Teens And Common Ground Farm Are Back With Free Farm Stand- Wednesdays At Beacon Recreation

The Green Teens are back to offer people in need access to a Free Farm Stand on Wednesdays from 5-6pm at the Beacon Recreation Center at 23 West Center Street. This program will run from July through September, and is made possible by Common Ground Farm.

Also at the Beacon Recreation on Wednesdays from 9:30am-10:30am is a Free Groceries distribution.

How to receive groceries

Beacon Recreation groceries come pre-bagged, and volunteers ask that people come on foot as pedestrians. They ask for no cars.

Cars, however, can pull up to Memorial Park on Wednesdays from 9am-10am for the same pre-bagged grocery program.

Wednesdays Are A Big Day For Free Food Pickup For People In Need

In Beacon, Wednesdays have become a big day for Free Food Pickup. Depending on if you have kids, if you want fresh produce in your life (yes, say yes!) and pre-bagged groceries, Beacon has your back. And Wednesdays aren’t all for people in need. Learn about more opportunities in A Little Beacon Blog’s Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen Guide.

A reader asked a question about how to donate produce from their garden. You might consider the Community ‘Fridge located behind Binnacle Books. You might also consider volunteering to clean it every now and then. It is not advisable to put fresh produce in the Tiny Food Pantries, as bears and raccoons will come, as will flies and ants. Non-perishable packages are best for those drop-off donation locations. You can also double up on your discount days at Key Food, and donate to their food bin in the front of the store. That food gets distributed to food pantries as well.

Here are the Wednesday Food Opportunities:

• Free Summer Meals For Beacon City School District Students - Pickup Wednesdays

• Free Farm Stand Wednesdays At Beacon Recreation From Green Teens and Common Ground Farm

• Free Pre-Bagged Groceries Distributed At Memorial Park and Beacon Recreation On Wednesdays

Free Farm Stand Wednesdays At Beacon Recreation From Green Teens and Common Ground Farm

The Green Teens are back to offer people in need access to a Free Farm Stand on Wednesdays from 5-6pm at the Beacon Recreation Center at 23 West Center Street. This program will run from July through September, and is made possible by Common Ground Farm.

Also at the Beacon Recreation on Wednesdays from 9:30am-10:30am is a Free Groceries distribution. Groceries come pre-bagged, and volunteers ask that people come on foot as pedestrians. They ask for no cars.

Cars, however, can pull up to Memorial Park on Wednesdays from 9am-10am for the same pre-bagged grocery program.

FOOD: Free Groceries Available At High School + South Avenue Today (3/25/2020)

Free groceries have been made available for anyone who needs them. This is available to all people, not just people registered in the City of Beacon School District, confirms Helanna Bratman. "Yes! For all people! No age or location restrictions," she said. This is a collaborative effort between Cornell Cooperative Extension, Fareground, Mutual Aid Beacon, Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Beacon City School District, and Common Ground.

DETAILS:

WHEN: Wednesday, March 25, 2020
LOCATION #1: Beacon High School 10 to 10:30 am
LOCATION #2: South Avenue from 10:30 to 11:30 am
Please only use one location.

Groceries will be pre-bagged and ready for pick up together with BCSD meals. However, for these groceries, you do not need to be registered with the school district.

DELIVERY OPTIONS

Need the groceries delivered? This can be coordinated with you.

Email: mutualaidbeacon@gmail.com or

Call/Text: (845) 288-2559

Sun & Earth | Farm & Food Festival From Common Ground Farm at Stony Kill This Weekend

Photo Credit: Common Ground Farm

FARM & FOOD FESTIVAL
DATE: Saturday August 3
TIME: 3 to 8 pm
RAIN DATE: Sunday, August 4

The Sun & Earth | Farm & Food Festival, presented by Common Ground Farm, will be a celebration of gratitude for natural resources, from the sun in the sky to the earth; highlighting sustainable agriculture, local food, music, and the supportive community. This happens on Saturday, August 3 from 3 to 8 pm.

Located on the historic Stony Kill property, the Sun & Earth Festival will welcome guests to explore Common Ground Farm, eat delicious local food, enjoy music performances and engage in food and farm activities. The event will highlight multiple activities including yoga, music, children’s activities on the farm and cooking demonstrations with farm-fresh produce. The evening will conclude with a fun outdoor dance party!

Food and Activities From Your Local Favorites

FOOD: Confirmed food vendors include Barb’s Butchery, Las Tres Americas taco truck, Samosa Shack, Zora Dora paletas and Drink More Good.

YOGA: Programs offered include yoga with local instructors Julian Paik and Kyla Wedenko, mindful relaxation with Beacon of Light Wellness, pottery with Newburgh Pottery and a farm activity led by Common Ground’s farm manager, Leah Garrard.

KIDS ACTIVITIES: There will also be children’s activities provided by Compass Arts, and cooking demonstrations and tastings with fresh Common Ground vegetables, led by Chef Sonya Joy Key and Chef Nicholas Leiss. Musical acts include live music from Tony DePaolo and a dance party DJ’ed by Jamie Pabst, aka Miss Behavior Music!

Sponsors who make this event possible include Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, and activity sponsors Allsport Fishkill (yoga), Vassar Brothers Hospital (yoga) and Stop and Shop (cooking demonstrations). Admission is free, with donations accepted to support Common Ground Farm’s efforts in expanding food access throughout the Hudson Valley.

About Common Ground Farm

CGF’s mission is to serve the community as a model for food justice and education for people of all ages and incomes. The organization maintains a 7-acre vegetable farm at the Stony Kill property in Wappingers Falls, runs education programs for children and adults on the farm and in the schools, and operates farmers markets and mobile markets in Beacon and Newburgh. You can find the farm’s produce weekly on Wednesdays at their Common Greens Mobile Market (a partnership with Green Teen Beacon and Cornell Cooperative Extension) at Forrestal Heights and the community health center in Beacon, Saturdays at the Newburgh Farmers Market, and Sundays at the Beacon Farmers Market.

The Mobile Farmers Market From Common Greens Opens Wednesdays At 2 Community Locations

The Common Green Mobile Farmers Market, open Wednesdays from July - September, 2019.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

COMMON GREENS MOBILE MARKET TIMES

Beacon’s Community Health Center on Henry Street
Wednesdays, 11 am to 12:30 pm

Forrestal Heights, in Parking Lot #2
Next to the Senior Friendship Center
Wednesdays, 1 to 2 pm

July - September 2019

The green bus of Common Greens’ Mobile Farmers Market has been seen powering up and down Beacon’s streets, making its way to its two parking lot destinations every Wednesday from July to September! The program’s mission is to reach low-income families in the City of Beacon with farm-fresh produce directly from Common Ground’s farm located on Route 9D.

The two locations are Beacon’s Community Health Center parking lot on Henry Street (Wednesdays, 11 am to 12:30 pm), and Forrestal Heights, in Parking Lot #2, next to the Senior Friendship Center (Wednesdays, 1 to 2 pm). The Common Greens Mobile Farmers Market accepts WIC, FMNP, EBT/SNAP, and Greens 4 Greens. The currency known as Greens 4 Greens is also accepted at the Beacon Farmers Market on Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm at Veterans Place.

According to Common Ground’s website, their produce is reaching the low-income families it is targeting: “In 2017, a combined total of over 2,000 pounds of produce from Common Ground and the Green Teen gardens was sold at the Common Greens market, and 61% of mobile market sales were made using some form of food benefit, which is an indication that the market is reaching our target population.”

Common Greens Mobile Farmers Market was created in partnership with Green Teen Community Gardening Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County. The County of Dutchess partially funds Cooperative Extension in Dutchess County.

Common Ground Farm's Opening of the Fields Event

Common Ground Farm invites visitors for a contemplative walk through the early spring fields on Saturday, April 13, at 1 pm. The walk will be guided by Farm Director, Sarah Simon, with reflection and commentary shared from the faith traditions of food access partners and community leaders, including: Rabbi Brent Chaim Spodek of Beacon Hebrew Alliance, Lt. Leilani Rodríguez-Alarcón of Salvation Army, Pastor Ben Larson-Wolbrink of First Presbyterian Church, Pastor Bill Dandreano of Salem Tabernacle, and Sarah Capua.

Everyone Welcome To Celebrate The Growing Season

The Opening of the Fields walk is an opportunity to appreciate the potential abundance of the fields as well as to reflect upon the changes and uncertainty inherent in nature. Farming can be isolating work, and the farmers look forward to sharing the springtime activities on a Hudson Valley vegetable farm. Visitors can park by the red barns and meet the group by the picnic tables. Hot tea and snacks will be provided, and guests are welcome to stay and picnic afterwards if the weather is fine. The event is free and open to all. Common Ground Farm welcomes everyone to visit the farm and help celebrate the start of the growing season.

Farm Director Sarah Simon states, “Both hope and uncertainty shape the beginning of the growing season on the farm. The traces of last year's labor have faded, winter has claimed what was once green and lush, and the farm is just beginning to wake up again as the soil starts to warm and the sun begins to shine.”

About Common Ground Farm

Common Ground Farm is a community farm dedicated to food justice, and donates produce to six different local food pantries and soup kitchens each week during their growing season. This event is an opportunity for the farm’s valued community partners to visit the place where the produce is grown, and to see the fields that will feed their communities from May until November. Many of the soup kitchens and food pantries are organized by religious organizations, and for the event, the farm has invited the leaders of these churches, synagogues, and mosques to share blessings and teachings about nature, food and land from their traditions. There will also be nondenominational teachings and blessings shared by community members.

Common Ground Farm donates weekly to the following food pantries:

• Beacon Community Kitchen

• Fishkill Food Pantry

• First Presbyterian Church in Wappingers Falls

• New Vision Church of Deliverance

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Beacon

• Occasionally to: Salvation Army in Beacon, Dutchess Outreach in Poughkeepsie