Slow Food® Utah

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Tasting and Cooking lessons, healthy snack ideas, fruits & vegetables and nutrition for youth. Held in Salt Lake City’s Rosepark and Glendale Neighborhoods, Backman, Mountain View, Riley, Rose Park Elementary Schools and the Woodrow Wilson Elementary Health Fair.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make this on-going Slow Food Utah project a success.

In conjunction with the Utah Museum of Natural History, Slow Food Utah presented Michael Pollan to a large audience at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City.

Michael Pollan’s most recent book is In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. His previous books include The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post; The Botany of Desire; Second Nature; and A Place of My Own. Pollan is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and is a Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley.

Please visit Michael Pollan Visits Utah for a few pictures and links to several local radio interviews with Michael Pollan. The Keynote Address is also available for your listening pleasure.

A Workshop was also conducted with local school social studies teachers in conjunction with the Michael Pollan lecture.

Presented in conjunction with the Utah Museum of Natural History and The Salt Lake City Library. Location: The Salt Lake City Main Library, Main Auditorium.

Gary Paul Nabhan, Ph.D., is a writer, lecturer and world-renowned conservation scientist. He is the outgoing Director of the Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University, where he catalyzed the Canyon Country Fresh regional food initiative on the Colorado Plateau.

After gaining degrees in agriculture and arid lands resources from the University of Arizona, Dr. Nabhan co-founded Native Seeds/SEARCH and became a leading voice for conserving and renovating native plant agriculture in the Americas. Over three decades, he has worked with more than a dozen indigenous communities on cross-cultural initiatives to revive indigenous foods to prevent diabetes, to restore ancient agricultural landscapes and to honor traditional knowledge.

This evening began with a tour of the Beehive Cheese Company’s facility in Uintah, Utah (near South Ogden). After the tour we caravaned to Tim and Kari Welsh’s house (owners of Beehive and Slow Food members) where our hosts provided a delicious variety of soups and salads for us to indulge in. Guests brought along there favorite bread sticks and desserts to accompany the soup and salads. It was an interesting and delightful evening.

Thank you to Beehive Cheese Company.

The "Feast of Five Senses" is the annual fundraising event for Slow Food Utah and was held at Pine Restaurant in Salt Lake City. Participating chefs (The feast-makers) included:

Course Description: "Have you ever eaten a pea straight from the pod or bitten into a peach right from the tree? Fresh food is good food—good for you and good tasting—and if it’s grown locally, it’s also good for your community and planet. Eating locally is more than a trend—it’s a re–discovery of regional identity, a direct way to support the local economy, and a way to help reduce our nation’s dependence on oil by eliminating costly transport. How can you incorporate Utah’s myriad agricultural and artisan food products into your shopping list? By becoming a ‘locavore’! We’ll show you where to find local farmers, bakers, ranchers, beekeepers, and cheese makers, then offer up tips on how to enjoy these tasty, healthful products year round. We will also provide information on local food co–ops and community gardens. Join the enthusiastic members of Slow Food Utah as they show you how eating locally is deliciously possible."

Class offered by the University of Utah, Division of Continuing Education, taught by Slow Food Utah’s Christi Paulson.

Providing students new taste experiences at Riley Elementary School, in Salt Lake City.

Half–hour Slow Food presentation to Waterford School upper–school students on the topics of "What is Slow Food" and the importance of buying local. Part of the School’s week–long celebration of Earth Day.

A Benefit Lunch for Slow Food Utah and Bad Dog Rediscovers America would like to thank everyone who attended and supported our two organizations! No Foolin’, we did enjoy a day of skiing at Alta in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains along with a delicious lunch at Collins Grill in the new Watson’s Shelter located on the slopes of Alta. Slow Food Utah would like to sincerely thank Jude and the staff of Collins Grill for an excellent job well done! Spring Lunch on the Mountain was hosted by Jude Rubadue proprietor and esteemed Chef of Collins Grill, member of Slow Food Utah, and Board Member of Bad Dog Rediscovers America.

Lunch began with a salad that included Bell Organics Spring Arugula with stacked Golden Beets and Shepherd’s Goat Cheese. The Main Course was a delicious Lamb Tagine stew centered around Morgan Valley Lamb. Dessert included a Cherry Tart featuring Utah Montmorency cherry tarts with Letty’s Crème Anglais prepared by Letty Flatt. Each course was enhanced with delicious wine pairings. Utah’s Amano Chocolate rounded off the meal with samples of two of their fine chocolates. Here is the Final Menu. (PDF)

Link to Announcement Page for "Spring Lunch on the Mountain."

Slow Food Utah – Slow Food in Schools participated in the Utah Food Bank’s "Kid’s Café" at Mountain View Elementary School in Salt Lake City, in conjunction with the Utah Food Bank.  Kid’s Café provides three dinners each week for hundreds of at–risk children at more than a dozen low–income areas throughout Utah. Volunteers assisted with a demonstration and serving of healthy bean dip to Kids Café participants.

A small group enjoyed another fine collection of creative dishes at Slow Food Utah member Martha Wunderli’s home. Thank you to Martha for her hospitality, and to everyone who shared their creative culinary skills.

Flyer.

Presented by Post Carbon Salt Lake in conjunction with Slow Food Utah. "Our modern industrial food system is heavily dependent on fossil fuels every step of the way — for fertilizers, pesticides, harvesting, processing and transporting. In the United States, food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to plate. For every calorie we eat, we "consume" at least 10 calories of fossil fuels. As ethanol production increases, how will this impact our food system? Oil production in this decade is predicted to "peak" and then begin an irreversible decline, so how will this impact our modern industrial food system? What does Cuba have to teach us about this situation? What is a local food assessment? Why are community gardens so relevant?" We explored these issues and discuss ways to respond.

Post Carbon Salt Lake is part of the Post Carbon Institute’s Relocalization Network which "supports and connects Local Post Carbon Groups as they work towards Relocalizing their communities." (For more information see "Post Carbon Institute" on the Slow Food Utah’s Organizations – National & Global page.)

A group of about 30 good folks enjoyed a Potluck Dinner at the "Italian Center of the West" next to Caputo’s Market in Salt Lake City. Several people put great effort and energy into creating innovative and delicious dishes which were shared and enjoyed. Several children were in attendance, which was really nice to see. Thank you to Tony Caputo for donating the use of the "Italian Center of Utah."

Creation of in–door grow–boxes for growing vegetable plants. The first crop of leafy–vegetables will be planted after the Thanksgiving holiday for harvest during the Winter. The second planting will be to grow starts for transplanting to the out–door garden–boxes in the Spring of 2007.

Whoever thought of this is brilliant," declared one enthusiastic chef over the phone. He was one of the last – of many – to RSVP for the August 14th gathering at Christi Paulson’s house. As the leader of Slow Food Utah, she was used to hosting monthly meetings and the odd potluck at her home in the Millcreek suburb of Salt Lake City. But this event was different. Oh, there was plenty of mingling at the Chef-Farmer Mingle. But the 70 restaurant and farming folk traversing her house and garden had a distinct mission: To meet and talk with each other. Some for the first time.

Chefs came out of their kitchens and farmers out of their fields to talk shop between bites of minted lamb burgers from Morgan Valley lamb, greens laced with edible flowers, and Spotted Dog ice cream. Established organic growers like Bell Organics offered advice to newer producers. Chefs found out what farmers had planned for the next year. Everywhere, seeds for a strong edible community were being planted on that cool Summer night.

By the time the event (which was free for everyone) ended, several chefs offered to host the next gathering at their restaurants. Farmers were ecstatic to meet chefs they’ve tried the whole year to call. The mood was optimistic. Giddy, even. And it wasn’t just because of all the good food. The event proved to the Slow Food Utah community that the state is on the verge of something significant where food consciences and pride in local products are raised. And the path to food brilliance can only be forged when chefs and farmers work together.

The Feast of Five Senses was the major fund-raising event of the 2006 year, with proceeds benefiting the Slow Food Utah – Schoolyard Garden Project at Riley Elementary School (1410 South 800 West) in the Salt Lake City School District.

Participating Chefs included:

The event took place at Kimball Distributing, 2233 South 300 East in Salt Lake City. The facility was a beautiful location, perfect for cooking, and conviviality. The kitchen at Kimball Distributing is well suited to cooking demonstrations, with plenty of room for a good size group of people to all comfortably see the demonstration. Slow Food Utah is very grateful for the use of Kimball Distributing’s facility and looks forward to returning in the near future. Slow Food Utah would also like to thank Jim Light/HomeCooks Culinary Adventures (see links) for his hard work in helping setup the kitchen for this event.

(Previously known as "Meet Your Maker.")