Slow Food Western Mass

SFWM Meeting Minutes 3/17/08

Meeting chaired by Dominic Palumbo

Signed in attendees: Jonathan Schwartz, Sean Stanton, Chris Lindstrom, Lisa Noferi, Jen Leahey, Peter Stanton, Jeremy Stanton, Lester Blumenthal, Lynda Fisher, Kyle Stanton, Alejandro de Onis

• Update on Project Sprout (Lynda Fisher)
  • “By facilitating access to knowledge and networks, and by creating opportunities for interaction with one another and with mentors, Slow Food USA is galvanizing and unifying this movement.” Sam Levin has contacted us and continues to be an active contributor to the monthly pot luck dinners. We will support Monuments Project Sprout as outlined in Slow Food’ above mission statement.
  • Put out a request for member donations of fencing and water catchment equipment now.
  • Farmers and Growers who are starting ARK seeds will be asked to donate plants for their trial garden.
  • Dreaming Big….in accordance with our mission of facilitating access to knowledge; can we send Sam to SlowFood USA (in part even?)
  • What byline do we want on the Pig Roast tickets?
    • Suggestions:
      • Supported by Slow Food Western Mass
      • Friends of Slow Food Western Mass
      • With the Support of Our Friends at Slow Food Western Mass
    • Sam is taking the suggestions to his meeting next Wed
  • What materials do we have to distribute at a table at the event?
    • Slow Food USA has brochures and/or other printed material we can get. Lynda to contact them about obtaining these
  • Who is available to present at the event on May 25th?
    • Anyone interested should contact Lynda Fisher directly (lyndafisher2002@yahoo.com)
  • Do we have letterhead?
    • Alejandro de Onis volunteered to design letterhead
  • Grant Collaboration: Cecelia would like to meet with Project Sprout as a liaison for Slow Food and The Nutrition Center. More info coming.
  • We will be compiling our notes to submit to Slow Food as a model for Farm to Table in Schools and on Campus.

• SFWM-Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) Connection Update (Jonathan Schwartz)
  • SFWM-BIFF sub-committee (Peter Stanton, Jeremy Stanton, Valerie Maynard, and Jonathan Schwartz) met 3/4/08
  • Valerie Maynard appointed leader of the SFWM-BIFF sub-committee
  • Dominic & Valerie met with Kelley Vickery, the founder and director of BIFF
  • Programming for BIFF has been completed for this year so that we will not be able to formally be a part of BIFF (i.e. be in thier program), but we are welcome to program add-on events to run alongside the festival
  • Ideas for events to be held in conjunction with BIFF:
    • Dinner & A Movie: Show food related film with coordinated dinner & discussion. Could do this each night of the festival and could possible do it in two rooms with up to 15 people in each room (could be the kickoff of a continuing SFWM food related film series — also see Film Feasts below)
    • Show food related movie outdoors — could do at The Nutrition Center
    • Event with Kevin Bacon (receiving achievement award at BIFF) featuring diner food — Simeon knows Kevin and could possibly get him to participate.
    • Have table in The Triplex Cinema during the festival with Slow Food literature and manned by SFWM volunteers to educate the public about Slow Food movement
• Event/Project Ideas
  • 1 Month Sign Up Drive (Sarah Dibben)
    • During a slower month for restaurants (Sarah suggests April, May, or November) get restaurants to host a $25 dinner to promote Slow Food.
    • One night a week during the selected month, one restaurant would be featured
    • Would require 4 or 5 restaurants (Lester Blumenthal said Route 7 Grill would participate and assuming Sarah’s Stagecoach Tavern would participate as well)
    • Participants must currently be slow food members, or can sign up then.
    • Berkshire Grown has a similar drive week
  • “Meet the Member’s Night” (Sarah Dibben)
    • From Sarah: “When I lived in Portland the convivium there held an event that charged $25 or so. They had a famous guest speaker, I think Alice waters. There was food: different restaurants had tables with a sampling of their fair, also bakeries & cheese shops, coffee, tea. I think in addition to this we could hold a raffle where we give away things we have collected through donation. Tickets could cost $1 -$5. Examples of donations, books, gift certificates to restaurants, boxes of produce from different farms, nights stay at different lodges, organic – biodynamic wine samplings, beer of similar nature, sheep skins, frozen meet from local farms, jars of honey, etc.
  • “Super” Farmers Market (Sarah Dibben)
    • SFWM could help to organize large regional farmers market that would be “the only game in town” the day it was held
    • Have RAFT trunk at this event
  • Educational project focused on ramps, nettles, fiddleheads, mushrooms, ground cherries, etc. (Sarah Dibben)
  • Quarterly local Slow Food publication (Lisa Noferi)
    • Lisa writes: “I realize SFWM has the online newsletter, but would greater exposure and info be gained by a … quarterly publication, ad funded, distributed at all Farmers Markets, local Berkshire Grown restaurants, food marketplaces, even local galleries and bookstores. The content would include a range of realistic voice and artistic expression from the roots to the rituals of the food we grow that feeds each other here in western mass. Interviews(profiles), essays(opinion), recipes, *photos*, a classified marketplace - contributions from all who appreciate knowing the “story” behind their food and sometimes beyond their table when “slow” is the occasional remedy for the fractures our fast-paced society has created in our families, our environment, our health. Carlo Petrini’s movement began as the Italian protest to McDonald’s infiltration and its threat to the traditional table, the vegetable garden, the “family meal.” I imagine that is what Nabhan’s new title “Coming Home to Eat” is about…”
    • Examples of such publications:
      • edibleBOSTON
      • edibleCapCod
      • Vermont’s Local Banquet
      • The Valley Table
      • Gastronomica
    • Another way to go could be to do an online newsletter that could start small and build over time
      • Would allow anyone who wanted to to contribute more easily
      • easier to manage than printed publication
      • this could eventually also grow into a printed publication as described above
  • Campaign to bolster CSAs and Farmer’s Markets
    • use SFWM email list to get word out
    • It was noted that 22 families are currently receiving CSA shares through the Apples to Zucchinis (A to Z) program
      • Share the Bounty, Berkshire Grown, Berkshire Co-op Market, CLIP, CHP WIC, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Mahaiwe Harvest, Farm at Millers Crossing, Indian Line Farm, and Farm Girl Farm all helped to create this unique program.
• Organizations that SFWM might want to establish (stronger) connections with
  • Berkshire Grown
  • E.F. Schumaker Society
  • Orion Society
  • Berkshire Botanical Gardens
  • Berkshire Sanctuary
  • others — please suggest other organizations we might want to add to this list by leaving a comment.
• Related events of interest to SFWM (Jonathan Schwartz)
  • Film Feasts at Berkshire Museum
    • Sideways/Patrick Spencer/Wine tasting & four course dinner at Brix, Sunday April 13th 3 PM
    • Black Orpheus/Drumming workshop/Dinner at The Brazillian Restaurant and Pub, Sunday, May 4th 3 PM
  • Cheese 101 (part of Berkshire Living Magazine and The Triplex Cinemas “The Rest of The Story” series) Matthew Rubiner of Rubiner’s will be sharing knowledge of Cheese with cheese-tasting at The Triplex Sunday, March 30th 11 AM
• Sean Stanton brought to the groups attention that Small Farmers Journal has a program where people can give gift subscriptions to High Schools — $25 gives 2 schools a subscription to the journal. He suggested that we might look into Slow Food having a similar program for our publications.
• At the close of the meeting Chris Lindstrom made mention of a group which supports sustainable, local food production called the Slow Money (article on Slow Money). This will be dicsussed furthre at the mext meeting.
• Next meeting will be Monday 3/31/08 at The Nutrition Center, 94 West Ave., Great Barrington, MA at 1:30 sharp.