Slow Food in Schools Meeting

The Piedmont Slow Food Convivium is exploring the possibility of creating a Slow Food in Schools program for this area.  We will be holding a meeting at:

Cheesecake’s by Alex
315 South Elm Street
Greensboro, NC  27401

Thursday
October 12,  2006
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

We will be discussing school nutrition, school gardens, and organize for future meetings.  I have provided some helpful links on current policies and other best practices used by other organizations. 

Please invite your friends and family members who share our concern on the state of our childrens health and future. 

Sincerely,
Donna Myers
The Wellness Policy
EpiCourier Online Magazine Guilford County Schools Wellness Policy with a link to policies across North Carolina
Slow Food in Schools  Read “How to Start a Slow Food in Schools Project”.  It is a fabulous outline for us to model.  
Farm to School: “Eat Smart-Farm Fresh”  National Program
Farm to School 19 states participating
The School Lunch Initiative (SLI)
Rethinking School Lunch (RSL) from the Center for Ecoliteracy
Edible Schoolyards

Open House with Focus on Local Meats at Goat Lady Dairy Oct. 1

October 1, 2006
Open House with a focus on Local Meats!
Goat Lady Dairy, Randolph County
1-5 p.m.

All friends of Slow Food are encouraged to come out to the country to enjoy the fall Open House. Each spring and fall the Tate Family opens their farm and dairy for visitors to get up close and personal to the goats, chickens, pigs and cows, tour the organic gardens and pastures, taste and buy handmade cheese and learn firsthand about one family’s efforts to establish sustainable, local agriculture. This fall Slow Food is sponsoring a special emphasis at the Open House to help us all learn about the many local farms now producing clean raised meats. We have invited farmers producing pork, beef, ostrich, chicken, lamb and goat to help us learn about their production methods and bring meat for sale. This event is free and open to all except PLEASE, do NOT bring your pets! (strange animals really stress out the animals who live there)

Don’t forget to bring a cooler!

For directions to Goat Lady Dairy, see their web site at
http://www.goatladydairy.com.

School Kids at the Market

Middle school kids from Greensboro Montessori (on Horsepen Creek Road, 688-0119) harvested, prepared and served food from their school garden last Saturday, September 16 at the Greensboro Curb Market. Chef Brian Dahlstrom, head chef at the Greensboro coliseum, along with Mary Ellen Smith, their kitchen and catering manager volunteered their time and equipment to conduct a tasting of autumn food. Angie Thompson and Jon McLean of the Montessori school came along for support and picture taking.

Everyone got there early at 7am, heated the grill, sliced and diced, and eventually offered a delicious vegetable hash of potatoes, butternut squash, onion, peppers and basil served on a toasted tortilla to hundreds of marketers.

Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the food. It is part of Slow Food’s presence at the Saturday market as well as a demonstration of the fruits of a school garden. We hope to do it again soon.

Charlie Headington

School Kids at the Market!

September 16, 7am-11am

Taste the bounty of the Greensboro Montessori School gardens as its students slice, prepare, and share their autumn harvest with friends of the market.

Look for chef Brian and the kids in the Tasting Booth at the Greensboro Farmer’s Curb Market, corner of Lindsay and Yanceyville, across from the old baseball stadium, from 7am-11am.

Support Slow Food, school kids and school gardens.

Chef Tom Peters Demonstrates Fruit Carving to Marketgoers

A couple of weeks ago Chef Peters impressed and entertained the Greensboro Farmers’ Curb Market crowd with his amazing ability to transform fruit into art. Chef Peters works at Heritage Woods Retirement Community as a chef but has practiced the skill of fruit carving for years.

Using a fine gauged set of instruments as well as regular knives, he created a flower bouquet on the face of a watermelon, coaxed a swan from an apple and dressed up many other pieces of fruit. Carved fruit makes a wonderful table top display.

In conjunction with our theme of seasonal fruit, we served up smoothies Slow Food style; all local ingredients except the bananas. Favorites included a banana/watermelon/mint/honey smoothie and a peach/cantelope/banana/blueberry one. We tried every combination available to us and they were all good. There really isn’t a recipe for these healthful concoctions, simply take fruit and a little ice and blend it thoroughly. To thin add orange juice, to avoid using ice use frozen fruit in addition to fresh.

As always, thanks so much to Mary Ellen, our visiting chef Tom Peters, and all the market vendors who provided the delicious produce that made the event possible.

See you September 16th when the Montessori kids and Charlie Headington whip up some wonderful creations fresh from their Edible Schoolyard.