Although every day is Earth Day for a farmer, grower, fisher, and vintner, we invite all to join us this weekend to celebrate our local aqua and agriculture leaders who insure we have healthy options for our diest as well as local organizations and businesses who strive to inform and tackle challenges of ecologic conservation by example all year long.

 

Slow Food East End supports healthy farming and business practices. If you do too, you’ll enjoy sharing Earth Day with us: Come to learn, taste, sip, and shop. Meet farmers, winemakers, food producers, environmental experts, eco-activists, artists, and artisans. Food, beverages, and wine will be available for sale.

 

1:45pm: Welcome by Pennie Schwartz, President of Slow Food East End

 

2:00pm: Snail of Approval 2023 Awards by Robin Tyson-Stoehr, SFEE board

 

2:15pm: Ecological Culture Initiative, An all-volunteer community garden at St. Joseph Villa harvests all their produce for a Hampton Bays food pantry and has established a robust compost program. Learn from Joe Lamport, Zero Waste Director, how you too can create great compost for your home or community.

 

2:30pm: Slow Food presents Flour Power It’s the yeast we can do! Home bakers are supporting local food pantries on the East End, learn how easy it is!.

 

2:45pm: Shinnecock Kelp Farmers – A group of indigenous women operate the kelp farm on the shores of St. Joseph Villa, learn about the kelp farming history of Shinnecock Nation and the importance of kelp for healthy waterways and aquaculture.

 

3:00pm: Peconic Land Trust — 2023 marks 40 years of this organization doing great work protecting thousands of agricultural acres on the east end for farming and naturalized lands from development. Learn key points of history and local accomplishments of this visionary program which has helped revitalize and preserve our farming culture on the East End.

 

3:15pm: Cornell Cooperative Extension -Fisheries Dept. Discover why a local F.I.S.H. (Fresh, Indigenous, Sustainable, Healthy) diet is the way to best way to support local fishing and about the many options available when choosing local fish for your menus.

 

3:30pm: Relic, Meet the brothers behind a local clothing design company that works to support cleaner beaches and waterways by using proceeds to reseed oysters to our bays. Hear about their Coastal Collaborative Program, a fabulous beach clean-up project imagined and built by Relic Design.

 

Long Island boasts over 60 distinct wine producers and 3500 acres of cultivated grape vines between the maritime regions of North Fork, South Fork, and western Suffolk County, which produce about 500,000 cases of wine annually.

 

Long Island is leading the charge in sustainability, defining the future of wine regions. With cutting-edge vineyard practices and innovative winemaking techniques, Long Island is at the forefront of environmentally responsible winemaking. Almost 50 years after commercially grown grapes were planted in the East End, Long Island is proud to be the first wine region on the East Coast to have a certified sustainable viticulture program in place.

 

Passionate or curious about local farming practices? Ready to up your gardening game? Concerned about healthy lands and waters? Slow Food East End invites you to St. Joseph Villa to join our community of farmers, food producers, gardeners, educators, and vendors on Earth Day. You’ll be able to source seeds, talk with experts, taste, sip, and shop at Saint Joseph Villa, a retreat and renewal center run by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Brentwood who are dedicated to making a difference locally and globally by addressing the environmental needs of our times.

 

The Villa is located on the shoreline of Shinnecock Bay at 81 Lynn Avenue in Hampton Bays. The Sisters of St. Joseph have made the Villa home to the Ecological Culture Initiative’s Good Ground Heritage Garden, an amazing educational resource that builds gardening skills while providing produce for nearby St. Rosalie’s Community Food Pantry. The Shinnecock Kelp Farmers, six local, indigenous women committed to addressing the climate crisis by raising kelp also call the Villa home.

For over 10,000 years the Shinnecock Indian Nation has lived along these shores and seeks to preserve our precious waterways. Their work has been so impressive that the Nature Conservancy awarded the farm a grant to expand their farm, helping to insure kelp will continue to be grown to restore water quality and our marine habitats.

Slow Food East End supports healthy farming practices which are essential to a sustainable future, if you do too please join us on Earth Day to meet folks in our community who are leading the way.

Talks and demonstrations will include information about composting, kelp farming, land preservation, and efforts to promote sustainable waters for fisheries

• 1760 Homestead Farm An historic farm committed to healthy soils that produce healthy food, will have plants, eggs, honey, and more for sale.
• A Book Place Boutique An independent Riverhead bookshop with titles for the whole family to enjoy.
• Adrift, New York Decorative art and objects designed with locally foraged shells, driftwood, stones, and beach treasures.
• Balo’s Foods, North Fork Seafood Truck Delicious Seafood with a Latin Flare. Featuring tacos, empanadas and so much more.
• Cornell Cooperative Wild Capture Fisheries Department Learn more about how and why eating local fish matters and where to find it near you.
• East End Food Institute Connecting farmers with consumers via access to a commercial kitchen to produce shelf-stable goods. Samples for sale.
• Ecological Culture Initiative A community-supported garden with a robust composting program that raises produce for a local food pantry. Learn to make your own great compost.
• Food Rescue US-North Fork, NY Rescuing food waste to fight hunger and help save the planet. Meet the North Fork Chapter leaders.
• Granola Plant Plant-based, all-natural, gluten-free, locally made, small-batch artisanal granola.
• Green Door Woodworks Reclaimed wood, locally handcrafted into engaging children’s gifts and fabulous cutting boards.
• Long Island Wine Country Celebrates 50 years of Long Island wine cultivation and currently has 57 unique wine producers. A selection of local wines will be available for purchase.
• Madeline D’Averesa Watercolors Local artist inspired by local farms, farmers, and waterways to create a body of work celebrating nature.
• Mattituck Mushrooms Wide variety of mushrooms grown locally.
• Nerdling Acres Flower Stand Small batch, cut-flower North Fork farm known for heirlooms and native varieties of annuals and perennials.
• North Fork Environmental Council Since 1972 focused on local environmental concerns: zero waste, regeneration, and composting.
• Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York Coalition of farmers, gardeners, and consumers, promoting sustainable farming & CSAs.
• Peconic Land Trust Celebrates 40 years of local land preservation for agricultural use by conserving local farms, wetlands, and woodland.
• Relic Design Promoting clean waters by design from beach cleanup stations to reseeding oysters to fight coastal pollution.
• Shinnecock Kelp Farmers Indigenous women raise sugar kelp to capture nitrogen and carbon, combatting ocean acidification.
• Sisters of Saint Joseph, Brentwood Long Island order committed to environmental and community wellness by supporting sustainable farming practices.
• Suzanne Volges Pottery Inspired by plants and botanical forms to create pottery with natural beauty.
• Sweet Woodland Farms A North Fork farm committed to healthy soils, using sustainable regeneration to grow medicinal and culinary herbs.
• Upsculpt Sculpting is environmentally conscious art to educate and engage the public about marine debris by creating beauty from waste.

The event is free to attend – but please register in advance to help us plan.

Do you have time to volunteer on the day of our event? We could use some extra hands! Our email is slowfoodeastend@gmail.com