I just want to tell you all that I have earned my Gold Award. For those of you who don't know what this means, the Gold Award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouts and I have slowly but surely been earning it. This blog has been part of my project and is probably the part that turned out the best. Even though my project is now done, this blog will continue to grow and I hope be it will be used by people who are looking to use more local foods. Now that I have earned my award, my Mom is going to join me in keeping this blog up-to-date. We will be adding new recipes and comments at any free moment and when we have a delicious recipe.
I have learned so much from doing this project and I loved doing it, too. I learned how to cook better and because of this I have been eating tons of more delicious food. The new fruits, vegetables, and other types of food that I have gotten to try have widened my taste pallet and maybe made me gain a few pounds, but really, who cares! My leadership skills improved and I learned how to really get out there and support things I believe in. The farmers I met are great and fascinating people that you should get to know as well. Talking to them was so interesting and I learned so much more from them that I never knew before. With all this talking, I think I became more confidant and comfortable with voicing my ideas and thoughts. There are many more things I learned from this project, including learning that failure is always going to occur but you just have to keep going since this project had a couple of glitches and issues along the way. For example, next time around, I will know how to make the Annual Girl Scout Day at the Downtown Farmers Market a little different and interesting for kids since I plan to help make this an annual event.
I truthfully couldn't have done it without a great number of people, but there are a few I would love to name. Gwen Crist was my advisor and she was so supportive and encouraging. She is in charge of Slow Food Utah and helped me throughout the project. I met a lot of farmers because she introduced me to them and got to help at many local food events because she encouraged me to do so. Kim Angelli was another wonderful woman who helped me with everything Downtown Farmers Market related. She runs the market with incredible grace and encouraged me to get out there and talk to the farmers. Every week she printed my recipes and I would just grab them and hand them out. Tara Poelzing has also been a great person to get to know as she also builds her local food website, localfood.com, which talks about local food in Utah. Her support was very helpful throughout my project. Connie Gates, my mentor for a long time was a great support as well as a great reminder to get my Gold Award final report submitted (which is a big ordeal). The last, but definitely not least, is my mother Doreen Kulikowski. She is a wonderful woman who has made a big difference in my life. Her enthusiasm, support, and help with cooking has definitely has been super helpful. Without my Mom's guidance, I could have not done so well, not just with this project, but with many other things.
Thank you all!
This project has just been so amazing and I personally believe that even if you are not a Girl or Boy Scout, you should get out there and do some advocacy or community service, because it feels great. I hope you all enjoyed some aspect of my project as much as I did and thanks.
Congratulations!!
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