We will be a vendor at the Providence Open Market June 6th!

We are happy to announce that we will be setting up as a Vendor at the Providence Open Market this upcoming Saturday June 6th from 10am to 4pm. The open market is located just outside of Lippits Park, on the East Side of Providence.

We will be selling the majority of all of our Alpaca Products - including Survival Socks, Casual Dress Socks, Knitter's Yarns, Rugs, Tote Bags, Hats, Gloves, and all sorts of other great items!

"The Providence Open Market, now in its 3rd season, is the city’s only Open-Air Market where you can shop for handmade artisan goods and fine art. Now located in picturesque Lippitt Park, on the east side of Providence, at the juncture of Hope Street and Blackstone Blvd, where Providence borders Pawtucket."

Click Here for Directions

We hope to see you then!

HR 875 - The Death of Farmers Markets, CSAs and Local Food

From the Nourished Kitchen:

 HR 875, also known as the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, was introduced by Rosa Delauro - a democratic party member of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut - in February of 2009.  The title of HR 875, The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, sounds innocuous enough - even comforting, but its implications yield a much, much different story.

HR 875 as it is written today, could very well mean the end of the vibrant and growing local foods movement.  Yes - if it passes - it could herald the death of farmers markets, most CSAs, farmstands and even small family-run farms altogether.

Ostensibly, HR 875 or the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would bring greater accountability to our imperiled food system.  Indeed, with salmonella-infected peanuts and spinach laced with e-coli, who isn’t crying out for improvements in food safety?

However, HR 875 fails miserably in promoting food safety.  Rather, than promoting true accountability and proper farming techniques that minimize the risk of introducing pathogens into the food supply, it simply will create greater barriers for our already struggling small farms and farmers markets.

HR 875 mandates that anyone who produces food of any kind - meat, milk, fruit, vegetables et cetera -  and transports that food for sale be subject to warrantless government inspections of their farms and food production records.  These random inspections can be conducted at the whim of federal agents without regard to farmers rights or property rights.  Further, the law would allow federal agents to confiscate records, product as they see fit as part of the inspection process.

Agents could also implement draconian restrictions regarding how farm animals can be fed, how fields can be managed and the end result of these restrictions could mean the end of organic, biodynamic and sustinable agriculture practices as these practices are deemed “unsafe.”  Farmers refusing to comply would be subject to penalties.

 

Read the Rest here - http://nourishedkitchen.com/fight-hr-875-food-safety-modernization-act-of-2009/

 

Contact your Representative Today regarding this bill - http://www.house.gov/writerep/