SlowFest

A few weeks ago, Slow Food BU participated in SlowFest, Boston's first Session Beer Festival, with our friends at Slow Food Boston.

Session beer is beer with a lower alcohol content. According to the Session Beer Project, session beer is 4.5% alcohol by volume or less. This is the perfect excuse to slow down and enjoy more beers, and the session beers were the perfect pairing to the local food vendors present at the festival.

There were session beers of all kinds at SlowFest, and beer vendors present included Boston Beer Works (Boston, MA) and Cisco Brewers based in Nantucket, MA. See the complete list of beer vendors here.

(from left to right): Boston Beer Works and Cisco Brewers

Slow Food Boston brought together the local food vendors at the festival. The food vendors included Don Otto's from Boston's South End, Sherman Market from Somerville, Cuisine en Locale from Cambridge, and Nourish Restaurant from Lexington. For the list of local food vendors, go here.

Samples from Don Otto's

Speakers spoke about craft beer, and panel discussions addressed the local food movement. At the Saturday Session 2 panel, speakers included Jamey Lionette, previous owner of Lionette's Market in Boston, Niaz Dorry, coordinating director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Pete Lowy of Verrill Farm and Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds, and Jennifer Hasley of Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds and director of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. Topics that were brought up included how the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project helps to connect people with limited resources who have an interest in agrculture to the resources that they need to begin a farm, sustainable fishing, ways to eat more locally and sustainably, and farmers who practice sustainable practices, such as integrated pest management, but are not certified organic.

Slow Foodies at the Slow Food table handing out Slow Food literature and samples of Iggy's bread, When Pigs Fly bread, Bonnie's Jams, and sauerkraut and kimchi from Real Pickles.

SlowFest was a wonderful way to end Earth Week, and a perfect excuse to slow down and enjoy craft beer and local food.

Sustainable Foods Video

Watch this Sustainable Foods Video by Anna Webster featuring JJ Gonson from Cuisine en Locale, Claire Kozower from Waltham Fields Community Farm, and Annabelle Ho from Slow Food BU.

Bread Makin' & Bakin' with the Urban Homesteaders' League

Last weekend Slow Food BU joined forces with the Urban Homesteaders' League for a Bread Making workshop at Myles Kitchen. The Urban Homesteaders' League's Lisa Gross showed us how to make whole-wheat no-knead bread.

Lisa mixing the no-knead dough.

Charlotte Dion of Northshore Permaculture walked us through the process of making our own sourdough as well as sourdough culture.

Charlotte showed us how to shape the sourdough...

...then everyone joined in the fun!

Everyone went home with their own loaf of sourdough and sourdough culture (did you know that every sourdough culture is named for where it originates?).

The final product. Lisa's bread was so

delicious it was gone before it was even cooled!

Lisa's No-Kneed Whole-Wheat Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

4 c. lukewarm water

1 1/2 tbsp. instant yeast

2 tbsp. kosher salt

5 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 c. unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 c. vital wheat gluten

cornmeal for the baking surface

Directions:

1. Warm the water to about 100 degrees (lukewarm).

2. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix.

3. Pour in the water.

4. Mix in the flour with a spoon. Do not knead.

5. Cover with a lid (not airtight). Allow the mixture to rise for 2-5 hours.

6. Refrigerate, or proceed onto the next section.

7. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.

On Baking Day:

1. Prepare a pizza wheel or cutting board with flour.

2. Sprinkle the surface with of the dough with flour.

3. Take half of the dough.

4. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. The bottom of the loaf will appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but this will flatten out during resting and baking.

5. Gently mold the ball into an oval.

6. Fold one side of the dough in thirds like a letter--don't fold down too much.

7. Bring up the other side to meet it and pinch in closed (this is called a letter fold).

8. Place the loaf on the cornmeal covered pizza wheel or cutting board, let it rest, loosely covered with saran wrap for about 40 min, if fresh, 90 min if refrigerated.

9. 20 mins before baking preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a dutch oven or large cooking pot (WITHOUT plastic handles) on the middle rack.

10. Dust the top of the loaf with flour, make diagonal slash marks with serrated knife.

11. When the dough is ready, take the pot out of the oven, and place the loaf inside it. Cover the pot with the top.

12. Bake for 30 mins with the top on and 20 mins with the top off.

13. When done, allow the bread to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before cutting and eating.

Fall Wrap-Up

We had a wonderful fall semester, learning important knife skills, going cranberry bogging, canning green beans, discussing Fair Trade, and fermenting sauerkraut, all with good food and amongst good company!

This year we wrapped up the semester with a Green Groups Potluck in BU's Women's Resource Center, with the fabulous folks of the other sustainability groups on campus, including the Environmental Student Organization, BU Bikes, the Compost Club, the Organic Gardening Collective, and more.

Thanks to everyone for a great fall semester. Enjoy the winter break, and be ready for fun foodie events in the spring! First-up: Screening of HomeGrown with Slow Food Boston, to be followed by a discussion panel on Sunday, January 17th. More details, TBA.

Happy Holidays!

Gift Alert! Electrolux Cocoon

How futuristic is this? A meat- and fish-growing "Cocoon" designed by Rickard Hederstierna of the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden won this year's Electrolux Design Lab 2009 competition that challenged industrial design students around the world to create home appliances following the theme “Designs for the next 90 years."

The cocoon is a concept design intended for every day use that "prepares genetically engineered and prepackaged meat and fish dishes by heating muscle cells identified by radio frequency identification (RFID) signals."

Hederstierna said in an interview that he had sustainability and a minimal environment impact in mind when designing it. By using science to create food, it would reduce the need for intensive farming and fishing: "The negative effects of this process, including the mass transportation of food around the world, clearing of land and distortion of ecosystems, are then negated."

Future of food? We shall see.

Preserving the Harvest - Canning Workshop!

Last week, Sarah Garlington taught us the basics of water bath canning in Myles Kitchen. In water bath canning (which is not the same as fermentation), the contents need to be acidic- naturally or by the addition of vinegar. This method can be used to process fruits, pickles, relishes, and jams and jellies, preserving them for year(s)!
Slow Foodies participated in all steps of the process, including preparation of the food (produce to be canned should be firm), preparing the brine, and sterilizing the jars.


Our Recipe: Pickled Green Beans
Produces 6 half pints

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh green beans
• 2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh dill weed (or dried)
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh peppers (or cayenne)

Directions:

1. Trim the green bean ends.
2. Chop the garlic, dill, and peppers.
3. Bring the vinegar, water, and salt to a boil.
4. Divide the spices up into each jar equally.
5. Fit as many green beans in each jar as you can.
6. Pour over the hot liquid.
7. Seal the jars.

Recipe courtesy of Sarah Garlington



Preparing the jars for the beans. "We're going to take a spoonful of the pepper garlic mix and then a spoonful of the dill and we're just going to spread it out throughout the jars."



Using the big boilers. Jars should be placed on a rack, steamer, or something similar in the pot, because of the high heat of the stove. "It's just a matter of the jars not touching the bottom of the pot and not touching each other. Um, so anything that you can figure out."

Several of the jars were processed at the demo, and individuals were each able to take a jar to take home to process on their own. Ready to start pickling? Read Sarah's post on the Persian pickle Torshi on the Boston Localvores' blog, and learn more about water bath canning from the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

SFBU's First Potluck and Meeting for the Fall!

Thanks to everyone who came to SFBU's first potluck of the semester and made last night a success!

Slow Foodies gathered on the Esplanade Dock by the Charles River and enjoyed a fabulous meal with some great conversation and a beautiful view. Tasty treats included an amazing egg casserole, chicken tikka masala, vegan pumpkin cookies, and much more!

Look forward to our next meeting on Tuesday night, September 22. Specific location and time, TBA!

On another note, join our friends from the Boston Localvores at their Local Pickle Tasting at The Growing Center in Somerville on Thursday! For more details look at the event on Facebook or see SFBU's calendar on the right.

And if pickling on Thursday isn't enough for you, head over to JP on Friday from 7 - 9 pm for the workshop "Preserving the Bounty of the Harvest" with Ana Micka, author and publisher of the Fresh Girl’s Guide to Easy Canning DVD and guidebook. More details about the event here.

Sustainability Dinner

Last Tuesday, the officers of SFBU attended a Sustainability Dinner with The Director of Sustainability at BU, Dennis Carlberg. It was in StuVii 2- the new residence hall, which is unbelievably nice and fancier than many hotels we've been in! The dinner was up on the 26th floor and just check out the view!!!

It was a gathering for the student groups and administration to talk about what BU is doing sustainably and where there was still room for improvements. All while eating a Zero Waste, locally grown meal!

Love Food Hate Waste!

Kelly Dunn, our favorite Sustainable Dining Coordinator, did a presentation working to reduce food waste at BU.

SFBU has worked with Kelly on ideas for making dining services more sustainable, and she is very receptive to our suggestions.

Ok, time to turn off the computer!

Your Local Farmers Markets!

With farmers markets popping up everywhere, more people participating in CSA's, and with cranberries, pumpkins, and winter squashes just coming into season for the fall, there has never been a more perfect time to get your local produce!

BU now has a farmers market right on campus, in front of the GSU! At 775 Commonwealth Ave., it runs on Thursdays from 12 pm - 4 pm, from June 25 - October 29. Read our previous post about it.

However, if you are otherwise occupied on Thursdays, or if you would like to venture beyond the grounds of BU for local produce, we have conveniently mapped the farmers markets that are in the Boston area! Go the the map link here.



For more information and listings about farmers markets in Massachusetts, look at Mass Farmers Markets, LocalHarvest, MassGrown's listing, and Edible Boston's list. LocalHarvest is also a good resource for those of you interested in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

And if you are unsure of when various produce is in season, check out this chart!

Photo source link

Enjoy the fresh produce while it's in season!

Boston University's Farmer's Market!

We are very excited to announce that BU's Farmers Market will begin this Thursday, June 25th!!

For the first time the farmers market will feature several local farmers and vendors from the area, including baked goods from Big Sky Bakery based in Newton, MA and locally grown fruits and vegetables from Lanni Orchards of Lunenburg, MA!

Local artists will be present, selling artwork, jewelry, homemade crafts, and soaps. And to spice things up further, the farmers market will include rotational vendors!

So help support the local community by stopping by the George Sherman Union Plaza at 775 Commonwealth Ave. on Thursdays from 12:00-4:00 pm (June 25th-October 29), and get some fresh fruits and vegetables while you're at it!

The BU Farmers Market is run by BU Dining Services. Read their announcement of the farmers market here.

Future of Food Conference at Boston University

SFBU had the pleasure of attending and helping out at the Future of Food Conference held May 8th and 9th at the BU Law School.

The conference, which was organized by the Institute of Human Sciences, served as a forum for professionals interested in the global issues of food and sustainability, to highlight some of the current problems with our food systems, and suggest possible futures. IHS organized this conference in response to the growing concerns of local communities in both the US and Europe over the global food crisis, and presented a dialogue about what can be done to stem it. Participants gathered to see how they could shape the the current food system into something that is sustainable, and safeguards cultural and biodiversity, while providing safe, healthy food for all citizens both now and in the future.

Friday, May 8th, included the lecture and workshop "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Ellix Katz, followed by another lecture and cooking demo with Bryant Terry. The day ended with a screening of King Corn, introduced by filmmaker and followed by a discussion with director, Aaron Woolf.

Saturday featured 5 panel discussions, starting at 9am and running until 9 pm. The panels addressed a myriad of issues, including food production, agribusiness, food security, food safety, climate change, and the ethics of eating.

Satish Kumar, nuclear disarmament advocate and editor of Resurgence Magazine, gave an excellent keynote address, and also spoke on the panel about the ethics of eating. Kumar is well known for his having accomplished an over 8,000 mile Peace Walk through the capitals of nuclear superpowers-America, England, France and Russia.

While he shared many interesting insights on the issue of food sovereignty, his statement, "If you don't have enough time to bake Bread, you don't have enough time to Live," seemed to strike a particular chord with conference participants.

Other presenters of note were Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap; Tim Wise, director of Research and Public Policy at Tufts Global Development and Environment Institute; Benedikt Haelin, president of Save our Seeds; Jim Harkness, President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of Center for Food Safety; Helena Norberg-Hodge, founder of International Society for Ecology and Culture; Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation and the Revolution Will not be Microwaved, Harriet Lamb, executive Director of Fair Trade Foundation, and finally Michael Ableman, farmer and author of Fields of Plenty.

Another interesting topic that was touched upon in discussion by the third panel was the GMO debate. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists report "Failure to Yield" by Doug Gurian-Sherman, genetically engineered crops do not in actuality increase yields! See the press release here.

It was helpful to compare and contrast US food policy and reports with those from other places, especially from the EU. There was so much information to absorb, and the presenters were very knowledgeable and approachable!

Of course there were multiple coffee breaks, and breakfast and lunch were provided-with lots of things to nibble on. Fair Trade Coffee, hummus, and vegan cookies galore! Also Taza Chocolate had a booth, as did Gnosis Chocolate.

A video of the entire conference will be available on the website soon so that you can shape your future of food and eat the revolution!!!

The Food Project

Thanks to everyone who joined SFBU and BU Hunger Relief for our trip to The Food Project in Roxbury!

The Food Project's goal is to "grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system." The Food Project also has various opportunities for youth and adult alike to learn and participate in sustainable agriculture in the community, ranging from Summer Youth programs, to internships, to individual volunteering.

We started off the morning with the game "the Wind Blows," and learned things we had in common with the other volunteers, such as who else had access to a farmers market within their community.
The day involved making raised beds, weeding with hula hoes, and other tasks, all with the help of The Food Project's high school crew leaders!
After a short break, everyone joined in cleaning up several parts of Roxbury.
The three hours went by fast, and because we promptly ended at 12:30 pm, it was a great way to start off the day!

Another game in the afternoon involved "Stepping in the Circle," with the center of the circle representing the ideal food system that is concerned with the producers, the communities, the consumers, and the earth, and a food supply that makes fresh and sustainable food accessible to consumers. At the end of the game we were all outside of the center of the circle, teaching us that there is still a long way for us to go to reaching a sustainable and ideal food system.

Almost every state buys 85-90% of its food from someplace else.

If you would like to help us reach the center of the circle or if you would just like to enjoy a sunny day outside, volunteer with the Food Project! You can drop in any Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday in the Spring (April-June) or in the Fall (Aug. 28 - Nov. 1), from 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, at their Lincoln and Roxbury locations!

Conference - The Future of Food: Transatlantic Perspectives

Slow Food BU is a proud partner of the conference The Future of Food: Transatlantic Perspectives, to be held on May 8-9th!

Among other events, Friday, May 8th, will include a screening of King Corn from 8 pm - 10 pm at the BU Law School (765 Commonwealth Ave). The screening will be FREE and open to the public, will be introduced by filmmaker Ian Cheney, and will be followed by a discussion with director Aaron Woolf.

Meanwhile, the Saturday conference will include the following:

Keynote addresses by:
-Satish Kumar, Editor, Resurgence
-Michael Ableman, farmer, photographer, and author of Fields of Plenty

Session I
From Farm to Fork: the Global Food Chain

Session II:
Then End of Cheap Food: Food and Geopolitics

Session III:
What's in What You Eat? Food Safety in a New Ecology

Session IV:
Eating Green: Food and Climate Change

Session V:
What is "Good" Food? The Ethics of Eating

The conference will be held at the BU Law School (765 Comm. Ave.), & will also be FREE and open to the public!

The panels are meant to encourage people to think more consciously about the kind of food they buy and eat; because food is not only pleasurable: our food choices can have serious ethical and political impacts.

What a great way to end finals week! For a complete schedule and more information, please look at the website!

March Happenings

There are lots of good events coming up for the remainder of this month!

March 15-20 & March 22-27: Restaurant Week Boston
What's better than supporting your local restaurant, while at good prices?! Participating resturants will offer 2-course lunches $15.09, 3-course lunches for $20.09, and 3-course dinners for $33.09. When diners use their American Express Card at participating restaurants, $.25 per transaction will also be donated to Community Servings! Read more about restaurant week and find out which restaurants are involved here.

Wednesday, March 18, 6 pm: Designing the Urban Ark: Biodiversity and the Future of Cities.
Can future cities support both biodiversity and healthy human populations? And how will climate change alter the context for humans’ relationships with other species?
Dr. Kristina Hill will outline a vision for biodiversity and urban planning based on human self-interest, development conditions, climate change , and lessons learned in other regions of the U.S. Located at Harvard's Geological Lecture Hall at 24 Oxford Street. Free and open to the public! Get more info here.

Monday, March 23, 7:30 pm- SFBU Meeting and Potluck!
Bring a dish to share if you can, and don't forget to bring your own plates and silverware, so we can cut down on waste! Location: Fuller Building (808 Commonwealth Ave.), rm. 117. Entrance is on Essex St.

Thursday, March 26, 7-9 pm: Food Locavorism event at MIT (Location: Building W20-Rm 306)
"Eat locally" has become the new moral mantra for citizen gastronomes concerned about global warming, corporate agriculture, and the dissolution of community...But how much do food miles matter?...Is buying "local" necessarily ethical, or is it more complicated than that?..."
Speakers will include David Pimentel of Cornell University, Susanne Freidberg from Dartmouth College, Steve Johnson of Rendezvous Restaurant, and moderator Steven Shapin from Harvard! Free and open to the public. Get some more details.

Friday, March 27, 6 pm: Henry Ford, Colonial Kitchens, and the Performance of National Identity

Lecture by Abigail Carroll. However, RSVP is required: call (617) 353-9852. Located at BU's Gastronomy building, 808 Commonwealth Ave., rm. 117. Also free and open to the public! Read more information here.

Photo:
© http://www.foodfreak.de/

Kombucha Demo and Campus Kitchens

Slow Foodies gathered together for a potluck and Kombucha Brewing Demonstration this past Tuesday. The menu included a beautiful vegan chocolate beet cake, curried chick peas, and vegan protein power bars. On the drinks list, there was fresh, lime, grapefruit, and chokecherry flavored kombucha.

The basics of brewing kombucha tea were explained. This fermented tea is made with a SCOBY, or a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Also known as the "elixir of immortality, kombucha tea has been claimed to cure various ailments such as cancer, and is said to have detoxifying effects and probiotics, which are good for the digestive system. Read more about Kombucha tea and the demo here!

We also had two visitors from the Campus Kitchens Project! The CKP has various programs on college campuses, some of which take leftover food, prepare it, and serve it to those in need. They are hoping to start something up in the Boston area, and SF hopes to work with and support the CKP in the future.

Something else we're excited for: the 2^nd Annual NE Real Food Summit is this weekend! Look for a recap from us in the next week or so.

What's Valentine's Day Without Chocolate?

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Cambridge Naturals in Porter Square will be providing organic and fair trade chocolate samples this weekend! Theo chocolate samples will be offered on Friday, February 13, from 1-5 pm, and Somerville's own Taza Chocolate samples will be available on Saturday, February 14, from 1-5 pm. Look at Cambridge Naturals' website to find out more!

BU: Sustainability Update

Improvements are being made at BU one step at a time. Thanks to Kelly Dunn, here's the latest scoop on BU's sustainability efforts!

To start with, let's welcome BU's new Sustainability Director, Dennis Carlberg! A former architect with a background in green buildings, Dennis really wants to get student input on what they would like to see on campus. To find out more, check out this article.

BU's farmers market will be held on Thursdays in front of the GSU link, from around mid-May to Thanksgiving. If you have any suggestions for farmers or vendors who you would like to see there, you can e-mail Kelly Dunn or let us know, so we can pass along the information to her!

BU dining services is still looking into composting everything at the GSU, from food scraps to utensils. There are still some details to work out, but be on the lookout for composting bins this spring or the upcoming fall semester!

And if you're hungry and want to eat out for a good cause, certain restaurants are participating in the Super Hunger Brunch this weekend, January 24-25, to help end hunger and benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank! Read more details here.

Taza Chocolate Factory

This past Saturday, Slow Food went over to Somerville to visit the Taza Chocolate Factory, the only producer of 100% stone ground chocolate in the U.S.!. Their cacao beans are organic, fairly traded, and come from small farmer cooperatives.

Though the tour was short, we were able to see that making the beans involves lightly roasting them and putting them through a winnow machine, which separates the outer shell from the inner cacao nibs. The cacao is then stone ground and the chocolate is later wrapped by hand!

Need your chocolate fix that is also good, clean, and fair? Taza chocolate is sold at various farmers markets in MA during the growing season and in stores throughout the U.S.

Look at Taza's website to read more about the chocolate-making process, where to buy their products, and how they are incorporating sustainability into their business!