Chair Welcome Message

Wow – what a year 2008 has been for Slow Food the County and July has just begun! Kicking off the year with our AGM at Harvest set a spectacular tone that continues to ring through our convivial.
 
Having Petra hand the leadership of the convivium over to me was an honour. “Mother Seed” set such a solid foundation in place to build upon. Our Core Committee of  Cynthia Peters (secretary/treasurer extraordinaire), Diane Rheaume (events coordinator), Suzanne Biro (education lead), Karin & Michael Potters, Tim Noxon & Vicki Emlaw, Sherry Martin(our Advertising and Design Guru), Dino Iannuzzi (“the” Web Man), Richard Karlo, Jamie Kennedy, Lorren Leville, Prof. Nina-Marie Lister and Petra Cooper, have been so amazing – this is a team I am proud to be a part of.
 
We’ve been listening to our convivium members and together, we set a program of activities for the year that address the "Good, Clean and Fair" issues in our community and beyond. We have balance in our programming that ensures it is accessible to all and engages our community.
 
Our spring potluck in Bloomfield brought out over 80 of you with an array of culinary delights, ready to learn more about our plans and sign up to volunteer. We aim to include an educational component in all we do and the highlight of the potluck was having Beth Vader there to teach us more about the first harvest of the year – Maple syrup.
 
The Hillier Fish Fry was a wonderful team effort lead by Jamie. It was a great opportunity to partner with another community group, the Hiller Recreation Committee, to showcase our local foods and increase the communities’ exposure to the Slow Food movement. Over a dozen of our convivium members volunteered at the event – many thanks to all of you for your contribution!
 
The premier private screening of Norman Lofts documentary “Michael Schmidt Organic Hero or Bioterrorist” at The Old Third Vineyard was a magical event. Over 100 attended the free event and brought wine and cheeses from all over the world. The movie and its message were very powerful and opened up dialogue that I am certain carries on today. Having Michael Schmidt there to speak to the issues engaged us further – many thanks to him for making the trip to join us. I can’t thank Norman, Lisa, Jens and Bruno enough for making that event come to life!
 
So here we are – mid-July and the best is yet to come.

Next on the slate are Countypalooza and The Great County Cook-off at Karlo Estates on July 26th. Richard and Sherry are certain to host a great day celebrating local foods – be sure to join us!
 
On August 17th Vicki and Tim will share their farm – Vicki’s Veggies – and their farming knowledge at the Heirloom Tomato Everything event. Spend the day in the fields with your family!
 
September brings two more farm experiences – a day with Dino at Capricorn View Goat Farm and a day at Fifth Town Artisan Cheese where you can be a cheese maker for the day! We hope to be able to deliver more of our school bread and butter education programs this fall – volunteers will be required so let us know if you’re willing and able.
 
Come out October 4th to participate in the harvest at Sandbanks Estate Winery – your labour and learning will be rewarded with a fabulous local BBQ and of course wine! There couldn’t be a better way to spend a day PLUS we can hang with Catherine, Rene and the newest member of our convivium – Gabrielle (congrats Rene and Cat!).
 
We’ll finish off the year with our 3rd annual Good, Clean & Fair Fundraising dinner where we will be celebrating the swine. Karin and Michael Potters will host an amazing feast featuring local pork. Education and dialogue will address a critical issue in our local food systems – abattoirs. We’re looking for auction items and of course – we encourage you to get your ticket fast – we’ve only seating for 50! Tickets for all of the events are available at Countypalooza, Pinch Gourmet in Picton – or contact Cynthia to reserve.
 
Well folks, you can see we’ve come a long way, but the road ahead still needs to be traveled. The opportunity to engage our community – both locally, regionally, provincially and beyond is more present than ever. We must continue to put good food first in our lives, support Ontario agriculture, dine together with our families and our friends and advocate for what is fair. I encourage all of you to get involved – sign our online food declaration and be a local hero – buy locally grown!
 
Cheers, Salute, Sante!
Rebecca

Rebecca LeHeup-Bucknell
Slow Food the County
Convivium Leader

Slow Food International recently announced two new membership categories and some new options. The Sustainer membership incorporates an additional fee to be allocated to the biodiversity and educational international projects. The new Project membership is for developing countries allowing them to join at a discounted rate. For our membership, there are two new options. The GREEN option allows you to receive International materials electronically, saving dollars for the overall movement and safeguarding the environment.

As well, Individual memberships can also be purchased as a three-year option for $250 ($20 savings).  For a complete list of all membership categories and benefits, and for joining/renewing, please visit our web site at www.slowfoodthecounty.ca  And remember, if your membership has lapsed, please renew today to ensure your benefits continue.

Earlier this year we sent out a request to our Convivium membership asking for nominations to be a participant at the upcoming Terra Madre in October. Two members contacted us in May and their applications were submitted to Slow Food International along with a letter of endorsement from our Convivium. We are pleased to announce that both applicants, Suzanne Biro, Education Lead and Rebecca Bucknell , Convivium Chair were accepted as participants by Slow Food International. Both individuals will contribute by sharing their knowledge on our Slow Food activities. As well, they will bring back valuable information to assist us in further developing our Convivium. Since the focus this year at Terra Madre is Youth, we are extremely pleased  to support Suzanne and her work in developing and implementing our youth initiatives. Her  “Bread Making Program Curriculum” she wrote this year will be published and distributed as a “best practices” model at the conference. Congratulations Suzanne! As well, our Chair, Rebecca will be actively promoting our Convivium on an international level as well as bringing knowledge back on "best practices " from around the world.

A few of our other Convivium members and two local chefs will also joining Rebecca and Suzanne. These members submitted their applications independently and were accepted by Slow Food International to join Terra Madre.

For those Convivium members interested in going to Terra Madre as an ‘Observer’, please go to www.terramadre2008.com, click on English, then click on the Meeting tab. You will find a link there to fill out a request form to be an observer. There is no fee involved, but space is limited. So if you are interested, please respond quickly. SF international will inform you directly as to your acceptance or not. You will be responsible for your own travel, meals and accommodations.

Questions? Email info@slowfoodthecounty.ca

It has been really quite amazing to see how things have come together for our second annual Countypalooza at Karlo Estates. We wanted to do a communal event to continue with the cause of reminding us all to eat local, indigenous foods that celebrate our terroir and community. It was with great delight that we’ve witnessed community and convivium members alike stepping up, rolling up their sleeves, coming up with brilliant ideas and embracing whole heartedly of notion of Countypalooza, this year featuring the first annual Great County Cook-off.

We’ve had old and new friends, neighbours, artists, musicians, vintners, growers, artisans and alike get in touch with us and climb on board our mission to promote sharing the County with the ideals of Good, Clean and Fair in mind. Perhaps this is because the County is the perfect fit for slow food, and as a food community, we all recognize that together we are better.

This is our second year hosting Countypalooza. For those of you who saw us through our first year, and are joining us once more, we thank you.

Featured during this year’s event will be our cooking competition, The Great County Cook-Off. Source ingredients from the County to compete for seven “People’s Choice Awards” in “Beef”, “Pork”, “Chicken”, “Other”, “Veggie”, “Salads” & ”Desserts”. BYOBBQ or register to use one of three BBQ’s available.

There will be prizes in each category. Grand Prize for the Great County Cook-off is a signed Peta Hall original "Red Snail" serving platter and bragging rights of course. Also goes the honour of wearing the Slow Food cape for the rest of the evening.

What’s Happening at Countypalooza

• The Great County Cook-off TM
• Live Music
• Art in the Barn
• Fireworks
• Bonfires

Local musicians will be providing the live music during the event. Enjoy live music from County jazz greats, Straight Flush, singer and fellow convivium member, Chris Braney and rumors of County rock band, Instant Rivalry making an appearance.

Also featured will be our “Art in the Barn” gallery of local artists displaying their talents focusing on Food and County themes. Painters, potters, photographers and sculptors will all display work. Additional artists, musicians and performers are welcome to share in the show.

Wander local County business table displays including Honey Pie Hives 'n Herbals, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company, Buddha Dog and Funktional Art (If you would like to participate, please let us know at info@KarloEstates.com). Many local businesses have also generously donated items for our foodie’s raffle, so be ready to buy tickets.

At the Slow Food booth you'll even be able buy tickets for Slow Food’s farm experience events and the many other exciting events lined up for this year. Also, you can sign up as a member and purchase your own Slow Food wine glass to mark the occasion.

Master of Ceremonies, Sherry Martin welcomes the County’s Slow Food Convivium Lead, Rebecca LeHeup-Bucknell as Keynote speaker on Slow Food happenings abroad. Come share in the talents of our friends and neighbors who all possess a passion for great food, drink, music and art from the County.

To officially open our County slow meal, the children will learn about, taste, cook with and plant edible flowers, lead by convivium member Joni Gillingham. (We’ll also have face painting for the children as well as a soccer field for play.)

See North America’s largest Dry Stone Bridge and enjoy our celebration. At dusk, festivities will continue with Fireworks and Bonfires, so bring your guitar and don’t forget your lawn chair.

More on The Great County Cook-Off

The concept is for everyone to make their favourite slow food potluck dish enough for 10 to 12 full portions but presented in smaller portions for more people to enjoy. We ask everyone to use local County ingredients as much as possible and identify their source to help promote the ideals of Slow Food as well as our local growers.

Each dish will be registered on arrival and assigned a number and the category (ie) Beef #7. Ballots will be provided for everyone to vote for their favorites. After tasting we will tally up the votes and declare the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in each category.

Calling all Artisans

Artisans are invited to show and sell their wears during Countypalooza. If you make your own specialty food or craft products, bring them along with a table for display.

We invite County musicians to play at the event, either formally earlier, as we will have a stage set up, or informally later, around the campfires.

County artists are also invited to hang their work on the subject of Slow Food and County life.

We also invite local businesses that fit with the ideals of slow to come set up display tents and sell their wears.

This is a volunteer, community event to promote local food producers. A portion of proceeds from Countypalooza go towards children’s Slow Food education in Prince Edward County.

Registration

Please contact us in advance by email or phone to be added to the guest list and to register your special dish. Please also register for a display table or to hang your art in our barn gallery.

Register today by email to info@KarloEstates.com or call 416-908-2100

Admission

A Slow Food Pot Luck Dish or donate $10
Children 12 and under ~ complimentary admittance
Please RSVP to the private guest list by telephone or email by Thursday, July 24th.

Karlo Estates would like to thank Netwerx Communications for web development, Fresh Thinking for Advertising Design and Horst Herget along with Kathleen Sabyan for Photography.