Slow Food on Campus at the University of Delaware

What's going on?

2010-09-30T12:10:00.004-04:00

Don't Forget!!!!

Thursday October 14th we are co-sponsoring an event with NEDAC

7PM in Smith 120

Guest speaker: Nina Planck of Real Food: What to eat and why

A VERY EXCITING EVENT COMING UP!!!!

On Monday October 18th at 7PM (Location TBD)

We are having a guest speaker!

Sergio Grasso from Italy will be talking about the food culture over in Italy and may be doing some demonstrations as well so come hungry!

Make sure to check out the Alternative Spring Break Program through the University of Delaware. They will be sending five trips over spring break to do service work.

One of the trips will be focusing on Food and Hunger in Boston. They will be working on Urban Farms, Soup Kitchens and Food Banks.

Make sure to email alternativebreaks@udel.edu if you want some more information!

What are the options for non-students:

Unfortunately our chapter is only open to University of Delaware Students. However there are plenty of options available to the community.

Area Chapters:

Slow Food Brandywine Valley

Make sure the check them out at: http://www.slowfoodbrandywinevalley.org/

IMPORTANT DATES!!

2010-09-23T14:21:00.004-04:00

IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

This Sunday September 26th, there will be two workshops to be given by Toby Hemenway, a world-renowned permaculturalist at the Delaware Center for Horticulture in Wilmington, DE. UD students will receive a discount if they attend and the cost will be $25 for the workshop and $45 if you would like to attend the lunch in between the workshops. Toby's website is http://patternliteracy.com/index.html if you would like more information. Please email del@slowfoodusa.org if you would like to attend and we will make the special student reservations.

The City of Newark is co-sponsoring a FREE Rain Barrel workshop on October 6, 2010 at 6:00pm. It will be held at the New Castle County Cooperative Extension office (461 Wyoming Road - directions). Learn about the importance of using rain barrels and protecting the water quality in the watershed. The first 25 people who sign up receive a free rain barrel.

Lastly and most importantly-- SLOW FOOD ON CAMPUS will be co-sponsoring an event with the National Eating Disorders Awareness Committee. We are hosting a
speaker, author Nina Planck of Real Food: What to Eat and Why on Thursday October 14th at 7 pm in Smith 120. DON’T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALANDARS!

This past Sunday a few of our members were able to get outside and have some fun at Milburn Orchards! The group went apple picking… make sure to check out their pictures below….

AG DAY!!

2010-04-19T19:39:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that SFOC will be at the University of Delaware's AG Day on Saturday April 14th from 10am to 4pm.

We will have crafts for kids and educational information for both adults and children!!

Planting!!

2010-04-19T19:30:00.000-04:00

In preparation for out big spring event BACKYARD GARDEN--SEED TO TABLE, we began planting the plants that will be included in our starter kits.

The Ag department on campus was nice enough to give us space for 200 plants (although we actually planted 270!!!) So THANK YOU AG SCHOOL!!

Our plants include squash, tomatoes and peppers. Thanks to everyone who helped.

Remember, the BACKYARD GARDEN is May 10th and 11th. 6pm-8pm. At Townsend Hall (May 10th) and the Courtyard Marriott (May 11th)

Getting Ready for Spring Semester

2010-01-22T15:40:00.000-05:00

As we start getting back o school in the next few weeks, I would love for everyone to brainstorm about ideas and programs they would like to do this semester. I would especially like everyone to find a local restaurant that serves sustainable food or local food that we can plan a field trip to go visit!

February we are going to focus on fair trade chocolate. Slow Food will be providing us with ideas to develop a program to raise awareness about fair trade chocolate in honor of Valentine's Day. We will be partnering with United Students for Fair Trade all across the nation for this campaign.

Novembr Day of Action

2009-11-16T13:37:00.000-05:00

This month Slow Food has partnered with the Student/Farmworker Alliance to support and raise awareness of "fair" food in the United States. What exactly is "fair" food?

"Slow Food USA and Slow Food on Campus chapters seek to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces to guarantee equity, sustainability and pleasure. Fair food encompasses good food that is accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and are justly compensated for their labor. To make fair and lasting change a reality the integrity of the food we eat must be secured, and good treatment of the people who produce it must be assured."

The Student/Farmwork Alliance is an organization that works with farmworkers in Southwest Florida to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery conditions. The SFA has be successful in raising awareness and working with many fast food companies to elimate their dependence on these farms. For more information on the SFA check our sfalliance.org.

Slow Food on Campus at the University of Delaware has decided on the following activities for our November initiative:
1) We are going to write "fair facts" aroudnd campus on the sidewalks. This will provoke thought between individuals and hopefully inspire individuals to do more research about the food that they eat and other, more fair options that are available. (If for some reason it should rain, which it always does in Delaware, we will be passing out the facts in the Student Center.)
To get all individuals in the group to participate in bringing facts into our next meeting, there is a competition, with prizes for the individuals who bring in the most facts. (First, second and third place!)
2) We are planning on screening a free documentary provided by the SFA.

Hopefully these activities will inspire students all across campus to take action and ask that their food be fair: to those who make it and those who buy it.

Clean Initiative: Success

2009-11-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

As discussed in our previous posting we had to take an initiative to try to educate or provide individuals with "clean" food on October 24th for the worldwide day of activisim for 350.org.

Our chapter's initiative was a great success, we co-sponsored a 100 mile meal with the Courtyard Newark at the University of Delaware. (We decided to take the 350 mile meal idea to the next level) The meal took place on Friday October 23rd, Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th. A special menu was created by the chef at the hotel and everything came from within 100 miles. We had carrot and apple soup, an herb salad, gnocchi with a red sauce and homemade pumpkin ice cream. Everything was priced to attract students (with many of the prices including 350!) however, all individuals throughout the community were invited to attend and a blub was even put in the local newspaper, bringing individuals from around Newark and Wilmington.

Our chapter had an information table during each dinner providing information on Slow Food, local food options, 350.org and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Also table tents that were provided by Slow Food were placed on each table. We are recylcing the table tents and are going to use them in local restaurants around the town of Newark to keep informing individuals about the clean initiative and 350.org, even after October is over.

Everyone is strongly encouraged to check out 350.org to see the over 19,000 pictures that were sumitted from around the world supporting the 350.org initiative. Our group will be taking a 350 picture somewhat late (this coming week) if you would like to participate feel free to contact Kathleen at kabrown@udel.edu for more information.

We are excited to see what Slow Food has in store for us for our initiative for November!!

Our Activities for October

2009-10-15T13:26:00.000-04:00

The motto of Slow Food is "good, clean and fair food for all people."
For the months of October, November and December Slow Food is providing all campus chapters with the resources to focus on one of these three ideas each month.For the month of October the iniative we are asked to focus on is clean.
Slow Food has partnered with the group 350.org which is an international campaign to rase awareness abour global warming. Scientists have identifies 350 parts per million as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.This month on Ocotober 24th, multiple organizations across the nation, and their respective student chapters have been asked to participate in an "International Day of Climate Action" to illustrate our commitment to creating a cleaner environment and atmosphere.
Our Plan at the University of Delaware:
1) We are using the resources Slow Food has provided us to put together various table tents to place in eating facilities on campus and in the local community. These will not only be displayed for Oct 24th but for other days as well.
2) We are partnering with the on-campus hotel to put on a 350-mile meal. Over the weekend, on October 23rd, 24th and 25th the hotel will host three dinners where every ingredient is a product of within 350 miles. We are offering a discount to students at the university with a UD id.
3) We have contacted dining services to inquire if we can place labels on items in the dining hall to show how far they travel to get to us. Hopefully this will raise awareness to students to buy local items to help reduce carbon emissions.
4) We are taking a picture of our group in actions, in our Slow Food wear, representing the 350 initiative. All groups are submitting photos for 350.org to use in showing the world how many people support this initiative.

Day at Milburn Orchards

2009-10-15T13:20:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to give everyone a little taste of what we experienced at Milburn Orchards! We picked Red Delicious apples, and had a great time overall! Thanks to everyone who could make it and I hope next year we have an even better turnout! If you didn't get a chance to come with us this weekend, make sure you try to get there before the season ends! We are planning on going back and going berry picking in the spring!