The Question: Where does your food come from?

The Wheely Slow Cooking Tour is serving up answers on April 19^th at W2 Woodwards @ 7pm. The Wheely Girls will perform music and show footage from their tour. The night will end with a panel of sustainable food experts who will answer questions from the audience.

The panelists are Peter Ladner (author of The Urban Food Revolution) Lori Petryk (dietitian from Good for You Good for the Earth), Will Valley (urban farmer from Inner City Farms) and a Surprise panelist.

Facebook event page:http://www.facebook.com/events/268770713204619/

Apples for April page:http://www.facebook.com/events/177771262341289/ 

Eva Cherneff Photography

Join Slow Food Vancouver Island & The London Chef for a series of Slow Fish Events celebrating our diverse coastal waters.

Thursday March 29th – Small Fish & By Catch

May/June date TBA – Sea Things

Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Location: The London Chef, 953 Fort Street (south side, between Quadra & Vancouver)

Event Style: cocktail style with small plates, full meal replacement, hands on learning, presentation & discussion.

RSVP – please book directly with payment to The London Chef. Note: spaces are limited, each class size is approx. 16 to 24 people based on program.

London Chef Phone: 250.590.1865 www.thelondonchef.com,

Slow Food Event Contact: Christine Smart 250.888.2583 www.slowisland.ca

Cost: $75.00 for non members, $65.00 for members (memberships available at the event) Slow Fish Series $210.00 non members & $180.00 for members. Tax and Gratuity will apply to above prices. Please note: series prices may be limited by availability.

Shellfish: Chef Dan Hayes presents a delicious small plate dinner and cooking techniques to honour our seasonal and local ingredients. Meet and taste your native oyster the Olympia, shuck a live scallop, crack a crab leg and mussel with your moules. Our guest Dr. John Volpe will speak about sustainable local choices, how the farmed shellfish industry is affecting our environment, and lead discussion about our local shellfish.

Small Fish & By Catch: Chef Dan Hayes celebrates the less known fish that are often forgotten or abandoned at sea. Enjoy an evening of discovery; skate, octopus, pilchards, dogfish, flounder and other treats fresh from the Sidney dayboats. Dr John Volpe will be enlightening the session with some serious insight into our fishing future and ideally what should be on our plates when choosing Northern Pacific West Coast fish.

September 23 to October 6 with special meal on September 28

To celebrate all that’s local, Aphrodite’s Café and Pie Shop will showcase food fresh from the farm.  Their Fresh Sheet will feature a three-course menu showcasing BC-grown ingredients.

Cost: $35, + $10 for a tasting of local wines.

RSVP:  call Aphrodite’s at 604.733.5808. 10% of the fresh sheet meal to the Fund. September 28 is a special benefit where you will meet the farmers who have grown the food on your plate.  And 100% to the Fund.

http://www.organiccafe.ca/

Terra Madre 2011 Fundraising

Appetizer Options:

Tomato and sweet onion salad with dill and garlic vinaigrette

Garden herb and hazelnut crusted goat fromage blanc with honey-garlic drizzle in a bed of local greens and house made artisan crisps

Crispy squash gnocchi with shallot, apple, and sage brown butter

Entrée Options:

 Roasted garlic, sweet onion and cauliflower “ricotta” zucchini noodle cannelloni with fresh tomato sauce and basil pesto (vegan)

Wild salmon with Dijon hollandaise and savory blueberry puree

Crispy skin chicken with roasted potatoes

 Suckling pig with stuffing and mignonette

A Slow Food Cycle Event

We plan to start at the Fall Fair Grounds in Agassiz (FITNESS ACTIVITY CENTRE) after breakfast prepared by Kilby Farms and perked up with a Back Porch Coffee, leisurely cycle a self-guided tour around a 25 km flat route visiting farms and meeting farmers.  Stops feature special events, guided tours, samples, taste plates to purchase and a wide variety of fresh and food products available to purchase and take home.  The ‘shopping shuttle service’ is available as panniers only hold so much. 

Spend the weekend.

Enjoy great accommodations and romantic getaways in the area, from the Harrison Hotsprings Resort, to nearby Provincial and private campgrounds, to cozy bed-and-breakfasts (click on ‘Where to Stay’ on the left of this page). The following day, join us on the Chilliwack Cycle Tour where you experience new farms,  food offerings and spectacular scenery.

Tour Date: July 23, 2011 (rain or shine)

Times:  9am – 4pm (arrive and leave at your leisure!)

Start Location:  Fitness Activity Centre at the Fall Fairgrounds in Agassiz. Click on the Agassiz_Directions.pdf for a map to help you find the start location.

Price:  There is a charge for this event to offset the costs.  Net proceeds from this event, along with donations to our Terra Madre Fund, will go towards subsidizing the airfare for local farmers to attend Terra Madre 2012.   .

Click here to see the slideshow of the 2009 Agassiz Slow Food Cycle Tour.

• C/Nu/Raincity Grill
• Savoury City Catering
• Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown
• Capers Whole Foods Market
• Schokolade Cafe Artisan Chocolate & Cafe
• Vine & Garden Catering
• Subeez Cafe and Bar
• Aphrhodite’s Organic Delights Cafe
• R&B Brewery
• Ethical Bean Coffee

TERRA MADRE directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy
Friday, May 7 at 7:30pm
Granville 7

The Terra Madre (Mother Earth) conference is held in Turin, Italy attracting some 6000 delegates – activists and farmers from 153 nations to meet and exchange ideas, experience and plans for the future of food production and sustainability. Ermanno Olmi, now in his 70’s is free to reinvent the documentary form, which is exactly what happens in his new film, Terra Madre. Beginning with the conference itself, the film branches off into multiple narratives before the film gently settles on a remote Italian farm where something remarkable happens. A poem to beauty, food and the slow passage of time, Terra Madre is a ravishingly beautiful ode to the earth in all its fecundity and abundance.

OPENING NIGHT PARTY
May 7, 2010 at 9:30pm
Harrison Galleries
901 Homer Street

Join us at Harrison Galleries following the Opening Night Film, Terra Madre – and help us celebrate Italy and the Slow Food movement. Enjoy fine food and wine while gathering the hot buzz for the Festival!

Purchase Film and Party tickets ($35) OR Film Only ($15) tickets now.

Image via Wikipedia

Announcing Opening Night Film – Friday May 7,  7:30pm – Granville 7

Doxa Documentary Film Festival

visit Doxafestival.ca to buy tickets and for more information

$3.00/ticket for the film and the reception being donated to Slow Food Vancouver for our Terra Madre Fund.  Slow Food is partnered with FarmFolk/CityFolk raising funds to send our local farmers to Terra Madre 2010

TERRA MADRE directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy

The Terra Madre (Mother Earth) conference is held in Turin, Italy attracting some 6000 delegates – activists and farmers from 153 nations to meet and exchange ideas, experience and plans for the future of food production and sustainability. Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi attended the conference to document the event. Now in his late-70s, Olmi is free to reinvent the documentary form, which is exactly what happens in his new film, Terra Madre.  Beginning with the conference itself, the film branches off into multiple narratives, including a sojourn north to visit the International Seed Bank in Norway, and to farms in China and India. Interspersed with conference delegates offering insight and advice, the film then gently settles on a remote Italian farm where something remarkable happens. All the discussion pales before the simplicity of old fashioned farming. As the film moves from theory to reality—cycling through the seasons of planting, harvesting, cooking and eating—traditional documentary falls away, and a singular type of poetry emerges. A poem to beauty, food and the slow passage of time, Terra Madre is a ravishingly beautiful ode to the earth in all its fecundity and abundance.

DOXA OPENING NIGHT PARTY

Join us for a Terra Madre Celebrazione following the Opening Night Film for an evening celebrating Italy and the Slow Food movement! Enjoy fine food and listen to live entertainment while gathering all the hot buzz for the festival!
Harrison Galleries (901 Homer Street)
Purchase Film and Party tickets ($35) OR Film Only ($15) tickets now.  www.doxafestival.ca

Cittaslow (www.cittaslow.net) is an international organization formed in Orvieto, Italy in 1999 with the mandate to improve the quality of life in towns while resisting the fast lane, homogenized world seen in larger cities.  Celebrating and supporting diversity of culture and the specialties of a town are core Cittaslow values.  Born from the Slow Food movement (www.slowfood.com), Cittaslow’s main goal is to promote the philosophy of Slow Food to local communities and governments, applying the concepts of eco-gastronomy to everyday life.

In February of 2009, the Discover Naramata Board agreed, in principle, to pursue the accreditation of Naramata as a Cittaslow.  After a lengthy application and assessment process, Naramata was recognized as a member of Cittaslow Canada, after the first and only other North American member town, Cowichan Bay, BC, was accredited in July of this year.  The official declaration will take place in Orvieto, Italy on November 28, 2009.

Discover Naramata (www.discovernaramata.com) was formed in 1999 by Naramata area businesses with the mandate “to encourage visitors to experience the existing charm and character of Naramata, while encouraging and supporting local business initiatives.”  Discover Naramata represents the business community of Naramata and the surrounding area including wineries, farms and retail/hospitality/tourism related businesses.

For further information, contact:

Norm Davies, Director, Discover Naramata
Box 164, Naramata, BC, Canada, V0H 1N0
http://www.discovernaramata.com
slow@discovernaramata.com

Vancouver Island Village Joins International Cittaslow Community

In the seaside town of Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island, taking it slow is a way of life – a dedication to the local landscape that has garnered the quaint community worldwide praise. Recently heralded as the first Cittaslow (pronounced Cheetah-slow) member in North America, Cowichan Bay joins 120 towns in 16 countries committed to putting quality of life first; Cittaslow towns, founded in Italy in 1999 and rooted in the Slow Food movement, aim to improve the quality of life for their residents, support local specialties and cultural diversity while preserving their rural lifestyle. Seems a natural fit for the village of less than 3,000, situated 45 minutes north of Victoria, where acres of greenspace give way to small and medium-scale agricultural operations and wineries, all within traditional First Nations land. In simple terms, you won’t find fast food or big box boys in Cowichan Bay. And with a bounty of some of the province’s hottest chefs, growers, winemakers, artisans and the like settled within a community loyal to local produce and their producers, a Cittaslow designation seemed the next logical step. Assessed and certified under six potential areas of excellence, including environmental policy, encouragement of local food and artisanal products and businesses, and hospitality and friendliness, the village sored a whopping 93 per cent, one of the highest rankings of all towns to apply for the honour.

We are very proud to have become the first Cittaslow in Canada and in North America,” says Mara Jernigan, Chef of Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat and Guesthouse and current President of Slow Food Canada. “It shows a genuine commitment towards the rural and environmental nature of the area and the local production of high quality artisanal and organic food.” www.cittaslow.net

To read more story ideas from the Vancouver Island region, visit www.hellobc.com/vancouverislandmedia.

Listen live at 4:15 pm on Wednesdays on the Joe Leary show at Buzz 1410 or listen to the podcast on the link above.

Events

Ricard Cocktail Tasting at Bistro Pastis (August 20, 2009)
Opus and Grey Goose (August 20, 2009)
Third Annual Slow Food Cycle Tour (August 22, 2009)
Okanagan Feast of Fields (August 23, 2009)
Blue Mountain Wine Dinner at DB Bistro (August 24, 2009)
Sylvia’s Dining Room Presents:Crowsnest Vineyards (August 25, 2009)

Industry News

Chef Quang Dang does tip to tail sablefish menu until September at C
Mt. Pleasant Cheese’s August newsletter
When is it ok to play with your food? When you are studying the art of food styling!
Gastown’s Social announces new Chef – Harman Gill

Terra Madre is an international conference held every two years in Torino, Italy. In 2008, over 7,000 farmers from 153 countries came together to discuss sustainable farming, biodiversity, and food production.

Terra Madre has inspired a new framework for discourse on food and sustainability, one where ideas, strategies, partnerships and alliances prosper. Over five days, there are opportunities to hear from notable speakers and participate in Earth-related workshops on themes such as climate change, native breeds, and Participative Development Models. The Salone del Gusto – the world’s largest artisanal food marketplace – is held concurrently, in part for delegates to gain a deeper sense of how small-scale sustainable producers can market their products effectively.

Debra Amrein-Boyes, from Farmhouse Natural Cheeses (one of the featured farms on the Agassiz Cycle Tour – August 22), was able to attend Terra Madre in 2008 and had this to say about the conference:

“Because of the industrialized food system, smaller farmers are getting pushed to the periphery. Terra Madre encouraged all small farmers not to give up and stressed the importance of our efforts. The experience was truly inspirational!” Devan Toop is a 26 year-old, 6th generation dairy farmer. Devan studied agriculture at the University of Manitoba and came back to the farm to co-run it with his dad and grandfather. He says:

“People always ask me why I farm and I say because I take great pride in my work; because there is nothing like the satisfaction you get from investing yourself in a truly living, breathing business and seeing the results of your labour first-hand.

I farm because every day brings new challenges to overcome, new oppurtunities to learn. I am blessed to be able to work alongside my family in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and like the five generations before me, I know that the greatest rewards in life come through dedication and hard work.”

You can meet Devan on the Chilliwack Cycle Tour – August 23. He will be giving tours of his dairy farm at 9:30am, 10:30am and 11:30am (…and by the way, one of his cows just gave birth to a calf over the weekend!)

Devan Toop, 26 year-old farmer nominee

We need to encourage more youth to adopt farming as a career. You can help by donating online to the Slow Food Vancouver Adopt-a-Farmer campaign, nominating a youth farmer, and participating in the Slow Food Cycle Tours and in other upcoming Slow Food events.

Please email infosfv@slowfoodvancouver.com with your nominees or to get involved.

Thank you from Slow Food Vancouver!