'Back To The Barn, On The Farm' To Promote Hospital's Plow To Plate, October 12
âBack To The Barn, On The Farmâ
To Promote Hospitalâs Plow To Plate, October 12
NEW MILFORD â New Milford Hospital and its Plow to Plate community coalition will host the second annual âBack to the Barn, On the Farmâ event on Sunday, October 12, from 11 am to 2 pm, at The Silo/Hunt Hill Farm, 44 Upland Road. Registration is $20 for adults and $10 for children.
The event will feature Big Green Truck Pizza, Farm on the Moo-ve, Pied Piper Pony Rides, cooking with Chef Anne Gallagher, music by Gordon Titcomb & Diane Solomon, and a Mini-Plow to Plate Farmerâs Market.
Plow to Plate promotes âthe joy, health, and economic well-being that comes from a community united in support of local farmers, who give us real food, harvested and shared with friends and families,â according to the mission statement drafted by coalition members.
With more than a year of community outreach and education under its belt, Plow to Plate continues to gain momentum in 2008 with a host of events and activities designed to engage the towns in the surrounding hospital area in healthy nutrition, disease prevention, and supporting farms. But the Plow to Plate effort has also secured national attention among advocates and environmental organizations that are working to âgreenâ hospitals, and showcase products and practices that are both environmentally preferable and occupationally safe.
Believing strongly in the importance of disease prevention and the importance of a healthful diet of local foods, New Milford Hospital is setting an important example by committing to change its own food service, and aligning itself with a leading advocacy organization, Health Care Without Harm, which has developed the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge.
Signed by only about 120 US hospitals to date, this framework outlines steps to be taken in the health care industry to improve the health of patients, communities, and the environment. New Milford Hospital President and CEO Joseph P. Frolkis, MD, PhD, signed this pledge in March 2008, supported by the coalition, to document the hospitalâs commitment to healthy food in health care that will, among other practices, emphasize and use fresh local foods whenever possible.
For more information, contact Mary Burcaw, external affairs, New Milford Hospital, at 860-350-7731 or email to burcawm@nmhct.org. For the Plow to Plate events calendar, items, visit www.plowtoplate.org.