June 21st, 2008 at 2:42 pm | 0 Comments |
Categories: General, news
From Kurt Friese
Hello Slow Food Heartland!
I’ve already spoken to a few of you individually, but this email is for the entire Slow Food Heartland community regarding our emerging efforts to help the farmers and food artisans affected by the storms and floods of the last couple weeks throughout the Heartland. There are a number of ways you and your convivia can help, and I hope you will consider any or all of them
We have established the
Terra Madre Relief Fund for precisely this purpose. Some of you may remember of the great successes this fund had, under Poppy Tooker’s able guidance, in raising over $40K to help victims of Katrina and Rita. Today the fund exists to help all those farmers and food artisans struck by natural disasters nationwide, and right now the focus is on the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
While we are indeed fortunate that the loss of human life in this tragedy has been relatively low, the stories are nonetheless as sad as they are all too numerous; such as Susan, a farmer in Iowa who’s 102-year-old barn was lost to one of the storms last week, leaving much of her livestock without shelter; and Andrew, who’s entire crop of heirloom lettuces took a beating from the hail that same week. Livestock has been swept away, almost 3 million acres of of freshly planted farmland is underwater and 35,000 people’s homes have been destroyed - this in Iowa alone. Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri are seeing much of the same.
But just as it was for so many after Katrina, such as Kay and Ray Brandhurst, the shrimpers in Louisiana who’s trawler got a new engine thanks to the
TM Relief Fund, so that they could get back to providing good, clean, fair food, there is hope for the folks in the Heartland as well. We intend to help get these farmers back to the markets, and get those markets back up and running.
So I am writing to ask you for your help, not just for donations (though of course we need those too), but also for the stories of the people you know who were affected by this terrible flood.
Please also consider organizing a benefit event within your convivium to help us raise the money that is so desperately needed, or perhaps to refocus an event you already have planned to benefit flood relief. And please be sure to ask each of your members to give generously at
this link or by sending checks (made out to Slow Food USA - with “Terra Madre Relief Fund: Iowa” in the memo) to the address below.
I’m here to help with event planning, as are the regional governors and the SFUSA national office. In some cases I may be able to attend events, since I will be touring with my book starting in September anyway (something I’ll discuss with you all under separate cover), and a portion of the sales of every copy of my book will go to this fund.
We truly appreciate, and are relying on your generosity. Please give at the
Terra Madre Relief Fund, and feel free to contact me at any time with comments or questions. Thank you all so very much, and I’ll be in touch soon with more details.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:59 am | 0 Comments |
Categories: Event
The third annual Slow Food St. Louis Art of Food is shaping up to be an exciting one. Details are still pending, but the line up of chefs is looking tremendous, and you’re not going to want to miss it.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
June 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am | 0 Comments |
Categories: Event
How cool will you be when you’re waving around your signed Michael Pollan book collection?
I don’t know, but you can find out if you win because Slow Food USA is pleased to announce that the 4th Annual Online Auction is now LIVE!
Visit the Slow Food USA auction web page for a complete listing of all of this year’s items up for grabs:
http://slowfoodusa.org/support/auction.html
June 13th, 2008 at 9:26 am | 0 Comments |
Categories: Event
Please join Slow Food St. Louis and STL GreenDrinks Monday, June 16th, to talk about “the sustainable summer table.”
Now that summer is here and transportation costs are soaring, it’s prime time for turning our attention towards eating locally grown foods. Wendell Berry summed up the connection between our food choices and the health of the planet when he wrote: “Eaters … must understand that eating takes place inescapably in the world, that it is inescapably an agricultural act, and that how we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used.”
Our panelists will give us meaningful advice for connecting with where our food comes from and strategies toward creating a more sustainable table for each one of us:
Beki Marsh, founder and co-leader of Slow Food St. Louis, will introduce us to the roots and the concept of the Slow Food movement
Andy Ayers, Owner/Chef Emeritus of Riddle’s Penultimate Cafe & Wine Bar in the U. City Loop and local foods entrepreneur, will help us understand the challenges of bringing local food from farm to retail shelf or restaurant table. More importantly, he’ll also share with us the good news from around town as these barriers are being overcome.
Nicola MacPherson, owner of Ozark Forest Mushrooms, grows certified organic shiitake and oyster mushrooms on her farm in Salem, Missouri. Nicola sells her products directly at markets, to restaurants, and to retailers. She will help us understand the struggle of the small American family farmer in the global marketplace.
Drinks will be available in the Crown room. If you prefer to dine, please come early and eat in the dining room or on the patio. Table service is not available during the event.
- Who: STL Green Drinks
- When: Monday,June 16, 2008 6:30 pm to 9 pm (panel from 7 pm to 8 pm)
- Where: Schlafly Bottleworks, 260 Southwest Ave. (at Manchester), Maplewood, MO 63143
- Cover: $3 suggested donation
June 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am | 0 Comments |
Categories: Event
Wednesday, June 11 Slow Food St. Louis and Schlafly Bottleworks presents SLOWednesdays, featuring the Root Cellar farm.
Since 1997 Kimberly Griffin and Walker Claridge have been farming in Millersburg and, more recently, Hatton, Missouri. Between the two locations they farm seven acres and have three greenhouses. They grow just about any vegetables and herbs that can be grown in these parts, and in 2001 opened the Root Cellar Grocery and Cafe in Columbia, MO.
Come shop at the Maplewood Farmer’s Market and stick around to hear about their farm and what it takes to get their wonderful, fresh, local produce to our markets and our tables. And enjoy some delicious specials using ingredients provided by Root Cellar prepared by Bottleworks Chef Matt Bessler. Or, order from the full menu.
7-7:45 p.m. Settle in in the Crown Room and place your orders if you’re dining
7:45-8:45 Guest farmer presentation
8:45-9:00 Q&A
Stay as long as you’d like!
