“Local company brings produce to the front porch (Royal Oak Daily Tribune)” plus 1 more

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Local company brings produce to the front porch (Royal Oak Daily Tribune) Posted: 21 Mar 2010 03:08 AM PDT By Keith Harris, For the Daily Tribune Click to enlarge Vaughn Gurganian/For the Daily Tribune Donna Webb, co-owner of Dobrasevic Food Company, packs a box of produce to be delivered to a home. When Donna Webb isn't homeschooling her two children or tutoring kids in math, she's delivering fresh produce from local farms straight to customers' doors. Founded in June by Webb and her brother Stevan Dobrasevic, the Dobrasevic Food Co. was born out of a desire to give people access to fresh produce. "When Farmer Jack stores closed, my brother and I were talking about how it would affect people. We noticed that in many areas, people did not seem to have access to fresh produce and wondered if there was some way we could solve this problem. "We also thought about home-bound seniors, people that can't get out much, and wondered how they can get access to fresh produce?" she said. Not only is the Dobrasevic Food Co. delivering good health straight to the porches of all their customers, they are also helping deliver a stronger economy by using local farmers. "I try to buy as local as I possibly can and when we started this business, we wanted to find as many local farms as we could. I drove around a lot and visited numerous local farms and orchards in search of high quality produce and meticulous farming practices," she said. Two of the places Webb found on her drive turned out to be some of her biggest suppliers. "I found some that were really good like Kutchey Farms out in Macomb Township and Verellen Orchards in Romeo," she said. Even in the winter season, Webb is supporting local producers. "Right now, you can buy Michigan potatoes, onions, apples, pears, etc. because they're all storage crops, so what I can buy from Michigan, I do," she said. And when she can't buy from Michigan farmers, she still tries to buy close by. "It's still local in that we buy the least traveled produce, and use a family owned local wholesaler, Del Bene Produce." During the peak growing season, just about everything that Dobrasevic delivers is grown in Michigan. "What's really cool is that in the spring, summer and fall, the boxes are about 95 percent Michigan-grown and the only thing we supplement are fruits like oranges and bananas," Webb said, referring to the availability of local produce. Webb is not only co-owner of the company but she also personally sees to it that what they're delivering is of the best possible quality. "I personally go get all the produce every morning. I like to see what we're getting and what's going into those boxes because I want only the best produce that Michigan can offer," she said. The boxes of produce come in two sizes and typically contain 75 percent staple items such as onions, potatoes, lettuce, and apples, and 25 percent seasonal or specialty items, like squashes, arugula, kale, etc. Along with the freshest and top quality produce, the boxes include a newsletter that lists the items contained in that box, a recipe for some of the contents and a health column explaining the benefits of some the produce. When asked about the importance of the company, Webb said, "Because of the way people eat, especially the way kids are eating, the statistics prove that if you have it in your house, you're more likely to eat it, so if you have this box coming to you every week and you've spent the money for it, you're a little bit more driven to use it." Parents love the service because it saves them time at the grocery store and their kids are eating healthier and eager to see what fresh produce looks like straight from a farm. "One of our customers e-mailed me last week and said that her daughter was so excited because she was eating big bunny carrots — she thought they always came as the baby carrots that you buy in the bags at the grocery store," Webb said. "Another customer recently told me that her children look forward to their 'surprise box' every week and I personally think it's a great thing for kids to look forward to." For more information about Dobrasevic Food Co. in Troy, call (248) 577-0300 or go online to www.dobrasevicfoodcompany.com. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Passaic schools may cut 138 jobs (The Record and Herald News) Posted: 21 Mar 2010 06:25 AM PDT PASSAIC — As they scramble to meet a $10.3 million state aid reduction, school officials are considering reducing the district's workforce by 138 employees. The announcement preceded a protest Friday afternoon outside Assemblyman Gary Schaer's Howe Avenue office, with teachers calling for the state to protect their pensions and medical benefits in five bills that would reform the tax-funded pensions. Schaer, D-36th District, told the crowd of more than 50 teachers that he would convey their concerns to leaders in Trenton, while promising he was fighting with them. The Board of Education on Thursday night passed a $245 million budget for 2010-11, which takes effect July 1. The budget represents a 2.5 percent spending drop from this year's budget. The state Education Department on Wednesday announced plans to distribute $8 billion to school districts, about $1 billion, or 11 percent, less than last year, as part of Governor Christie's push to narrow a $10 billion state deficit. "It's quite unprecedented," said Henry Lee, the school district's business administrator. Schools Superintendent Robert H. Holster on Thursday laid out a plan for finding savings, including targeting the district's 58 teacher's aides, non-union staff members who assist in the classrooms. He proposed reducing spending on special education, custodians, administration, substitute teachers and pre- and after-school programs such as English as a Second Language. Holster said he would cut from support services to ensure that classroom instruction remains secure. Still, he warned board members that classroom sizes would increase, teachers would be asked to do more with less and programs for the community would be slashed. "No longer do we provide traditional services during school hours," Holster said. "But we do it before school. We do it after school, for children and for parents." "I think everyone has to wake up, because the dollar is short in this city," Holster said. Steve Boudalis, president of the Passaic Education Association, the teachers union, said he organized his members to protest Friday to send a message to Trenton. "Basically it's going to hurt the schools," Boudalis said. "The students are going to suffer with reduced resources." Boudalis, who represents 1,586 teachers, said the state is using public employees as scapegoats during a weak economy. "To turn around and take it out on the public employees — and teachers in particular — is extreme and unfair," he added. Although Holster said he would release more specifics on future cuts at the board's March 31 meeting, he alluded on Thursday to two specific possible cuts. The school district spent $1 million for substitute teachers this year, which the superintendent hopes to cut by half. Holster also suggested possibly contracting some of the district's custodial work to a private company, in an attempt to reduce the $300,000 spent in overtime in that department. This article contains material from the Associated Press. E-mail: macinnes@northjersey.com Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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