slow food usa time for lunch campaign

Tens of thousands of citizens are calling for legislators to fully fund school lunch, strengthen nutrition standards and link schools to local farms when Congress updates the Child Nutrition Act this year. Slow Food USA is carrying out the Time for Lunch Campaign to raise awareness of the legislation and encourage Congress to get real food into schools. The Child Nutrition Act is likely to be reauthorized by Congress in “early 2010”. The Time for Lunch Campaign launched with a National Day of Action in 2009 that brought 20,000 people together at more than 300 “Eat-Ins” nationwide. We are strengthening our efforts nationally and locally as we approach the reauthorization day.  You can help out by getting involved in Central Texas.

If you’d like to get more involved, here are 2 easy steps you can take to create change.

  1. Emails to legislators: Simply visit http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/, enter your contact information, and an email letter will automatically be sent to your representatives. You may personalize the email if you wish.
  2. Spread the word: After you contact your representatives through the Slow Food USA website, you will receive a thank you email that includes text to send to your personal network, asking people to contact their representatives. Please send this out to your email contacts so we can more people to take the same easy steps to contact their local representatives.

Please spread the word over Facebook and Twitter.

Follow the link for Facebook/Twitter on the Slow Flow USA website for tips:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch-share_it#facebook

More info on the national campaign through Slow Food USA is available here:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/

happy hour: fino 2/18

Our next, third thursday happy hour brings us to FINO. Enjoy tasty tapas from Executive Chef Jason Donoho & sip on a Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned from Bartender Bill Norris.

Space is limited! Please RSVP today!

FINO Restaurant Patio & Bar
2905 San Gabriel Suite 200
(one block east of Lamar on 29th)

Thursday, February 18th
5-7 PM

* A portion of the proceeds will benefit Slow Food Austin
** $15 per person for tapas tasting (cash preferred)
*** RSVP does not guarantee admission

Coming Soon: Boggy Creek Farm, Wink, Olivia & Green Gate Farms!

farm tour: Springdale Farm 4/10

Date: April 10th
Time: 10am – Noon
Location: Springdale Farm

Local farms come in all sizes, big and little. The new buzz words – “spin” farming, urban farming, “pocket” farming – are embodied in Springdale Farm, a 78702 4.8-acre patch cultivated by Paula and Glenn Foore. The couple has rescued a little bit more of Austin’s fertile river bottom from impervious surface and runs the city’s newest community-supported agriculture (CSA) operation. Tour attendees will learn how the couple stopped dreaming and started practicing their brand of “sustainable urban farming,” right here in Austin. Attendees will receive a box share of spring vegetables featuring fresh herbs. Limited spaces will fill fast!

Please RSVP to education@slowfoodaustin.org to coordinate ticket purchase.

february slow session – broaden your horizons

Title: broaden your horizons
Location: zhi tea gallery
Description: Come join us on February 4th at 7:00 for our Slow Session with tea master Jeffery Lorien from Zhi Tea. Jeffery will enlighten and guide us on the through the world of tea varieties one sip at a time. By learning about the wisdom (Zhi) behind these teas you can turn the process of preparing your own teas into a daily ritual that will allow you to take a few moments to heighten your senses and to steep in the enjoyment that comes from your tasting experience. Discover why Jeffery has fallen in love with tea and don’t be surprised if you get hit with cupid’s tea arrow as well!
Start Time: 07:00
Date: 2010-02-04
End Time: 09:00

RSVP

photos from january happy hour at cipollina

Huge thanks to all who came out to our first happy hour of 2010 at Cipollina Bistro last Thursday. We had a full house, sold out of all the wine and raised over $500 for Haitian relief efforts!

Thank you to Pioneer Wine for donating the amazing bottles of wine and, of course, to Cipollina for being such fantastic hosts. Next month’s happy hour will be at Fino. Stay tuned for details!

Check out the great photographs taken by one of our leadership team members – Marshall Wright of Eatthislens.com.

slow food austin launches farm tours

slow food austin farm tour: yonder way farmSaturday, January 16, 2010
11am – 2pm
Yonder Way Farm
Tickets: $25 single/$40 couple/family (includes sampling of farm product (i.e. meat, produce, etc.)

Slow Food Austin (SFA) Farm Tours offer a signature opportunity to forage food items directly from area farms, in the context of an informative tour showing how and where the items were grown or produced, and introducing the people that produce them.

Goals of Tours:

* Increase understanding of the contributions area farmers make to our local food community
* Offer opportunities to sample local foods
* Increase understanding of Slow Food Austin’s goals to promote our local food culture and encourage conscious and appreciative enjoyment of it
* If possible, provide food for thought – novel discussion topics and angles on local farming

SFA is launching our farm tours with a bang – come with us on January 16 to meet Jason Kramer of Yonder Way Farm, an ambitious and exciting operation along the lines of Joel Salatin’s pastured salad bar beef farm, Polyface. Jason raises pastured pork, beef, poultry and eggs, and is completing construction of an on-farm commercial kitchen from which he plans to serve barbecued pork, sausages and other eatables. In the best farming tradition of cooperation, Jason also offers organic produce and milk from two other neighboring farms.

Yonder Way Farm [directions]
5500 Hwy 105
Brenham, TX 77833 (1 hour 45 min from Austin)

Tickets are SOLD OUT.

The tour carpool will leave Austin at 9am on January 16 (depature location TBD). Expect to return to Austin by 5pm
For more information, send an email to education@slowfoodaustin.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

SlowLifeInTuscanTownCoverEdible 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