Slow Food Tampa Bay - Latest Blog Entries

Next General Meeting Feb 13th

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:47:00 -0500

Join us at The Studio @ 620 in downtown St. Pete for our next meeting!

Join Us For TEDx: Changing the Way We Eat!

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:49:00 -0500

This Saturday, January 21st 2011, TEDx: Manhattan will be hosting a world class lineup of speakers to talk about what we eat and why it's important. Slow Food Tampa Bay will be hosting a simulcast viewing at The Roosevelt 2.0! . Come down and spend all or part of the day with us to listen to amazing speakers such as:

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch

Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States

Mitchell Davis, Executive Vice President, the James Beard Foundation, cookbook author and food journalist

And many more! Hope to see you there!

Click here for more info from TEDx!

Slow Food General Membership Meeting

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:02:00 -0500

To begin the new year, Slow Food Tampa Bay will have our first general membership meeting this Monday, January 9th at the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg. There will be a potluck, beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a short meeting and then our featured speaker, Willow LaMonte, a local expert on indigenous herbs. Remember to bring your own resuable utensils for the meal!

Click here for more info!

It's Food Day!!!

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:40:00 -0400

Hope folks has a good time at the food truck rally, or the Planter's Ball, or at one of many are markets this weekend!

But today...today is FOOD DAY! This celebration of good food has sparked a nationwide movement! And here in Tampa Bay area there are two awesome ways to celebrate! On Tampa side you can check out the film Urban Roots being presented by Tampa Urban Food Forum and Going Green Tampa Bay down at the Roosevelt 2.0. If you're over in St. Pete check out the showing of FRESH being presented by your very own Slow Food Tampa Bay at the Studio@620 and get a coupon for a free burrito! Check out our event page for more details!

Also...if you happen to need to do some food shopping cuz you didn't get everything you needed at market this weekend, a little birdie tells me that you can support the good folks over at Sweetwater Farm by shopping at the Tampa Whole Foods today!

Eat well all and have a great Food Day!

The Planter's Ball!

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:16:00 -0400

After you're done stuffing your face full of food truck deliciousness...you can have a very veggie time at the Planter's Ball!

Sweetwater Farm's market doesn't start up again until Nov 6th, but you can come out to support them tomorrow night! And get an early start on Food Day!

Food Day Is On Its Way!

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:18:00 -0400

There are 2, that's right 2, fantastic events happening this Monday for Food Day! Check out our events page to get more information on Slow Food Tampa Bay's showing of Fresh in Sat. Pete, and Urban Food Forum's showing of Urban Roots in Tampa!

Do you know of any other Food Day events happening in the area? Let us know and we'll help spread the word!

Become a Slow Food Member with ANY donation!

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:52:00 -0400

Hello Tampa Slow Food Friends and Fans! We would like to share a message from Slow Food USA membership manager, Amiee Campbell:

I know you've heard a lot from us lately. The reason I'm writing again is because we have a fantastic new opportunity to tell you about.

We waived our membership fees in September because we wanted everyone to be able to join our movement, and it generated an amazingly positive response.

In fact, Slow Food USA board member Lynne Frame and her husband Rick Hoskins liked the idea so much that they asked us to continue it for another two weeks - offering to match every new gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000.

How could we pass up that kind of an offer?

So, for another two weeks, you can join Slow Food with a donation of any amount – and your gift will have double the impact!

That's twice as much ability to:

Plant school gardens and teach children about healthy, fresh food
Advocate for food and farm policy that serves farmers, eaters, and the earth
Fight for real, sustainable food to be more accessible for everyone.

Help us take advantage of this incredible opportunity. Every gift has double the impact, from now through October 15.

Thank you for being a part of this food fight,

Aimee Campbell
Fellow member (and Membership Manager)
Slow Food USA

How You Doin' Puddin'?

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:34:00 -0400

The last of the 3 recipes provided by the Ruskin $5 Potluck. Looks pretty tastey to me!

If out community has any more awesome recipes that can be prepared as part of a $5 meal please send them our way! (Extra cool point if you send a pic of the finished product!)

Chocolate Banana Pudding

12 servings

8 oz. chocolate chips

¼ c. butter (half stick), cut in pieces

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups milk

6 egg yolks

1 c. sugar

½ c. corn starch

pinch of salt

3 bananas, sliced

Put chocolate, butter and vanilla in a large bowl and set aside.

Heat milk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks in a mixer, gradually adding sugar until light and lemon-colored. Add the cornstarch and beat (it will become stiff). Temper the egg mixture with a few ladles of milk, then pour into the pot and whisk constantly until the custard thickens, about 6-8 minutes.

Pour over the chocolate and whisk until blended. Place plastic wrap over the custard to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate when cooled.

Mix in the bananas before serving.

A Little Spice In Your Life!

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:56:00 -0400

If you like the Moroccan Stew recipe from yesterday, here is some spice blend to make and store away!

"I like this recipe so much that I make large quantities of the spice blend. Use ¼ cup per recipe."

Moroccan Spice Blend (mix together and store in a glass jar)

2/3 cup salt
1 1/3 cup paprika
2/3 cup cumin
1/3 cup ground ginger
¼ cup cinnamon
1 ½ T. red pepper
3 T. black pepper

Thanks for participating!

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:54:00 -0400

Slow Food Tampa Bay would like to extend a long overdue thank you to everyone who particpated in the Slow Food $5 Challenge! Please check out our Facebook Page to see a some pictures organized by Slow Food fans in Ruskin.

The organizer of the event, Anita Jimenez was also kind enough to pass along a few of the tasety, inexpensive recipies used in the event. Come back tomorrow for a band new recipe. We love our Slow Food community!

Moroccan Chicken & Vegetable Stew

6-8 servings

I T. salt

2 T. paprika

1T. cumin

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. red pepper

1 tsp. black pepper

¼ c. honey

¼ c. lemon juice

3-4 cloves of garlic, diced

2T. olive oil

28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 med. Butternut squash,

peeled & cut into 1” cubes

2 red peppers, in 1” pieces

2 med. Zucchini, halved lengthwise

& cut into 1” slices

1 lg. onion, coarsely chopped

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3 pieces each

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the first 12 ingredients. Toss in the vegetables and chicken. Pour the mixture into a Dutch oven (or glass baking dish & cover with foil). Bake for 1 hour; if vegetables are not tender enough, continue to bake an additional 10 minutes uncovered. Serve with plain couscous (follow the directions on the box).

For a vegetarian dish, eliminate the chicken and add a can of garbanzos.

The Bees Are Gone...But Not For Long!

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 07:58:00 -0400

What a facinating film!

Slow Food Tampa Bay would like to thank The Hanger Resturaunt & Lounge, Andy Wolf from Taste of Freedom Farm, and of course the wonderful filmmakers for helping us put together such a great event last night!

And if you missed it this time around (or just didn't feel like crossing the bridge) we will be having another showing sometime in October. Stay Tuned!

Vanishing of the Bees is Tonight!

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:08:00 -0400

Join us tonight for Vanishing of the Bees, a fantatic movie discussing hive collapse and its impact on gardening and agriculture. Check out our Events page for all the details!

Where are the bees going?

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:33:00 -0400

Check out our Events Page for info on our latest Movie Night!

Vanishing of the Bees

The Slow Food Almanac is Available!

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:15:00 -0400

A special message from Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement:

Dear friend,

I’m happy to announce that the Slow Food Almanac is back. A recent addition to our movement’s publications, edition by edition it paints an increasingly effective picture of what we are doing in the world.

Never before has the Almanac been so rich in stories that describe who we are and what we do—arguably better than lots of theory. “Slow Food and Terra Madre are our home and our project”. In these pages, you’ll read about the activities Slow Food is involved in on every continent through the Terra Madre communities, experiences in the defense of biodiversity and food and taste education.

They are stories of young people, men and women—active, purposive, pivots of their communities—who bring their presence to bear in the places where they live. All we have to do is get these people networking and what they are doing becomes an example, a stimulus and an opportunity for common growth and exchange. We are lucky enough to be on their side so that we can learn from them and let them light our path towards the new paradigms for the future that we are seeking with perseverance and imagination.

Discover all the tools offered by this electronic publication: not only the active links that connect to the various sections of the Slow Food website, but also other websites, photo galleries and video footage. The 2011 Almanac speaks about us and the land we live on: in other words, our true wealth. A wealth that comes out in geomorphological diversity and its anthropization, which allows us to be creative and produce food in a good, clean and fair way, and thus continue to hope for a better world. This is our culture, the culture of Slow Food.

To read the Almanac, click here.

Carlo Petrini
President of Slow Food

Picture Time!

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:35:00 -0400

Gail & Jaye at Farmegeddon!

Movie Night: Farmageddon

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:45:00 -0400

Slow Food Tampa Bay will have an information table at the 7:30PM showing of this great movie!

When: August 11, 2011,

Times: 4PM SOLD OUT! 7:30 SOLD OUT!

Where: The Roosevelt 2.0

Check out WMNF's page for more details

From the Creators: "Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent ac-tion, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.

Filmmaker Kristin Canty’s quest to find healthy food for her four children turned into an educational journey to discover why access to these foods was being threatened. What she found were policies that favor agribusiness and factory farms over small family-operated farms selling fresh foods to their communities. Instead of focusing on the source of food safety problems — most often the industrial food chain — policymakers and regulators implement and enforce solutions that target and often drive out of business small farms that have proven themselves more than capable of producing safe, healthy food, but buckle under the crushing weight of government regulations and excessive enforcement actions.

Farmageddon highlights the urgency of food freedom, encouraging farmers and consumers alike to take action to preserve individuals’ rights to access food of their choice and farmers’ rights to produce these foods safely and free from unreasona-bly burdensome regulations. The film serves to put policymakers and regulators on notice that there is a growing movement of people aware that their freedom to choose the foods they want is in danger, a movement that is taking action with its dollars and its voting power to protect and preserve the dwindling number of family farms that are struggling to survive."

Movie Night: Vanishing of the Bees!

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:45:00 -0400

There will be a showing of Vanishing of the Bees on August 29th at the Hanger!

"Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives.

Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred other fruits and vegetables. Commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

Vanishing of the Bees follows commercial beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy and fulfill pollination contracts across the U.S. The film explores the struggles they face as the two friends plead their case on Capital Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean in the quest to protect their honeybees.

Filming across the US, in Europe, Australia and Asia, this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and mother earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause, organic beekeepers indicate alternative reasons for this tragic loss. Conflicting options abound and after years of research, a definitive answer has not been found to this harrowing mystery."

Information on time and tickets coming soon!

Sign up for the Florida Small Farms Conference!

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:24:00 -0400

Registration is open!

July 15-17, 2011

Kissimmee,

Florida

Florida has nearly 47,463 farms. Calculated on an area or on an economic basis, nearly 90% of all Florida farms are small farms. Florida is unique in that there was an 8% increase in farm numbers from 2002 to 2007, essentially all in the small farm category.

Recent increased efforts to meet the educational needs of small farmers in Florida became visible through the work of the University of Florida/IFAS and Florida A&M University Small Farms Focus Team. Efforts have included the development of an extensive website specifically targeted at small farmer needs. The site (http://smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu) receives over 100,000 hits monthly and includes a calendar of small farms events and a Feature Farmer page.

A series of regional small farms conferences were initiated in 2006. At least a dozen regional conferences are held annually in Florida and in addition, many other county or local Extension programs are now being held. These programs are very popular and are being attended by a few thousand people annually.

As the success of the local and regional meetings became apparent, a common question also emerged from the small farmers. That question is how can we get more information and get to the “next level”? Although the regional educational programs have been successful in satisfying many educational needs, all Florida small farmers are faced with similar challenges of (economics: land, gas, inputs) increasing regulatory pressures, challenges of marketing, etc. so that by coming together as a diverse group, solutions can be identified. This brought us to the stage of starting a statewide small farms conference for Florida. Since it’s initiation in 2009, the statewide conference has been an overwhelming success.

Meeting May 5, 2011. Special Guest Dr. Gary R. Mormino

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 12:28:00 -0400

Please join us for an evening with author, historian and university professor Gary R. Mormino Ph. D. He will discuss the impact of Italian immigrants on Florida’s culture and culinary heritage. The presentation will take place at Studio@620 (http://www.studio620.org/620/) located at 620 First Avenue South in downtown St. Petersburg at 7PM and is free and open to the public.

Check out our events page for more information!

A Message from Florida Organic Growers

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:11:00 -0400

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!

A Budget deal reached as soon as Monday will shape the future of farm conservation programs into the next decade!

This is a critical moment. The White House and House Republican leadership are negotiating a budget deal that would effectively rewrite the next Farm Bill now by taking a huge bite out of Farm Bill mandatory funding for programs that support on-farm conservation and wetland protection – programs that are truly investments in a sustainable future!

These cuts will drastically reduce total Farm Bill funding available for the 2012 Farm Bill and harm the chances of getting a decent Farm Bill next year.

Leaders in the Senate need to push back as hard as they can against a bad White House-House deal – right now, before it is too late.

Send a note to chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and urge her to do everything possible to protect Farm Bill conservation funding!

It’s easy to email! Here is sample – please put the message in your own words if possible, and use the same subject line:

Subject Line: It's Your Farm Bill

"Dear Senator Stabenow,
I urge you to push back on any budget deal that ties your hands going in to the 2012 Farm Bill debate. Budget cuts to essential conservation programs today will limit their funding for years to come. As you know only too well, farm bill spending decisions are decisions that by congressional budget rules should be made by the Agriculture Committee, not by the Appropriations Committee. Please continue to fight for no cuts to Farm Bill conservation programs while the negotiations continue over the government funding bill."

It’s bad enough that food and agriculture has already suffered grossly disproportional cuts in discretionary funding in the two short-term budget deals proposed by the House and agreed to by the Senate and the Administration. But now it appears the Administration may be willing to give up additional USDA discretionary program funding and also raid farm bill mandatory conservation funding, treating conservation programs as convenient give-aways in the budget negotiating process with the House.

Letters have been pouring into USDA on this issue for the past two weeks. Thank you! Now, with just a week left until the current government funding bill runs out, we need to also re-engage with Senate champions, like Chairwoman Stabenow. If cuts to current and future Farm Bill funding need to be made they should be made by the Agriculture Committee in the context of the next Farm Bill or, if need be, in budget reconciliation. If cuts are to be made, then everything should be on the table including the $5 billion a year that is spent on direct payments – payments that go to farmers and landowners without regard to need or even crop price levels. An appropriations budget deal that singles out sustainable agriculture programs is shortsighted and unfair.

Write Senator Stabenow today and urge her to continue to fight to protect Farm Bill funding.

Your emails make a difference!
Thanks to our friends at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition for this information.