Slow Food St. Louis

Lambstravaganza

3rd Annual Feast in the Field w/ Prairie Grass Farms

A dinner to benefit Slow Food St. Louis, Lambstravaganza is a multi-course dinner generously prepared for the third year running by Chef Tim Grandinetti. This year he has also enlisted additional help and will bring with him three more of St. Louis best chefs: Lou Rook III (Annie Gunn’s), Dave Owens and Margaret Kelly (Bissinger’s Chocolate), and Kevin Nashan (Sidney Street Cafe). The family-style meal will feature grass-fed lamb and free-range eggs produced by our Prairie Grass Farms hosts, Dave and Barb Hillebrand, as well as other Missouri products. Wine pairings will be provided with each course by Les Bourgeois and beer will also be provided by Schlafly.

Prior to dinner Dave Hillebrrand will give a walking tour of the farm for those interested.

Who: Slow Food St. Louis
What: Lambstravaganza
When: Sunday June 8, 2008, 2-6 p.m.
Where: Prairie Grass Farms, 230 Manley Road, New Florence, MO 63363

Tickets are $60 for Slow Food Members and $75 for non-members and will go on sale to the public Wednesday May 21.

With only 60 seats available the event is sure to sell out quickly so check back Wednesday.

Slow Food has a program called the Ark of Taste which aims to rediscover and catalogue forgotten flavors, documenting excellent food products that are in danger of disappearing. More than 750 products from dozens of countries worldwide have been added to the international Ark of Taste which contains everything from heirloom vegetables to heritage animal breeds to salumi.

Bringing it closer to home, here are just a few items listed in the Ark with a strong foothold in Missouri:

• black walnuts
• norton grapes
• red wattle hogs
• traditional Sorghum syrup

LocalHarvest has now partnered with Slow Food USA and will be helping to bring attention the Ark of Taste by utilzing the LocalHarvest database to to find more farmers and artisanal food producers who might be interested in producing Ark of Taste products. They have also listed all of the Ark of Taste products independently under each farmers listing so that consumers can more easily find these unique items and learn about their place in our American food heritage.

More on the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste can be found here, and further information on the partnership is available on LocalHarvest’s website.

Free and open to the public the 19th Annual St. Louis Earth Day Festival is happening this Sunday April 20, 2008. The theme of the event is In Your Own Back Yard and “highlights local initiatives and practical environmental advice that can be implemented in communities throughout our region.”

Among the food related happenings, Slow Food St. Louis will be manning a booth, and “the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market will be on hand to welcome spring with area growers offering a variety of produce, herbs, plants and other goodies.”

So come on out and don’t forget the actual Earth Day on April 22.

Big news from the Washington, MO Farmers’ Market…

The 2008 Farmers’ Market will open Saturday, April 19, in historic downtown Washington, Missouri, in its brand new facility at the corner of Main and Cedar Sts. As it has since 1990, the Market will offer fresh, locally grown produce; hand-crafted items; eggs; baked goods; jellies and jams; and herbs, cut flowers, bedding plants, and perennials. Vendors represent Franklin and adjoining counties. Read the rest of this entry »

Hoping to “turn the corner and make the market a financially viable operation,” Tower Grove Farmers’ Market is “in the heart of [their] fund raising drive for the 2008 season.”

Currently they have raised only 10% of their contribution goal of $15,000, so if you are a patron of the market, please consider making a donation no matter how small. The money will be used to pay the markets “insurance, equipment, promotional materials, and operating expenses” so that we can continue to enjoy what has become one of the finest markets in our region.