slow food austin

annual member potluck, 5/16

Date: Sunday, May 16th
Time: 11:30am – 2:00pm
Location: Eiler’s Park (Deep Eddy)

Want to eat some good grub and meet the Slow Food Austin board?

We have an annual general membership meeting to launch our volunteer board into action for the coming year. Come enjoy a delectable potluck and say Hi to the board as well as other Slow Foodies.

Bring a dish to share and please provide your own plate & utensils (we’ll have back-ups- we’re just trying to make the event low impact). In addition to beverages, fun conversation, and some educational activities about Slow Food, we’ll have a few fun awards to hand out such as the most local dish, the simplest slow dish, the funniest named dish, etc.

Enjoy a beautiful afternoon with friends, food, and fun. We’ll be meeting and eating at Eiler’s Park (Deep Eddy), so if you are inclined to take a brisk swim wear your suit- it costs about $3 to swim.

Non-members welcome.

Contact Sara Weber, Slow Food Austin President, for more info.

potluck: support your love of local food

Join Slow Food Austin, Resolution Gardens and The South Austin Food Co-op for a local pot-luck feast, Saturday April 17th, 6-9 pm at Marigold, 2200 S. Lamar.

Bring a dish to share made with ingredients from a local grocer or farmer, your neighbor, or your own backyard! We’ll have fabulous door prizes from local businesses, live music and a chance to share the local food love. A special prize will be awarded for the “most local” dish. This event will be outdoors, weather permitting. RSVPs appreciated but not required – info@resolutiongardens.com

More info @ www.resolutiongardens.com

spring csa’s still available at local farms

Tecolote Farm, Austin’s longest-running CSA, has some rare openings this season on their south Austin Wednesday route. Just a few spots available. Please contact the farm directly at tecolotefarm@gmail.com for details.

Green Gate Farms, a historic, urban farm on Austin’s upper eastside, has memberships available for its weekly organic food subscription program, beginning March 23. Green Gate’s CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) provide members with an assortment of delicious vegetables and herbs, all grown using sustainable methods throughout the spring and summer. Flower bouquets, eggs, pastured meats, dairy and other treats can be added to each share. CSA members receive discounts on farm events, including gardening workshops, Farm Camp, cooking classes and yoga in the hayloft. Farm stand, open Friday 12-6, Saturday 10-2. See more information, www.greengatefarms.net.

Ottmers Family CSA is offered by two well-established farms, Ottmers Family Farm and Oma’s and Opa’s Farm, owned by a father and son, respectively. JW and Kevin Ottmers, and their families are salt-of-the-earth, hard-working folks and always have great veggies. Their website is www.austincsafarm.com.

Johnson’s Backyard Garden is now accepting CSA members. It’s hard to believe that just five years ago, Brenton and Beth started growing vegetables in a 30-by-50-foot garden in the backyard of their house in Austin. Today they are farming 70 certified-organic acres and growing over 300 different varieties of vegetables! The best part is that all the extra land means even more veggies! There’s no longer a waiting list. We’ve made it even easier for you to enjoy fresh, local produce year-round. JBG has 16 convenient delivery sites located around Austin. To Join, simply visit www.jbgorganic.com or call the farm office at 512-386-5273.

Does your farm offer a CSA? Got any spots left to fill? Email us and we’ll add you to the list!

spring fling organicfest at barr mansion

local: slow food & slow money

We are proud to announce our partnership with Slow Money Austin. Inspired by the national Slow Food and Slow Money movements, Slow Money Austin was formed to promote capital opportunities for local, organic and sustainable food enterprises throughout Central Texas.

Consider attending their upcoming events to learn more about Slow Money and to make a sustainable regional food system a reality! Seats are limited.

SLOW MONEY AUSTIN SHOWCASE & HAPPY HOUR

April 21st, 12:30PM-5:00PM
Austin City Hall, 301 W 2nd St

Slow Money Austin is bringing a conversation about financing our regional food system to the steps of City Hall with an educational conference featuring leaders of this emerging industry. Local, organic and artisan-crafted food and drink are cherished assets among communities throughout the nation. Beyond the health and environmental benefits of local food production, such resources, if properly cultivated, can directly power local and regional economies. Calling for a new form of venture capital, this special event promises to redefine the value and worth of a healthy local food system, and to examine the role risk capital can play in fueling growth of such a vital market.

The showcase will be followed by a networking happy hour and all attendees will receive 2 drink tickets.

SLOW MONEY AUSTIN, DAI DUE SUPPER CLUB SHOWCASE DINNER at BARR MANSION

April 22nd, 6:00PM
Barr Mansion, 10463 Sprinkle Rd

The following evening, on Earth Day, April 22, the Slow Money Austin Showcase Dinner will be held at the critically acclaimed Barr Mansion, known for its historic setting and commitment to local organic cuisine and culture. This special dinner program will combine a delectable exploration of the diverse, sustainably grown riches Central Texas has to offer with a continued conversation about funding growth in our regional food system.

The program from the 21st will continue with a special keynote address about local food opportunities. You will hear from entrepreneurs who are currently raising funds to expand operations and get to ask them questions about their efforts and challenges.

No other culinary artisans prove as active or talented advocates of the Slow Food movement than Jesse Griffiths and Tamara Mayfield, whose acclaimed Dai Due Supper Club marries local food awareness with award-winning social and culinary experiences.

For more information on the Slow Money Austin movement, please see – www.slowmoneyaustin.org

december slow session – austin permaculture holiday potluck

Thursday, December 3
6:30pm – 10:30pm
Barr Mansion

Join Slow Food Austin and the Austin Permaculture Guild at the Barr Mansion, for a community potluck celebrating local food, and a presentation about Citizen Gardener, one of the best things to happen to Austin gardeners in a long time.

Got a dish for 6-8 that you’re proud of? Make it with local ingredients? Consider it your ticket to this potluck in the glass barn behind the Barr Mansion, a beautiful landmark event destination.

During the evening Austin Permaculture Guild will launch its latest class of certified permaculture graduates, and APG director Dick Pierce will present a slideshow about Citizen Gardener, a how-to-garden-in-Austin program.

RSVP
For directions to Barr Mansion, visit www.barrmansion.com

Happy Holidays!

fresh screening on 12/5 kicks of eat local week

Paramount Theatre presents a special screening of FRESH and audience Q&A with special guests Joel Salatin, writer, local food spokesperson and owner of Polyface Farms, and Ana Sofia Joanes, director and producer of FRESH.

Join Slow Food Austin for a special engagement screening of Fresh at Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre to kick off Edible Austin’s Eat Local Week.

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Paramount Theatre presents a special screening of FRESH and audience Q&A with special guests Joel Salatin, writer, local food spokesperson and owner of Polyface Farms, and Ana Sofia Joanes, director and producer of FRESH.

Ticket prices are $15, $25 and $100. The $100 tickets are the best seats in the house and will include admission to the pre-screening reception for Joanes, Salatin and other featured guests to be held at the State Theatre lobby—featuring Austin’s top chefs preparing locally sourced food tastings and local beverages, beer, wines and cocktails.

Participating restaurants are: Asti / FINO, Wink / Zoot, Primizie Osteria, Kerbey Lane Café, The Leaning Pear, Cipollina, Blue Dahlia. Participating beverage artisans will be: Zhi Tea, Tipsy Texans, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Paula’s Texas Spirits, Dry Soda, Texas Hill Country Wineries. Slow Food Austin along with many other local food nonprofits will be on hand to answer questions about our organizations and give you the opportunity to learn more about supporting Good Clean and Fair food.

Watch more video clips and interviews

Buy your tickets now at austintheatre.org/fresh.

a slow taste of tuscany celebration & dinner

Edible Austin, Slow Food Austin and Welcome Books invite you to

A Slow Taste of Tuscany

A celebration and special dinner at Primizie Osteria

We present this event as part of a celebration across North America of Slow Food and Douglas Gayeton’s new book Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 7:00

Join us in honoring the simple and superb pleasure of fresh food that has been prepared slowly and locally.

Tickets ($85) include a multi-course feast highlighting local ingredients, an autographed copy of the book ($50 value), and a contribution to Urban Roots. Gratuity and taxes separate.

Please RSVP at www.primizieaustin.com by Nov. 6
Primizie Osteria, 1000 E. 11th St., Austin, TX
Telephone: 512.236.0088

Sponsored by Zagat & Welcome Books | Edible Austin | Slow Food Austin

austin discovery school/slow food feast in the field

Slow Food Feast in the Field
Sponsored by Slow Food Austin
Benefitting Austin Discovery School

Saturday, October 24, 2009
7:00pm – 11:00pm
Green Gate Farms [directions]
$100 Donation Required
Buy Tickets Online or purchase at the door

The third annual Austin Discovery School/Slow Food Feast in the Field fundraiser is a multi-course gourmet dinner prepared by Chef Jesse Bloom of Ecstatic Cuisine using fresh local vegetables and meats from Green Gate Farms, and served in the field under the stars. Proceeds will benefit the Austin Discovery School – a local elementary school that teaches children to become junior master gardeners using an outdoor curriculum.

october slow session – the best chicken you’ve never had

How good can chicken be? Austin will soon find out. Jules Assata and Sue Beckwith of Shades of Green Farm have begun raising birds that meet their own deliciously high culinary standards. What’s more, they’ll be the only certified organic meat chickens raised in Texas. Join Slow Food Austin for our October Slow Session and learn about Sue and Jules’ Bastrop farm and their personal journey leaping regulation and production hurdles that don’t do much to help our small farmers or those of us who love good food.

October Slow Session
The Best Chicken You’ve Never Had – Shades of Green Farm

Thursday, October 1st
7:00-9:00pm
Habitat Suites
Slow Session RSVP

Jules and Sue are raising Colored and Freedom Rangers, chicken breeds developed from heritage stock to be delicious and to thrive on traditional free range – NOT bred to bulk up fast or tolerate factory living conditions that would make a mother hen cry, like the ubiquitous Cornish Cross found in every grocery store, fast food joint and high-end eatery. In fact, these varieties were developed specifically to meet the very high standards of the French Label Rouge Program. And, while Shades of Green Farm is certified organic, the two women have been inspired by the European example to exceed the organic production standards in terms of stewardship of animal welfare and the environment.

Join Slow Food Austin for our October Slow Session and learn about Sue and Jules’ Bastrop farm and their personal journey leaping regulation and production hurdles that don’t do much to help our small farmers or those of us who love good food. As always, the session will be free. Light refreshments will be served; feel free to bring something to share.

Slow Session RSVP