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!

Fighting For Fair Food

Fair Food For All!

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) gave a presentation at the Lucy Parson's Center to bring awareness to the struggles of tomato pickers in Florida and a few representatives from Slow Food BU attended. Most of the Immokalee workers are from Central America and Mexico and pick tomatoes by hand all day. To make Florida's minimum wage, they must pick 2.5 TONS of tomatoes each day. The tomatoes are picked by the bucket and the worker is paid 40 cents per bucket. Their wage hasn't risen since 1978, while consumers have seen vast inflation in the aisles of their supermarkets and fast food meals since then. The work is physically demanding, puts heavy strain on their backs, and they lack medical coverage, insurance or benefits. There have been many instances of slavery and and in some farms, armed guards threaten those who want to leave. But in the past 10 years, CIW has begun to improve their living and working conditions. There has been seven slavery ring busts by the Federal Government, freeing 1000 workers, and their wage has increased from 40-50 cents. In 2001, the Campaign for Fair Food began, putting pressure on the "Big Purchasers" to make their food a bit more fair. They started urging big fast food corporations to sign a contract demanding that the workers be paid 1 cent more per lb, that employers establish a code of conduct to prevent human rights abuses, and that there be a forum for the workers to have a voice. The campaign has been wildly successful and almost all major fast food labels (McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, and most recently, Subway) and Whole Foods have agreed. The next step is to put pressure on grocery stores and food distributors. These demands are very modest, yet resistance is still strong. After the presentation we went to Star Market with the Coalition to hand-deliver a letter to the manager-a strategy they have found very effective in past campaigns.
So the next time you reach for a tomato in the grocery store, aside from asking if it was grown in a local sustainable manner, think of the workers who picked the food. Most local, sustainable food is produced in a fair manner, so buy directly from the farmers, and try to do your grocery shopping at Whole Foods, since they are committed to these principles. Awareness is the first step-it is only with consciousness and commitment that we can make change. Visit the CIW hompage and Alliance for Fair Food for more information and ways to get involved!

SFBU and Dining Services

Slow Food met with Robert Flynn, manager of the Myles Dining Hall. Good news: The dining halls compost to Save That Stuff! In addition, produce is no longer purchased from Sid Wainer and local produce is soley purchased through Costa. Read more about BU Dining Services and sustainability.

SFBU also met with BU's new Coordinator of Sustainability for Aramark, Kelly Dunn, who previously worked as a recycling program manager for Cambridge. She hopes to make everything transparent at BU by increasing the accessibility to and awareness of what dining services is doing to be more sustainable. Kelly is also interested in expanding BU's green roof, bringing local vendors to the BU's farmers market, expanding green-cleaning products in all of the dining halls, and more. A new dining facility may also open up around east-campus in the future! If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about this place, e-mail us and we can pass the information along to her!

We anticipate working more with Kelly in order to increase the availability and consciousness of environmentally friendly, sustainable, and fair food options on campus. If you would like any more information regarding Slow Food BU and dining services or if you would like to become more involved, e-mail us!

In addition, see how other schools are integrating sustainability at their campuses!:

-Addie's Loft at BC is a vegetarian, sustainable café. BC also has a campus garden.
-Real Slow Food at UConn and UConn's Local Routes program, which brings sustainable foods to the Whitney Dining Unit. The UConn EcoGarden Club also has a student-run garden with their produce featured on Whitney's menu!
-Read about the pilot farmers market at University of California, Davis and their Student Farm.
-When the Fine Arts Café (run by Aramark) at the University of Virginia School of Architecture was renovated, it opened with a sustainable menu with the help of the student Serena Weaver.
-The experiment of incorporating sustainable foods at Yakeley Hall cafeteria in Michigan State University.
-The Harvard Farmers Markets on the Harvard Campus and at Allston.
-The Yale Sustainable Food Project

Local Thanksgiving:

A soup-to-nuts plan for a home-grown holiday meal (click here).Recipes for dairyless fennel soup, maple-whipped sweet potatoes, and deep dish pumpkin pie from New York Magazine. You can swap in these Boston-area farms to make it hyper-local. 

Stillman Farm - New Braintree, MA
Atlas Farm- Deerfield, MA
Grateful Farm - Franklin, MA
Red Fire Farm - Granby, MA
Happy Valley Cooperative Farms - Hadley, MA

December Calender!!

Although there won't be a meeting 11/25 because of Thanksgiving, we have several Upcoming Events before the end of the semester, and would love for you to join us!

"The Whole Hog"
December 4th 6-8pm
Myles Kitchen
610 Beacon Street
James Lionette of Lionette's Market in the South End is graciously giving SFBU a butchering demo using a locally raised pig. He will show us how to break down the pig, and use each cut most effectively, while also speaking about the place of meat in a sustainable diet, emphasizing the importance of eating locally. *This is not for the squeamish, and if you have any qualms about seeing exactly where your meat comes from, it might not be best for you to join*
We will meet in the back kitchen of the Myles Dining Hall. The only catch is that its quite small, and we can only have about 20 people. So please RSVP to slowfood@bu.edu if you are definitely coming.
But, after the demo, we're heading over to Allston for an old-fashioned pit roast! Unlike the demo, we want everyone to come to this. Exact location and time TBD, but just know that there will be heaps of food roasting over open fires, and just as much camaraderie. So join us!!

Tour of Taza Chocolate Factory
December 6th 10 am
561 Windsor Street
Somerville, MA
Taza Chocolate is a local company that is dedicated to using Organic Sustainable Fair Trade Ingredients to make amazing chocolate. It is a true "bean-to-bar" chocolate maker and the only 100% stone ground chocolate maker in the United States. They source directly from small farmer cooperatives and minimally process the chocolate to maintain its quality. They are opening the doors to their factory on December 6th and letting everyone see exactly how their chocolate is made. And if that doesn't convince you, there's going to be lots of Free Samples!!! We want to get their early so we're meeting at the factory at 10am, when the doors open! For directions, click here

Collection of Immokalee Workers Informal Discussion
TJ Scallywags
December 6th around 8pm
Coalition of Immokalee Workers actually won their case with Subway this past week, so instead of protesting, they're going to share how they are accomplishing such feats at the Lucy Parsons Center (549 Columbus Ave) at 5:30pm. Once that is done they would like to meet with us at TJ Scallywags in Allston. 8pm is the tentative meeting time. One part of Slow Foods' principles is that food be fair and the Coalition is working towards that same goal, by organizing for better wages & working conditions for over 15 years. To learn more about their efforts, check out their site!

Free Vegan Dessert At Fiore's! December 12th 6-9pm
If you don't get your fill of sugary deliciousness after the chocolate factory there's scrumptious desserts at Fiore's with the Boston Vegetarian Society! For more information and directions and to RSVP, click here *Note the Date Change!!*

And that's it for this semester!!! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and stay warm!!

Roof-Hopping at Tufts

Last Sunday, SFBU spent a chilly morning on top of Tisch Library, gazing at succulents and the bones of the Tufts Green Roof Collaborative. We spoke with Colleen Butler, who organized the project for her research on pollinator insect species, and dreamed of a day when BU would agree to set up something similar for students to participate in urban agriculture.

There are a lot of considerations that go into to building a green roof: roof access, access to water, weight-bearing capacity, and membrane-layering are just a few things Colleen told us about the construction process. The Green Roof Collaborative was set up as an experiment in its first year, using uniform, shallow containers to allow for easy removal of the plants if need be, and to facilitate the scientific research going on there. Colleen's work specifically deals with measuring the bee population that visits the different species of plants on the roof, but she's also interested in the insulation and heat-island reducing effect a green roof can have in an urban setting.

Plans are in the works to set up a test garden this summer on top of BU's College of Arts and Sciences. The Organic Gardening Collective operates out of the (as yet) ramshackle greenhouse there, so we could put out some containers on the roof, experiment with what grows best, get some good hands in the soil, and propose a plan for further action to BU administration in Fall 2009. Ultimately, we'd like to have a student-run workstudy/internship program in green building/design/urban ag. available to those who tend the garden. Of course, all of this goes back to reestablishing the connection between the individual and his or her food supply; knowing where your food comes from is easiest when you grow it yourself! If you'd like to be part of this project or share any thoughts/advice, contact slowfood@bu.edu.

Other green roofs in Boston that are worth a look:

WGBH in Brighton
Boston's World Trade Center
the Four Seasons Hotel and
Massachusetts General Hospital (run by the Food Project)
also the Apple Store on Boylston St. ...maybe?

Living walls are cool too.
Green Roof FAQ from Good Magazine: here.

Food Not Lawns: White House Edition

There is talk of growing a victory garden-style organic farm on the White House Lawn. Never a time more opportune! Support it at http://www.thewhofarm.org/