Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County

08/26/2026

A community-wide response to SNAP changes in Tompkins County:
When upcoming SNAP changes raised concerns about their impact on our community, local organizations decided to work together.

The SNAP Working Group brought together nonprofits and partners from food access, health, social services, workforce development, and other sectors to ask an important question: How can we support our community and keep people from falling through the cracks?

In this video, hear how organizations are sharing ideas, solving problems, and building connections to help residents navigate these changes with less stress.

This collaboration also led to Tompkins Opportunity (link in comments), a shared resource connecting residents with volunteer, training, and employment opportunities.

This is part of a three-video series highlighting the SNAP changes, our community’s response, and Tompkins Opportunity, where residents can find volunteer, training, and employment opportunities. Please share this video with your clients, staff, volunteers, and community networks.
Foodnet Meals on Wheels Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County Challenge Workforce Solutions Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County Tompkins County Whole Health Department Loaves & Fishes of Tompkins County Food Bank of the Southern Tier Tompkins Chamber Ithaca Health Alliance & Ithaca Free Clinic United Way of Tompkins County Catholic Charities Tompkins/Tioga The Reach Project, INC & Reach Medical PLLC Jeremiah Craig Tompkins County Office for the Aging

08/26/2026

❓What’s happening with SNAP in Tompkins County?
Changes to SNAP work requirements (formerly known as food stamps) could impact many people in Tompkins County.
🎥In this video, local professionals explain what’s changing, who may be affected, and what it could mean for our community.
📱Many SNAP recipients will still qualify for exemptions, and individual circumstances vary. If you have questions about your SNAP case, contact Tompkins County DSS at 607-274-5680.

This is part of a three-video series highlighting the SNAP changes, our community’s response, and Tompkins Opportunity (link in comments), where residents can find volunteer, training, and employment opportunities. Please share this video with your clients, staff, volunteers, and community networks.
Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County Tompkins County Office for the Aging Foodnet Meals on Wheels Challenge Workforce Solutions Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County Tompkins County Whole Health Department Loaves & Fishes of Tompkins County Tompkins Chamber Ithaca Health Alliance & Ithaca Free Clinic United Way of Tompkins County Catholic Charities Tompkins/Tioga The Reach Project, INC & Reach Medical PLLC Jeremiah Craig

08/25/2026

There are two more Tuesday walking group sessions planned with Bike Walk Tompkins . This will be a chance to meet other local people, learn more about your own health journey, and spend time outdoors! Even if you haven't joined in yet or missed a few sessions, you're still welcome! 🚶

Our summer walking group is continuing into September! Meet up at the Ithaca Community Gardens pavilion at 5:50 pm on Tuesdays for a walking group starting and ending at the pavilion. Enjoy a relaxed, two mile social walk on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and other walking paths with special guests.
This walking series is a collaboration between Bike Walk Tompkins and Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County.

Tuesdays thru 9/1 | 5:50pm | Ithaca Community Gardens, Cayuga Park Ln.

Check Bike Walk Tompkins social media each week for more up-to-date changes due to weather!

https://www.facebook.com/bikewalktompkins
https://www.facebook.com/ccetompkins

Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County

08/25/2026

Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County will be at the library on Thursday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m. to demonstrate how to can tomatoes!

08/24/2026

In this presentation on Thursday, August 27, we will cover the essential features of syntropic agroforestry. This event is free, and you can sign up online at CCETompkins.org/events/2026/08/27/syntropic-agroforestry-introduction-webinar .

What does syntropy mean, and how can we achieve it? We will discuss what is meant by the macro-organism, how ecological succession is used as a guiding principle, how forest stratification is treated, and the importance of pruning to drive the system.

We will also look at examples of farms and how syntropic agroforestry has changed the land as well as ecological and economic productivity. We will only touch on design and management in an introductory way, but these will be expanded on in the second part of this series.

Instructor Erik Schellenberg is the natural resource educator and commercial horticulture educator with CCE Orange County. He is also a student of Ernst Götsch, the creator of syntropic agroforestry and works to bring this way of approaching agriculture to North America.

08/20/2026

Our summer walking group is continuing into September! Meet up at the Ithaca Community Gardens pavilion at 5:50 pm on Tuesdays for a walking group starting and ending at the pavilion. Enjoy a relaxed, two mile social walk on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and other walking paths with special guests.
This walking series is a collaboration between Bike Walk Tompkins and Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County.

Tuesdays thru 9/1 | 5:50pm | Ithaca Community Gardens, Cayuga Park Ln.

Check Bike Walk Tompkins social media each week for more up-to-date changes due to weather!

https://www.facebook.com/bikewalktompkins
https://www.facebook.com/ccetompkins

Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County

08/14/2026

🌼 Native Plant Garden Tour: 1-4 pm, Sunday, August 30! 🌻

Sponsored by Tompkins Pollinator Pathways and CCE Tompkins Master Gardeners' Native Plant committee, a mix of public and private gardens in the downtown Northside and Fall Creek areas will be open for viewing. Come see how native plants are being incorporated into gardens that serve both aesthetic and environmental interests. Our urban environments - from parks or natural lands to small spaces like backyards and flower boxes, can all be a part of a pollinator pathway.

Come meet the gardeners and their gardens, get inspired to grow more native plants, start thinking more about gardening with a purpose and creating gardens that not only surround us with beauty but also help support our native insects and birds. Pick up a map of the tour locations on August 30 at CCE Tompkins, 615 Willow Avenue in Ithaca.

The tour will be held rain or shine. It starts at the Cooperative Extension office and the entire route is just over 2 miles so you can walk, bike, or drive. No registration required.

08/13/2026

Join a free online presentation exploring the above-business-as-usual maintenance costs of farming in a conservation-minded way. This Opportunity Cost describes the combined unaccounted-for price of activities like no-till field labor hours, or maintaining acreage as riparian buffers along streams instead of converting that into direct-production space. Identifying the factors involved will provide context for what scale of ecosystem service payment is necessary to address these above-business-as-usual costs.

Dr. Becca Jablonski and Dr. Allison Bauman will share the methods & approach developed by our research team, the initial findings from year one, and discuss the ways in which this work will be built upon in the coming year. We look forward to your contributions to the Q&A session after the presentation!

This event is free, but contributions provide scholarship funds for others to attend classes & cover material costs where needed. Learn more and sign up at CCETompkins.org/events/2026/08/28/opportunity-costs-of-conservation-minded-farming to get the Zoom link.

08/11/2026

Have plans for Tuesday evenings? Spend the late days of summer walking with Extension staff, Bikewalk Tompkins, local professionals, and friends and neighbors! Each walk starts and ends at the Ithaca Community Gardens, and new walkers are welcome, every week through September 1.

Our summer walking group is continuing into September! Meet up at the Ithaca Community Gardens pavilion at 5:50pm on Tuesdays for a walking group led our friends at Cornell Cooperative Extension, starting and ending at the pavilion. Enjoy a relaxed, two mile social walk on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and other walking paths featuring special guests each week including Cayuga Health professionals!

Check Bike Walk Tompkins social media each week for more up-to-date changes due to weather!

08/10/2026

Join us for a free tour of a local farm hosting a significant trial for the NY Nut Growers Association English Walnut Project! The location also includes shagbark and shellbark hickories, apples, pears, plums, black locusts, and a vegetable garden. The tour will take place 10 am-12 pm, Saturday, August 15, and the location in Steuben County will be sent to those who register: CCETompkins.wufoo.com/forms/m8ruypj0frlx5x .

The tour will be led by Carl Albers, Vice President of the NY Nut Growers Association. Carl is doing his best to foster early nut production through organic fertilization and other options for regenerative nut tree culture. You will learn about soil fertility, ways to improve soil drainage, and a regenerative approach to growing nut trees.