Slow Food St. Louis

March 12 at 8PM there will be a viewing of the film The Real Dirt On Farm John at the Schlafly Bottleworks.

Given the opportunity we have to view this film together, we felt a change of venue was in order, so the March monthly meeting will be moved to this location.

The viewing is free, but donations are welcome to benefit Angelic Organics and Spikenard Farm

Also, this is open to the public, so anyone can go to see only the film.

Please view the event calendar for complete meeting details and a flyer for the event.

Come Join Slow Food St. Louis for A Friendly Game of Food Trivia to benefit Slow Food St. Louis

• When: Saturday March 22 7-10 p.m.
• Where: Mad Art Gallery; 2727 S. 12th St., St. Louis, MO 63118 [Map It!]

PRE-PURCHASE ONLY

Admission is $20 per person for tables of 8-10 players. The fee includes Schlafly Beer, wine, soda, and water. We’ll be offering fantastic raffle items and interactive categories sure to delight your senses.

Payment can be made online via Brown Paper Tickets.

On Sunday, a California meat company issued the largest beef recall in US history, which provides us with an important opportunity to raise awareness of Slow Food and the atrocities of CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations). Hopefully, the Slow Food movement can turn a lot of people on to eating the healthy, humanely raised meat grown by our local farmers.

You can find locally produced meats at Local Harvest Grocery on Morganford in Tower Grove. Whole Foods carries some locally produced meats, and Sappington Farmers’ Market is now owned by a Missouri Farmers’ Coop. And there are still farmers’ markets taking place, where you can purchase directly from the farmer. This Saturday, the Maplewood Winter Market takes place at Schlafly Bottleworks from 9 am to 1 pm, and Farrar Out Farm and Greenwood Farms deliver monthly to the Kirkwood Farmers’ Market. Make sure to check out our awesome database of farmers here on the Slow Food St. Louis website. It’s only a start and is still so impressive, thanks to member hard work and devotion. Many farmers welcome customers to come out to the farm or have a nearby farmstand.

This meat produced by small, local farmers is incomparable in flavor and infinitely more healthful—not just because it’s not going to have E coli or mad cow disease, but because it’s raised naturally and offers more nutrition than industrial meat. For more info on this, read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma or Nina Planck’s Real Food. And here’s a little article from Nina’ website to whet your appetite: http://www.ninaplanck.com/index.php?article=pork_redeemed

On the cover of the Post-Dispatch today is an article on CSAs and the new non-profit Fair Shares, a combined CSA from Slow Food St Louis co-leader Sara Hale and her sister Jamie Choler. This is prime timing for people who have just been introduced to the horrors of the industrial meat industry. You can read the article online.

Visit http://www.fairshares.org to learn about Fair Shares, and listen in tonight on KDHX, FM88.1, from 7:30 to 8:00 as Sara and Jamie discuss Fair Shares and the local food scene. To learn more about other CSAs in the area, visit http://www.localharvest.org.

Last night, Slow Food St. Louis hosted a chocolate talk and tasting with Alan McClure, founder of Patric Chocolate in Columbia, MO.

From the beginning of his talk, it became readily apparent that Alan is extremely passionate about chocolate. He also loves to educate folks about all things chocolate and educated we became about the intricate process that is chocolate making.

As a self-professed “micro-producer of fine chocolate,” Alan is one of only five artisan chocolate makers in the United States who produce “from bean to bar,” that is, he begins the process with harvested, fermented, and dried cacao (or cocoa beans) from Madagascar then cleans, roasts, winnows, refines, conchs, ages, and packages the chocolate himself.

Alan also taught us about the fine art of chocolate tasting. In a nutshell, here’s what to do:

1. Smell the chocolate.
2. Break off a piece and pay attention to the sound as it should “snap.”
3. Put the chocolate in your mouth, break it apart slightly, and let it begin to melt.
4. Move the chocolate around to all parts of your tongue.
5. Breathe in.
6. Explore the flavors at the beginning, middle, and end, and put a name to the flavors you taste.

Sounds simple enough, huh?

Alan currently produces two products, a “67% Madagascar Sambirano Valley” made with only cocoa beans, sugar, and cocoa butter, and a “70% Madagascar Sambirano Valley” made with only cocoa beans and sugar. The Slow Foodies is attendance thought that the 67% bar had hints of grape, apple, red wine, and “nuttiness,” while their comments on the 70% bar ranged from raspberry and orange to tomato and coffee. No matter what you tasted, both were delicious.

Patric Chocolate is available online at their Chocolate Store. The website also hosts a blog, written by Alan, which includes information about chocolate making, chocolate tasting, and lots, lots more.

With two other products under development right now, Patric Chocolate has a lot to offer. Order yours today.

CHANGE OF VENUE:

March 12 at 8PM there will be a viewing of the film The Real Dirt On Farm John at the Schlafly Bottleworks.

Given the opportunity we have to view this film together, the monthly meeting in March will be moved to this location.

Agenda:

• 6 PM - Slow Food St. Louis monthly meeting
• 7 PM - continued meeting, or break for dinner
• 8 PM - The Real Dirt on Farmer John

Cost: Free, but donations are welcome to benefit Angelic Organics and Spikenard Farm

Here also is the flyer for the event: