It’s time to refresh our crew once again! We are entirely volunteer organization but an active one.

We call on you to nominate yourself or another worthy member to join the Committee.
To make a nomination go to slowfoodnyc.wufoo.com/forms/2009-elections.

To be nominated, one must be:

• A SFNYC member in good standing, meaning up-to-date on annual dues payment, for at least one year prior to your nomination. (Non-members: Click here for discounted membership rates during the September membership drive)
• Interested in and capable of contributing to the mission of Slow Food NYC
• Able to spend time working on SFNYC activities and affairs
• Available to actively participate in at least one sub-committee, including: Development, “Snail of Approval,” Communications or others.

For a more thorough review of what we are all about, read more here: www.slowfoodnyc.org/about

As a Committee Member, you must:

• Be willing to serve for three years;
• Be able to attend regular committee meetings, typically once a month — sometimes more;
• Enthusiastically take ownership of various SFNYC affairs and activities (events, programs, and projects) during your term – your involvement will primarily be based on what you volunteer to do but you may occasionally be asked to take on work;
• Uphold and evangelize our mission within the communities we serve.

Submissions can be made online through October 12, 2009; if you have any questions about this process or the requirements, please contact kendall@slowfoodnyc.org.

A member of the Nomination Sub-committee may contact you to talk about your interest. The Nomination Sub-committee will propose a list of qualified candidates for the consideration of the SFNYC membership.

New Steering Committee members’ terms will commence early during 2010.

We urge you to jump in! It is going to be a fantastic year.

Here are some of the things SFNYC will do during 2009.

• Expand the Harvest Time In School Program
• Start our First Slow Food Community Garden
• Hold Monthly Slurs (convivial cocktail opportunities)
• Continue our Monthly Slow U’s (taste education events)
• Work to support local food providers by expanding the Snail of Approval and supporting our current nominees.
• Work with Slow Food USA to support their initiatives and directives.
• Host Fundraising Dinners and Events

To make a nomination go to slowfoodnyc.wufoo.com/forms/2009-elections.

Kerry Trueman, writing for The Huffington Post, talks to Joseph Garcia, a student from Automotive High School in Brooklyn, who switched his career goal from cars to cooking through his involvement in the Slow Food NYC supported Harvest Time Program steered by Auto High teacher Jennie  Kessler. Read about Jenny, Joseph, and the Harvest Time Program.

Read the full story here:
www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-trueman/slow-food-steers-aspiring_b_279743.html

Looking for a little bite of something good, clean and fair? Check out the Slow Food NYC Snail of Approval website to find out what’s local, sustainable and delicious in the Big Apple. Our newest Snail of Approval winners are: Smith Street favorite Lunetta, Ditmas Park outpost The Farm on Adderley, Williamsburg winners Diner, Marlow and Sons and Marlow and Daughters, Park Slope newcomer Get Fresh Table and Market, East Village eateries Momofuku Noodle Bar and Momofuku Ssam Bar, and green restaurant innovator Rouge Tomate. Congratulations and thanks for everything you do.

And if you don’t see your favorite Slow foodists on the list, nominate them! Slow Food members can nominate any food enterprise that contributes to the quality, sustainability and authenticity of our food supply for a Snail of Approval by simply filling out the online nomination form. You’ll be helping them to get through these tough economic times, and you’ll be helping your fellow members to find the food that’s best, cleanest and fairest.

June 4, 2009. New York, NY: June 22-28, 2009 will be the third annual National Pollinator Week. Just Food is coordinating NYC’s first Pollinator Week celebration, highlighting the importance of local pollinators – especially honeybees – and how they positively affect our lives and the urban environment. Hard-working honeybees contribute to productive NYC gardens, farms, and parks, a thriving local economy and healthy urban communities.
The celebration will feature a Beekeeper’s Ball, New York Nectar, free activities, honey tastings, and talks for all New Yorkers to enjoy. Some of the events include:

• The Beekeeper’s Ball: This fun-filled kick-off to NYC Pollinator Week takes place on Monday, June 22nd from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at the new Water Taxi Beach at South Street Seaport in Manhattan. Indulge in a 100% honey-infused menu of passed hors d’oeuvres including Mini Honey-Glazed Ribs, Chicken Skewers, Honey Ginger Veggie Skewers, Honey Glazed Veggies, plus plenty of honey-drizzled sweets. Local beers and mead donated by Brooklyn Brewery, Kelso of Brooklyn, and Long Island Meadery. Beekeeper and bee costumes encouraged. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes. Dancing and DJ. Food and one drink included with each $25 ticket.
• New York Nectar: Chefs and mixologists from across the city will create special dishes, desserts and drinks featuring local honey as a key ingredient in celebration of Pollinator Week. Available from June 22 to 27 at: Aureole, Back 40, Bobo, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Free Foods, Little Giant, Jimmy’s No. 43, Mae Mae Café, Marlow & Sons, Palo Santo, Rose Water, Savoy, Sotheby’s Terrace Café, Trestle on 10th, Txito, and Wave Hill Café.
• Honey Festival: Union Square’s Greenmarket is the perfect setting to taste the sweetest local honeys, meet local and urban beekeepers, see a demonstration hive and learn about NYC beekeeping efforts and organizations. Friday, June 26 from 11a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Hidden Hives: Explore the incredible hidden world of urban beekeeping without leaving the comfort of your bar-stool.  On this virtual tour, you’ll visit rooftop, backyard, and community garden hives and hear the tales of intrepid urban beekeepers.  Discover how hives operate safely in a major metropolis. Find out what all the buzz is about. Thursday, June 25, 7pm at Jimmy’s No. 43

Legalizing Beekeeping in NYC
Honeybees are in crisis. Throughout the country, honeybee colonies have been disappearing. One of our environment’s humble heroes, the honeybee plays a vital role in the health and viability of any sustainable agricultural system. As pollinators, they help grow fruit, flowers and vegetables in more than 500 community gardens in New York City.

In progressive cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Portland, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver, urban beekeepers are selling honey to supplement their income in these tough economic times. But here in New York City, raising and caring for honeybees is illegal. The importance of bees to the urban environment and for urban food production makes this law a serious impediment to the city’s sustainability initiatives.

Just Food has been working together with NYC beekeepers and policy makers to legalize beekeeping in NYC since 2008.  In the past year, Just Food has successfully supported City Councilman David Yassky in his efforts to introduce a bill that would legalize NYC beekeeping.  Just Food is also providing the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene with the data they need and gathering petition signatures to encourage the reversal of this detrimental city code.

More information about NYC Pollinator Week 2009 events can be found on www.justfood.org/bees.

More information on the campaign to legalize beekeeping in New York City can be found on www.justfood.org/issues.

Just Food
Just Food is a non-profit working to create a just and sustainable food system for the New York City region, supporting small-scale urban and regional farmers and advocating to make healthy, affordable, and sustainably-grown food accessible to all New Yorkers.

More information about Just Food’s mission and programs, including community supported agriculture, community gardening and urban farming, farm to food pantry, community food education, and food justice advocacy, can be found on www.justfood.org

Contact:
Amy Blankstein, Grants and Communications Manager, Just Food
amy@justfood.org / 212.645.9880 ext 243

Over 50 Restaurants, Over 25 Nations Represented

New York, NY (March 17, 2009) – The second annual Village Voice “Choice Eats” tasting event is now officially sold out. The event, which takes place on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan, features only restaurants reviewed by celebrated resident food critics, Robert Sietsema from his column “Counter Culture” and Sarah DiGregorio from her weekly column “Fork in the Road.” This year, the amount of restaurants has doubled with over 50 restaurants and over 25 nations being represented under one roof for only one night.

Last year, hungry New Yorkers gathered at the historic Puck building to navigate through over 25 restaurants from all the five boroughs where they experienced a diverse culinary landscape and enjoyed tasty treats that would otherwise require days of travel. New York Magazine proclaimed it “…a global cheap-eats summit. No self-respecting New York gastronaut should consider doing anything else that night.”

“Choice Eats” will be benefiting Slow Food NYC, who will also serve as host of the event. The New York City chapter of Slow Food USA is a non-profit, member-supported organization dedicated to counteracting the industrialization of our food supply. A portion of ticket sales will go to their new program, Harvest Time which promotes programs of good food and nutrition education, including hands-on food preparation and communal dining, edible school gardens, and student operated farm stands offering local farm-fresh produce at three schools in East Harlem and Williamsburg, neighborhoods identified as food deserts by the City’s Health Department with high rates of food related diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Official sponsors for “Choice Eats” 2009 include Whole Foods who will be setting up a storefront and serving local mini brownie sundaes, Southern Wines featuring Antinori, Castello banfi, Pallini Limoncello, Gosling’s Rum, Boru Vodka, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Ramazzotti, Distillerie- Brusnel, Nando, Francis Ford Coppola, Frederick Wildman, Palm Bay International, Partida tequila, Prairie Organic Vodka, Tommy Bahama, Michael Collins, Cognac, Svedka Vodka, Fcognac Ferrand, Union Beer featuring Victory Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Magic Hat Brewing Co., Brewery Ommegang, Left Hand Brewing Co., Samuel Smith, Lindeman’s, Chimay, Smuttynose Brewing Co., Allagash Brewing Co., and Blue Point Brewing Co., Volvic natural spring water, Likeme.net, New York Bartending School, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Extremely Hungary, Smart Car, and Action Carting who is the official green sponsor.

All utensils, cups and compost bags are made from annually renewable plant derived plastic resins; all plates are made from sugarcane fibers; napkins are made from unbleached, recycled paper.

“Choice Eats” tickets will not be sold at the door. You must be 21+ to attend, the event starts at 6:30pm and concludes at 9:30pm. The 69th Regiment Armory is located at 68 Lexington Avenue between 25th and 26th streets in Manhattan.

For More Information Please Contact:
Christina Pettit / The Village Voice
cpettit@villagevoice.com
212-475-6836
choiceeats.villagevoice.com

Guiliani-era design proposal threatens unique green space

March 12, 2009 – Two Coves Community Garden has done everything right, from securing a city license through Green Thumb to building huge neighborhood support, but this beneficial addition to Astoria could be lost forever.

“We were recently notified by Parks Department of plans to change the nature of Two Coves Community Garden,” said Renee Edwards, gardener and resident of nearby Astoria Houses. “But the waterfront neighborhood surrounding the garden is already blessed with several parks and recreational areas. What this community needs is healthy food, grown locally.”

At the first of two emergency meetings to discuss the news that an antiquated proposal might be resurrected, gardeners were passionate in their commitment to saving the largest community garden in Western Queens.

“We want the garden to maintain its ability to allow local residents the opportunity to garden and grow together,” said Stacey Ornstein, gardener and Astoria CSA President. “Two Coves Community Garden provides space for hundreds of people to cultivate their own food, reverse damaging obesity and unhealthy nutritional trends, interact across cultures and generations, and harvest a lifelong love of urban gardening—all while reducing municipal costs, crime and pollution!”

Two Coves Community Garden is located in Astoria, Queens at the intersection of 8th Street and Astoria Boulevard. Although a fence was installed, grass was sown and paths were paved in 1998, the site was eventually left vacant and quickly filled with weeds and trash from illegal dumping. In late 2006, a vibrant grassroots movement turned the neglected lot into an urban oasis that today sustains and nourishes its members while beautifying the surrounding neighborhood.

“Public parks require significant funding for development and maintenance,” said gardener Garrett Ramirez. “But Two Coves is maintained by volunteers who not only garden, but do everything from pick up trash to shovel sidewalks in the winter. We’re a public space that pays for itself, that the entire community can enjoy.”

One member tossed out the idea to contact First Lady Michelle Obama who recently told the USDA that she is “a big believer in community gardens, both because of their beauty and for providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables to so many communities across the nation and the world.”

Others mentioned that community gardens are known to increase property values, reduce waste through composting, provide access to healthy food, and serve youth as an outdoor classroom teaching math, science, the environment, health, nutrition, social skills, leadership, responsibility, and more.

Those are among the many points gardeners will make as they contact the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and local elected officials in the coming weeks. For more information, or to get involved in the campaign to save Two Coves Community Garden, visit www.twocovescommunitygarden.org or call 718-512-8649.

The meeting closed with words of inspiration spoken by gardener Vanessa Jones-Hall, a resident of Astoria Houses: “As I sit under sunshine, I smile lilies, daffodils and roses. The scent of my breath hints fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits. My body curves, outlined by beautiful tress and sunflower stems. Collecting sweet sounds of individual chatter and laughter.

You turn to see who am I? Two Coves Community Garden, welcome!”

About Two Coves Community Garden
Two Coves Community Garden is a diverse community of more than 200 active urban gardeners including the elderly, the disabled, and young children (even babies). Gardeners come from all over the neighborhood and the world, including a large number of Astoria Houses residents, those born in Armenia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, and Peru.

SlowFood NYC is proud to be a sponsor of the upcoming Brooklyn Food Conference coming up on May 2nd.

So, we thought that you might like to know that there’s a nice article in the Indypendent all about it:

A Taste for Change: Brooklyn Food Conference Organizers Step up to the Plate.

Enjoy!

(This Article came to us from Slow Food USA and was written by By Kris Kohler and published in the Linewaiter’s Gazette – A Brooklyn Food Coop Publication)

High-quality farmland is already scarce enough in the western Catskill Mountains where Lucky Dog Farm produces vegetables that end up in the Park Slope Food Coop. But the level flood plain along the West Branch of the Delaware River, a source of Brooklyn water, is at constant further risk from unwise commercial development.

“If you’re a contractor thinking of building a service station or a sewer plant, your eye’s don’t’ wander up the mountainside,” says Richard Giles, the farmer who is beginning his 10th year at Lucky Dog in Hamden, New York. “The impulse is toward cheap and easy—and once the farmland is gone, it’s gone for good.”

Even as we in this community enlighten ourselves about the values of eating local food, more and more “local” farmland goes under concrete. This is a nationwide problem, but when the farmland in question is so near so many eaters, the result is tragic.

Help may be on the way. The State of New York purchases the development rights on some at-risk farmland and is currently considering an easement on some of the valley farmland leased by Lucky Dog Farm. These easements are a highly effective way of keeping farmland from being covered in concrete. Many easement grants require matching contributions, and this is where was as eaters need to step forward.

Farm Catskills, a regional farm advocacy nonprofit group, is leading the effort to raise the funds (something in the range of $40,000) required to match a state grant. Amy Kenyon, president of the organization, adds, “The State Department of Agriculture and Markets needs to know this issue matters to downstate eaters.”

There will never be a better chance to put your money where your mouth is. Applewood Restaurant in Park Slope will be hosting a fundraiser auction on February 8. (For more information, contact 718-788-1810/info@applewoodny.com).

If you can’t attend the fundraiser but sill want to help, call Farm Catskills at 607-643-1724, or Lucky Dog Farm at 607-746-9898. Or, simply send a check to Farm Catskills, 87 Sal Bren Rd., Suite 1, Delhi, NY 13753-1440.

We want to welcome seven new recipients of the Slow Food NYC Snail of Approval: Blue Marble Ice Cream, Astor Wines and Spirits, O Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat Market, the catering firm Great Performances, and restaurants James, The Green Table, and Hundred Acres.

Thanks for all you’re doing to contribute to a good, clean and fair food supply; thanks to our nominating members for bringing those contributions to the attention of the rest of us.

As the dark and cold of winter sets in, and eating locally seems near impossible, Underground Food Collective, Slow Food New York City, and Astor Center invite you to celebrate the bounty of winter with a Pre-Industrial Pig dinner. As you feast on succulent heritage breed pork you’ll hear from farmer Henry Morren about raising the Red Wattle pigs under Sumac and Apple trees on his family farm. Listen to Underground Food Collective chefs, brothers Jonny and Ben Hunter, speak about their dedication to serving good, clean and fair food to all as you enjoy their delicious transformations of rich, earthy vegetables. Besides the pigs raised at Morren Fruits and Vegetables, Jonny and Ben will be bringing along a few Wisconsin delights including award-winning Wisconsin cheese and sweet winter spinach from Snug Haven Farm. The meal will be rounded out with vegetables sourced from local farms. The dinner will feature eight courses, served family style, with wine pairings.

Location:
Astor Center

Price:
* $65 Slow Food Members  (use purchase code SFMEMPIG)
* $80 Non-members (use purchase code SFNONPIG)
Be sure to use these special purchase codes to receive this pricing.

Date:
January 13th, 2009 (Tues)

Time:
6:30 – 9:30 PM (Dinner at 7:00 PM)

To Register:
Visit Astor Center Web site