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The Picks: Swimming
THE GIFT
Breaking Bread
Sullivan County feels A Single Bite’s lasting impact. | By Mia Cárdenas
sullivan county is home to Sims and Kristen Foster, co-founders of non-pro t A Single Bite. Three years past launch, they say their mission has been centered around community, education, feeding and empowering students and families about the food they eat, and where it comes from.
“In 2019, we set out to establish an educational program for students and within the rst quarter, our primary goal was reached,” says A Single Bite’s Executive Director, Audrey Garro.
The organization now has educational programs in three di erent schools within Sullivan County where middle school students are engaged in nutritional education, agricultural and natural sciences, cooking and food education and social skill and workforce development. “There has been a positive reaction from the students,” Garro says. “They become more aware about the choices they make when they eat.”
When COVID hit, Garro says A Single Bite was fortunate that the media kept telling their story about the reality of food insecurity in Sullivan County. “By March 20, 2020 we were feeding 600 people and sending out 2,500 servings of food every week,” she says. “By summer, we were feeding folks twice a week.” To keep the word of mouth going, Garro says the organization stays active in their fundraising e orts by hosting cocktail parties, receiving products from local farmers and most recently hosting one of their larger fundraising events at Resorts World Catskills with celebrity Chef Scott Conant.
“At A Single Bite, we’re feeding and educating our neighbors with real food, and encouraging our community to choose better food options so they grow to be healthier adults,” she says.
breakfast club A Single Bite’s mission is centered around community education and feeding Sullivan County families.
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WE HAVE QUESTIONS Love In The Time Of COVID
Gary Shteyngart’s Our Country Friends captures the local angst and friendships during those endless days of quarantine.
i love a funny book and author Gary Shteyngart’s newest novel, Our Country Friends, is a very funny book. It’s also a super-fresh, moving tale that follows a pack of friends (and one self-important Hollywood actor) as they ride out the pandemic together with hilarity and hijinks. Even better: it was penned—and is set—in the Catskills. Shteyngart, best known for 2010’s Super Sad True Love Story, grew up summering in these parts—and it shows. Lucky for us, the satirist, who lives both here and in Manhattan, gamely agreed to answer our most pressing questions.
–Rebecca Hardiman It was BYOH—Bring
Your Own Humor. Your Own Humor.
In the book, there’s a In the book, there’s a restaurant that’s known restaurant that’s known for its hand sanitizer and for its hand sanitizer and there was one in Hudson I there was one in Hudson I kept returning to because kept returning to because the sanitizer was so nice. the sanitizer was so nice. The food was OK, too. The food was OK, too.
Is your place in the Catskills similar to the compound you portray in the book? It’s in the Greater Rhinebeck area. Sadly, I only have one guest house, so there’s no room for the crazy shenanigans that take place in my book. But like Sasha, the protagonist, I do have a nice, covered porch and beautiful meadows all around.
Why did you choose the Catskills as opposed to, say, the Hamptons?
I spent my summers in a Russian bungalow colony in the Catskills and it was the best part of my childhood. I’ve been in love ever since. What are the Hamptons?
Time to reveal your favorite local spot. I love walking Mills Mansion right at the edge of the Hudson. What a lovely hike!
How key was having a sense of humor when you and yours decamped to the Catskills during the pandemic? How would the book been di erent if you’d written it in New York City?
It would suck.
