News from the national office: The RAFT sets sail!
RAFT stands for "Renewing America's Food Traditions," and is a new coalition of seven allied organizations all working toward preserving biodiversity in food, including:
Slow Food USAFirst brought together by Gary Nabhan of the Center for Sustainable Environments, the seven coalition organizations of the RAFT have many goals, but the first one has already been achieved: the publication of the first ever "Redlist" of over 700 endangered American foods--including all 250 Ark USA foods and many others which are being researched and documented for eventual boarding onto the Ark (in some cases, it takes a Raft to get to an Ark!).
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
The Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University
Chefs Collaborative
Cultural Conservancy
Native Seeds/SEARCH
Seed Savers Exchange
All convivium leaders will receive a copy of the RAFT book called Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Bringing Cultural and Culinary Mainstays from the Past into the New Millennium. The book not only lists all foods on the Redlist but also provides in-depth profiles of the top ten endangered foods, and the top ten success stories of foods that have experienced a rebirth, like the American chestnut, Creole cream cheese, Iroquois White corn, Navajo Churro sheep, Hand-harvested wild rice and those famous beloved turkeys (Bourbon Red, Jersey Buff and Narragansett, just to name a few).
It's no coincidence that many of these foods have been revitalized thanks to their promotion by convivia at events, local markets, restaurants and in partnership with farmers, and especially thanks to the tastebuds and buying power of Slow Food members everywhere. The Ark of Taste is also a major source of inspiration for the RAFT Redlist, and while the Redlist and the Ark are not meant to overlap completely, we honor the important role of Ark & Presidia in helping the RAFT come to fruition.
The RAFT campaign is therefore an unprecedented opportunity for Slow Food to become an even stronger catalyst for this kind of food revolution--one in which we choose flavor and quality over shelf-life and price, and we support fair prices for farmers and ecological sustainability rather than the lowest common denominator and the industrialization of agriculture.
With the allied organizations of the RAFT campaign, Slow Food will begin organizing major initiatives starting in 2005, so we encourage you to stay tuned for more information on how to get involved!
The national office of Slow Food alerted us to the following news about Slow Food this week. Enjoy!
Sylvia Poggioli's report on Terra Madre for NPR
A New York Times Op-Ed piece by chef Dan Barber, "Food Without Fear" (and here if the link has expired)
An article from the Associated Press that has already appeared in thirty-seven newspapers about heritage turkeys
An article by Carol Ness about Deborah Koons Garcia's film, The Future of Food
News of our colleagues from Slow Food Indy from The Indianapolis Star
Pawpaws join the Ark of Taste on washingtonpost.com (registration may be required)
Slow Food has a treat for you, just in time for the holidays.
Since leaving his job at JPL in 1995, Mark Jilg has been brewing delicious beer out of a space off the 210 freeway in Pasadena. At a time when brewers were creating full-flavored beer with lots of hops and malt, Mark took a different tack, adding other flavors to his brews like spices, herbs and fruit. He created the Holiday Spruce, a deep red ale brewed with spruce, giving the beer an aromatic piney flavour that's great for the holidays. A while later, Craftsman introduced the Orange Grove Ale, which
added Valencia oranges to the brew, and three years later Mark introduced the Triple Light Sage. Craftsman continues to develop brews that add flavors other than malt, hops and yeast found in traditional beer.
This field trip is a chance to learn about the beer-making process, and to experience a true, tiny, artisan brewery that, as Mark says, "would like to evolve into not much more than it is, other than being able to put beer in bottles so we can take it home."
When: Saturday, December 11, 2004, at noon
Where: Craftsman Brewing Company, 1260 Lincoln Avenue, Unit 100, Pasadena 91103
Cost: $20 for Slow Food members; $25 for nonmembers
Please note that the RSVP deadline for this event is November 20. Make your check payable to SLOWLA and mail it to:SLOWLA/Craftsman Event
c/o Angeli Caffe
P.O. Box 360769
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Join us for some good nibbles, great beer, and just what we should be serving over the holidays. These are some of the flavors we can look forward to:
Spruce Beer: As mentioned above, this is a deep red ale brewed with spruce.
Bieredegarde: This has a wild yeast component in flavor, but is malty and spicy as well.
Cabernale: Brewed with Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, this is fermented with full bodied red ale.
Eye of the Goat: This has a great story (which Mark will tell), and is an extreme version of a traditional Boch beer.
Also check out the Craftsman Brewing Company site for a look at Mark and his Studebaker in front of Craftsman Brewery.
The Slow Food Social Action Committee has organized a tour of Los Angeles Community Gardens with Al Renner. We will travel to five gardens and hear from the gardeners themselves about the joys and challenges of urban farming. We will visit Solano Canyon Garden, Crenshaw High School Garden, the 41 St. Community Garden, the Venice Learning Garden, and Wattles Community Garden, and will have a chance to purchase produce at the Farmer's Market at the 41 St. Community Garden. The tour will begin and conclude at Angeli Caffe.
When: Saturday, November 20, 2004 from 9:00am until 5:00pm
Where: Meeting at Angeli Caffe, 7274 Melrose Avenue (near Poinsettia). Free parking on Clinton, one block South of Melrose. Carpool to be arranged on site.
Cost: $15 for members; $20 for nonmembers. Cost includes lunch. Payment by cash (exact amount required) or check will be required on the day of the event.
Remember to bring sturdy walking shoes, hat/sunglasses, jacket, and water, and if you're planning to purchase produce, please bring a shopping bag.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, November 17 via email to nettaxi@earthlink.net.