Garden at the URI Watson House

Hurray!!! We finally got a garden at URI! We all rounded up at the Watson House behind the library to get the garden started during exam week which was a great break from the studying. About 10 of us were there to turn the soil, add manure and plant seeds while cracking jokes and enjoying each others company. We planted tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, zucchini, winter squash from seed. While the started cantaloupe, carrots, radishes and heirloom speckled lettuce from the green house were planted right into the ground. A few weeks after planting, Cate and I went back to work on the garden and a few radishes were already ready for picking! Cate was so excited she ripped it out of the ground and sunk her teeth into it(see picture below). I took a few home and put them in a fresh salad. Can't wait for more veggies to come! Check back later for more updates! -Maria

2011 Food and Justice Summit

Hey everyone. Sorry, I know this post is really overdue. Katya, Nona, John, Monica and I ventured to Northeastern University to attend the Northeast Food and Justice Summit February 26&27. We had a ton of fun! It was a really great way to connect with other youth concerned about the same issues as us and to see what other high schools and universities were doing to change the food system on their campuses.

Malcom X Grassroots Movement Soul Food Workshop speaker

There were a bunch of workshops to chose from the first day. I went to one about local food procurement on college campuses, where I learned about what schools in Canada are doing to eat within a 100 mile radius. I then went to a workshop on soul food, and after that I met Hnin at her Eat-In workshop, the youth programs coordinator for SFUSA.

The Clover Foodtruck

Chickpea Fritter from Clover.

We ate amazing meals the whole time, and met lots of awesome people. You can find more photos here.

John: "I want real food because....."

Cate: "I want real food because..."

If you ever want to go, they have one every year! Such an inspiring weekend. Great to know there are others out there that care about the same issues we do.

-Cate

Campus Consciousness Tour

On April 7th 2011, Slow Food Teamed up with The Campus Consciousness Tour. This tour was founded by Reverb, a non profit organization that provides outreach education on sustainability and fair trade. It was founded by environmentalists Lauren Sullivan and her husband Adam Gardner. Along with the Campus Consciousness Tour, Reverb also has other project called the Green Music Tour. Check out their website http://greenmusicgroup.org/ for a short clip on what they are all about.
The Campus Consciousness Tour follows bands and musicians promoting, and educating fans on protecting the environment by making small lifestyle changes. They came to the URI Ryan Center last night touring with Wiz Kalifia and Slow Food URI was lucky enough to volunteer with the tour! We set up shop in the Ben and Jerry's booth which was promoting Fair Trade products. Fair trade means the farmers who harvest the products are paid a fair price, and are treated with respect. Ben and Jerry's is currently working on making all of their products fair trade. Right now they buy Fair Trade vanilla, coffee, chocolate, and a small amount of sugar for their Fair Trade ice cream products. When purchasing Ben and Jerry's ice cream look for these flavors and the Fair Trade stamp on the carton: Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate Macadamia, Milk and Cookies, Coffee, and Heath Bar Crunch. Our job at the Ben and Jerry's booth was to educate students on fair trade and let them spin the wheel to win a free pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, some cool sunglasses, hats or a music download card. We had a great time and hope the tour comes to URI next year!
Eat some slow Ben and Jerry's!
-Maria

If You Are What You Eat, Then I Am Not Sad

I USED to be a vegetarian. I put "used" in caps because once you see the following pictures you will be amazed by the transition I have made. I never really had an epiphany. It was more like a gradual realization. Not eating animals isn't going to stop animal cruelty. Some of the animals produced for food are not even treated cruelly. Animal cruelty will stop the day we start supporting small, local farms where the animals are treated with love and care, rather than the large, corporate CAFOS where animals are kept in sickening, appalling conditions that rip your heart right in half. If you don't believe me, research it.

Anyways, here they are. The photos from our November Turkey Processing (better late than never 'eh?)

If you can eat it, then you should be able to understand what it takes to get into your mouth. That's what we are all about here at Slow Food.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Kahlil Gibran:

"When you kill a beast, say to him in your heart: By the same power that slays you, I too am slain, and I too shall be consumed. For the law that delivers you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand. Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."

Go slow.

-Cate

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are a fave amongst the Slow Food URI group. Who doesn't love pumpkin? Better yet, who doesn't love chocolate and pumpkin together in one delicious cookie? We served these bad boys during our meeting last night and I walked away with an empty container. We are providing the recipe so you can make them at home. If you wanna keep it as local as possible, you could substitute the 1 cup of canned pumpkin for 1 cup of (peeled and mashed) butternut squash. Butternut squash is available throughout the fall, winter and early spring at the farmer's markets.

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Enjoy!
-Maria

Peanut Butter Hummus

Okay, I know what you're thinking: has she lost her mind?
But honestly, I can't get enough of this stuff. It all started when I was listening to NPR one morning on my way to class. The program was about food cultures, and they were exploring the culinary uses of everyday foods. Naturally, peanuts (or more specifically, peanut butter), a staple food, was one of the things they discussed, and let me tell you; they ripped that poor little pb&j we all know and love to shreds!

Who knew that peanuts are used in stews, as creamy sauces, and even ground to make peanut porridge? That got me thinking (thinking about food is not hard for me). Tahini, a sesame seed paste with a similar consistency to peanut butter, usually lends body to pureed chickpeas in hummus. So, with no one around to convince me it was a bad idea... I had to try it & so should you. It's easy, economical (a lot cheaper than buying tahini), healthy, and quite flavorful.

Peanut Butter Hummus

1 15oz can of Organic (preferably) chickpeas/garbanzo beans with liquid reserved
2 heaping tbsp of Organic peanut butter (I like Woodstock Farms, unsalted smooth for this)
1/2 head of roasted garlic, about 4-7 cloves (local if possible)
OG Olive Oil
salt to taste
cumin (optional)

Roasted Garlic:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
Wrap a head of garlic in aluminum foil and roast for 20 minuets.

Hummus:
Meanwhile, drain juices from chick peas and reserve 2-3 tbsp for later use.
Put chick peas in the food processor until smooth.
Add peanut butter. Mix until a ball-like form is made.
Add roasted garlic. Process again
Add olive oil and 2 tbsp of reserved liquid and mix until the hummus thins (be careful not to add too much, but just enough to separate the ball).
Once separated, add salt and more liquid to taste.

Ta-dah! Enjoy the hummus with roasted root vegetables and onions, scooped onto a salad, spread on warm pita bread with olives and feta, or plopped on some warm quinoa.

Let us know how you like it!

Slow Food Dreamz

Welcome back for a semester of Slow Food URI fun! To get your mind thinking about the Spring Season, we want to tell you about our dream this semester. By the time URI celebrates Earth Day on April 21^st, we want to have a truck farm. What is a truck farm?... It’s a garden, in the back of a truck! Slow Food URI has been asked to join in with a coalition of Farmers, the movement is called Truck Farming. The trucks are used for educating young children, families, and consumers about where their food comes from. We want to have our very own Slow Food URI truck, so if you have any ideas…EMAIL US! We would love to hear from you. Also, visit the truck farming link to get more information.

On another note, we want everyone to know we will be meeting at the coffee shop in the Memorial Union every other Thursday starting February 10, 2011 at 5:00pm. We also bring some free local food for everyone to enjoy and we will try to post the recipes on here.

-Maria

uri@slowfoodusa.org