In the past few days news of serious and continued flooding, power outages and other serious damage in areas outside of the city have come to light. This article in yesterday’s Times focused on the pain felt Upstate, but problems are by no means limited to New York. Farmers in Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey–all of whom grow what we buy at markets or find on our restaurant plates or in our CSA shares–are still assessing affects on their fields and crops and futures. Many acres are still underwater, but there are a few places that are already collecting donations or gathering help.
As we mentioned on Tuesday, GrowNYC, the non-profit that manages city Greenmarkets, has set up a donation page where funds are being collected specifically to distribute to the farmers they work with who suffered hurricane damage. And the group CropMob (profiled in Edible Manhattan’s last issue, they get together flash-style mobs of folks to help farms plant, harvest or clean up from stuff like hurricanes) has put out a call for Hudson Valley volunteers tomorrow via their Facebook page.
In the Catskills, meanwhile, the local Watershed Post has put together a solid and diverse list of places, people and information on post-Irene aid and needs. This is a good list of how to help in Vermont, from the local blog Blurt. If you hear of any more, let us know.
