Jan 14: Terra Madre with Sierra Club, Slow Food, and Grow PIttsburgh

January 14:  Terra Madre -- Earth Mother, in Italy, Pittsburgh, and the World Around;  a joint meeting of the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club, Slow Food Pittsburgh, and Grow Pittsburgh

Food itself is becoming a more obviously central issue, the world around. We are firmly committed as a Club to the ideas behind Buy Fresh, Buy Local. Slow Food and Grow Pittsburgh share this commitment with us.  It’s all about true “homeland security,”  with minimum transportation between farmer and consumer, and better quality, with food picked fresh near by. It’s about a good living for our farmers.

Join us for a special report from Greg Boulos and Jen Montgomery, owners of Blackberry Meadows Farm and delegates to the Terra Madre conference in Turino, Italy, in October, 2008, less than three months ago. They were sent there to soak up all that was taking place while 5000 other farmers and chefs shared their livelihoods and home places. It’s one of the great gatherings of the world food and agriculture community – totally focused on maintaining quality of farming and farm produce in every place food can be grown. It will be an exciting report for all of us.

Then we will come back to Pittsburgh’s urban reality, where Grow Pittsburgh is making a tremendous contribution to the raising of food within the city limits. They’re involved in all sorts of projects, from Garden Dreams of Mindy Schwartz in Wilkinsburg to the  Mildreds Daughters Farm of Barb Klein and Randa Shannon and many other imposing efforts. Miriam Manion is the Executive Director and she will share with us the organization’s dreams and need for help in achieving those dreams.  This is unbelievably exciting and worthwhile work.  http://www.growpittsburgh.org/growpittsburgh

We’ll end, as usual in meetings with Slow Food, with some excellent refreshments and conversation.

(7:30-9 p.m. at the Phipps Garden Center at Fifth & Shady Avenues;  free & open to the public)

No comments: