[FiPS Cares]: Dining Out For Irene!

Robicelli's Cupcakes / Via Cupcakes Take the Cake

It's pissing cats and dogs in Brooklyn again. And as annoying as that is for those of us who live here, it's gotta' be a gazillion times more upsetting to the folks upstate who grow our food.  

Produce from local CSA groups, including the Park Slope CSA and the Windsor Terrace/Kensington CSA, comes from the farms upstate that were hit hard by Irene. The Windsor Terrace CSA reports:

The damage was greatest on the summer crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and winter squash.  The cucumbers and squash are pretty much destroyed from the wind whipping tender leaves and stems.  Beets, Swiss chard and cauliflower plants lost leaves, their roots were damaged, and some young seedlings were damaged.  Tomato plants fared well but all the fruit was knocked off, and the late blight fungus, which has already been present in spots this summer, may rebound now that there is so much wetness all around, and kill of the remaining plants.   

Boo!

And what about the restaurants that rely heavily on local producers?  Well, they're affected, too -- which is why they've come together to give YOU a chance to help.  

You've already dropped off your surplus canned goods, children's shoes and panty shields at Boing Boing. To help EVEN MORE you're going to have to go out to eat in the Slope. On September 25th, Palo Santo will donate up to 10% of its sales to aiding local farmers affected by Hurricane Irene as part of an evening known as Dine Out Irene. As of now there are only two other Brooklyn eateries participating -- Buttermilk Channel and Robicelli's -- but, honestly, if you're looking for an excuse to eat in the neighborhood, the two best reasons I can think of are a cupcake from Robicelli's and the duck meatloaf at Buttermilk Channel.

Let's hope that more restaurants in the neighborhood sign up for the effort. Our quality of life, food-wise, is largely dependent on people nearby who grow healthy shit for us to eat.  It goes both ways, ppl. Get on this, stat!