Food and Art

Hello all,

I've run across this artist's work a couple of times now, and thought that I ought to share it with you.

Tattfoo is an artist based in New York who has done a whole range of products drawing attention to social and environmental issues, from urban development to loss of food histories, to (my favorite) the nature matching system. The nature matching system is a visual & colorful representation of healthful eating habits--a fun and engaging way to get folks talking about their food, be they little tikes or adults. Below are a few images from the project.

How fun would it be if our fruit stickers all said "Remember to take your daily dose of color"?

Each color is associated with a healthy food. Below is the key.

These murals have been installed in a few cities and exhibitions focusing on food have also visited cities across the US.

I hope that you'll take a second to check out some of his work! You can find it here.

There are also a few free downloads through the nature matching system project that can help you spread the word of colorful, healthy eating! Try the printable coloring book pages for the kids or the screen saver for adults.

Any thoughts on using art in food activism? Please share in the comments!

February Fun (And a Sneak Peek!)

Hello all!

To all of you who came out for the first installment of our film series, thank you! There was an amazing turnout, and I am sure everyone who attended left feeling inspired.

We have another film coming up this month! If you didn't make it out last month, make sure to clear your calendar for this month's offering. Good Food is the film this time around, and it features a number of amazing Northwest farmers (and more folks too!) who are fighting for our local food system. You can watch a preview right here:

Details:

Good Food
Thursday, February 16th, 6:30 pm
Third Street Pizza, McMinnville
Good Food is an uplifting film that celebrates the visionary farmers, business owners, restaurants, and leaders of the Pacific Northwest who are challenging the traditions of big Ag by focusing on growing food for our region rather than the international market. Visit Farmer's Markets, farmers, distributors, stores, and restaurants that are on the forefront of the fight for food quality & security as well as environmental sustainability.

Also check out this weekend's installment of the Explore Oregon series at the McMinnville Library! Food is on the agenda... For more information, click here.

See you out there!

Winter Film Series

Hello everyone!

Well, it is officially 2012, and we are starting to gear up for another year of Slow Food activities. We wanted to let you know about our first one for the year!

We are very proud to be partnering with the Yamhill Soil & Water Conservation District this winter for the Stan Christensen Conservation Movie Series! This film series includes three films and is spread over three months. Each film showing will be held at Third Street Pizza in downtown McMinnville, the third Thursday of the month. Showings will start at 6:30pm (please come a little early to order some tasty food and great local beer!). Each month will feature a new film with unique themes related to conservation efforts and/or slow food efforts. We hope you can join us for this FREE and informative event! Details below.


First Film
Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time
 January 19th, 6:30 pm
Green Fire explores the conservation goals of the visionary conservationist Aldo Leopold. Recognizing that land has inherent value and the way that we interact with land affects that value, Leopold developed a unique conservation ideal that was way ahead of his time. Please join us in contemplating our relationship with our land community.

Second Film
Good Food
February 16th, 6:30 pm
Good Food is an uplifting film that celebrates the visionary farmers of the Pacific Northwest who are challenging the traditions of big Ag by focusing on growing food for our region rather than the international market. Visit Farmer's Markets, farmers, distributors, stores, and restaurants that are on the forefront of the fight for food quality & security as well as environmental sustainability.

Third Film
Salmon Forest
March 15th, 6:30 pm
We live mere miles from the largest tract of intact temperate rainforest in the world. This film celebrates this fantastically diverse resource and examines its impact on watershed, salmon, and beyond. Come learn about the richness of the Salmon Forest!

See you soon! 

October Festivities!

Hello everyone!

Wanted to do a little post about some upcoming Slow Food festivities! Sorry to not be around much for the last month!

First and foremost, we want to invite you to our annual Apple Press! This is a great event--bring apples and containers for cider, and an apple inspired potluck dish to share. We provide the venue and the cider press! Details are below.

What: Slow Food Yamhill County's 4th Annual Apple Cider Pressing and Competition Potluck

When: Sunday, October 16, 2011,  3:00 p.m. till dark

Where: Danny Browne's house at 845 SE Morgan Lane in McMinnville

We will have apple presses and grinders.  The apples will be washed, mixed, ground and pressed to be shared and enjoyed by all.

Please bring:  Apples to press and containers for your cider, A potluck dish to share.  Personal cup, plate, cutlery and a beverage.

Competition Potluck:  Bring an apple based potluck dish for any/all of the categories:  Appetizer, Main Dish and Dessert.
Prizes will be awarded in each category.

Send questions to Judi at valleycreekfarm@gmail.com.


Second, I wanted to give you a heads up about an upcoming book release and event! Have you long lamented the lack of a local-ingredients-focused cookbook specifically for our region? Look no more... Dishing Up Oregon, a title soon to be released by Storey Publishing features local farms, foods, restaurants, and products in a collection of mouthwatering recipes! Our very own Third Street Books will be hosting author Ashley Gartland for a book reading and signing this month! Details below.

What: Dishing Up Oregon book reading and signing
When: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Third Street Books, downtown McMinnville

Event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available for sale.

Direct Questions to Third Street Books at 503.472.7786.


We hope to see you there.
Happy fall!

SFYC at Food Meet Today!

Hello everyone!

Just sending a little note out into cyberspace letting you know that Slow Food will be at this year's Food Meet summit up in Newberg this afternoon! Food Meet is an awesome event featuring all kinds of local food folk, several presentations on food issues, and a screening of the uplifting food film Ingredients, which features NW farmers. Perhaps we'll see you there!

100 Mile Diet: Installment 7

A Little Update.

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long break! It's the end of summer and I'm struggling to catch up with there being tomatoes and melons at market, and the fact that our very short summer feels like it's on the way out already. Too bad.

I thought I'd give you all a little update on how the 100 Mile Diet is going these days. In truth, it's on and off. We were very disciplined for the first few weeks of this experiment... disciplined to the point of going hungry instead of grabbing something to eat. And it was great! We learned how to do this thing--how to plan meals and go to farmer's market and cook amazing 100 mile meals. And while we still do that, lately we've been making more exceptions.
For example, one of Erik's cousins was randomly in Portland the other night... and we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. It was her first time really spending time in Portland! We couldn't deny her that experience. Also, we've grabbed a pitcher of beer and caught up with a friend (the beer was 20 Mile [at Golden Valley-check it out!], the nachos with guacamole were not). And I've started drinking coffee again. I'll admit that I missed my hot morning drinks and long hours hanging out in coffee shops. The major motivation behind these infractions has been social--and while we love cooking with our friends too, sometimes going out for a beer or a coffee is just what you need.

That said, Erik and I have decided to continue with the 100 Mile Diet beyond our initial month-long commitment. Partly that is to make up for leaving town for a long weekend. The other part of that is that we really have enjoyed doing this. We go to farmer's market every week and come home with tons of delicious produce. We get to splurge on items like local line-caught salmon or Oregon-grown lentils because our grocery bills have in fact gone down. Not buying those easy processed foods/junk foods we secretly love has in fact saved us a lot of money! We also feel a lot healthier. It's all that fiber! And we also love knowing where our food comes from. For us, the 100 Mile Diet has become more about giving our money directly to farmers than anything else. It feels very different than handing your money to a big chain grocery store.

So that's a little tiny update. Have you tried a 100 Mile Meal yet? Tell us how it went!

Beth

100 Mile Diet: Installment 6

The Two-Weeks-In/Halfway-Through Meal Report

Hello everyone!

I hope your Monday is going well.

Today I wanted to give everyone a little update on how our 100 Mile Diet is going. At our events, many of you seemed to be interested in exactly what Erik and I were going to be eating, so I thought today I'd give you an account of our meals. You'll probably notice that they increase in complexity and overall ability-to-fill-you-stomach-ness. We're getting better...

You might also notice that I don't record lunches. For lunch, usually Erik will take leftovers (I'll take them too if there's enough), and I bring an assemblage of things to make a lunch (typically a piece of bread, some sticks of cheddar, fruit, sometimes a salad). I'm not going to write all of those out since it would take a while and be rather boring. I have had some amazing fruit salads for lunch, though, featuring peaches, plums, figs, and blackberries (all from within 30 miles).

Also, you'll notice breakfasts get repetitive. I've never been one to branch out a lot with my breakfast, so this is normal. Erik doesn't really eat breakfast. The only notable exceptions will be if we make a big brunch, which is really more lunch, and always delicious.

Okay, enough prelude. Sources are in parentheses!


Week One

...was a little rough. We ate a lot of yogurt and toast and eggs.

Monday August 15
B: yogurt (Nancy's) with berries (u-pick), honey (Heavenly Honey), and hazelnuts (Bernard's Farm)
D: lamb sausage (Yamhill), with sauteed greens and fried eggs (friends, friends, butter from Rose Valley)

Tuesday August 16
B: yogurt
D: fried eggs with green bean & basil salad (beans-Dayton, basil-Red Ridge [perk of working there], olive oil-Oregon Olive Mill, wine-Dundee, salt)

Wednesday August 17
B: yogurt, toast (bread-Nature Bake Oregon Grains)
D: green salad with homemade ranch dressing (greens-Dayton, turnips-Mac, yogurt, chives-my balcony, basil-Red Ridge), grilled cheese sandwich with tomato (bread, cheddar-Tillamook, tomatoes-Yamhill)

Thursday August 18
B: fried eggs on toast
D: big green salad with vinaigrette (greens, olive oil, wine [I've been using a dash of wine instead of vinegar in my salad dressings--works well!], salt), antipasti plate (salami-Olympia [not 100 mile, but close-ish and amazing], cheddar, tomatoes-Yamhill)

Friday August 19
B: yogurt with berries and hazelnuts
L*: smashed potatoes (spuds-our garden, butter-Mac), scrambled eggs, sauteed greens
D**: at work

*Erik came home for lunch that day
**I worked a wedding that night and ate not-100-mile food

Saturday August 20
B: yogurt and honey
D***: cowboy beans (beans-Mac, smoked hamhock-Carlton, tomatoes-Yamhill, honey, salt), green salad, mixed berry cobbler (berries-u-pick, flour-Willamette Seed & Grain, butter, salt)

***the start of our yet-to-end cobbler phase

Sunday August 21
B: yogurt with leftover cobbler
D: green salad, lamb sausage & mushrooms with red wine and butter sauce (sausage & mushrooms-Yamhill, wine-Dundee Hills, butter-Mac), cobbler

Week Two

During this week we started being more intentional about making meals. Our routine now is once we're both home from work, we take a little break, and then from 6 to 8 or so, we're in the kitchen cooking and eating. It's a nice routine, and we've made some really delicious meals!

Monday August 22
B: yogurt with honey and berries, eggs
D: chicken breasts and thighs stuffed with white cheddar and basil (chicken-friend, cheddar-Willamette Cheese Co, basil-Red Ridge), green salad with yogurt dressing

Tuesday August 23
B: yogurt with honey
D: oven-roasted drumsticks and wings with garlic-thyme-sage croutons (chicken-friend, garlic-yamhill, olive oil, butter, bread-Nature Bake, herbs-my balcony), roasted green beans (Dayton)

Wednesday August 24
B: yogurt and berries
D: 7-bone beef roast with onions, home fries, roasted filet beans (beef-Scholls, all produce-Scholls), blueberry bars (not 100 mile but tasty!)--Thanks Mom!

Thursday August 25:
B: yogurt with berries, toast
D: Celebration Dinner at Community Plate-- Gaining Ground Farm Mixed Greens with olive oil, ver jus, and hazelnuts. Worden Hill Farm Pork Loin with braised greens, Oregon grits, and cherry sauce. Wine Poached Munoz Farms Peaches with honey roasted hazelnuts and chevre. YUM!


Friday, August 26:
B: yogurt and berries with honey
D: potato latkes (potatoes-our garden, egg, onion-Yamhill, salt, flour), fried eggs, and roasted green beans (friend), 100 mile bread! (I did use dry yeast and salt in it)

Saturday August 27:
B: yogurt and berries with honey
D: tuna steaks! (Newport, cooked in olive oil with salt), fresh corn fritters (corn-Dayton, flour, salt, cheddar, egg), green salad

Sunday August 28:
B: yogurt and berries
D: lentil stew thing with onions, tomatoes and peppers (lentils-Parkdale, produce-all Yamhill, olive oil, wine) & oven-roasted honey-rosemary chicken legs (chicken-Oregon City, honey, salt, butter, and rosemary-friend), cobbler


One interesting development so far in our diet is how we have started eating a lot more meat. It helps to fill you up in a way that all-vegetable meals can't, and it's so readily available! I have both friends and family who raise chicken and beef, and lamb and chicken are also available from local sources at Roth's (and beef, pork, and fresh fish at the Farmer's Market as well). It has added a lot of dimension to our meals, and is helping fill the gap left by convenient carbs.

Another thing we've noticed is how fast things have gotten easier. We've moved beyond the initial "oh god, what am I going to eat?" phase, and instead are taking time to come up with and execute real meals. We've also gotten better at packing away leftovers the night we cook so our lunches are ready for us in the morning. And we've started making dessert, which just makes everybody happier!


So, that's our halfway update! We're going to be leaving town this weekend to visit friends in Boise, and no, we're not going to be doing the 100 mile diet while we're there. We'll keep you posted on how we're doing once we return!
Feel free to leave us questions or comments here on the blog! We'd love to hear from you!

-Beth