It's time to celebrate!

HAPPY BUY LOCAL WEEK!!!!!!!!

There ain't no party like a LOCAL party.... get your tickets!

Tickets for LLF's 3rd annual Buy Local, Be Local Bash are now on sale! The Bash is the final event of the LLF Buy Local Week.

WHERE: The Landing at Shem Creek (building with the lighthouse)

WHEN: Sunday, December 6th from 7-10pm

This year's Buy Local Be Local Bash is going to be better than ever! We will have live music, local beer, FireFly vodka and rum and great food from Ted's Butcher Block, Duvall Catering and Events, Brian Bertolini Pasta, Raul's Seafood, Street Food, LLC, The Square Onion, Clammer Dave's Sustainable Seafood and others!

You can buy tickets in advance!

Tickets at the door are $35 for LLF members and $40 for non-members. WE CAN ONLY ACCEPT CASH OR CHECKS AT THE DOOR!!!!

Paint the Town Local!

A friendly reminder to all members with storefronts: help promote your local business this holiday season and paint your windows with a "Buy Local" theme! Colors are red and green, other than that, there are no stipulations! Get down with your creative-selves and encourage everyone to BUY LOCAL!!!

Directory - Take Two!

The event that you've all been waiting for.... (drum roll, please).... We present to you the 2nd edition of the Directory of Local Independent Businesses! That's right, folks, it has gone to print and will be rolling off the press next week!

Here's the catch - Jamee, Elizabeth and I need help in distributing these things! We have boxes and boxes to get out to the tri-country area! We will be doing a mass distribution on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7th! And here's where you come in... we need as many people as possible to help out with the deliveries! As incentive, we will provide bagels/coffee in the morning before we head out and Taco Boy Downtown will be throwing an after-party in the afternoon for all volunteers!

What better way to spend a Saturday morning?! (Unless you're at the Farmer's Market, of course!)

If you're interested in helping out, email me at amy@lowcountrylocalfirst.org or call the office at 843-740-5444!

Great Saturday at the Downtown Farmer's Market!

I wanted to say thanks for all of you who stopped by at the Farmer's Market this weekend! Jamee and I braved the morning chill to join all the wonderful farmers/cooks/artisans/etc. for a great Saturday at Marion Square!

As the holidays are approaching, keep in mind the Holiday Market on Saturday, December 5th!

Call for Volunteers!

Interested in doing good by your community? Have some spare time on your hands? Need some community services hours for school? Well LLF is your solution! We are busy planning for our 3rd Annual "Buy Local Week" during the first week in December and we will definitely be in need of some awesome volunteers! Some volunteering opportunties are as follows:

• Helping local business members paint their windows for our "Paint the Town Local" Window Decorating Contest


• Ticket collection at our Independent Movie Night


• Helping out at our "Buy Local, Be Local Bash" (huge party at the end of Buy Local Week)


• Distribute our 2nd printed edition of our Directory of Local Independent Businesses (sometime in November with party to follow at Taco Boy Downtown)


• Website Maintenance

If interested (I promise you won't be dissapointed!), please contact me (Amy) at amy@lowcountrylocalfirst.org.

Summary of Events/Mark Your Calendars!

There have been some great events going down in Chucktown these past few weeks.. and some great events to come! I figured I'd give a quick synopsis of how we've been involved...

October LLF Business Member Meeting at the wonderful Caviar & Bananas:

We had a great turn-out; business members old and new showed up to support the cause! A special thanks to Margaret for being a gracious host. We had presentations by Jonathon of Blue Bicycle Book Shop, Brady of HOOK, Murray of Appalachian Springs Water, and Margaret of Caviar & Bananas.

The 29th Annual Taste of Charleston: Sunday, October 11th

We were lucky enough to be invited to participate in this great event. This was my first time out to Boone Hall Plantation - it is absolutely fabulous! Great food, great people, great music in a breath-taking setting. A special thanks to Rachael, our amazing intern, for coming out to work the event as well!

Lowcountry Field Feast: Sunday, October 11th

I was unable to attend this event, however, Jamee and Elizabeth were able to represent! The feast was held at the Keegan Filion farm and was hosted by Marc & Annie Filion. Mike Lata, the renowned chef from FIG, prepared the meal. The event was held as a fundraiser for LLF and as an example of living/eating/enjoying local!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

- Saturday, October 17th - Downtown Farmer's Market: We will have a table at the market this weekend. Come on down and get some goodies from your local farmers, artisans and businesses! Stop by and chat!

- Wednesday, October 21st - Trident College's Community Activities Fair: I will venture over to Trident for the first time to attempt to convince their students why we're awesome and give them information about how they can become involved!

- Sunday, November 8th - Music on the Farm: Benefiting the Adaptive Gardens of the Low Country, this event will be held at Thornhill Farm in McClellanville, 10882 Highway 17 N, 2 miles on the right after the blinking yellow light. The event will be held from 12pm-5pm. Music by five local bands; hay rides, face painting and a jump castle for the kids; barbeque, oysters and booze for the adults! Buy tickets at: http://www.localmusiconthefarm.com/.

-Sunday, November 8th - Legare Farm's Fall Harvest Dinner: Proceeds from the dinner will go towards Legare Farm Educational Foundation. Celebrate the fall harvest with a "Meet the Farmer" social followed by dinner! The dinner will consist of dishes prepared from Legare Farm's beef, pork and fall harvest vegetables. Check out the link above for more details!

-Tuesday, December 1st-Sunday, December 6th: LLF's Buy Local Week: That's right, our second annual Buy Local Week! We'll be celebrating and promoting our local businesses for the entire week with a bunch of great events! Stay tuned for more details...

Welcome to the South!

I have the pleasure of introducing you to our new LLF Sustainable Agriculture Director! Check her out...

Name: Elizabeth Beaks

Background: Formally trained at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. She has spent the last 10 years learning and collaborating with others interested in cultivating a vibrant, local food system in the San Francisco Bay area. She has coordinated garden-based nutrition education programs in the public school system, piloted farmers markets in low income neighborhoods, worked on farms, and managed farmer's markets! (WOW)

Elizabeth has family in South Carolina and grew up going to Kiawah Island!

Sidenote #1: Elizabeth just DROVE here from the San Francisco Bay area with a friend and Kimdog (her Golden Retriever and trusted companion, who will also be joining us at the office on a daily basis!) Apparently it was quite the treat for Elizabeth to have the opportunity to jump into a WARM ocean once she had arrived...

Sidenote #2: Elizabeth is excited to meet the Lowcountry community of growers, producers, cooks and eaters and grow some innovative local projects together. She is also interested in any tips for sowing her garden patch in this SC climate.

So join me in welcoming our newest member! I know she has great things in store for LLF members and the Lowcountry community! YEA ELIZABETH!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

It's been almost a month since the 10% Shift Launch Party (time flies when you're having fun)... and LLF has gained a number of new local business members! Log on to our website to check them out!

LLF has also had the privilege to partner up with Michael Furlinger at Terrace Theater for the showing of the documentary "Food, Inc." If you missed the opening showing on Monday, check out the Terrace's website for further showings... It runs through Thursday, August 13th. We promise you won't look at your food the same way again!

Another reminder to keep SHIFTING! It's amazing the things that can be accomplished if we decide to dedicate ourselves and work together... (hence, the title of this blog.. a quote by anthropologist Margaret Mead). So continue to support your local businesses!! Also, keep an eye out for the second edition of our Directory of Local Independent Businesses. We hope to have them printed and ready to distribute mid-fall.

Your partner in localization....

A Cornucopia of Thanks!

Once again, it's been quite a while since my last post - but I have a good excuse! I was busy shifting!! And I wanted say many thanks to a number of people...

1. Thanks to all those who came out to our Press Conference at Marion Square!
2. Thanks to everyone who has been on board with the 10% Shift from the beginning and all those who continue to support us!
3. Thanks to our WONDERFUL volunteers who helped out for the 10% Shift Launch Party (you all know who you are... but a special shout-out to Christine Osborne at Wonder Works).
4. Thanks to Noisette for letting us use the great space!
5. Thanks to all of the local businesses, Part-Time Heroes (the band), the food vendors, Palmetto Brewery, Firefly Vodka and Wood Aesthetics for making the party a success.
6. Thanks to over 500 of you who attended the event!

Now, the important thing to remember is to keep shifting! Remember to use the 10% Coupon at participating businesses, and if you haven't already, SIGN THE PLEDGE!

It's a movement!

So we've officially launched the 10% Shift movement! LLF held a Press Conference this past Tuesday, June 30th in Marion Square downtown Charleston. We had a great turn-out of about 130 people! Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey and Mt. Pleasant Councilman Joe Bustos represented the three surrounding municipalities. Check out articles online at the Post and Courier and at Charleston City Paper.

Also, check out the news broadcast by Channel 4. And keep an ear out on the local radio stations for our radio ad (done by Jabar Communications).

Get involved! TAKE THE 10% PLEDGE! Visit the 10% Shift website and pledge to shift 10% of your annual budget to local independent businesses. You can also donate to the cause in exchange for "Shift Bling" (consisting of some sweet buttons, t-shirts and stickers). Finally, we have uploaded a great promotional video (thanks to Justin Nathanson at The Cut Company) and you can also find the list of businesses participating in our 10% Shift coupon. You have to visit the site - I was put in charge of managing it, and for a first-timer at the whole writing code-thing, I think it turned out well!

Last, but certainly not least, come to our 10% Shift Launch Party next Friday, July 10th! It runs from 7-10pm at 10 Storehouse Row at the Navy Yard. It will be a great way to continue with the 4th of July festivities and interact with your local business community! Taco Boy, Monza, Street Foods and The Barbeque Joint will be providing the food; Firefly and Palmetto will be providing the booze; Part-time Heroes will be providing the music. It only costs 10 cents to attend - so come join us! See you there!

Visit me at the Downtown Farmer's Market!

This coming Saturday, June 20th, I will be set up at a table at the Downtown Charleston Farmer's Market representing Lowcountry Local First and the 10% Shift! I will be set up near the Stage and will be arriving bright and early.

So come on down and pay me a visit! You can pick up some sweet LLF bumper stickers, some groovy 10% Shift stickers, our directory of local businesses and I will also be handing out 10% off Shift Coupons that you can use throughout the entire month of July at participating local businesses! So if you're planning to stop down at the market, come find me and pick up some free stuff!

BE SHIFTY

Just in case you haven't heard, there's a movement underfoot! LLF is promoting the 10% Shift, a grassroots movement of citizens, businesses, government agencies and nonprofits working to shift 10% or more of their annual budget to locally owned and INDEPENDENT businesses. It's such a simple idea - buy from your neighbors, keep the moolah in the community!

To promote this fantastic concept, not only are we partaking in some serious guerrilla marketing, but we are also holding two events in which you MUST attend. The information is as follows...

Press Conference

WHERE: Marion Square, Downtown Charleston

WHEN: Tuesday, June 30th, 10:00am.

WHAT: Mayor Riley, Mayor Summey and acting Mayor Smith will all be signing the "Declaration of Independents" and taking the 10% Pledge. You can sign the pledge, too! So come represent!

10% Shift Launch Party

WHERE: 10 Storehouse Row - The Navy Yard at Noisette

WHEN: Friday, July 10th, 7:00-10:00pm

ADMISSION: 10 cents

We will have live music with Part-Time Heroes, food from The BBQ Joint, Taco Boy (you know), Monza and Local Street Food as well as beer, Firefly Vodka and Shifty videos.

We also need volunteers, so if you're interested, email me at amy@lowcountrylocalfirst.org

Be there, or be square! But above all, BE SHIFTY!

I heart granola

I can definitely get down with some granola - it's such a brilliant concept. You can eat it in yogurt, milk, out of a bag, in a bar, in nuggets.... I had some great granola yesterday. Bobby Hendricks was kind enough to hand out a couple samples of his version of granola (gRAWnola) to Jamee and me. Their granola bars are gluten free, soy free, preservative free, peanut free and contain no processed sugar or flower. Many of the ingredients are organic and it tastes absolutely amazing. Apparently they're all over town. (I met Jamee for a meeting at Kudu Coffee on Vanderhorst and there they were, tempting me from the counter). So keep an eye out for these healthy and tasty treats. Almost forgot! Bonus point for the gRAWnola gang for becoming a member of LLF!!

Lovin' the Lowcountry

As I'm sure you all are aware (because you are avidly following my blogging brilliance), it's been a little while since my last post. The main reason for that is because I've been living at Taco Boy. The Downtown location just opened up last Tuesday and business has been good (check out the photo Jamee took). Although I've been enjoying every waking minute, I haven't had a lot of time to sit down to write!

However... this morning I was able to take a little adventure to some great local businesses. I say adventure because I still am not extremely familiar with the area - thank goodness for GPSs!

My first stop was at Hokus Pokus, a costume shop who have generously decided to donate a 17th century costume to us. We will be celebrating "Independent's Day" and need to look the part! If you need a great costume or want to chat it up with some great people (Giles Taylor is the owner), give them a call at 843-556-6607. They're located at 1015 St. Andrew's Blvd.

Next stop: Charleston Bicycle Co. I stopped in to see Mike who has decided to become a member of LLF! We're extremely excited to have them (especially because I have inherited an old Schwin bike and I'm not bike-savvy yet).

Stop numero three: Spirit Moves. Interested in Yoga or Nia? Well here's your spot. Oh yeah - they also believe in and sell chocolate... what could be better?

Stop four: Although I do work for Taco Boy, there's another great little Mexican place called Zia Taqueria. They are an "authentic Mexican taqueria" that uses natural ingredients. They're at 1956 Maybank Highway.

Finally, I made it over to Hall's Chophouse to drop off a decal. I spoke with Billy who has quite the personality! They're located on King Street.

I'll try to keep everyone posted. But just as a friendly reminder, if you need to find any local businesses/services, visit Lowcountry Local First's website to check out our online directory that lists all of our members.

Making the rounds

I swung down to King Street this morning to stop in to see some of our members - I wanted to introduce myself and make sure that they were stocked up on our directories (check it out online), decals and such.

I was able to make it in to the Blue Bicycle Book Shop, Mescon's Floor Coverings, Charleston Paint Co. and Bits of Lace. Everyone I spoke with was great! So, if you need a book for your kid, coverings for your floors, paint for your walls, or sexy undergarments... you know where to go!

Shout outs...

I wanted to give 2 shout outs this morning. One goes to Justin Nathanson (The Cut Company) who has helped me navigate my way around blogger - thanks to him, hopefully this blog will be even more stellar than before...

Next, some very important information! Taco Boy is getting ready to open at a second location downtown at 217 Huger Street. Awesome restuarant from their food, to their rehabilitated building, to their staff, to their recycling habits... they're opening this upcoming week! (And I am lucky enough to have been hired at the new location as a server! So come on down!)

The rain has finally let up, hope you're enjoying the sunshine!

Lowcountry Local First

Collard Lentil Soup = Success

My first time cooking with collard greens went extremly well! Next stop turnip fries..

Lowcountry Local First

Sunday Funday!

Since my last post, a lot has happened! So I'll give you the quickest synopsis I can...

Fun Fact #1: I received my first box of vegetables on Thursday! My roommate, Brittany, and I were absolutely geeked about it! The blessed box contained eggs (soooo much better than eggs you get at a supermarket - you HAVE to try them), collards (I think), green onions, turnips, radishes, broccoli, chard, carrots, strawberries and a spring lettuce mix that had some great arugula. After the initial excitement subsided a bit, Britt and I faced the reality of "what are we going to do with all of this?" Well, the biggest problem is the turnips, radishes, chard and collards. However, I'm going to try to make turnip fries, potato salad with radishes and lentil collard soup. Wish me luck!

Fun Fact #2: I went to the Downtown Charleston Farmer's Market yesterday! I was on a reconnaissance mission to take pictures of as many vegetables as possible for our new online directory and was able to chat with David Howe, owner of Owl's Nest Plantation, Rita Bachmann, of Rita's Roots and Karen Kennerty of Kennerty Farms. All three had incredible produce and it was a pleasure chatting with them. (I also managed to procure a bouquet of flowers from Thackery Farms which is now sitting in a water pitcher on my kitchen table. Brittany and I are determined to put a more feminine touch on our house).

Fun Fact #3: Leigh Webber, of Leigh Webber Photography and one of our newest members, does some great photography. She has just put out a newsletter. Check it out!

Fun Fact #4: I had my first Coast beer on Friday! (Actually, I had three...) And they were absolutely delicious! Their brewing facilities are located over at the Navy Yard in North Charleston (about 2 minutes away from our offices).

Well.. that about does it for the morning. My first weekend in Charleston exceeded all expectations (did I mention I also had my first trip out to the beach at Isle of Palms?)

Locally Yours...

Amy

Lowcountry Local First

Another first... my CSA!

Today is my first CSA pick-up day! For those of you who aren't aware of this amazing phenomenon, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Essentially, regular Joe's or Jane's, like myself, can purchase a share in a local farm. You pay for the share upfront and receive the products from the farm throughout the growing season. My roommates and I decided to get on board and purchased our share from Our Local Foods, LLC, a certified organic farm, producer and purveyor of local food products.

Maria Baldwin, who owns Our Local Foods is also on Lowcountry Local First's Board of Directors and is a great individual! Although I know she is extremely busy, she's making it a point to get my CSA share delivered to me today since the Daniel Island Farmer's Market (where I pick up my share) was cancelled because of rain. And I'm very grateful!

Our Local Foods provides organic produce ranging from berries, to flowers, to eggplants, to kale, to peppers, etc. The produce that my roommates and I will receive will be reflective of what is growing on the farm and what is in season. We'll receive 12 weeks of produce and can pick it up on Thursdays at our designated pick-up site.

So, as I'm blogging (term still sounds a little foreign to me) I'm also anxiously awaiting the drop-off of my veggies! Next challenge: figure out how to cook with all of them! And I welcome suggestions!

Check out Our Local Foods, LLC!

Lowcountry Local First

Breakfast at The Barbeque Joint

Day 2: This morning, I accompanied my boss, Jamee Haley (a wonderful individual) to The Barbeque Joint, a local restaurant located near Park Circle in North Charleston. The Barbeque Joint has started to serve breakfast ,so Jamee and I decided to head over and check it out. Scott Cloud (who I believe is the owner) whipped us up an egg, cheese and bacon biscuit and egg sandwich and sat down to chat.

The place is a great little spot and I will definitely have to try some of their barbeque (which I heard is delicious) some time in the near future! Not a bad way to start my second day!

p.s. If you feel the need for some barbeque or a quick egg biscuit and coffee to start your day, The Barbeque Joint is located at:

1083-A East Montague
North Charleston, SC
(843) 747-4567

First day... first blog!

Hi! My name is Amy Graul and I am the new Administrative Coordinator at Lowcountry Local First. Today is my first day on the job as well as the first day I can call myself a 'blogger' (so bear with me if I seem like a blogging beginner). As a contribution to this great organization, I wanted to document my experiences in and around the local community. Naturally, blogging seemed the best way to accomplish this. So here I go....

Quick introduction; I just received my Master's Degree from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. My concentration was in Behavior, Education and Communication. I was lucky enough to secure a position with Lowcountry Local First, and now, here I am. What attracted me most to this particular organization was the emphasis placed on supporting local economies, businesses and agriculture (exactly what I had been studying in Michigan). Additionally, South Carolina is significantly warmer than Michigan and I am definitely not cut out for the cold.

I look forward to meeting, working with and supporting the many local businesses and people in and around Charleston! As I'm brand new to the area, I'm sure that I'll have plenty of stories to share!

Well, that about does it for my first posting... they'll get better, I promise! So stay tuned!