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Meeting Minutes from 2.11.13

If you're wondering what we're planning for 2013, take a look at our latest meeting minutes! It's going to be a great year!

Meeting minutes
2.11.13


Present: Rick T, Beth S, Holly N, Deirdre D, Peter K

1. Regional meeting recap

• Highlights included: discussion of new leadership and direction from Slow Food USA
• What is Slow Food? Slow Food’s identity crisis--figuring out how to fit in with all of the new local, good food-focused organizations around the country
• Slow Food believes that everyone has a right to good, clean, and fair food. Slow Food values food for its cultural, social, and gustatorial value. Slow Food believes that the pleasure of good food enjoyed slowly and in community is revolutionary.
• New focuses for Slow Food USA: Ark of Taste, bringing together various food-related groups--building bridges
• What other chapters are doing
• Monthly low-effort, high-impact events
• At least one big fundraiser each year

2. Discussion of possible 2013 events

• Granges: we were invited to attend a potluck and meet & greet with the McMinnville Grange. Will be figuring out a date to do so.
• Fundraising ideas:
• Grange potluck and dance
• Benefit dinner with a local restaurant (possibilities: Thistle, Blue Goat, Community Plate...)
• Farm tours
• “Mutual promotion”
• a good theme for our events: we help local farms/businesses/etc get some exposure in the community & get the Slow Food name out there at the same time
• Last Tuesday “meet ups” at local restaurants: the Eugene chapter does this--chooses a local restaurant and arranges a “meet up” on a day that is typically slow for them
• Slow Food talks for a few minutes, chef talks for a few minutes; everyone hangs out and eats together--$2 donation goes to Slow Food, pay for meal; meeting people, sharing ideas, etc.
• Importance of building on existing relationships and building new ones as well

3. More discussion of Slow Food and messaging/branding

• Organizations that succeed (TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html) focus on the “why”
• Slow Food’s “why:” good, clean & fair; culture; pleasure; it’s not global OR local, it’s both; it’s not justice OR joy, it’s both; re-connecting; relationships

4. 2013 Events Schedule

• February 28th: Soil & Water Conservation District Film, GROW! 6:30pm at Third Street Pizza
• March: TEDx screening at McMinnville Public Library
• April: ‘Nothing Like Chocolate’ film screening, Betty Rawker raw chocolates demo/tasting
• May: Farm Tour & Potluck at Sky Ranch of Yamhill
• June: Farm Tour & Potluck at Mended Fence Farms, Carlton

Nourish Yamhill Valley is at it again!

Last fall, the new food collaborative group Nourish Yamhill Valley hosted a series of community meetings focused on finding local solutions to food systems issues--things like hunger, obesity, lack of food knowledge, insufficient access to fresh local foods, and many others. 100 people attended those events and offered up their knowledge and ideas.

This month, Nourish is bringing the whole county together to dream big: their county-wide summit, "Tend the Seeds of Change," is focused on identifying, fleshing out, and exploring big, county-wide initiatives that have the capacity to create deep change. The day will include networking time, an information fair, a keynote speaker and presentations by local & regional experts. The major activity will center around two breakout sessions where you and your peers will have a chance to develop a potential initiative in one of the five following topic areas: local food guides, food hubs, farm to school, local grains/beans/legumes, and processing. It's going to be a great afternoon of activity, idea sharing, and visioning for our food system's future!

The basic details:

Date: Saturday, January 26th, 2013
Time: 1-5pm, optional networking starting at 12:30pm
Location: TJ Day Hall, Linfield College
Cost: Free!

For more details about the event and to register, hop over to the Nourish Yamhill Valley website. See you there!

2013 Stan Christensen Conservation Movie Series

Everybody mark you calendars for the 2013 Stan Christensen Conservation Movie Series. This is our second year partnering with the Yamhill Soil & Water Conservation District for this film series! The 2013 food film will be GROW!, a great film about young farmers in Georgia who are remaking their local food system. Fun, heartfelt, and inspiring--you don't want to miss it! GROW! will be showing on February 28th, but don't miss the other films in the series either!

See you there!

SFYC


GROW! Trailer for your enjoyment:
GROW! Movie Trailer (2:00) from Anthony-Masterson on Vimeo.

Great workshop happening this Saturday!

If you're interested in citizen's rights, not corporate rights, and in protecting our valley from GMO seed and mining that destroys the soil, don't miss this weekend's workshop! Details below!

The deets:

When? Saturday December 15th, 2-5pm

Where? First Baptist Church

RSVP requested: email lgrove@onlinenw.com

Donation requested: sliding scale $5 to $30. 

No one will be turned away.

Fill Your Pantry Events

If you've not had a chance to attend the Fill Your Pantry events that have been sprouting up across the Willamette Valley in recent years, be sure to mark your calendar for next year (the events run from Mid October to Mid November, and this year were hosted in Linn, Lincoln, Benton, and Lane counties).

Fill Your Pantry is the one chance most of us locavores have to stock up on locally grown pantry staples including grains, beans, potatoes, onions, and corn. All vendors at the events are local, and many of them are also processing their own products (milling their own grains, for instance). It is a fantastic event and well worth the drive. Or, perhaps someone will host an event in Yamhill County next year!?

For a great recap of the event (circa 2011, but the structure hasn't changed), visit the Stitch and Boots blog here.
For a few pictures and a short article about this year's event, click here.

And for a video, just to convince you of the awesomeness of these events, watch below!
See you out there next year!

Upcoming event!

On November 10th there will be a screening of The Greenhorns, a documentary about young farmers in America at Belle Mare Farm in Willamina. Details and flier below! We hope you can join us!

watch the trailer here: