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June 20: Slow Hour at Golden Acres Organic Farm

May 30, 2024 | Blog, Past Events, Slow Hour

Join us for a Slow Hour!

When: June 20th, 4 – 7 pm

Where: Golden Acres Organic Farm, 652 Peconic Bay Blvd., S. Jamesport

Bring the whole family, the strawberry fields are ripe and ready for picking! You’ll see the benefits of fruits harvested from pesticide-free healthy organic soils.

Your (adult) ticket includes:

  • Pick-your-own quart of organic heritage strawberries
  • Nibbles of “berry delicious” snacks provided by Main Road Biscuit Co
  • Taste of local wines from Long Island Wine Country Vineyards (over 21 only) in a collectable SFEE wine glass
  • Discount at the farm stand
  • A complimentary SFEE canvas tote bag to carry home all your farm goodies
  • Lawn games and lots of family fun

Reserve your tickets now!

Discounted kids and SFEE member pricing available.

RSVP HERE

Golden Acres continues to farm the land previously known as Golden Earthworm Organic Farm, in 1994 it was the very first USDA-Certified Organic vegetable farm on the North Fork. The new owners Kelly and Sean Brennan renamed the farm. Still, they continue to manage their soils organically with the same farm team and follow the same organic practices Golden Earthworm began 30 years ago, honoring the mission to grow food to feed our community while nourishing the soil for future generations.

Meet the new passionate farm team, enjoy picking heritage strawberries at the only organic you-pick farm on Long Island, taste delicious berry treats, and learn how to make them at home too.

This sweet, picturesque farm is at the end of a winding tree-lined road,  you’ll find us at the old dairy barn ready to celebrate summer with you!

Visit Golden Acres Organic Farm website HERE

Bonus treat – Wild Plum Poetry poet Kate Seward will be on site that evening offering personalized poems written in real time on a vintage typewriter for purchase.

RSVP HERE

Happy International Day for BioDiversity: Here’s how to help our East End farms today!

May 28, 2024 | Blog, In The News

Happy International Day for Biological Diversity! This global awareness day brings people’s focus back to the importance of growing the magical presence of biodiversity in our backyards, local farms, and communities. Just in our local East End “backyard” are approximately 600 farms, spanning 31,000 acres. Today we hope to bring attention to helping to protect that land, the farmers who grow on it, and the good clean, and fair food that is grown there.

Slow Food as an international organization passionately advocates for biodiversity around the world; it’s one of the only paths forward to curb the climate crisis, revive our ailing global foodways, and maintain nutrition and taste in the food we eat every day.

LEARN MORE HERE

Why does Biodiversity Matter?

Life cannot exist without biodiversity, but the dominating industrial food system threatens the careful relationships among plants, animals, soil, water, and air. Around the world, 75% of edible plant species have become extinct while three commodity crops — wheat, rice, and corn —make up 60% of our food production. Our future depends on defending the diversity of plants and animals!

Slow Food’s mission includes considering food products and production techniques as integral aspects of biodiversity in need of protection. Our conservation of food biodiversity by promoting sustainable agroecological practices and consumption choices is our path toward good, clean, and fair food for all.

As an East End community, we have the unique opportunity to be surrounded by so many farms and food producers that are using sustainable practices and we want to help protect them and also use these practices in our own lives.

How can you make a difference?
  1. Tune in to the Slow Food USA’s Live event today at 2pm, to learn more about biodiversity and how you can take action to nurture nature, with experts from all over the world.
  2. Support your local farms and food producers, restaurants and stores that are using sustainable agricultural practices, sourcing, procurement, and food production practices. Check out our Snail of Approval businesses to get started.
  3. Start your own garden! In your backyard, join a community garden, grow in pots on your porch or windowsill. Growing, even on a small scale increases the biodiversity in your local biosphere by adding nutrients to the soil, creating a habitat for organisms, pollinators and other insects to live and fresh food for you! Here are some resources on where to start.
  4. Learn more about the 2024 Farm Bill, and advocate to make some much needed changes.
  5. Call your local legislator and ask for these changes! Look up your local legislators here and Slow Food USA has a script you can follow here.

Any questions please reach out via Slow Food Email

Let’s nourish our connections and connect our food ways together. 

#Slowtheforksdown – #FeedtheForks

Macari Vineyards Awarded Snail of Approval

May 8, 2024 | Blog, In The News, Snail of Approval

Slow Food East End is excited to announce that Macari Vineyards has been awarded our coveted Snail of Approval! 

We invite you to join us at Macari on Thursday, May 23 between 4-7pm for a celebration and the award presentation.

Stop by for live music by the John Ludlow Trio and to taste Macari wines paired with small bites including cheese, charcuterie, and locally made empanadas. 

RSVP HERE

The Snail of Approval (SOA) award is a recognition of businesses that align with the Slow Food values of good, clean, and fair food for all. SOA has long been a mission for Slow Food. Each year, we highlight and promote businesses around the world that deserve recognition for their exceptional work in these areas.

Macari Vineyards is an exceptional example of a business that exemplifies the good, clean, and fair standards of Slow Food. Macari’s mission is to have a boutique winery that produces age-worthy wines in a regenerative, herbicide and pesticide-free agricultural environment.  As such, they have invested in on-property state-of-the-art storage and wine-making facilities. The goal is balanced, characterful, world-class wines.  For three generations, the Macari family has owned their North Fork vineyards, taking decades to nurture the soils with organic compost that has yielded award-winning vintages and international accolades. 

From White House State Dinners to wine club member’s dinner tables, Macari Vineyards is also known for its welcoming familial spirit and long-tenured staff — instrumental in the success of the winery. Together they have made an indelible, impactful mark on the local community by supporting community organizations, promoting healthy, agricultural initiatives, and by setting the standard for a positive work environment. 

We are so proud of our newest Snail Of Approval awardee, Macari Vineyards. Stop by for live music by the John Ludlow Trio and to taste world-class wines paired with small bites including cheese, charcuterie, and locally made empanadas.

Visit our website for more information on all the local restaurants, farms, and food producers who have been awarded our coveted Snail of Approval. 

RSVP HERE

May 14: Flour Power Baker’s Workshop at St. Joseph Villa

May 8, 2024 | Blog, Events, Flour Power

We invite you to join Slow Food East End and St. Joseph Villa for an in-person Flour Power gathering.

WHAT: Slow Food East End Flour Power Baker’s Workshop

WHEN: Wednesday, May 14, 5:30 – 7:00pm

WHERE: St. Joseph Villa, 81 Lynn Avenue, Hampton Bays (Drive to end of driveway and Park in lot closest to Main House)

WHO: Everyone who has baked or has ever been interested in learning about becoming a Flour Power baker.

WHY: Food insecurity is a huge issue in our community and our community needs loaves.

We love getting our community together to talk all things Flour Power. We will gather at this beautiful venue on the Shinnecock bay, and our very own Bread Ambassador, Pennie Schwartz, will be there to discuss the finer points of the program.

RSVP for Flour Power Baker's Workshop

WE NEED MORE LOAVES..

If you signed up a while ago and have yet to get your hands in the dough, this evening is for you.

If you are already a baker (Thank you), we’d love for you to come mingle with your fellow bakers and share your expertise — the new bakers always love your experienced tips and tricks.

Bringing our expert baking community together with our novice bakers is always a beautiful thing. We love swapping stories and hearing your experiences, tips, and feedback about the program.

As we like to say, nothing says love more than a home-baked loaf of our deliciously nutritious bread. Flour Power has been SFEE’s community initiative of inspiring home bakers to join us as we continue our work to fight food insecurity on the East End. Since our launch during the pandemic, we have grown to provide loaves to 4 local pantries, 2 on each fork.

Here are some Highlights of our updated Flour Power program…

  • We have sturdy and secure Igloo coolers at each drop-off location so you can securely and easily drop your loaves.
  • We have updated the recipe (specifically the amount of flour) for those bakers who prefer to measure rather than weigh their flour. 
  • We have begun distributing complimentary bread baking starter kits (4 metal loaf pans, some ingredients, recipe cards, bread bags…) in a sturdy canvas tote designed to make bread carrying to the drop-off locations easier. These kits will be available to ALL registered bakers, new and existing.
  • We have also added group dough-making workshops where we can all prep the recipe “together” to bake, so you are more confident in your technique when you take that solo plunge. The “together” is in quotes as these will be group Zoom bake classes so you won’t leave YOUR kitchen while baking. More details at the workshop.

We would love for ALL our current bakers to come to this workshop and pick up their kits and get the updated information.

Share this event info with your friends and neighbors, let’s grow our baking tribe. Come chat with us. And break bread with us (pun intended). The bread we bake is delicious and you will get to hear and sample for yourself why we created this recipe to help feed the forks.

Come prepared to learn, to laugh, and to connect with fellow like-minded community members.

#Slowtheforksdown – #FeedtheForks

RSVP for Flour Power Baker's Workshop
Watch Baking Demo

Did you know, we have a Flour Page on Facebook? It’s a great way for our FP community to stay connected. We invite you all to join, share baking tips and post pics!

SFEE Facebook Group for Bakers

Thanks for Celebrating Earth Day With Us!

Apr 28, 2024 | In The News, Past Events

THANK YOU! 

Over 50 years ago on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was a national day of awareness across America that turned out over 20 million Americans – over 10%  of the US population at the time to protest unregulated industrial development.   That day is still one of the largest protests in US history.  This tradition inspired us and for the last three years Earth Day weekend we have welcomed organizations, growers, artists and foodies to join us in solidarity –  we are all invested in doing the work of nourishing our planet.

Earth Day weekend kicked off our 2024 season of events this year with a hearty drum beat, as hundreds of East Enders attended and strolled the lawns at Saint Joseph Villa, a retreat and renewal center managed by The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Brentwood along the shore of the Shinnecock Bay.  The Villa is also home to the Shinnecock Kelp Farmers who farm the shoreline and Ecological Culture Initiative, a community garden and compost program that has been awarded a Snail of Approval award for its work and practices.

The Villa with its mission of  building sustainable engagement and earth friendly good works is nestled between the North and South forks making it the perfect place to bring a diverse, sustainably minded mix of earth-friendly vendors together.  We had beekeepers, a wide mix of growers, food producers, native landscapers,  an independent bookstore, artists, and eco-activists on site and  were serenaded all afternoon with folksy tunes by the fabulous local band Points East.

We began by gathering around the elegant sculpture of the beneficial native dragonfly, an apt symbol for ECI to witness a ceremonial transfer of nutrient-rich sugar kelp to honor the rich agricultural tradition of the Shinnecock Tribal Nation and the new stewards who tend the Villa garden.  Seeded, grown, and harvested by the Shinnecock Kelp Farmers in the waters along the Villa’s shores, nutrient-rich kelp will amend the gardens and compost that the Ecological Culture Initiative maintains. 

 

Kelp farmer Danielle Hopson Begun spoke for a multi-generation collective of Indigenous women who are enrolled members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation.  These women have made great strides since planting their first kelp crop a few years ago.   They are leveraging historic roots and their traditional relationship with the sea and with seaweed to capture carbon and nitrogen that has poisoned Shinnecock Bay and beyond. These farmers are also laying the groundwork for more green jobs on the East End.

All afternoon there were demos with exuberant experts sharing their wisdom and passion for the work they do.   Chris Kelly, Promise Land Apiaries, tends bee hives at the Villa and across the East End. His discussions about bees and honey never cease to thrill especially when it includes a hands-on peak into the hive and taste of honeycombs.

Tony Romano of ECI was joined by ReWild advocates Nancy de Pas and Mary Morgan, a founder of Slow Food East End who is also a passionate composter determined to combat food waste that ends up in landfills.  All discussed how to optimize food scraps to create black gold to amend and heal soils –  the single easiest way for any individual to beneficially impact the environment. 

Many vendors had table-side demos including planting tips by FoodLab and bee projects by Golden Acres Organics, oyster shucking tips by Peconic Gold Oysters, and cooking demos by Cornell Cooperative Local F.I.S.H. program showing easy recipe ideas.   Farmers and growers set up stands offering advice and many goodies for sale from baby blue eggs and shoo-fly pies from 1760 Homestead Farm to incredible tulips grown at North Fork Flower Farm,  Mattituck Mushrooms, and much more.  

There were delicious eats to enjoy from Grace and Grit and we poured wines from Long Island Wine Country vineyards.   We smiled and we laughed. We thanked Mother Earth for everything (even the cool and gray weather)  and the chance to connect with our community.  

The rejuvenation of our fertile waters and lands depends on many stewards.  The original local farmers, The Shinnecock Nation,  have tended the soils of the Good Ground of the East End for ten thousand years. Slow Food East End proudly hosted Earth Day to honor all who have, do, and will continue to act as stewards and nourish our planet.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, donated to us to help support our programs including school and community gardens, Flour Power, and hosting events to help us all learn more about sustainable practices on the East End.  

A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SFEE is grateful to our generous sponsors – Farm Credit East, Elite/PBS Tents & Events, and Sisters of St. Joseph and the Long Island Wine Country for helping make our event possible.