


I thought
that our entire Slow Food membership might be interested in seeing this excellent
article by Karen Connington in the Aspen Business Journal a few days ago.
Many people have long felt that taking the foodie summits to another level
of organization and involvement was a critical step in building a sustainable
food community here in the Roaring Fork Valley. And I'm pleased to say that
the reception to this idea was extremely positive, as you'll read.
If any of you have questions or are interested in learning more about plans
for the food policy council, or would like to serve on its board of directors
or committees, which are now being formed, don't hesitate to contact me or
Dawne Vrabel or Gwen Garcelon (their email addresses are below).
In other chapter news, I am delighted to report that the community bread oven,
co-sponsored by Slow Food Roaring Fork, is now up and producing great bread
and pizza at the Third Street Center in Carbondale. For more information,
contact Linda Criswell at branch.lrc@sopris.net or go to carbondalecommunityoven.weebly.com.
It is our hope to fire up the oven once a week this winter, based on demand
and, oh yes, the weather.
At a short meeting/pizza party a few weeks ago, the board also decided to
increase our support for Aspen T.R.E.E.'s all-local food, free pre-Thanksgiving
community dinner (go to re-generation.us for details), as well as to our WIC
double-value coupon project, which was extremely successful at the Glenwood
and Carbondale farmer's markets this past summer.
We hope to announce a couple of informal gatherings and food events this winter,
so stay tuned, and above all, thank you for your tremendous support.
With best wishes for a bountiful holiday season, Tom
Tom Passavant
Slow Food Roaring Fork
970/963-0205
passavant@aol.com
Foodies
plan politics at Rock Bottom
Ranch November 4, 2011, 12:14 pm
By Karen Connington
Sharing the Feast at the Foodie Summit. Photo by Lisa Houston
Sharing the Feast at the Foodie Summit. Photo by Lisa Houston More images
Farm to Table. Slow Food. Community Supported Agriculture. However you call
it, one thing is certain: the locavore food movement is thriving in ColoradoŐs
Western Slope. As consumer demand for sustainable cuisine increases, regional
farmers, distributors and retailers face both new obstacles and new opportunities.
In this fifth of a six-part series, Aspen Business Journal's Karen Connington
explores new waves of collaboration among community leaders and organizations.
As they banded together for the fourth annual Foodie Summit this week at Rock
Bottom Ranch, they set their sites on launching a new food policy council
in the Roaring Fork Valley. Part 1 Sustainable Settings, Sustainable Earth.
Part 2 Paonia goes Fresh and Wyld. Part 3 Two big voices in a small food economy.
Part 4 Sharing the bounty at Carbondale Community Co-op
When Slow Foods Roaring Fork president Tom Passavant convened the first Foodie
Summit four years ago, he remembers labeling the conference with tongue in
cheek. At that point, he couldn't possibly have forecasted the speed of a
new idiom moving so rapidly into the mainstream.
While New York Times bloggers debate a culture clash between "foodies"
and geeks, Atlantic Monthly declared a "moral
crusade against foodies"
in an article last March. Apparently, the term is official. After all, who
knew what a techie was ten years ago?
So it's not surprising that this week's Summit at Rock Bottom Ranch convened
before a savvy audience, fully conscious of who they are and where they're
going. Fortified by the luscious offerings of a pot-luck feast, more than
fifty locavores gathered to lay the keystones of a food council in the Roaring
Fork Valley.
Passavant planned this year's event with Gwen Garcelon, community organizer
and president of HighLife Unlimited, and Dawne Vrabel, an agriculture and
nutrition activist who recently moved to the valley from the east coast.
Based on past summits, and a mobbed meeting of foodies gathered by Garcelon
in Carbondale last spring, the trio took heed of the local pitch and set out
to strike the right cord.
"Tom
wanted to bring the summits to the next level,"
noted Garcelon. "When we met, we saw that creating a food policy council was
one way to knit this all together - as a container both for our own efforts
and for the greater good of the community."
The first Food Policy Council emerged in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1982. Since
then, more than 100 councils have organized throughout the U.S., many in conjunction
with state and local governments. They all, in one fashion or another, work
to link regional agriculture with local market economies. Some address food
safety concerns; others, particularly in urban areas, tackle health and poverty
issues as impacted by diet and nutrition.
The local committee is already collaborating with forums in Colorado and New
Mexico, but is, at the same time, focused on sustaining an indigenous process.
"We're calling for a hub that becomes our own Penn
Station, where anyone within the system can keep track of what JeromeŐs doing
up at CRMPI, what foods are in season at Sustainable Settings, and how the
Carbondale Coo-op is sourcing local crops," Vrabel explained.
Community leaders, growers and distributors shared food for thought during
Sunday's Summit, drafting initial strategies and spotting common goals. But
the blue ribbon that day was achieved by way of the dialogue itself, rather
than any tactical measure.
"There
are so many cutting-edge efforts and organizations here that have been doing
pieces of this work for so long, but often with a lack of - and even resistance
to - collaboration,"
Garcelon said. "ItŐs
time that issue really surfaces, so we can take it on."
Passavant agreed. "Some
people are, in fact, still pretty territorial around these issues, but pulling
all the threads together is by far the most effective way to bring everyone
in. It's also the most effective way to get the attention of the governmental
agencies, who have a pretty large say in what goes on in our valley. We want
a buy-in not just from Slow Foods, but from farmers and ranchers and land
owners who would like to support local agriculture. Everyone across the board
has got to be a part of this,"
he said.
Slow Foods Roaring Fork has maintained a constant though subtle presence here,
gradually re-kindling now as the community fuels its ongoing projects and
events.
Primary funding for the non-profit's sponsorship of school gardens, Third
Street Center's Community Oven, and Garfield County's WIC program, comes through
the Summer Harvest Social, an annual fund-raiser for Slow Foods at Mark Fischer's
Six89 restaurant.
In response to Sunday's summit, Slow Food's board just approved a $5,000 contribution
toward funding a part-time director;s position for the food council. Organizers
will use the donation to kick-start phase one efforts - including mapping
the regional food shed, creating an online presence, and working with county
officials to re-draft zoning regulations for greenhouses and community gardens.
More money will be needed almost instantly. Grant applications, to both private
and public sources - such as the Small Business Association - are next on
the agenda.
But first, Passavant, Vrabel and Garcelon will practice what they preach,
by meeting with Laurie Loeb and other Carbondale Co-op board members to flush
out mutual interests. The Five Rivers Network, the Co-op's new non-profit,
fund-raising entity, posts an agenda that overlaps the council's in a number
of ways. If they can agree to streamline strategies and share a few buckets
they might collect more rain.
In the meantime, everyone agrees that the Foodie Summits proceed, preferably
with more frequency than one annual affair. Echoing the calling of Walter
Paepcke during 1940's Aspen to birth the Goethe festival - which set the precedent
for design summits, sports summits, medical and science summits - local foodies
resonate with the frequency of our cultural heritage.
"They're
just too valuable as a networking tool - not to mention a lot of fun,"
added Passavant.
Passavant's point makes sense as foodies were initially inspired by manna,
vino, veggies - the tangible fruits of the earth. As noted by journalist Mark
Bittman in this week's New York Times, the local foods movement is "no
elitist plot."
Indeed, food nourishes the body and the body politic. Let's put our tables
together and raise our glasses to the next round.
For more information: contact: slowfoodroaringfork.com;

Cottage Food
Law update: text of the proposed legislation being introduced by State
Senator Gail Schwartz"
Link
to PDF
"Comments? Questions? Please contact Tom Passavant passavant@aol.com