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Slow Food East End 2022: A YEAR IN REVIEW

Past Events

We have done so many amazing things this year! Scroll down and take a look at all you’ve helped us achieve…

JANUARY

2022 was our first full year of the Flour Power program. To date, we have donated over 1000 loaves to the North Fork Spanish Apostolate in Riverhead. We are excited about the response and continue to add more bakers to our community. Looking ahead to rolling out this program to more food pantries in ’23. Stay tuned…
 
Better yet sign up to bake a loaf, or four… we are looking forward to meeting you at one of our new events just for our bakers.
 

FEBRUARY

As the pandemic continued to keep us physically apart, we resumed on to offer our virtual chefs series. Board member and Chef, Peter Berley, demonstrated recipes showcasing Beans and Pulses from the warmth of his home kitchen in Jamesport, which was much enjoyed by all from the warmth and safety of their own.

MARCH

Jack Bishop from America’s Test Kitchen and his wife Lauren Chattman led our next preparation of a delicious slow food style menu in our continued Chef Series. Lauren took us through the steps of making fresh pasta using local eggs and Jack shared his kale pesto recipe. To finish the meal Lauren & Jack demonstrated yummy chocolate pots de crème, one of their favorite dessert recipes. The kale for the pesto was graciously donated by Sang Lee Farms, a Snail of Approval farm!
 
All proceeds from this event were matched by Slow Food East End and donated to support World Central Kitchen and their efforts to feed Ukrainians fleeing the war. We are grateful to everyone who attended the event and made our donation of $3,700 possible.

the pandemic continued to keep us physically apart, we resumed on to offer our virtual chefs series. Board member and Chef, Peter Berley, demonstrated recipes showcasing Beans and Pulses from the warmth of his home kitchen in Jamesport, which was much enjoyed by all from the warmth and safety of their own.

APRIL

Earth Day is near and dear to our hearts and worth a celebration.
 
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in April, the Slow Food East End community celebrated Earth Day. Educators, farmers, winemakers, and chefs gathered to feed and educate us about our local food systems and ecosystems.
 

MAY

In May, we were happy to transition from virtual events to in-person ones.
 
We made great connections with schools, teachers, and administrators to revitalize our Edible School Gardens. We owe a big thank you to our outgoing Master Farmer, Melissa Makes and we warmly welcome Maria Plitt. We are once again offering our Edible School Garden grants to worthy recipients like Southold School, Calvary Baptist Church, Butterfly Effect Project, and the SFUSA National Garden Program.
 
We are looking forward to granting up to $10K to schools in 2023.
 
 

JUNE

We held our first Slow Hour ( our version of happy hour) designed to bring the community together for casual gatherings and increase community interaction. These FREE-to-attend events, which we will be hosting again in 2023, are a chance to have great conversations and learn more about the Slow Food movement and great wine in a beautiful environment… what could be better?

SLOW HOURS

 
 

JULY

SOA awarded to Jamesport Farmstead!
 
The Snail of Approval Program is awarded to businesses that incorporate the SF ideals of good clean and fair food. Here at SFEE, we are expanding the program to be able to include businesses like farms, wineries, fish farmers, and food producers, in addition to restaurants. Currently, there are 15 businesses that have earned the award. Most recently The Halyard at Greenport and Jamesport Farmstead has been awarded. For a full list of these deserving recipients, see our website.
 
Suggestions for future nominations are always welcome and appreciated!
 
 
 

AUGUST

August saw the return of the potluck event. After a couple of years off due to Covid shutdowns, we were so happy to be able to bring back our popular potluck gathering. This year’s dinner was at the beautiful North Fork Flour Farm field with the sunset as a backdrop and a rainbow in the sky to top off this magical evening. The food was great… the company was even better.

 
 

SEPTEMBER

Our annual membership drive took place this month. We surpassed 200 memberships—our highest number ever! We are one of the largest and most active chapters in Slow Food USA. We thank all of our new members this year and look forward to working with you in 2023. We need your ideas, and hands-on help to deliver on our mission of good, clean, and fair food for everyone.
 
Reach out, get involved, be on a committee, and volunteer at our events. It takes a village — and together we can continue to have a huge positive impact on our wonderful community.
 

OCTOBER

Sour Power Harvest Festival!
 
Our inaugural sour power/harvest festival was a big success. Chef Peter Berley taught us how to make homemade sauerkraut from freshly picked cabbages. Not only did it taste amazing, but we learned that it was made with only cabbage, water, and salt. All attendees were gifted a quart of kraut two weeks later after it had fermented for a while.
 
We look forward to more fermented goodness next year… think sourdough, pickles, yogurt, kimchi, and kombucha. It’s so great when delicious food is also healthy and inexpensive!
 

NOVEMBER

We held our Annual meeting at Brick Cove and gathered with our East End community. We welcomed our new incoming board members (Stacey Isaacs and Alyson D’Anna) and paid tribute to our outgoing ones (Laura Luciano and David Chaffin) for all their contributions over the years.
 
Our week-long online auction held annually alongside our meeting was a great success. We are grateful for the amazing community response and together we raised almost $17,000!
 
The money raised through this auction is instrumental in helping carry our work forward into the coming years.
 

DECEMBER

December came so quickly and it was time for our annual holiday board meeting and celebration. We owe a big thank you to Gabriella Macari and her team at Macari Wines for hosting our event at the gorgeous Meadowlark Winery. Thanks as well to Lauren Lombardi of Love Lane market for some of the most delicious food we’ve ever tasted.
 
We thank the entire volunteer board for all their hard work in 2022.
 

HERE’S TO LOOKING AT YOU 2023…

We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in 2023. Our all-volunteer team is continually growing. We urge you, our valued community members, to reach out, get involved, be on a committee and join us at events. We are also pleased to announce our inaugural sponsorship program for both local and nationwide businesses. Consider being a sponsor! Links below for ways on how you can support us.
 
 
We can do amazing things together.