WINE & COFFEE TASTING - INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OPEN HOUSE

Sunday September 30th: 1-3pm

Indulge your senses with an afternoon of wine and coffee tasting and good discussion. We will be featuring wines and coffees that hold true to Slow Food's values of "good, clean, and fair." Coffee will be provided by Deeper Roots Coffee, desserts provided by Servatii's Pastry Shop and light hors d'oeuvres will also be served to cleanse the palate.

During the afternoon you will hear from Slow Food Board Members with Remo Bellucci about the Slow Food Movement and his experience at the past three Terra Madres


. I will also present on my upcoming trip as one of this region's US delegates to the International Congress and Terra Madre - Salone del Gusto in Italy in October. I will not only be representing the Farm and Slow Food Cincinnati, but our entire region and country and I want to hear from you about what you think the international food community should know about Cincinnati. I hope to see you there!

Suggested Donation: $10 (all proceeds will go to fund my trip to represent Gorman Heritage Farm, Slow Food Cincinnati, and this region at the International Congress)

For more information about my trip and how to get involved please visit: http://gormanfarm.org/slow-food-movement.html

Great discussions on food brought up at Whole Foods Mason

I was given the great opportunity to talk to some great customers and employees of the Mason Whole Foods during their Wine Tasting event this past weekend about Slow Food and my trip to the International Congress. I was able to engage in some great discussions with people who are interested in Slow Food's values and our local food system.

At the wine-tasting, I was asking the question "What would you like to convey to the international food community about our local food system?"  Some of the discussions that happened through this question were:

• The need to "Support more farmers. If they can sustain themselves we can have constant produce." What would it look like for a career as a farmer be as highly regarded as a doctor or lawyer?
• Permaculture principles (below description is taken from wikipedia)
• Permaculture is a branch of ecological design and ecological engineering which develops sustainable human settlements and self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems.[1][2]
• The core tenets of permaculture are:[3][4]
• Take Care of the Earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish. 
• Take Care of the People: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence. 
• Share the Surplus: Healthy natural systems use outputs from each element to nourish others. We humans can do the same. By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.
• Eating factory farmed meat uses up too much energy and natural resources. Should this be allowed? Is there another way to feed the world?

I'm interested in hearing from more people during my journey, and I welcome anyone who is reading this to give me your insights. Thanks to everyone who I met this weekend and please keep in touch. 

Local Food Action Team Presentation

Thank you Green Umbrella Local Food Action Team for letting me present at your meeting today. It was great meeting everyone and seeing some familiar faces. It sounds like everyone is doing some really great things, and I look forward to hearing from you all. I was given the opportunity to  present about Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto and the International Congress that I was selected to be one of the US delegates for.

I asked attendees at the meeting the question, "What would you like to convey to the international food community about Cincinnati's food system?"
Here were some of the answers:

• "Cincinnati has many opportunities for "growth" and expansion in local foods; several corporations are on-board with the movement. " - Jenny Even
• "The need to educate children, specifically in urban areas about the importance of growing and eating healthy food. (Gabriel's Place)" - Donna Odom Lapasky
• "Environmental sustainability in food production - ie Edible forestry and the inclusion of the arts in food production" - Melody Wolf

These are all great topics!  Please share any other topics, stories, traditions that you'd like to share.