Slow Food St. Louis

This month: Our Garden

Our Garden is a ten-acre family farm seventy miles west of St. Louis in New Florence, MO. They grow a wide variety of naturally grown fruits and vegetables. Plants and herbs are available in the spring. Jams, pickles and seasonal vegetables, along with goat cheese and goat meat are available throughout the year.

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. Then enjoy some delicious specials using ingredients provided by Our Garden and prepared by Bottleworks Chef Matt Bessler.

6-7 p.m. Slow Food St. Louis Meeting in the Crown Room
7-7:45 p.m. Settle in 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!

Next Month: August 13: Ivan’s Farm - Dittmer, MO

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

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

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

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!