Thursday, November 29, 2007

Celebrate Gingerbread Houses for Share the Bounty!

SUNDAY DECEMBER 2nd, 3 - 5 pm
Join us for holiday fun at the Lenox Community Center to benefit Share the Bounty!
View Gingerbread Houses, take one home, bring your children and give them an opportunity to create their own Gingerbread House.
Door Prizes, refreshments provided by Wheatleigh, fun for a good cause!

Buy Local? or Buy Locally?

Thanks to Serious Eats [seriouseats.com] for the tip about our use of our language:

The Language of 'Local'

Posted by Adam Kuban, November 20, 2007 at 2:00 PM

If you're a stickler for grammar, the phrases "eat local," "buy local," "shop local," etc., no doubt grate on your ears. They should, of course, use the adverb "locally." Language Log takes a look at these neologisms and makes a case for their use.

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005123.html

FROM LANGUAGE LOG:
November 16, 2007
Think globally, protect amorphously

Because of earlier Language Log posts on constructions like "Drive Safe" and "Think Different", a reader in Ridgefield CT thought we might be interested in the latest episode in this grammatical saga:

Recently, there's been a slight fracas at my local planning and zoning commission over signs saying "Shop Local". The board almost denied permits to put up the signs, with one member of the board saying they were "horrific grammar" and should instead say "shop locally." One board member (John Katz) was quoted in the local paper as saying "Just as art is amorphous, so is the concept of protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public. I believe exposing people to the horrific grammar of these signs is in direct opposition to protecting the public's welfare."

There's a related case, highlighted by the recent spread of locavorosity, where the distinction between local and locally seems to me to make a difference. Many of the 1,130,000 Google hits for {"buy local"} seem to come from the movement to buy locally-produced food. The top hits for {"buy locally"} are connected to the same movement, but there are only 353,000 of them. Some of these are from phrases like "buy locally-grown food"; some come from the catchphrase-substitution "think globally, buy locally"; others may be the result of a copy-editor's intervention to correct someone's attempt to write "buy local". But it seems to me that "buy locally" commits me only to carrying out the transaction of purchasing in the local area, without any implication about where the stuff I buy comes from. In contrast, "buy local" is naturally interpreted to mean "buy local stuff".

to read more, copy and paste in:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005123.html
Posted by Mark Liberman at November 16, 2007 08:12 AM

Monday, November 19, 2007

WINTER 2007 AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION GATHERINGS

Saturday, December 1 – Hancock Shaker Village
Saturday, January 12 – Hotel Northampton


Catch up on the latest information on many local and statewide agricultural subjects.

December 1 Agenda - Hancock Shaker Village
Welcome and Review of MDAR Programs – Scott Soares, Acting Commissioner
Ag Business Training Opportunities – Rick Chandler, MDAR
Agricultural Marketing & Farmers Markets – Kelly Coleman, CISA
Energy Efficiency & Alternate Energy Systems for Farms – Glenn Cook, Cider Hill Farm, and
Darlene Monds, Berkshire-Pioneer RC&D (Farm Energy Program)
The Value of Agriculture to the Town Economy – Rep from First Pioneer Credit
Chapter 61-61A Changes – Doug Gillespie, Acting Director, Mass Farm Bureau
Educating the Public about Local Agriculture – Lenore Paul, Mass Ag in the Classroom
The New “Planning for Agriculture” Guide for Municipalities – Cris Coffin, American
Farmland Trust
Handling Ag Disputes Part II – Loraine Della Porta, Mass Office of Dispute Resolution
Roundtable Discussion – Reports from Ag Commissions

Sponsored by: Mass DAR, Berkshire-Pioneer RC&D, TTOR-Highland Communities Initiative, CISA, Mass Farm Bureau, American Farmland Trust, Franklin Land Trust, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Berkshire Grown, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Sheffield Land Trust, Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation

For more information: Pete Westover, MDAR, 413-665-4077, westover03@comcast.net
Ann Gibson, Berkshire-Pioneer RC&D, 413-256-1607 x 2, agibson.rcd@verizon.net
(registration only)