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Food Festivals 
Wed Jun 16, 2010 at 14:31:34 PM PDT
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(The ideas expressed in this diary are not congruent with my own, but I think this is a good discussion for us to have. - promoted by Jill Richardson)
Local foods are coming of age; all the books, news stories, blogs and local food promotions are having the desired effect. Policy makers are paying attention and that signals the end of business as usual for small local farmers.
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Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 00:34:10 AM PST
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In all likelihood, I will be working both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I think I'll cook the rump end of a ham (lots of leftovers!) on Wednesday, with maybe some mashed potatoes, or else potatoes mashed with turnips, and brussels sprouts on the side.
That's the extent of my plans at the moment, although if anyone has a great recipe for a maple-bourbon glaze for the ham, I'm interested: haven't found one online that could match the one a friend of mine (a former chef) did off-the-cuff some years ago when we collaborated on dinner. (She was in charge of the ham; I watched her make the glaze but have never been able to reproduce it.)
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Sat Oct 18, 2008 at 22:36:47 PM PDT
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( - promoted by Jill Richardson)
First, you need a great location for your party. I recommend a beautiful organic farm, like La Milpa Organica.
Here's our party location... under the trees.
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Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 18:09:48 PM PDT
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Slow Food Nation videos are now available!! The videos are of the "Food For Thought" series, the panel discussions that covered the various aspects of our food system - from policy to climate change to human rights.
Below the flip, you'll find a description of each of the sessions - I tried to embed the videos but it wasn't happening :(
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Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 11:38:53 AM PDT
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Now that the first Slow Food Nation is a thing of the past, the press (and all of us foodies) are getting a chance to weigh in with our opinions. I really like what Chef Kurt Michael Fries said on Grist. He addresses the charge that Slow Food is elitist. Of course, this charge is not without merit but as he points out, it is not a reason to dismiss Slow Food altogether. Their work is valuable and aligned with the values all of us in the movement hold, even if they are flawed.
Slow Food does not do everything right and will never please everyone, nor is it any form of panacea, nor does it claim to be. It can and has made lives better for thousands of people not just in the U.S. and Italy (where it was founded) but from Bolivia to the Ivory Coast to India by supporting farmers and aiding to reinvigorate local food traditions. Here in the U.S. it raised thousands of dollars to help the farmers and fishers affected by Katrina, then raised thousands more for Midwest flood relief. Already Slow Food USA has turned its attention once more to the Gulf in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.
What I've observed is that all food movements are flawed in some ways, and that the most "pure" of the movements fail to get the popular attention and mainstream media coverage that Slow Food has garnered. (Want proof? Check out Time's Slow Food article - you can't get much bigger than Time when it comes to media coverage.) If Slow Food can raise questions about the ethical and environmental effects of our food choices and get people thinking about it, they are doing a good thing for all food movements.
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Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 10:00:00 AM PDT
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On Sunday, Eddie and I went to a 4 hour long session at Slow Food Nation's Taste Pavilion. Held at Fort Mason, the event was divided up by type of food: Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Ice Cream, Cheese, Honey & Preserves, Pickles & Chutneys, Native American Foods, Bread, Fish, and Charcuterie. I set the very high goal of leaving the place jittery, drunk, and fat. (Not too difficult... notice there was no Fruit category.)
Run, don't walk, to the Taste Pavilion!
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Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT
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I hope you enjoyed my Slow Food Nation Victory Garden Photo Diary yesterday. Here's your next installment: the farmers's market. I did not take pictures of everything, just a few things that caught my attention. I also took a few pictures of the "Slow on the Go" section of the festival, which was their way of referring to Slow Food style fast food.
Slow on the Go
How strange - a hot dog that wouldn't make you sick if you found out what was in it. Grab your hot dog and join me for an afternoon at the market. Vegetarians, sorry. No veggie dogs for you. (There were other booths with different kinds of food but not a lot for vegetarians to pick from.)
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Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 19:59:21 PM PDT
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During World War II, America turned its production capabilities to the war effort and encouraged all citizens to help by growing their own "Victory Gardens" to meet the nation's food needs. Today, a Victory Garden adorns the block directly in front of San Francisco's City Hall. It will be there until November, and I don't know what will become of it after that.
The new Victory Garden was a popular tourist attraction this past weekend (and I'd imagine it will continue to be popular in the coming months). This garden serves a different purpose than the original victory gardens. Many people today have no idea how food grows. They don't know what it looks like when it's growing. (Until recently, I fell in that category too!)
A funny story I heard that illustrates the vital educational role served by the modern victory garden involves a class field trip to a pumpkin patch. The children were all very excited about picking out pumpkins, but one boy asked the teacher "What are all the pumpkins doing sitting in the dirt?" Yes folks, real food grows in dirt. Or better yet - soil. Which we can enrich with compost from our own food waste. And I LOVE that San Francisco is taking this lesson to its citizens.
Below the flip, enjoy a photo tour...
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Sun Aug 31, 2008 at 08:52:25 AM PDT
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The festivities continued yesterday, as they will today. My weekend was severely limited by my migraines, which are triggered by a long list of visual triggers: compact fluorescents, TVs, CRT monitors on computers, some ATMs... and projectors. SFN had a projected sign in the background for their panels. It wasn't used as a visual aid of any sort for the panelists. No PowerPoint or anything. It just had the words "Slow Food Nation."
While I spent yesterday being incredibly angry at the reaction I received when I attempted to find a way to participate without getting a migraine, I've cooled down. The truth of the matter is that people - perhaps most people - just don't get it. I would bet it's true about any disability, but having a unique one doesn't help. Sometimes I tell people about my problem and it seems so unimaginable to them that they act like I said nothing. Others go to the other extreme and offer to turn off every light bulb for me, even the ones that don't hurt me.
The Slow Food Nation people who handled my situation poorly weren't prepared for the contingency that someone would show up with a rare, strange disability. It's just not something you expect or train your staff to handle. And the usher who was incredibly rude and hostile to me? I'm still mad at her, but she was a volunteer. It's unfair to hold that against Slow Food.
All the same, my experience here was not what it ought to have been. I suppose the bright side to it all is that instead of attending the events that I paid quite a bit to obtain tickets for, I sat out in the Victory Garden and read half of Marion Nestle's new book, Pet Food Politics (highly recommended!).
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Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 19:00:00 PM PDT
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Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture:
(I posted on this yesterday but it's good news from this week, so here it is again)
What exactly are we for? Slow Food Nation had a bunch of experts put their heads together to hash it out. They have posted their Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture online this week.
Food For Thought: Today, Slow Food Nation brought together many of the leading voices about food in the country, including Marion Nestle, Timothy LaSalle, Michael Pollan, Winona LaDuke, and Eric Schlosser. You can expect to read more about these magnificent speakers and what they had to say on this site in the near future.
Oakland Goes Green: Often left in the shadow of nearby uber-green San Francisco, Oakland made the news this week. A Garden Grows in Oakland tells the story of Oakland's many urban farms and their roles in poverty-stricken parts of the city.
Even Wall Street Journal Takes an Interest This week, Wall Street Journal published an article called Eat Up, Kids, This Spud's for You about farm to school programs. How exciting!
What's your happy story?
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Sat Aug 16, 2008 at 10:58:21 AM PDT
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I was just listening to a radio program called How We Eat and the Slow Food Nation when I got a phone call from Eddie C. The program is a conversation moderated by Eric Schlosser with panelists Alice Waters, Anya Fernald, Bertram Lubin, and Harold Goldstein about the Slow Food movement and children's health.
As I was listening to Alice speak about the power of good food, Eddie's phone call proved her point. Yesterday I sent around an email to several friends in San Francisco and one in New York (Eddie) about a Slow Food Nation event (text of the email is pasted below), an Eat-In that is a collaboration between Slow Food Nation and Outstanding in the Field. What was Eddie's phone call about? He's buying his plane tickets and he's going to San Francisco. Slow Food Nation was already going to be fantastic, but with Eddie there it will be a thousand times better (for me, at least!).
Click the link above to hear the radio show (it's wonderful and very worth listening to), and give me a heads up if you'll be in SF Labor Day Weekend.
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Sat Aug 09, 2008 at 08:00:00 AM PDT
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Today is the first day in San Diego's Edible City Celebration. I'm not sure how many events I'll be able to get to just because my life is almost entirely ruled by headaches, but I wanted to share some of the great activities going on this week to get the discussion going:
Saturday's Events
Bio-intensive Gardening Workshop
Check out the work being done at City College to turn a boring and overgrown patch of grass into a demonstration garden complete with compost bins, companion gardening methods and a hand built bamboo bridge. Join Paul Maschka, expert horticulturalist, as he explains the benefits of the garden and how you can transform your own lawn and garden into something truly special.
Tomato/Basil Festival
Calling all foodies! Taste the difference of a home grown tomato! We'll have several tomato and basil varieties on hand for you to taste the difference between them. We'll also be making some simple but delicious dishes that really pay homage to the flavor of tomato and basil: Caprese, Gazpacho and Salsa. Same location as gardening workshop. See map (above) for exact location on campus.
Sunday's Events
Solar Cooking Demo and Potluck
Come join us in Balboa Park to show off your solar oven and cooking skills and/or to learn how it works. Please bring a dish, snack, or beverage to share.
More events below the fold.
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