What Are We Feeding The Kids? (And Ourselves?)

**Slow Food St. Louis is happy to promote this event, but is not sponsoring it**
Join in for this town hall discussion of what is driving our country's childhod obesity epidemic, and what folks in St. Louis are doing to turn around that trend. Anne Lappe, National Best-Selling Author, Lecturer and Food Activist will speak on the topic "What Are We Feeding The Kids? (And Ourselves?)"

Monday, October 8, 2007
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Wild Oats Natural Marketplace
8823 Ladue Rd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63124

Healthy snacks and drinks will be served compliments of Wild Oats.
Call Jill at 314-289-3553 for full details.
$10 suggested donation; $25 includes a signed copy of Lappe's book: "Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen". Proceeds benefit The Fiji Organic Project, a project of Earth Island Institute. http://www.fijiorganic.org/

**Slow Food St. Louis is happy to promote this event, but is not sponsoring it**

Kitchen Clutter Fleamarket and Potluck

Join Slow Food St. Louis on Sunday, September 30th, for a kitchen clutter sale, barbeque, and picnic!

Kitchen Clutter Sale from 3:00pm to 5:00pm: Gather your unused kitchen items and price them to sell, tables will be provided (50% of proceeds will be donated to Slow Food St. Louis)

Potluck Picnic from 5:30pm to 7:30pm: Bring a side dish to share and a beverage of your choice, plus your own plates, cups, and utensils - our goal is a green picnic! Grilled meat from local farms will be provided.

• RSVP: By September 25th to rsvp@slowfoodstl.org or 314.822.8682
• Cost: Free for current Slow Food members; $5.00 for non-members.
• Location: Kirkwood Park - Scout Shelter (On geyer Road, between Manchester and Big Bend)

Slow Food Ice Cream Marathon!

The heat got you down? Cool off with an ice cream marathon! All across the St. Louis area, ice cream and gelato artists are serving up their hand-made confections. You are invited to try some of those shops and their unique flavors, and then compare your reactions with other Slow Food members.

Here's how it works. From August 27 through Sept. 3 (Labor Day), visit a few (or all!!) of the shops listed below. At each one, order your favorite flavor and the shop's signature flavor (or flavor of the week). Also, test your taste buds with the mystery flavor--the servers have picked a flavor they will serve you but keep the name of the flavor a secret. When you've finally had enough ice cream, share your thoughts right here on our blog. Just remember to support these great shops by making a purchase while you're there, in addition to enjoying the samples these generous folks are glad to share.

So, gather up family and friends and eat your way from one delight to the next! We'll send reminders later in the month--but mark your calendars now.

• Serendipity 8130 Big Bend Blvd. Webster Groves, MO 962-2700
• Gelato di Riso 9905 Manchester Rd. Brentwood, MO 962-0660
• Crown Candy Kitchen 1401 St. Louis St. Louis, MO 621-9650 **no mystery flavor available
• Gelateria 1327 Washington Ave. St. Louis, MO 621-8838
• Gelato's Italian Ice Cream 301 E. Broadway Alton, IL 618-465-9350
• Ronnie's Ice Cream (Ron Ryan's fabulous flavors are sold all over town--including Cicero's, Duff's, J. Bucks and especially at Schlafly Bottleworks or Schlafly Tap Room where you can try his Oatmeal Stout ice cream)
• LaVallesano Tacos and Ice Cream 2801 Cherokee St. St. Louis, MO 776-4223 NOTE: Because of a language challenge, the management didn't understand this activity. So, don't try to order a mystery flavor there. But DO be adventuresome and enjoy their tasty Mexican-style ice cream.

Take Action on Farm Bill

You may have heard the buzz lately about the upcoming reauthorization of the Farm Bill—the nation’s most important food and farming policy. As an organization, we advocate for a food system that is good, clean, and fair, and we hope that you, our 14,000 voices, can get that message across to our government! Slow Food USA has signed onto "Seeking Balance in US Farm and Food Policy," published and distributed by the Farm and Food Project, a W.K. Kellogg Foundation initiative. Seeking Balance is a statement of values and principles that encourage more balanced food and farm policies. For more information please check the Slow Food USA site.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/farmbill/

Art Of Food: A Canvas of Culinary Inspired Art and Incredible Edibles

The "Art of Food" Event At The Mad Art Gallery
To Benefit Slow Food USA, St. Louis Chapter

WHO: Slow Food USA, St. Louis chapter, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and supporting sustainable, local foods and food traditions, holds its fundraiser, "Art of Food" on July 28, 2007 at the Mad Art Gallery in Soulard from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

WHAT: The "Art of Food" event will showcase the area's top "slow" restaurants serving delectable hors d'ouvres using only the freshest, local ingredients prepared by the hottest chefs in the slow food tradition. Food-themed art by local artists, gift baskets filled with a variety of specialty goodies from boutiques, wineries and restaurants are up for auction at 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Enjoy cool drinks, fashion with a food edge and savory morsels of music and video clips from classic to corny for your viewing pleasure.

WHEN: Saturday, July 28, 2007 from 7 to 11 p.m.
WHERE: Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th Street, St. Louis, MO 63118
COST: $30 cash at the door • $20 in advance at brownpapertickets (fee applies), at Mad Art Gallery, or at various Farmers' Markets • One drink ticket included in purchase price. Cash bar available.

WEBSITES:
Offical Art of Food Website ::: Slow Food St. Louis Website

PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS AND CHEFS:

• Annie Gunn's - Lou Rook III
• Bailey's Chocolate Bar - David Bailey
• Balaban's - Andy White
• Lucas School House - Christopher Roussin
• Modesto - Grace Dinsmoor
• Niche - Gerard Craft
• Riddle's Penultimate Cafe - Andy Ayers
• Schlafly Bottleworks - Scott Smelser
• Washington Avenue Bistro - Tim Grandinetti

FEATURED ARTISTS:
Greg Barth, Malinda Sullivan, Mary Beth Shaw, Tara McCarthy, Sarah Frost, Tim Meehan, Bruce Howard, Geoff Story, Jim Ibur, Kirsten O'Loughlin, Daniel Shown, Carmelita Nunez, Tim Garrett, Gabriela Toujs, Cbabi Bayoc, Robin Woll, Sara Hale, Joe Eisenberg, Katy Fischer, Jaime Gartelos, Ron Buechele, Julie Malone, Jenna Bauer, Amy Hoover, Marie Oberkirsch, Tom Lawless, Mitch Huett, Karen Jones, Julie Wiegand, Jeff Marsh, Kohli Marsh, Allyson Mace, Fern Taylor, Theresa Disney, Katherine Bish, Josh Crow

EVENT PRESENTERS:
Sauce Magazine • Mad Art Gallery • Slow Food St. Louis • Schlafly Beer • It's All About You

Fête de Chaumette July 14th

Chaumette Vineyards & Winery announces its July 14th Fête de Chaumette, a Celebration of Regional Wines, Cuisine & Goods

Chaumette Vineyards & Winery announces its annual Fête de Chaumette, held on the winery grounds Saturday, July 14th from 11am to 7pm. Chaumette’s Fête de Chaumette is a celebration of regional cuisine, wine, arts, goods and entertainment that proudly features and promotes the significance of Missouri’s regional products. Fourteen new and established wineries, sixteen food producers and sixteen area retailers are participating from the Ste. Genevieve region and beyond. Owner Hank Johnson states, “We conceptualized this year’s Fête to proudly showcase the regionality of our local products - from fine wine and food products to arts and other goods and entertainment that our region offers. By bringing many local area businesses together, guests can discover and enjoy a multitude of regional delights all at one event.”

Each participant vendor will sell and sample their products. Chaumette’s Grapevine Grill will serve BBQ all day, featuring a menu that include ingredients that food producers will sell at the event, including BBQ bison burgers, BBQ chicken, pork & lamb, local cheeses & sausages and salads made with local produce. The indoor/outdoor event is a family friendly festival for all ages and kids’ activities will include turtle racing, kite flying, bobbing for apples and boulé. Live entertainment will perform throughout the day, including House of Bishops, a Blues, R&B and Oldies band and Dennis Stroughmatt & the Creole Stomp a Louisiana Creole Zydeco, Cajun and Blues band as well as other local musicians. Event is free of charge to guests, and a $20 parking fee per car will be collected. Plenty of covered & uncovered outdoor seating for guests will be offered.

Wineries participating include Charleville Vineyard & Winery, Claverach Vineyards, Durso Hills Vineyards & Winery, Meramec Vineyards, Peaceful Bend Vineyard, River Ridge Winery, Sainte Genevieve Winery, Shady Grove Vineyards, Tower Rock Winery, Twin Oaks Vineyard, Vance Vineyard & Winery, Villa Antonio Winery and White Rose Winery.

Food producers include Alpine Dairy Goat Farm from Webster Groves, Claverach Farm from Eureka, Family Friendly Farm from Cape Girardeau, Missouri Grass Fed Beef from Jackson, Goat's Beard Farm from Harrisburg, Hinkebein Hills Farms from Cape Girardeau, Living Springs Ranch from Belleview, Missouri Elk Farmers Association, Monroe Farm from Berryman (Washington County,) Pioneer Apple Orchards & Market from Jackson, Prairie Grass Farms from New Florence, Sayersbrook Bison from Potosi, Sunflower Savannah from Beaufort and Windrush Farm from Farmington.

Retailers and other locals businesses participating from Ste. Genevieve are The Show Me Shop, a retailer of Missouri products from Ste. Genevieve, First Settlement Country Store, Ivy & Twigs, a garden shop, Joyce & Choyce’s Antiques & Collectibles, Odile's Linen & Lace, Etc., The Stained Glass Shop, Sweet Things, Candle Corner, Zielinski’s, specializing in vintage retail, Deb Says Sew, specializing in embroidery, The Racing Edge, Nancy Dee's Antiques & Collectibles, Lulu’s Antiques, Only Child Originals, specializing in hand-made jewelry and the Ste. Genevieve Tourist & Information Center. Also participating are Stonie's Sausage Shop from Perryville and The Tiger Sanctuary from Bloomsdale.

Chaumette’s Fête de Chaumette originated four years ago as a celebration the French holiday Bastille Day to commemorate the rich French heritage of Ste. Genevieve. Over the years, the festival has grown to something even more prominent and encompassing – a festival for regional cuisine, arts, and entertainment.

Established in 1990 by Hank and Jackie Johnson, Chaumette Vineyards and Winery is located in Ste. Genevieve County 20 miles southwest of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. As a premier Missouri Winery, Chaumette is dedicated to handcrafting wines of distinction and elegance. For more information go to http://www.chaumette.com/.

Harvest Grocery Opens

Local Harvest Grocery, located at 3148 Morganford, opened over the weekend. The micro-grocery was founded by Patrick Horine and Shannon "Maddie" Earnest and will will have a heavy emphasis on local and organic foods. Visit their website at www.localharvestgrocery.com for more information.

Lambstravaganza 2007

A Dinner to Benefit Slow Food St Louis

Come enjoy an elaborate feast on the farm! Tim Grandinetti, Executive Chef at the Renaissance Grand Hotel, has planned an extraordinary multi-course feast focusing on lamb from Hillebrand's Praire Grass Farms.


There will be walking tours of the farm with Schlafly Beer, followed by a sit-down, family style dinner for 60! Les Bourgoeois will again pair wines with each delectable course. This event was so extraordinary last year and everyone had such a fantastic time that we're sure to sell out quickly, do don't delay.

Advance purchase only.
Your seat is reserved once we receive your check.
Prairie Grass Farms
New Florence, MO
Sunday June 10th
2-6 p.m.
Tickets (advance only)
$60 Slow Food members
$75 non-members


Please send your check
(made out to Slow Food St Louis)
by June 1st to:
Stephen Hale
1925 South 9th Street
St Louis, MO 63104
e-mail questions to:
Stephen@slowfoodstl.org

Upcoming Events

We're announcing a ton of upcoming events.



Even if you aren't a Slow Food member, come out and enjoy one of these great culinary excursions.

April 18 & 19 at 7 pm, Slow Food on Film
A selection of award-winning films from the Slow Food Film Festival in Bra, Italy, 2006, shown at Winifred Moore Auditorium, Webster University. For more info: http://www.webster.edu/filmseries/current.html

April 22 from 11 am - 6 pm, Slow Food booth at Earth Day
Come celebrate Earth Day with Slow Food in Forest Park! Volunteers for the booth are welcome! Email reply to slowfoodstl@hotmail.com. For more info: http://www.stlouisearthday.org

April 28 at 10am, Cave Vineyard & Farms Tour
Start at Cave; more details will follow.
RSVP by April 24th to slowfoodstl@hotmail.com
$20 per person includes tour, lunch. and wine tasting.

May 5, Slow Food booth at Christ Church Cathedral Flower Festival
Downtown. More details at www.christchurchcathedral.us

Farmers Market Openings
Maplewood: May 2
Tower Grove: May 12
Other market dates to come...

June 10, Lambstravaganza
A Feast in the Field not to be missed! Held at Prairie Grass Farms, New Florence, MO. Details forthcoming...but it's sure to be a sellout!

July 28, Art of Food
Mad Art Gallery in Soulard! Great Art! Great Food!

Slow Food on Film

Slow Food on Film

Webster University Film Series
April 18 & 19 at 7:00pm
A selection of films from last year’s Slow Film festival, held annually in Bra, Piedmont, Italy. Films include We Are What We Lost, a Serbian homage to the relationship between food, memory and love and loss; Kafe 469 the inner thoughts of an Iranian cafe owner turned terrorist; L'Age De Raison, a French portrait of a young girl struggling to understand religious restrictions on foods and Ohayo, a haunting Japanese film of how cooking held a marriage together until it quickened to a deeper level. Sponsored by Slow Food St Louis. For ticket information and directions, visit the Webster Film Series website.

Previous Slow Food St Louis Events: Honey Tasting

Profound thanks to Lynn Krause for allowing us to hold the honey tasting at the Viking Store. We tasted 30 honeys from around the world. But prior to the tasting Joy Stinger presented a brief lecture on the life of a beekeeper and her bees. To the startled amusement of all she donned her beekeeper suit .

Lynn Krause prepared chicken breasts rolled in panko, sautéed and then finished in the oven. This was served with honey mustard and a honey balsamic vinegar reduction. To allow us a taste comparison, she prepared one batch of oatmeal cookies made with honey the other with sugar. This was accompanied by mead, the honey wine drink. While eating we viewed the slide show 90 year old Jim McCaskill had put together years ago. It has been converted to a DVD. In a league with the Disney nature pictures of yore, the slides were intensely beautiful. Pam C., Lana S. and Julie N. won the door prizes of bottles of honey.

• The Mesozoic Era, approximately 100,000,000 years ago, brought flowers and bees first appeared among the insects.
• The earliest known record of honey collecting is from a 7,000 BC cave painting in Spain.
• Hives were placed on rafts in Egypt and floated down the Nile for pollination purposes as well as honey production.
• Honey was used in the embalming process for pharaohs.
• The Greek god of beekeeping was Aristaeus.
• One tablespoon of honey contains 65 calories.
• American Indians called honeybees “white man’s fly” as the European bees spread ahead of European man.
• Bees and their kin do not see red; red flowers are pollinated by birds.
• The fertile eggs the queen lays become workers. The infertile eggs she lays become the drones, whose only function is to fertilize the queen, so the drone has a grandfather but no father!
• Future queens are created by feeding the eggs and larvae royal jelly.
• Multiple queen cells are created but when the first queen appears from her cell, she kills the other queen larvae in their cells. (There can be circumstances when this does not happen.)
• The only poisonous honey is produced from Mt Laurel blossoms and contains andromedotoxin. (Any mystery writers out there?)
• Statistics: One bee would fly 3 earth orbits using 1 oz. of honey for fuel to collect enough nectar to produce one pound of honey.
• Honey is/has been used in golf balls, shaving creams, shampoos, gear lubricants, chewing gum and tobacco.
• Below 45 degrees bees become paralyzed if not within their hive.
• Scent organs are located on the bee’s antennae; queens have 2,000 organs, workers 6,000 and drones 30,000.
• A queen may lay up to 5,000 eggs at her peak, 1,500 to 2,000 is normal.
• Bees were used in wars: Henry I hurled bees among the horses of the Duke of Lorraine during their dispute. In WWI the German troops in East Africa used bees to fight the British.
• If this has tweaked the interest of any of you, a good book to read is The Golden Throng by Edwin Way Teale.

Author Activist to Speak at Benefit for SLU Educational Initiative, March 5th

Anna Lappé, an author and social activist on environmental issues, will speak at a dinner to raise funds for a hands-on Saint Louis University project that teaches elementary and middle school students about gardening, cooking and nutrition.

The fundraiser for the Garden to Table project will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, March 5 in Fresh Gatherings Cafe, which is located in the lower level of the Doisy College of Health Sciences building, 3437 Caroline Mall on Saint Louis University’s campus.

A gourmet dinner with locally grown food and locally produced wine will be served. Tickets are $50.

Fresh Gatherings is a sustainable restaurant that serves healthy meals made from locally produced food products and practices composting and recycling. It is operated by the department of nutrition and dietetics.

The department also is the lead partner on a project that taps into the talents of Saint Louis University nutrition and dietetics students to teach students at Humboldt and Sigel Schools that food doesn’t start out at the local grocery store. The students garden, cook and study about nutrition. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a partner on the educational initiative.

Lappé is the author of the bestselling “Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet,” which received the Nautilus Award for Social Change. Her second book, “Grub: Ideas for an Urban, Organic Kitchen,” was published last year.

Lappé encourages Americans to buy locally grown foods, support fair trade, and voice opinions to protect our planet. Lappé is co-founder of both the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund. She is a compelling public speaker, with past talks at schools such as Yale University and Brown University. To learn more about Lappé, visit http://www.smallplanetinstitute.org

Those who attend the dinner will receive a signed copy of “Grub,” which explores issues of social change and its impact on our food systems.

Lappé also will speak at a lunch earlier in the day, also at Fresh Gatherings. Tickets, which include the meal and talk, are $15. Both events are open to the public.

Tickets are available in advance by calling 314-977-8523 or at the door.

Slow Food St. Louis helped sponsor this event.

Reminder SLOW FOOD Trivia Night

We still have spots for Convivial Pursuit, a friendly game of food trivia to benefit Slow Food St. Louis. This event takes place Sunday, March 25th from 4-8pm at Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th Street, St. Louis, MO 63118.

We've lowered ticket prices...get yours now!Ticket prices are $20 each. Price includes Schlafly Beer, wine, soda, and water.

To purchase a table, mail your check or money order made out to Slow Food St. Louis, to: Sara Hale, 1925 South Ninth Street, St. Louis, MO 63104. Be sure to include your contact name, email, phone number, and name of your team. Send questions to slowfoodstl@hotmail.com.

Bee Alert When Checking Hives This Spring

This information comes from:
Extension and Ag Information
University of Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. - A new phenomenon among the beehives has beekeepers and researchers buzzing. A breakdown in normal colony structure is causing bees to abandon their hives, said a University of Missouri extension entomologist.

"They're leaving the queen, which is unusual," said Richard Houseman, associate professor of entomology. In many hives, there are no bees at all. The brood, or young, remain capped. Affected hives also are slow to be "robbed out" by other colonies. This phenomenon, first identified last fall, is known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Bee experts are unsure of the cause. The disorder has been reported in 24 states. Missouri is not on the list.

State entomologist Mike Brown said he hasn't had any official reports of CCD in Missouri. "Everything I have heard has been anecdotal," he said.

Both Houseman and Brown encourage beekeepers who have hives showing symptoms of the disorder to report their findings to the Missouri Department of Agriculture or the University of Missouri. They will need to complete a confidential survey about the details of their loss.

"It may provide some clues or common threads, such as practices beekeepers should avoid," said Houseman.

Art Gelder, owner of Walk-About Acres outside Columbia, also has heard of hives being affected. He has just begun to check hives and has already noticed one hive exhibiting symptoms of the disorder. "No bees," he said. "No dead bees, no live bees. Just honey.

"It's kind of scary. Not only can you lose half of your honey crop, but you also lose the pollination." And pollination is what the buzz is all about.

"In some states, the impact (of low bee numbers of pollination) may be large depending on the major crops," said Houseman. "In Missouri, our major crops are corn and soybeans, and they're self-pollinating."

He said growers of fruit and vegetable crops, such as apples, cucumbers and watermelons, may see an impact because those plants are pollinated by honey bees. Right now Missouri's bee status is unknown.

"More information should be made available as the temperatures start to warm and beekeepers start to get out to check their colonies," Brown said.

Gelder said he plans to report his loss after checking the rest of his hives.

"We just have to wait for scientists to figure out what's going on nd go from there," he said.

A multi-state working group comprised of researchers, extension agents and regulatory officials from Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture; Florida Department of Agriculture; Bee Alert Technology, Inc., affiliated with University of Montana; Florida Department of Agriculture; and the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service is considering several hypotheses about possible causes, including transmitted pathogens, an immunosuppressive disorder and sublethal insecticides.

Slow Food St. Louis Photo Archives

Artisan Cheese Tasting

Convivial Pursuit: A Friendly Game of Food Trivia

Convivial Pursuit, a friendly game of food trivia to benefit Slow Food St. Louis, will take place Sunday, March 25th from 4-8pm at Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th Street, St. Louis, MO 63118.



Tables for 8-10 players may be reserved for $250 and the fee includes Schlafly Beer, wine, soda, and water. Prizes will be awarded for best table decorations (this includes your group and your snacks), as well as for trivia winners. We’ll be offering fantastic raffle items, a silent food-art auction, and interactive categories sure to delight your senses.

Exposé on Coffee Trade Inequities

Community Cinema Series: Black Gold
TOPIC: Exposé on Coffee Trade Inequities
DATE: March 22, 2007
TIME: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
LOCATION: Lee Auditorium, Missouri History Museum, Lindell & DeBaliviere
NOTES: Black Gold is a screening of the new Community Cinema Series. This documentary by Nick Francis and Marc Francis traces one man's fight for fair trade in the multi-billion-dollar coffee industry. As Westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, Ethiopian coffee subsist in poverty. Panelists who will lead a discussion after the documentary include representatives from Kaldi's, Plowsharers, League of Voters, and Washington University Students for Fair Trade.This new Community Cinemas Series is presented by KETC/Channel 9 and the Missouri Historical Society, in collaboration with Independent Lens, ITVS, and FOCUS St. Louis. Screenings are on Thursday evenings.
Cost: Free
For more information: Call 314-746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org