Goodbye and Hello

**information on good, clean, far advocacy issues can now be found on Fridays on our 'Slow in Boston' blog**

We have a few changes coming to Slow Food Boston cyberspace - and the result, we hope, will be the most amount of information getting out to you, our readers and members, as simply & clearly as possible. In order to streamline our communications, we will be taking the four blogs we had been attempting to maintain and concentrate them into ONE blog, herein referred to as 'Slow in Boston.'

By doing this, we can be sure that in the limited time we have available as volunteers we can fulfill (or hopefully surpass!) the expectations & needs you might have for information about local, seasonal, sustainable food and agriculture in the Boston area.

Our plan is to have a regular weekly schedule (fingers crossed), outlined below:
Mondays we will use for an in-depth look at an upcoming event that we think is worth your time & effort to check out. The Google calendar, where we list everything that comes into our radar from like-minded organizations, will be the most comprehensive resource, but Mondays will be our time to highlight something we think is special.
On Wednesdays, look for a description, interview or bio of a food producer, farmer, market, restaurant or new product from our local friends. Feel free to email us with suggestions!
Fridays will be the time for us to get up on our soapbox; we'll discuss issues with our food system, problematic government policies, and holes in our food, agriculture & environmental education in this country. We may talk about the latest research from the USDA around inspections or proposed changes to land use laws in local towns. Mainly, we'll use this day to inform you and provide some options for what you can do to change things for the better.

Sprinkled amongst those 'regularly scheduled' posts will be follow-ups to our many events, with photos, links to blogs or print media that may have highlighted the gathering, as well as recipes or menus or other pertinent information from our presenters.

Look for things to start up with gusto next Monday, Nov 23rd. In the meantime, happy fall!

Movement on the Lunch Front!

New article off the Farm Aid website:

National School Lunch Week: Local produce replacing tater tots

On Monday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack kicked off National School Lunch Week by visiting West Elementary School in Knoxville, Iowa. The school has achieved a gold-level ranking in the USDA's Healthier US School Challenge, which challenges schools to provide healthier food choices, nutrition education and physical activity.

School lunches have improved a great deal since National School Lunch Week was created by presidential proclamation in 1963 to promote the National School Lunch Program. However, it has only been recently that Farm To School has been added into the mix and programs bringing fresh, local produce into schools have really taken off.

It wasn't that long ago that I had my first school lunch. I didn't have them often because Mother knew best and would pack me healthy lunches, but when I did they were a greasy treat made up of french fries, tater tots, pizza and a never ending supply of ketchup packets. Through elementary, middle and high school nothing seemed to change except the serving size. Even now that I am in college, those food options still exist. But now we have additional options also available.

I have seen the change firsthand. My school opened a new cafeteria this fall featuring twelve different food stations all serving up something different and while the pizza, burgers and infamous french fries are still there, I find myself heading for different options—the salad bar, made to order rice dishes and, my favorite, the sushi bar.

Even more, the cafeteria is certified 'green' because of efforts such as serving local produce and fruit, sustainable seafood and cage-free eggs. I know I'm lucky; friends come to visit and they are amazed and jealous that we have such healthy and great tasting food. What they don't realize is that they can work to have it to. If you check out Farm Aid's Farm to School 101 Toolkit you can learn how to get started, read about success stories, figure out how to overcome obstacles and take advantage of the resources and funding already available.

So moms, dads, teachers and students like me, take some time to bring fresh, local produce into your school and support a local farmer. You and your kids, and your local farmers too, will reap the benefits.

Dear Neighbor,

On Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2009, people in communities all over the country will sit down to share a meal with their neighbors and kids. This National Eat-In will send a clear message to Congress: It's time to provide America's children with real food at school.

Somerville has made great progress in the last few years in improving the quality of education and health of the students in the Somerville Public Schools as evidenced by the results of the Tufts/Shape-up Somerville Program and Somerville's recognition by the National Civic League as an All-American City. In an effort to build upon these successes, we are joining a national campaign to promote healthful eating in public schools and to encourage the legislature to increase the reimbursement rate for school lunches by $1.00 so public schools can serve, the real, local, and organic foods that our children need to succeed academically and to learn good eating habits.

The Somerville community will host an Eat-in at Lexington Park on Lexington Avenue and the Minuteman Bike Path from 11 am-2 pm. We are inviting parents, educators, health professionals, community organizers, and local farmers to this event because you are an essential resource for improving the quality of food in our public schools and educating our children about healthful choices.

The Eat-in is an opportunity for you to share your interests and expertise and to connect with individuals and organizations that can join our partnership to bring real, local, and organic foods to the public schools. Please join us--invite your friends, family, and colleagues--and bring a healthy, homemade dish and serving utensils (please label your containers). Not to worry if you don't have time or resources to make a dish from scratch--bring a gallon of cold tap water or fruit!

Warmest regards,

Karen Bauerle & Kelle Shugrue, Somerville Eat-In Coordinators

PS - You can reach Karen and Kelle at the following addresses: karenbauerle@gmail.com kelle.shugrue@gmail.com 781.640.7748

Entering into the Fray!

Welcome to the Slow Food Boston Advocacy Blog.

So we're sure you're asking yourself right now 'What exactly do they mean by advocacy? And how exactly does Slow Food Boston propose to make a mark upon the huge expanse that the word covers?' Truth be told, folks, we're asking ourselves the same darn thing.

But on the other hand, we see legislation moving through our state government that the public, and especially the 'foodie' community, needs to know about. And we hear about our only local shared-use commercial kitchens in danger of being shut down and want to do something, to mobilize people to help. Every day we see news of the rising obesity and diabetes in our youth and are desperate to try to get more healthy, fresh foods into our school system. We can't sit back and do nothing.

So we've created an Advocacy 'committee' and opened this blog in order to do our little bit to educate people. We want to get the word out on issues that need attention and try to provide people with concrete things that can be done, whether it be letter-writing campaigns, calls to their representatives, volunteer opportunities in the school system, or whatever other actions that we can come up with.

So again, welcome to Slow Food Boston's Advocacy blog. Let the work begin!