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July 11: Slow Hour at Macari Vineyards

Jun 16, 2023 | Past Events, Slow Hour

Summer is here and we’re ready to celebrate! All are welcome to join us Tuesday, July 11, at 5:30pm at Macari Vineyards in Mattituck for “Slow Hour,” Slow Food East End’s version of happy hour.

Interested in knowing more about the benefits of composting and various methods for home composting?

In the five East End towns, nearly 60 tons of food scraps are generated daily, with much of it ending up as waste! Reducing food waste is crucial for reversing global overheating, nearly 40 percent of food in the U.S. becomes trash, emitting toxic methane when left in landfills. Did you know that households contribute to a staggering 70% of landfill food waste? Composting is a simple and efficient way to remove food waste from landfills and benefit the environment.   

The Long Island Organics Council has long encouraged reducing food waste and making compost as a beneficial lifestyle. We have invited LIOC, the Macari family (whose vineyard has received recognition for its composting program) and Mary Morgan, one of the founders of our Slow Food East End chapter (an expert on food waste solutions), to share in the conversation that evening.

The Macari Family’s waterfront farm, with sweeping views of the Long Island Sound, was established over 50 years ago. Since the first vines were planted in 1995, Macari Vineyards has been recognized as an industry leader in regenerative agriculture. The vineyard is home to a herd of cattle, used for composting, and grows grapes without the use of herbicides.

Although willing, many households are just not able to support a traditional compost system at their home. To help, counter compost units have been developed to dehydrate and grind food scraps to a small fraction of their original volume that is sterile, compact and usable as soil or compost amendments.   

FoodCycle Science is one company that manufactures counter composters, they are establishing pilot programs to encourage more home composting across the U.S. The East End is where their next pilot program will be launched. To help promote this effort our July Slow Hour will also feature a presentation about FoodCycle Science.  The goal of the pilot program is to track countertop-compost usage by households, the data will be used to encourage local municipalities to support food waste retention from our landfills.

The East End Countertop Recycler Pilot program is a partnership between the Long Island Organics Council and Food Cycle Science. The Pilot Program opens to the public on August 1, 2023. As a special partnership SFEE members are able to purchase a unit starting July 1st, 2023. During the “Early Snail Special” all members who purchase discounted FoodCycler units will also support Edible School Garden schools and food pantries. For every 50 participants who purchase a unit and take part in the trial survey, SFEE will donate a FoodCycler to a school or pantry.  For information contact: Mary Morgan, EastEndCountertopRecyclerPilot@gmail.com

“Slow Food East End has been actively supporting composting efforts for years now,” said Mary Morgan. “Our dream was to build an audience among our local food growers and makers, from farmers to fishers, beekeepers to bread bakers, which our SFEE local chapter has achieved so wonderfully. We all know delicious food is based on healthy soil. The composter program helps us all recycle food scraps and regenerate our soils.”  

To learn more, join us on July 11th at Macari Vineyards for our Slow Hour. Wine and snacks will be available for purchase, and joining the discussion is free.  

Together we can further Slow Food’s mission to seek good, clean, and fair food systems for all while supporting schools and food pantries and promoting policy change that encourages municipalities to establish compost drop-off centers for each town and eliminate food waste from our landfills. 

RSVP Here

June 28: Farm to Table Dinner at 1760 Homestead Farm

Jun 6, 2023 | Past Events

Help us raise funds to support Edible School Gardens on the East End with a honey-focused culinary feast!

A Farm-to-Plate Summer Dinner

at 1760 Homestead Farm

Wednesday, June 28, 2023 6pm-8:30pm

5412 Sound Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901

Celebrate the start of summer with a twilight dinner at the charming 1760 Farmstead. This moveable feast will feature flavors infused with their own farm-harvested honey. The night of feasting includes a farm tour aboard a tractor-pulled wagon and a chance to meet Promised Land Apiary owner Chris Kelly who tends the Homestead Farm hives and many more across the East End. Learn more about our favorite pollinator from this master beekeeper and taste fruits of the bees’ labor. 1760 Farm-harvested produce is the base of a delicious four-course meal prepared by the Kaiser family, the current stewards of this historic farm, established 1760.

Dinner includes a tasting of Long Island Wine Country wines, provided by premier local wineries celebrating a 50 years of wine making on the East End. Libations will include hand-crafted honey-infused mock-tails designed by Doublespeak mixologist Joe Coleman.

BUY TICKETS HERE!

Thanks for Celebrating Earth Day With Us!

May 1, 2023 | Blog, In The News, Past Events

THANK YOU! Over 300 folks turned out to celebrate Earth Day at Saint Joseph Villa, a retreat and renewal center shared by The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Brentwood along the shore of the Shinnecock Bay, the Villa is also home to the Ecological Culture Initiative and the Shinnecock Kelp Farmers.

On April 22nd, we celebrated with a heartwarming day.  Our community came together and we listened, spoke, and learned from each other.  All enjoyed shopping from amazing local vendors, eating incredible food from local chefs and bakers, and sipping delicious wines. We smiled and we laughed. We thanked Mother Earth for everything and it was an excellent chance to connect with eco-activists,  local farmers, growers, artists, and artisans, to be introduced to a new plant-based publication and we even had an independent local bookseller with gardening books and much more.

We are thankful to the Long Island Wine Country Wines who this year are celebrating 50 years of winemaking on the East End. Wines were donated by As If Wines, Chronicle Wines, Lieb Cellars, Macari Vineyards, Pellegrini Vineyards, Rose Hill Winery, SuhRu Wines, Sparkling Pointe Vineyards & Wolffer Estate Vineyard.

We took the occasion to announce the first recipients of the SFEE 2023 Snail of Approval Awards which were presented to Ecological Culture Initiative (ECI) and Quail Hill Farm. Quail Hill was established in 1990 on land donated to The Peconic Land Trust, also celebrating 40 years of preservation this year. Destined to be trailblazers, Quail Hill became one of the first Community Supported Agriculture farms in the USA and the farm now raises produce and eggs to share with over 250 families from their 35 acres. ECI is much smaller but equally fruitful, it is a community garden of volunteer growers who tend 22 raised beds, and all produce is donated to St. Rosalie’s Food Pantry. ECI has also developed a community compost program that has become a template for other communities to replicate. Bravo to these agricultural doers and leaders!

Earth Day is as a reminder to be thankful for Earth’s natural resources and for all who work hard to protect our natural resources for future generations. Next year we plan to grow and have even more fun together.  In the meantime, save the date for next year: Sunday, April 21, 2024, and enjoy these pictures from our event!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Americart and Please B Seated party rental helped make our event possible.

April 22: THIS SATURDAY SFEE Earth Day Celebration 2023

Apr 19, 2023 | Past Events

Saturday, April 22, 2023

1:00 – 5:00 PM

Rain Date Sunday, April 23, 1:00 – 5:00 PM

St. Joseph Villa – 81 Lynn Ave, Hampton Bays, NY 11946

Join us for an afternoon of fun education for the whole family, it’s free to attend!

 

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.
RSVP HERE!

Meet at the Good Grounds mural, near the food truck for

10-minute presentations followed by 5 minutes of Q&As

 
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 Wine Country turns 50 this year!
 
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.
 
Join us on Earth Day as we raise a glass and celebrate LIWC’s 50th anniversary year. You’ll enjoy a chance to taste a selection of delicious LIWC wines, available for purchase, made with a passion for excellence from local winemakers, and take home your own Slow Food East End tasting glass as a souvenir — reuse your glass often and know your purchase supports SFEE Feed the Forks initiatives.

Balo’s Food Truck will be onsite featuring their famous Stuffies and other delicious bites featuring local Long Island fish.

Vegan options will also be available for our friends who prefer a plant-based-diet.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

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

RSVP HERE!

April 19: Flour Power Baker’s Workshop at Heart of the Hamptons

Apr 15, 2023 | Flour Power, Past Events

We are so excited to announce that Flour Power is expanding to include Heart of the Hamptons in Southhampton. 

Flour Power Baker’s Workshop at Heart of the Hamptons

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Heart of the Hamptons – 168 Hill St, Southampton, NY 11968

Join- the baking hands of our community and bake bread for Heart of the Hamptons! Be apart of this Baker’s Workshop from 5:30-7pm to learn more about the Flour Power Program and how you can volunteer and help provide freshly baked bread for families in need.
 
This event is free to attend – but please register by April 17th!
RSVP HERE!

How Does Flour Power Work?

Anyone can register to bake. Simply sign-up and Slow Food East End will send you the recipe designed for 4 loaves; each baker keeps one loaf and donates three. Baking dates and all of the necessary details are listed on the Slow Food East End website under the programs tab. In addition, you will be receiving reminders for each baking cycle via email. There will be a designated drop-off point at the Hearth of the Hamptons building in Southampton (when you register you will receive detailed instructions for the drop-off procedure).

We hope you’ll sign up and participate in as many baking cycles as you can. We understand how busy everyone is and all we ask is to bake when you can.

The workshop is designed to help you get started on your baking journey. Come meet the Slow Food team and learn more about the recipe we specifically created for this program, sample some bread, and find out how you can be a volunteer to help provide freshly baked bread for families in need.

This is a Slow Food East End and Heart of the Hamptons. 

Learn more about SFEE Flour Power and Sign-up to be a Baker!

April 22: Slow Food East End Earth Day Celebration 2023

Mar 27, 2023 | Past Events

Saturday, April 22, 2023

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

St. Joseph Villa – 81 Lynn Ave, Hampton Bays, NY 11946

Join us for an afternoon of fun education for the whole family, it’s free to attend!

 

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

Vendors and participants include:
  • 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

RSVP HERE!