Slow Food Meets Seafood
March 5-6, 2011 in Newport

Batten down the hatches, Mateys, because Slow Food is returning to Newport for one of our most unique and popular events--a weekend of education, clamming, and, of course, eating.  Slow Food Corvallis joins Slow Food Eugene to host this year's event. 

We'll have tours of fishing boats, the Yaquina Bay Oyster Farm, education programs featuring marine biologists and fishermen, wine tasting, clamming, and a fabulous dungeness crab dinner.  On the menu this year are oysters, clams, and, of course, dungeness crab.  The crab dinner will be prepared by Local Oceans Seafoods restaurant.

Slow Food Meets Seafood in Newport will be held Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6.  Check in begins at 11:30 at the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club.  Bring a lunch to eat at the Yacht Club or, dine at one of the fine restaurants on the bay.  We've listed some below, along with accommodation options.

Concurrent tours are scheduled to begin at 1:00:

•  A dock walk at the Newport Marina; or
•  A visit to Oregon Oyster Farm on the Yaquina River  

Participants are limited to the first 20 for the dock walk and 25 for the Oyster Farm tour.

The educational program begins at 2:00 back at the Yacht Club. The topics are:

•  Pros and cons of marine reserves;
•  Update on crab tagging;
•  Report on a Fishery CSA

Department of Oregon Fish and Wildlife and the OSU Sea Grant Office experts will speak on these issues.

The introduction to Saturday night's dinner starts with Zach Wahl of Nye Beach Gallery discussing wines to pair with crab and oysters. He will have the wines available for sale.

Our appetizer will be oysters served by Liu Xin of the Oyster Farm. 

The stars of the evening, live crabs, arrive dockside delivered by one of Newport's local fishing vessels.  Local Oceans staff will do a cooking/cracking demonstration. Fennel coleslaw, garlic bread and dessert accompany the freshly cooked crab.

Saturday will be an action packed day. But you won't want to stay up too late.  On Sunday morning we wake early to catch the low tide and go clamming with Bill Lackner. The best clam tides are always early.

Important Details:

DATE:  Saturday and Sunday, March 5 and 6

TIME:  Sign in starts at 11:30 am on Saturday

PLACE:  Yaquina Bay Yacht Club, 750 SE Bay Blvd, Newport, OR

TICKETS:  Registration is at Brown Paper Tickets (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/143135) and is limited to 75.  The cost is $45 per person for CURRENT Slow Food USA members*. The cost for non-members is $75*. Registration closes February 10.

Sign up for the dock walk and oyster farm tours is included on the registration form and will close when the limited number has been reached.

You will see nine different selections on the registration: three for Eugene members, three for Corvallis members and three for non-members. We are trying to get an equal number from each chapter. There are three for each because we also need to know whether you want to do a tour and if so, which one of the two being offered.

*If your membership has expired or you would like to become a member click here.  It's not too late to renew or sign up for $25.00.

Addresses for restaurants on the bay for lunch:
Bridges at the Embarcadero,

 1000 SE Bay Blvd. 

                    
Bangkok Thai                                                                   855 SE Bay Blvd.
           

Bay 839                                                                          839 SE Bay Blvd.
           

Canyon Way                                                                      1216 SW Canyon Way
           

Local Ocean Seafoods                                                         213 SE Bay Blvd.

Mo's Annex                                                                        657 SW Bay Blvd.

Sada's Sushi                                                                      250 SW Bay Blvd.
           

Ocean Blue @ Gino's                                                          808 SW Bay Blvd.

Coffee House                                                                     156 SW Bay Blvd.

Links to lodging on the Bay:
           Embarcadero www.embarcadero-resort.com

The Landing www.thelandingatnewport.com

Links to other Newport lodging:

• Special Guest Presenter Douglas Gayeton, photographer and author of SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town and the upcoming The Lexicon of Sustainability
• Keynote presentation by Italian representatives of Mondo Tartufo highlighting truffle cultivation and sensory analysis
• Creative cooking from Chef Pino Posteraro of Cioppino's in Vancouver, B.C.
   
• Truffle hunting dog demonstrations and in-the-field truffle hunt
• Truffle cooking demonstrations by James Beard Award-nominated Northwest chefs
• A unique truffle farmers market
• The Grand Truffle Dinner prepared by celebrated regional chefs

Meet Slow Food Eugene's New Snail

One of our own, Tom Barkin, Slow Food USA Regional Governor for Oregon and Idaho has been invited to be a speaker at the Organicology Conference, February 10-12 in Portland, Oregon.  We'd love to see you there.  You can register and find details at organicology.org.

This dynamic event unites the organic food community to chart a sustainable food future through an incredible program:

Inspiring, thought provoking keynotes: Jim Hightower, Andrew Kimbrell, Steven Jones

Full-day training intensives building expert knowledge and skills: soil management, seed growing, sustainable business, policy and the roles of those who interact directly with food consumers

Workshops on key topics including seed production, policy, zero waste, food safety, labor practices, NOSB listening session

Trade show: Over 100 exhibitors

Networking and relaxation: breaks, meals, seed swap, organic spirits and potato tasting, debate, entertainment

Given the dynamic change, challenges and opportunities we face, it's critical to reflect, learn and strategize together. Don't miss Organicology 2011!

Coordinated by Oregon Tilth, Organic Seed Alliance, the Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association and Organically Grown Company; with gracious support from a host of generous sponsors.

University of Oregon Conference on Food Justice Is Coming This February--Can YOU help Slow Food Eugene help out?

The University Of Oregon's Wayne Morse Center For Law And Politics is bringing a world class conference on Food Justice to Eugene.  Scheduled for February 19-21, 2011, this conference will explore the history and future of our food system with a focus on the themes of community, equity, and sustainability.  The speakers list includes the well known and highly sought after Vandana Shiva.

Slow Food Eugene needs your help so that we participate effectively.  Send us an email letting us know your thoughts on how we can participate and to offer your help.

To give you a little more background, the goals of this conference are to:

• Share research from across disciplines
• Build opportunities for collaboration among scholars, policymakers, practitioners and activists
• Connect Eugene's food and agriculture community to national and international groups
• Investigate the relationship between regional food movements and social media
• Consider the roles of women, indigenous groups and youth in farming and food culture

Food Justice is free and open to the public, as space allows.

Check out the conference web site for more information.