In Celebration of Terra Madre Day 2012

Happy Terra Madre Day! Unbeknownst to many, I'm sure, the Terra Madre project (yes, linked to the Terra Madre conference I've mentioned a few times before throughout the blog) was launched by Slow Food International in 2004. In 2009 Terra Madre Day was lifted up as an international day of celebrating local food, the celebration of which emphasizes Slow Food's philosophy of good, clean and fair: "good for our palate, clean for humans, animals and the environment, and fair for producers and consumers." In honor of Terra Madre Day, our local Slow Food chapter held a Terra Madre Day potluck last night at the home of Board Chair Bear Braumoeller whom I've been fortunate enough to meet at other Slow Food Columbus events throughout the past semester (1, 2 and 3; and he even presented at our Food and Culture Colloquium). Alongside the great local, organic and/or sustainable food that made their way onto the potluck tables, I truly appreciated the opportunity to explore another sliver of Columbus life and meet even more wonderful people (read: foodies) who, as I've claimed time and time again throughout this blog, represent diverse experiences that find common ground around something as "simple" as food.

Where's the Spoon?: Terra Madre Local Chef's Dinner

As I reflect on one of the best dinners I have ever had in the States, I've begun trying to articulate how very fortunate I have been to continue to meet a diverse array of foodies since moving to central Ohio and especially since I began working on Denison's Food and Culture Colloquium many months ago. Since joining Slow Food Columbus in the last few weeks, though, it seems I've been put on a fast forward track to catch up with the growth of food interests in this area. And after last night's Terra Madre Local Chefs Dinner set in tucked away Basi Italia--a true blockbuster of a fundraiser--it was very clear that food not only brings folks from all walks of life together and that it has been my clearest entrée into being connected to a glocal culture removed from yet still connected to Denison and the daily life of living on a small, liberal arts campus.

A Wednesday Foodie Kind of Evening

After this past Wednesday's Food and Culture Colloquium, colloquium participant and Denison colleague Maureen and I went to the Charity Happy Hour at the Veranda of The Hills Market which we had learned about at the tail end of Bear Braumoeller's presentation on Slow Food. Every Wednesday, a special guest serves as bartender (in this case, Bear) while a portion of the pizza sales goes to the group raising money (in this case, Central Ohio's support of its nine Terra Madre delegates).

FCC: Slow Food Columbus and People Endorsing Agricultural Sustainability

Last Wednesday, and after having met two of our guests on Saturday, I'd say the stage was perfectly set for our second module which continued our overall September theme of the "Introduction to the Study of Food and Culture at Denison University." 

The Columbus Convivium: Slow Food Columbus Dinner at Flying J Farm

In practice, I've been familiar for quite some time with farmers markets and home cooked meals, recipes from scratch and communal dining. But it was only through my grad school searches that I first learned about the concept of "slow food" and the accompanying international movement, a response to the fast food trend of the late 80s/early 90s by Carlo Petrini in Bra, Italy, site of the University of Gastronomic Sciences which opened in 2004. Now with over 1,300 convivia (local chapters) throughout the world, the Slow Food Movement continues to grow and remain committed to its founding principles: to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Recently, I found that Columbus has its own convivium (as do many major cities; in the U.S. alone, there are 225) and have been meaning to get more involved with the group. And so, when I received a particular call on Friday afternoon, I was wicked excited for what was to come the following day. The call came from one of my Food and Culture Colloquium participants, Susan Kaiser, founder and owner of Faire La Cuisine, based here in Granville, and who was first introduced to me by Denison colleague and colloquium participant, Maureen; essentially, Susan asked if I might be available and interested to help her out at Slow Food Columbus's much-anticipated annual dinner, "Shake the Hand that Feeds You". I had first heard about the dinner via the group's e-mail list serv which noted that last year's dinner sold out in 16 minutes. I'm not sure how else to emphasize this meal's popularity other than to share that from what I've heard, the tickets this year sold out in a record eight minutes! As the aforementioned web link shares, in addition to the great atmosphere and community, the proceeds of the dinner's ticket sales help fund central Ohio's nine delegates to go to Slow Food International's biennial Terra Madre conference in Torino, Italy. (The first conference, held in 2004, welcomed 5,000 delegates from 130 countries.) These nine competitively selected (by Slow Food USA's, from over 600 applicants) delegates will join others from the U.S. and those from around the world in late October. Indeed, this was an opportunity that I absolutely couldn't pass up!