| Slow Food Urban San Diego Newsletter |
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| Supporting Good, Clean & Fair Food in the City of San Diego |
August 2009 |
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August Metro Mixer: Farm-to-Bar at LOUNGEsix
 Our August mixer, at LOUNGEsix at Hotel Solamar on Wednesday August 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will celebrate the farm-to-table cuisine of Chef Christian Graves of Jsix Restaurant and the launch of local food writer Maria Hunt's new cocktail book, The Bubbly Bar. Please join us on the rooftop bar for complimentary samples of seasonal cocktails featuring Domaine Chandon sparkling wine and appetizers by Jsix.
A $20 Bubbly Bar special includes a signed copy of The Bubbly Bar, 3 full-sized Bubbly Bar cocktails and a donation to Slow Food Urban San Diego. Other drink specials will be available for purchase at the LOUNGEsix bar.
After 7 p.m., enjoy a special 3-course Bubbles & Nibbles menu createdby Chef Graves for $26.
We hope that everyone can join us for this delicious event! Please make sure to click on this link to RSVP for the Metro Mixer. |
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Craft Beer With Cooks Confab
Our first craft beer class sold out quickly, but please stay tuned for more beer education opportunities from Slow Food Urban San Diego.
If you want to experience local craft beer paired with dishes  from some of San Diego's best chefs, consider joining us at Cooks Confab's Craft Beer: Grain to Glass, a farm-to-table dinner that showcases master brewers and chefs alongside their creations. The event will be held this Sunday, August 9, 2009 from 6 to 9 p.m on the rooftop of Stingaree Restaurant. Visit www.cooksconfab.com/Menus.html for the full list of beers and dishes that will be served. The cost for the dinner is $90 per person, inclusive of all food, beer and other beverages, tax and gratuity. A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to Slow Food Urban San Diego. Call (619) 544-9500 for reservations. | |
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Thank you to
for hosting our
July Mixer
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Two San Diego Food Writers Debut Books
This summer, San Diego has not one but two talented food writers debuting full-length books. Jill Richardson's Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to  Fix it hit stands in July. The book explains how industrial agriculture is linked to so many of America's problems, including pollution, poor food safety, and an increasingly unhealthy population. It looks at how the current food system came about and proposes a switch to a sustainable model of growing and producing our food. Finally, it outlines the plans and policies that can help this change come about. For anyone interested in sustainable food, Recipe for America is both approachable and engaging. Richardson, who is a veteran food blogger at www.lavidalocavore.com, does an excellent job of explaining the often complex issues surrounding sustainable food. You can buy a copy here: http://www.amazon.com/Recipe-America-Food-System-Broken/dp/0981504035 Maria Hunt's The Bubbly Bar hits shelves August 25. The book, which is published by Clarkson Potter, offers more than fifty-seven recipes that the home bartenders can make to impress friends-from classics like a Kir Royale (Champagne and Cassis) or a Bellini (Prosecco and peach  puree) to more contemporary pairings like the Ginger Snap (sparkling sake and ginger root)or a Pomegranate Passion Float (sparkling wine, pomegranate liqueur, passion fruit sorbet) . Categorized by Classics, Bubbletinis, Fruitful Fizz, Rose-Colored, Latin Libations, Muddled, Floral-Flavored, and Happy Endings (dessert) cocktails, it emphasizes intense flavor combinations, fresh ingredients and minimal effort. It also has an extensive section on how to choose the best international bubbly - be it Champagne, sparkling shiraz , or Prosecco. Pre-order a copy here: http://www.amazon.com/Bubbly-Bar-Champagne-Sparkling-Cocktails/dp/0307406474 |
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Time For Lunch Campaign:Join Us for Picnic Potluck on
Monday, September 7
 It's Time to Change School Lunch! Slow Food URBAN San Diego believes that good, clean, and fair food isa right, not a privilege, and we are excited to share news about our participation in Slow Food USA's Time For Lunch campaign. Every school day in the United States, the National School Lunch Program provides meals to more than 30 million children. This fall, the Child Nutrition Act, the federal legislation that governs the lunch program, is up for reauthorization by Congress. By raising awareness among legislators about the important and far-reaching effects of school lunches and encouraging them to make children's
health a priority, we can take the first step toward a future in which no child is denied his or her right to be healthy and enjoy good food. The need for real school food has never been more pressing. Today, one in four children is overweight or obese, and one in three will develop diabetes in his or her lifetime. For many children, a school lunch is their only guaranteed meal of the day, and the current lunch program offers children the choice between going hungry or eating unhealthy food.
We Can Do Better! The Time For Lunch Platform
Slow Food URBAN San Diego joins with Slow Food USA to call upon Congress and the Obama administration to:
+ Invest in children's health by giving schools just $1.00 more per day for each child's lunch.
+ Protect children against food that puts them at risk by establishing strong standards for all food sold in schools, including food from vending machines and fast food available on school premises.
+ Teach children healthy habits that will last them a lifetime. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn healthy eating habits at school. We ask Congress to fund grants for innovative farm-to-school and school garden programs.
+ Give schools the incentive to buy local by establishing subsidies to encourage schools to buy food from local farms for all child nutrition programs.
+ Create green jobs with a School Lunch Corps that would train those who are underemployed to be the teachers, farmers, cooks, and administrators our school cafeterias need.
We are asking members and friends to spread the word while there is time to influence the 2009 Child Nutrition Act. Along with more than 200 other Slow Food chapters around the country, Slow Food URBAN San Diego is encouraging you to:
2. Tell your legislators to give schools the resources to serve real food for lunch. Whether it's by letter, phone, fax, or email, let your representatives know that you want school lunches to be a priority, not an afterthought.
3. Participate in the San Diego-area Eat-In this Labor Day, September 7, 2009. Labor Day will be a National Day of Action at which Slow Food members and friends will gather with those in their communities to demonstrate our commitment to this issue. Eat-Ins are being organized in several communities and details for locations are being finalized. Save the date - join us for a picnic potluck at Balboa Park's World Beat Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. More details will follow. |
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Farmer Profile: Phil Noble, Renaissance Farmer
by Carolyn Kates When you meet Phil Noble, owner and operator of Sage Mountain Farm, you will have met a true renaissance man. Phil has grown a five-acre organic garden into a 20-acre Certified Organic Farm that feeds over 5,000 people a week, while working a "real" full-time job and giving back to his community.  Struck by country fever, Phil and his wife moved from the city to Aguanga, CA, 20 miles east of Temecula. Living in the country allowed his son to practice his motorcross racing and allowed him to plant an organic garden. On a lark, Phil took the extra produce from that garden to a local farmers' market and he sold out! Phil's full-time job as a field supervisor for an insurance company allowed him to gradually buy more land and expand his garden into a 20 acre certified organic farm that provides local Farmer's markets, restaurants, healthy food businesses, such as Whole Foods Market and the Glen Ivey Resort with incredibly delicious produce. Phil attributes his super-clean water supply, which is pumped up from 1,050 ft from below the ground to creating remarkably beautiful and tasty heirloom tomatoes, Sage Candy onions, Chioggia beets and many other high quality fruits and veggies. Sage Mountain Farms also offers a Community Supported (CSA) program. Currently that CSA feeds 200 residents of the Inland Empire Valley. In addition to his CSA, Phil donates his produce to local charities and to the Palm Springs Stroke and Recovery Center. Sage Mountain Farm has allowed Phil to move closer to meeting his goal of feeding his community. With any luck, it will also allow him to meet his other goal of retiring and making the farm his only full time job! To find out more about Phil or Sage Mountain Farm, please visit www.sagemountainfarm.com. |
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Kid's Corner:Watermelon by Rowan Davidson
What's the first fruit you think of when you think about the hot summer days? Well, I think of watermelon, not just any watermelon but the juicy watermelon that Sage Mountain Farm carries at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market on Sunday from 8:30 to 2:15. There are so many things that you can do with watermelon. You can eat it plain or you can put it into a salad. Here's a recipe for a Watermelon Salad with Mint Leaves. I hope that you enjoy this salad! Ingredients: 1 (5-pound) watermelon  1 Candy Sweet onions 1/4 cup red wine vinegar Salt and pepper 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled 6 whole mint sprigs Directions: Cut the flesh from the melon and cut into bite size pieces, removing and discarding the seeds, and set aside. Peel and slice the onion into rings. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, salt, pepper, and whisk until salt is dissolved. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, a few drops at a time. Add in the chopped mint, taste, and adjust seasonings. In a large bowl, combine the melon, onion, and feta. Pour the dressing over the melon mixture and toss gently until everything is coated and evenly mixed. Garnish with mint sprigs. To serve, divide salad among individual plates and garnish with mint leaves. (Recipe adapted from Paula Deen and the Food Network) |
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Our Mission Slow Food Urban San Diego seeks to create dramatic and lasting change in our local food system. Our mission is to reconnect Urban San Diegans with each other, rediscover food traditions and cultural heritage and educate our community about the plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. In addition, we support the mission, tenets, programs and values of Slow Food USA. We seek to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat.
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Sincerely,
Andy Vasquez, Anita Boen,Candice Woo, Dominick Fiume, Donna McLoughlin,
Kate McDevitt, Ronie Clark, Scott Wagner, Steph Johnston
Provisional Board of Directors
Slow Food Urban San Diego | |
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