Slow Food Nation

Tickets are now on sale for Slow Food Nation, Slow Food USA's first national festival. Organizers have just launched the official website with preliminary schedules, information about special programs, and the ability to purchase tickets online.

Held in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend, Slow Food Nation will bring together tens of thousands of people to experience activities highlighting the connection between plate and planet.

At the peak of harvest season, and on the eve of the Presidential election, Slow Food Nation will bring together local citizens and visitors, farmers and food artisans, political leaders, environmental advocates and health-care experts, community educators and artists. Participants will savor food from across the United States at Taste, a 50,000 square foot pavilion; meet farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the city; learn from visionary speakers; and engage in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival, workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys.

Highlights include:

Taste:

When: Saturday, August 30, 11:00am until 3:00pm, 5:00pm until 9:00pm and Sunday, August 31, 11:00am until 3:00pm and 6:00pm until 9:00pm
Where: Fort Mason/Festival Pavilion
Cost: $45 – $65
Taste is Slow Food Nation’s grand celebration of good, clean and fair food from across the United States. In-depth taste workshops and hands-on experiences with quality, process and distinguishing flavor factors will connect visitors with the origins and true value of our food. Each of the 15 uniquely designed pavilions showcases a different food through on-site demonstrations and tastes. Featured foods include: Beer, Bread, Charcuterie, Cheese, Chocolate, Coffee, Fish, Honey & Preserves, Ice Cream, Native Foods, Olive Oil, Pickles & Chutney, Spirits, Tea and Wine. The Green Kitchen takes place here, where acclaimed chefs will demonstrate techniques for making simple, everyday dishes sustainable.
Food for Thought Speaker Series:

When: Friday, August 29, from 9:00am until 4:30pm and Saturday, August 30, from 11:30 am until 10:00pm
Where: Civic Center/Herbst Theater and Milton Marks Auditorium
Cost: $5 - $25
Featuring leading thinkers, community organizers, journalists and activists discussing current food issues, from policy and planning to education and climate change. Among the speakers will be Wendell Berry, Marion Nestle, Carlo Petrini, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Vandana Shiva, and Alice Waters.
Marketplace:

When: From Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31, 9:00am until 4:00pm
Where: Civic Center Plaza
Cost: Free
The Market showcases 60 California farmers and artisans growing and producing good, clean and fair food. Visitors can purchase directly from the producer and learn the significance of regionality, diversity and artisanality in the Bay Area’s food system. Next to the Market, “Slow on the Go” demonstrates how “fast” slow food can be. Visitors can purchase affordable street food from San Francisco’s diverse ethnic community, prepared with fully sustainable, source-verified ingredients.
Slow Food Nation Victory Garden:

When:Friday, August 29 – Sunday, August 31; 9 am – 4 pm
Where: Civic Center Plaza
Cost: Free
In collaboration with Victory Gardens 2008+, Slow Food Nation will herald the era of self-sufficiency through the creation of an ornamental edible garden in the heart of San Francisco’s Civic Center. Planted on the same site as 60 years ago during World War II, the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden demonstrates the potential of a truly local agriculture practice and brings together and promotes Bay Area urban gardening organizations, while producing high quality food for those in need. The Slow Food Nation Victory Garden will be introduced to the public on Saturday, July 12 in a ceremony with Mayor Gavin Newsom and Slow Food Nation Founder Alice Waters.
Slow Food Rocks:

When: Saturday, August 30, from 11:00am until 7:00pm, and Sunday, August 31, from 11:00am until 5:30pm
Where: Fort Mason/Great Meadow
Cost: For tickets visit: www.slowfoodrocks.com; Tickets on sale June 10
Featuring: Gnarls Barkley; G Love & Special Sauce; the John Butler Trio; Medeski Martin & Wood; New Pornographers and Ozomatli. Additional major headliners to be announced soon.
A two-day outdoor music festival featuring the biggest names in rock, folk, hip-hop, soul, jazz and world music. Produced by the Festival Network, this is one of only three public events permitted on the Great Meadow the entire year.

Petition Launch for a New Vision for Agriculture and Food Policy for the 21st Century:

When: Thursday, August 28, from 4:00pm-5:00pm
Where: Civic Center/Slow Food Nation Victory Garden
Cost: Free
Hosted in conjunction with Roots of Change (ROC), Slow Food Nation will introduce a Vision Statement for Agricultural and Food Policy for the 21st Century drafted by notable activists, practitioners, producers and eaters across the country. The Vision Statement will be a call to action to frame future food and agricultural policies, including the next Farm Bill, to benefit all Americans.
We'll share more information as it becomes available, and hope to see many of you in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend!

Going once, going twice...SOLD! Slow Food USA's 4th Annual Online Auction

It’s that time of year again. Members and community partners have been busy collecting donations for this month’s online auction, to be held June 16th-26th on eBay. This year we are thinking big, and have collected some really great items for you to bid on from as little as $25 up to $2,500. Bid on unique items such as a wood-fired oven from LA Oven Works, a pair of VIP tickets to any of this summer’s Jack Johnson concert tour dates, a two-night stay in Tuscany, autographed books, artisan food products, artwork, and meals at a number of “Slow-minded” restaurants and cocktail lounges.

Please visit our auction website to view a list of past donors and a hint of what’s to come in a few weeks.

Tasting is believing

by Jay Walljasper
Ode Magazine
May 2008

"Esoteric practises, like burying manure inside cows’ horns, has put many people off biodynamic agriculture. Now the sensational flavour—and ecological benefits—of biodynamic produce is winning them over."

The rest of Jay Walljasper's article can be read here, learn why farmers and vintners around the world are turning to the practices of Rudolf Steiner.

Raising and Keeping Chickens for Eggs and Meat - a Slow Food Kaua'i Workshop

Sunday, the 29th of June
4:00pm-6:00pm at North Country Farms in Kilauea

Raising and Keeping Chickens for Eggs and Meat
Overview of a Small-Scale Operation

Led by Renaissance Man, Sky Roversi-Deal of North Country Farms

Please R.S.V.P. by the 22nd of June to icingonthecake.kauai@gmail.com, space is limited

$15 at the door ($12 for Slow Food members), light meal included

Chickens are one of the easiest, most economical, and most rewarding livestock to keep. Even a handful of hens can provide a family with enough fresh eggs for their personal use, and turn out a constant supply of organic fertilizer for the garden. A flock of 20 to 30 hens will supply well over a dozen eggs a day, and with the addition of a few roosters or broilers, your very own homegrown, healthy meat. Keeping a flock of chickens is a great introduction for children (or adults) to the agrarian ethos of sustainability and self-sufficiency, makes an aesthetic, pastoral addition to any back yard, and fully exemplifies the living, farm to fork spirit of Slow Food's philosophy.

Almost anyone can have their own flock of chickens. And thus, the aim of Sky's workshop is to take some of the mystery out of chicken raising for the novice, and provide some information and tips to help get you started.

Sky grew up on North Country Farms, where for many years it was his job to look after a flock of two dozen layers, including feeding, coop cleaning, and other chores. As a teenager he even once tried to hatch chicks of his own using a small incubator, with some success. Recently, he has learned about keeping birds for meat as well as eggs, and is currently raising a mixed breed, dual purpose flock of 12 hens and roosters, while also keeping a flock of 18 layers.

Shareyourtable.com

Experience and share Hawaii’s culture, traditions, and history from a food focused perspective.

ShareYourTable.com is a web based media project with multiplatform partnerships with The Honolulu Advertiser and Oceanic Time Warner Cable.

Help spread the word. If you like the site please share with your friends and family. Our goal is to create Hawaii's first interactive online hui of food stories, local traditions, and recipes.

This Month on SYT
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Wanda Adams shares why Portuguese bean soup is only found in Hawaii (video)
Chuck Furuya interviews winemaking superstar Greg Brewer (podcast)
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Joan Namkoong teaches us the basic technique for making dashi (video)
D.K. Kodama – gives us the inside scoop on Kakaako’s hidden treasures

Coming Next Month
Explore Upcountry Maui with chef Bev Gannon (video)
Micro documentary “Why Eat Local”(video)
Dean Okimoto – shares a favorite family recipe

Slow Food Workshops

Our Basic Pie Dough workshop was a huge success, almost everyone who attended left with a beautiful pie or tart (or both) that they had made themselves. A very edifying and delicious experience for all.
I am excited to announce the next workshop in this series;

Sunday, the 29th of June
4:00pm-6:00pm at North Country Farms in Kilauea

Raising and Keeping Chickens for Eggs and Meat
Overview of a Small-Scale Operation

Led by Renaissance Man, Sky Roversi-Deal of North Country Farms

Please R.S.V.P. by the 22nd of June to icingonthecake.kauai@gmail.com, space is limited

$15 at the door ($12 for Slow Food members), light meal included

Princeville Ranch Tour & BBQ

On the 21st of June, the members and guests of Slow Food Kaua'i will be given the wonderful opportunity of touring Princeville Ranch, home of Princeville Pride, Kaua'i's natural grass-fed beef. Ranchers Donn Carswell and daughter, Karin Carswell Guest will be leading the tour and will give us a rare look at the inside workings of this vast piece of living Kaua'i heritage. A barbeque will follow at the picnic gazebo out on the spectacular bluff over-looking Anini Beach, where Princeville Pride Filet Mignon and New York cuts will be grilled for our sunset enjoyment.

Princeville Ranch was one of the first established cattle ranches in Hawai'i, created during the reign of Kamehameha III. A.S. Wilcox, the Carswell’s ancestor, purchased the ranch in 1895 and ran cattle on it. The Carswell family started Pooku Stables, a trail riding operation, in 1978. The rides led across the Princeville Ranch lands, giving riders a glimpse of the grazing cattle. Then in 1994, the family also took over the cattle operation. They began proudly marketing Princeville Pride beef locally in 1996, utilizing no antibiotics or hormones. Their ranch continues to be a stellar example of sustainability.

Come and join us for this unique opportunity to see a truly local endeavor of the highest quality and to taste some delicious clean beef. For more information or reservations contact: icingonthecake.kauai@gmail.com.