WE ARE

· A student driven Slow Food chapter at Sonoma State University
· Working to promote quality, locally produced food on our campus and in our community.

We are guided and sponsored by the Russian River Convivium.

WHY WE CARE

· Food production is a large contributor to environmental degradation throughout the world. In fact, 25% of all GHG's emissions are the result of industrialized agriculture.
· Farm workers are the most exploited labor force in the American economy.
· Our food production system is extremely fragile and is showing signs that it may collapse.
· Food is a culture-creator. It brings people together.
· Food not only nourishes: it gives us pleasure.

Click here to learn about the Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security
Click here to learn about the Slow Food Ark of Taste

GET INVOLVED!

· If any of these events interest you and you would like to participate, or if you have information or news that would be appropriate for posting LET US KNOW - email: slowfoodssu@gmail.com

INTRO TO PERMACULTURE WORKSHOP

Sunday, May 17, 2009, 10am-4pm

Meadow View Elementary School

2665 Dutton Meadow, Santa Rosa

$30-60 sliding scale. Please bring your own lunch.

 

Experienced instructor Kyle Collins will cover:

  • Permaculture Design Process
  • Companion Planting
  • Perennial Polyculture
  • Sheet mulching/Soil Building Strategies
  • Building an herb spiral

RSVP Now! 707-571-8868, jenna@conservationaction.org

FOOD INC MOVIE

Watch the trailer for Food Inc. Coming to theaters June 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqQVll-MP3I

Directed by Robert Kenner, Produced by Eric Schlosser

With insights from Michael Pollan & others















The Food Forum featuring author Wendy Johnson was a great success! Thanks to all for attending and to those extra special folks who helped to set up and clean up afterwards. Also, thank-you to Frederique for the soil demonstration and the fascinating close up view through the microscope. Wow, amazing.

HOW TO GROW SPROUTS!


SUPER EASY!

Click here to check out a YouTube video on how to grow sprouts in your kitchen.

new lambs

At the movie night I was called back home to help with the successful delivery of our new lambs. As promised here are a few pics. Ferdinand and Fin were born on March 3 at 7:20PM. The barn pics are from the night they were born and the pics of the gang out in the pasture were taken a week later.
- Carleen (www.weirauchfarms.com)


Salad Garden Project Photo Update




clearing all the weeds from the area, preparing beds, planting seeds and starts

CALIFORNIA STUDENT SUSTAINABILITY COALITION

The California Student Sustainability Coalition unites students, campuses, and campaigns from across California to transform our educational systems into models of sustainability. It is their mission to unite and empower the California community of higher education to collaboratively and nonviolently transform ourselves and our institutions based on our inherent social, economic, and ecological responsibilities.
  • General Inquiries, Questions, and Comments: info@sustainabilitycoalition.org
  • To Submit News, Calls to Action, or Job Opportunities: news@sustainabilitycoalition.org
  • To Submit Events to the Calendar: events@sustainabilitycoalition.org

EAT THE VIEW

Eat the View is a campaign to urge the Obamas to plant a large organic Victory Garden on the First Lawn with the produce going to the White House kitchen and to local food pantries. Eat the View is coordinated by Kitchen Gardeners International, a Maine-based 501c3 nonprofit network of 10,000 gardeners from 100 countries who are inspiring and teaching more people to grow some of their own food.

Eleanor Roosevelt during WWII had a food garden at the White House. During WWII 40% of our produce came from Victory Gardens. It is time to create more support for local gardens and what better example to have one at the White House.

Learn more and sign the petition at http://www.eattheview.org

JOIN THE CLUB STEERING COMMITTEE

This semester we vote in a new leadership team! President, Vice President, Secretary, Communications & Programing Director are all positions that will need to be filled by the end of the spring semester. Start thinking about yourself in a leadership role. Its fun and is a great networking tool for off campus opportunities like internships and employment. Remember: Slow Food is an international organization with a wide variety of roles for scientists, educators, planners, farmers, chefs...etc. Lets keep this club going. Our club "meetings" will take place at the end of the three FOOD FORUMS on our calendar. At these meetings decisions are made about projects both on and off campus and it is also when voting takes place. See calendar to the left for FOOD FORUM dates, times and locations.

GARDENING OPPORTUNITIES

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY
This semester we have THREE (!) gardening opportunities:




  1. Slow Food SSU Community Salad Bowl Garden Project workday this Sunday, May 8th from 12-2 assuming the weather is clear. Our bed is located just west of the ETC building. Come check it out and follow our progress. Also a few of us are meeting casually in between classes on Wednesdays from about 12-2PM for mini garden tasks. Feel free to drop on by.
  2. ETC Garden Friday workdays with Frederique Lavoipierre, Department of Biology Masters Candidate. Time: 10-2, on Feb 20, March 20, April 24 and May 8
  3. The church on the corner of E. Cotati and Snyder is interested in starting a community garden! This is an opportunity to really grow a lot of vegetables for you, your friends and family. If you, or anyone you know is interested in getting in on this community project please direct them to Frederique. Here is her contact info: Frederique Lavoipierre Masters Candidate, Department of Biology lab tel: 707-664-2977 (no voice mail) 707-829-0751 (home)

SLOW FOOD COMMUNITY GARDEN PILOT PROJECT - SPRING SEMESTER

We are starting a semester pilot project utilizing one of the beds in the ETC Garden. Would you enjoy getting your hands dirty periodically throughout the semester? We need some volunteers. NO EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY. This will not require any long term commitment, just communication about when you can join us as the project progresses.


TO DO LIST
  • Create garden info signs and handouts
  • Paint donated garden bench to reflect the vision of the garden
  • Seek out donations: seeds, plant starts, and drip line irrigation suitable for our project
  • Plant seeds in seed trays for starts
  • Prepare soil as necessary
  • Plan out garden bed layout
The Slow Food SSU Community Salad Bowl Project - Celebrating Our Right to Fresh, Local, Organic Produce
  1. This is not a class but a student driven collaborative, educational project, facilitated by Slow Food SSU. Slow Food SSU members and supporters from the campus community will be the "farmers" of this project on a volunteer basis.
  2. What will be planted and tended to will be shared with the SSU Community at an end of the semester special event. This special event will reflect what we believe is our right to grow, eat and share food that is good, clean and fair. GOOD = tastes good because it is fresh; not shipped from hundreds or thousands of miles away. CLEAN = free of chemicals or the influence of GMO's. FAIR = produced, harvested and distributed in a socially just manner
  3. We will focus on growing edibles for a raw salad: assorted greens, herbs, onions, carrots etc. These are seasonally appropriate for cultivating now and should be harvestable at the end of the semester in May.
  4. We will respectfully adhere to the guidelines of the ETC Garden, acknowledging that we are very fortunate to have this opportunity to share the garden with the horticultural classes and research projects happening there already.
  5. We will use this pilot project as a stepping stone to cultivating a larger Slow Food SSU garden in the future.

SSU Faculty Makes a Film at Sebastopol Farmers Market Showing 12/4 at noon

Please join us at the final Arts & Humanities Forum of the fall 2008 semester.

Film: SomeThingsAboutFood
When: Thursday December 4th
Time: 12 noon
Where: SSU, Shulz 3001

Michael Litle (COMS) will present a film entitled, SomeThingsAboutFood: a film set in a farm
market.” Michael describes the film as follows: During a busy farmer's market in Sebastopol, Wadner Pierre, a foreign exchange student at SSU, attempts to sell his photographs of Haiti.

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SSU Rated #1 in California for Sustainability!

Sonoma State University has been named by The Princeton Review as one of the Top Schools for Sustainability in its annual Review of Best Colleges. SSU scored 98 out of a possible 99 points in the Review's new Green Rating, which gave it a rating of #12 in the nation, and #1 overall in California. The short news report on NPR also gave special mention to "a new program allowing students to participate in sustainability research, the Environmental Studies Department, and the appointment of a Sustainability Coordinator." This is fantastic recognition for the university, and we hope we can use the momentum for creating additional awareness. Here is the SSU press release, which includes a link to the Princeton Review page and info on their new Green Rating:

Pacific Coast Farmers Market Organization

These are not "certified organic" farmers markets but just "certified" (hmm...) - nonetheless a list of more northern CA markets managed by this non-profit.
Here is their market list
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the wisdom of the snail —Slow Food’s symbol

the wisdom of the snail —Slow Food’s symbol
The snail was chosen because it moves slowly and calmly eats its way through life. The snail not only teaches us the virtue of slowness, but its small, unassuming size reminds us that even one individual, at a grassroots level can yield tremendous power.