2020 Wrap Up: COVID Relief; Food Pantry, Restaurant and Grower Donations

Every year we like to look back to see what we accomplished to fulfil our mission of working towards good, clean and fair food for all. This year started out like any other. We spent the first three months planning our 11th Movable Feast. The auction and walkaround tasting of local food and beverages is entirely donated by restaurants, producers and local merchants. The proceeds fund grants to establish and maintain school gardens and provide stipends for young “master farmers.”

As we all know, plans had to change and quickly. Many people who bought tickets gave as donations. The auction switched to entirely online and, you know, things turned out pretty good!

What we were able to do with that money was provide a quick response to the local food community hit hard by the virus. We donated $ 15,000 to food pantries, gave $9,000 in grants to oyster farmers, winemakers, farmers and producers. And $5,000 to our Snail of Approval restaurants and farm stands. With the help of many, we provided Community Action Southold Town with 400 chickens.

In the meantime, we moved online and started Slow Food East End LIVE, Zoom events where local chefs and a distiller gave demonstrations and recipes. 

In 2021 we’re looking forward to round two when we can resume and expand our Chefs to Schools program, run by board member Jay Lippen (thanks Jay!) with the generosity of local chefs who taught cooking classes to students at Oysterponds. And, of course our most successful program, the school gardens. The stories of students getting excited about vegetables are so satisfying. 

And we’re looking forward to seeing more of our supporters, members and sponsor. Here’s to a slow 2021.