Tag Sale To Benefit the No Kid Hungry Summer food program at La Paloma Sabanera

I come to you on my lunch break to spread the word about an awesome cause. Tomorrow, La Paloma Sabanera will be hosting a tag sale in which all the proceeds go to Foodshare and benefit the No Kid Hungry summer food program.

If you're unfamiliar with La Paloma, you should really get acquainted with this place. It's the little coffeeshop that you always complain that we don't have in Hartford. It's the perfect place to relax with a book and a sandwich and I've spent a lot of time clacking away at my laptop in those walls. It's cozy, casual and beyond that they do SO much for the community, including film screenings, performances and fundraisers, as we can see here.

Yesterday I was talking about food deserts, which is the unavailability of adequate food in poor communities. But sometimes we forget that we have people going without enough food in general everyday. The sad truth is that the free lunch provided through schools may be the only complete meal some children eat all day. When the school year ends, these families have few options for feeding everyone a nutritious and filling meal each day. Scenarios like this are one of the reasons that the Connecticut No Kid Hungry Campaign was started. This summer program will provide free lunch to children in areas all over the state, including many in Hartford.

So if you're looking for some new cool do-dads and nicknacks, or just want to stop by and make a donation to a great cause, come by La Paloma tomorrow from 10am on. Afterwards, give yourself a little treat of a cup of coffee, or maybe we'll all luck up and they'll be selling cupcakes from Icing Cupcakes tomorrow!

Here's some details about all the stuff I just said:
La Paloma Sabanera Coffee House
405 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT
Phone: (860) 956-5003
Website: http://www.lapalomacoffeehouse.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lapalomasabanera
Hours: Mon - Fri: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sat: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

For more information or a list of locations that are participating in the No Kid Hungry summer program, please check out http://www.ctsummerfood.org/

The Farmers' Market Season is Upon Us!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have returned. I know what you're thinking. "Where the frank and beans have you been?" You said "frank and beans" cuz it's pretty early, the kids are still up and you don't want them to know that you curse. They know you curse though. They think it's funny. But I digress.

Honestly, I don't know where the frank and beans I've been. Still in Hartford. Still black. Still doing stuff. But the winter was cold and snowy, then the spring came in like the meek lamb it was and I had to move to a new house, see my girlfriend off to Hanoi, Vietnam and get over the sadness that is being without her. It's ok to point and laugh at me about my lameness. But I'm back and ready to get back to business for serious. It's going to be a good summer!

Let's get reacquainted over one of my favorite subjects: food. But not just any food, my friends. This time I'm not telling you about insanely delicious yet entirely artery clogging foods I've happened upon in my fair city, but healthy, equally delicious, locally grown fare! The North End Farmers' Market starts tomorrow!

My timing is poor, because it's gonna look like I'm telling you about the North End Farmers' Market because a lot of black people live in the North End and then I'm gonna get a bunch of comments about me being racist and how everyone is welcome at every Farmers' Market and yadda yadda yadda. But honestly, I've been meaning to make a Farmers' Market post for quite some time. I just got word through Real Hartford (another awesome blog) that this one was starting and as a new resident of the North End, this piqued my interest. Mainly because I didn't know it existed. Old State House, WEFM and I are bffs. This one, not so much.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concept of a "food desert", but it's defined as any area that does not have easy access to healthy and affordable food. This is most heavily seen in poor neighborhoods where the closest thing residents have to a grocer is the corner store that sells more "quarter waters" than they do quarts of OJ. While Hartford isn't as bad as a lot of poor urban areas in the food desert category, Farmers' Markets are amazing at offering fresh and affordable produce to areas where the residents would have a harder time getting it. So if you know someone who possibly lives in walking distance to any of these locations, please pass the word along.

This past weekend, I met up with some friends who live in NYC. While waiting to meet them in Union Square, I happened upon a great market day that they were having. Off to the side, I saw a little booth for people to pay for their products with EBT cards and thought, "What an awesome idea! This is REALLY opening the doors for all classes of Americans to have access to healthy food. I wish we had this in Hartford!" Turns out that a few do and I just never noticed it. All locations accept WIC and Senior FMNP as well.

I encourage you and your peoples to try out ALL of Hartford's Farmers' Markets. Here's the info for all of them, including days of the week that they're open, times, and if they're not open yet, when the big day will be.

Hartford ‐ Billings Forge Farmers’ Market
Thursdays  11 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.
May 5 ‐ October 27
539 Broad Street, Grassy Courtyard on  
Billings Forge Campus
www.hartfordfarmersmarket.org
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted  SNAP/EBT

Hartford ‐ Capitol Ave Farmers’ Market
Mondays  10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
July 11 ‐ October 31
First Presbyterian Church Next to Bushnell, 156 Capitol
Avenue
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted  SNAP/EBT

Hartford ‐ North End Farmers’ Market
Wednesdays  10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
June 29 ‐ October 26
80 Coventry Street, North End Senior Center
www.hartfordfood.org
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted  SNAP/EBT

Hartford ‐ Park Street Farmers’ Market
Mondays  9:30 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
July 11 ‐ October 31
Walgreen's Parking Lot,  
Corner of Park and Washington Streets
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted   

Hartford ‐ West End Farmers’ Market
Tuesdays & Fridays  4 p.m. ‐ 7 p.m.,  
3 p.m. ‐ 6 p.m. (Sept‐Oct)
June 7 ‐ October 28
United Methodist Church ‐ 571 Farmington Avenue @
South Whitney Street
www.westend.org/farmersmarket
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted   

Hartford‐Old State House Farmers’ Market
Monday, Wednesday, Friday  10 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.
June 27 ‐ October 28
Old State House, 800 Main Street
www.ctoldstatehouse.org/farmersmkt.asp
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted   

(see more info on all of the State of Connecticut's Certified Farmers' Markets here: http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/marketing_files/certified_fm_by_county_-_5-3-2011.pdf)