How can I help Chicago-area kids have better lunches?

• Host a letter writing event at your school or home (see resources section below)

• Send an email to your legislators

• Call your legislator

• Tell your friends and family

• Reach out to local PTAs, churches, schools, after-school programs, meet-up groups and partner organizations. Ask if they can forward an email to their networks, or if you can come talk at a future meeting.

Resources

Read about our Policy goals & Actions you can take

Download a Lesson Plan for your own class or group

Download a 1- page brief on writing letters

Tell Others!

Facebook, tweet, or blog about the issue

Yes! I want to be a part of the volunteer outreach committee

Visit the national campaign site for additional details.

Children of all ages are encouraged to attend Green City Market and Slow Food Chicago’s “Kids Write to Eat” event on Saturday, February 27. It’s an opportunity for America’s youth to participate in a letter-writing campaign to Congress, speaking out about their wishes for the Child Nutrition Act and its governance of U.S. school lunch programs.

The campaign takes places from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. upstairs in the Nature Museum North Gallery. We’ll provide the paper, pens and crayons! Be sure to stop by and have your voices heard.

Follow this link for specific guidelines from The Slow Food USA Time for Lunch Campaign about how people of all ages and backgrounds can let their voices be heard regarding healthy eating options in schools. Stage your own letter writing campaign and be a champion for change!

Slow Food Chicago’s 2010 Annual Meeting

Couldn’t make it to the 2010 Annual Meeting on Jan. 31st? You can hear the presentation online:
1. Recap of 2009 for Slow Food Chicago

2. Marsha Guerrero speaking about the Edible Schoolyard (begins at 17:56)

3. SFC Plan for 2010 & Ways to Get Involved (begins at 54:41)

(Breeze through the slides HERE or just listen to Marsha’s discussion HERE)

2010 opportunities include:
1. Events (planning, coordinating, and executing events)
2. Advocacy & Food Justice (campaigning, outreach)
3. preSERVE initiative (project planning, site improvement, fund-raising)
4. Terra Madre (event planning, fundraising)
5. Membership Outreach (donor support, volunteer management, communications)

And other specific skills: website help, grant writing, photographer, social media, marketing & design

Whether you have special skills or are just interest in helping out, there’s a place for you to lend a hand. If you’d like to volunteer, in any capacity, or simply want more information on how to contribute to the mission of Slow Food Chicago, please fill out the following form. Questions? Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Start Time: 2:00 PM
Date: Feb 21st

Slow Food Cityʼs Edge is pleased to present Rick Belding, pioneering orchardist and head of the fruit and vegetable collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Rick will provide specific information on methods and formulations used in the organic care of Chicago Botanic Gardenʼs apple orchards. His insightful presentation will provide homeowners with the requisite information on how to grow Americaʼs favorite fruit in their own backyard. Rick is a leader and a generous educator and with the knowledge gained at his presentation we will be able to continue the work of the Slow Food movement to preserve countless varieties of heirloom apples.

Come prepared to learn and taste an heirloom apple treat. We will also make some varieties of heirloom apple trees available for sale and future pickup

Tickets may be purchased directly from Brown Paper Tickets for $20 – Event ID 96757
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/96757

For additional information, contact: info {at} slowfoodcitysedge(.)org

We’re Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery, located two miles north of Urbana and Champaign, IL. In 2005 we were licensed to produce farmstead goat milk cheeses from our own goats’ milk, and since 2008 we have also made sheep milk cheeses from milk we buy an Amish dairy south of us in Arthur. Also starting in 2008 we offer popular all-local dinners on the farm, with products from our farm and from neighboring local farms.

We are concerned about planned construction of a roadway, Olympian Drive, that would pave most of an alfalfa field that we lease adjacent to our property, bisect Centennial farms and a major wildlife corridor, and remove close to 100 acres of prime farmland from production. The stated purpose is to develop this beautiful farmland for light industry that will create “hundreds of jobs”; the likely result is unneeded and uncontrolled sprawl. In addition, the price tag, $27 million for less than four miles of two-lane road, is outrageous, when a freeway exists less than 1 ½ miles south of the proposed road, or two-lane country roads just north of us, can carry plenty of traffic for the foreseeable future.

Most of our neighbors, farmers and residents, are united in protesting this expensive destruction of our landscape and loss of resources, for dubious benefit to the community. We have offered constructive alternatives to state and federal legislators and local government boards, but they claim it has been in plans for decades and is needed as a “connector” (although it is truly part of a ring road system) for industry. Seeing all the unused land in and immediately adjacent to both Urbana and Champaign begs less costly and more environmentally friendly alternatives: keep development compact, infill to preserve farmland and make efficient use of infrastructure that already exists. New construction almost always costs more tax dollars than the community realizes from it for many years. We need to make better use of existing resources.

So if you can, please send a quick email to your state and federal representatives asking them to direct limited resources to more immediate and deserving projects, and make sure these representatives require acceptable and detailed accounting of why this road is needed – in short, ask questions and get specific answers. We think they won’t support this road if they see that citizens are questioning the assumptions of the proponents of the road. Thanks, and let us know if you have any questions – prairiefruits {at} gmail(.)com.

Contact the IL State Legislators: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/

Contact Federal Legislators: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

We’ll recap our exciting 2009 year and highlight our planned 2010 projects and events.
Enjoy:

• FOOD from Chicago’s local producers, farmers, and chefs.

• THOUGHTS from nationally-renown activist, educator, and Director of Special Projects for the Chez Pannise Foundation (including the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, CA) Marsha Guerrero

• CONVERSATION with the Chicago chapter members, board, and supporters!

NOTE: Unfortunately, due to much larger than expected demand for the event, we can no longer accept attendees for the Annual Meeting. Our apologies, but we will not be able to accommodate without a confirmed RSVP.

We will hold other public meetings later in the year and sincerely hope that you can attend. Please consider signing up for specific volunteer lists below:

Slow Food Chicago is run entirely by volunteers. We are always interested in meeting those in our community, members and non-members alike, who enjoy committing themselves to our work. Volunteer jobs may run the gamut from simply helping out on a single event to serving on a Board committee more long-term.

2010 opportunities include:
- Work with schools
- Children’s lunch
- Events support
- Food justice initiatives
- Internal functions (website, grants writing, photographer, social media, marketing & design)

Whether you have special skills or not, there’s a place for you to lend a hand. If you’d like to volunteer, in any capacity, or simply want more information on how to contribute to the mission of Slow Food Chicago, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Thanks to one generous supporter (Mr. Donald Sussman), the offer is even more compelling, since he will match all donations, dollar for dollar.

Take advantage of this one-time opportunity & help Slow Food grow!

FRESH! celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.

For the ticket price of $15 you get:

* General admission to a great film concerning decisions we all make about what we eat and how it is produced
* A fantastic speaker presentation by representatives from Slow Food Chicago and City Provisions
* Complimentary hors d’œuvres
* Complimentary beverages
* Networking opportunities with community sponsors and providers of goods and services in sync with the mission of FRESH! and Mindful Metropolis
* Free parking

Buy Your Ticket Now at www.mindfulmetropolis.com/fresh

6-9:30PM

Location: Southport Grocery & Cafe, 3552 N. Southport,  Chicago IL 60657 ( 773) 665-0100

Cost: $25-  all proceeds go to the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP)

Buy Tickets Now

Description: Join Slow Food Chicago for a tasting of forgotten fruits of the Great Lakes Region. The evening’s “sparkling” fare will feature hard and sweet cider tastings, regional fruits and other heritage foods, including artisanal cheeses and breads.

Speakers will include Dr. Gary Nabhan, founder and facilitator of the RAFT alliance, who will talk about the need to restore the abundance of heirloom apples and other fruits to our landscape. He’ll also discuss the culture of apples: the recipes, songs, stories and the skills to graft, plant and make cider or pies with particular apples.

“Cider, Hard and Sweet” author Ben Watson will also speak, along with local farmers on heritage orchard restoration and production, and honoring craft cider growing. $25- all proceeds will benefit the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project.

Start Time: 6pm
Date: 2009-09-17
End Time: 8pm

Where: Southport Grocery 3552 N. Southport, Chicago IL 60657 (773) 665-0100

Ticket info: $25 – all proceeds will go to the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP)

Buy your tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/81550

Please join Slow Food Chicago for a special evening about Forgotten Fruits of the Great Lakes Region. The evening’s “sparkling” fare will feature hard and sweet cider tastings, Great Lakes regional fruits and other heritage foods, including artisanal cheeses and breads.

Speakers will include Dr. Gary Nabhan, founder and facilitator of the RAFT alliance, who will talk about the need to restore the abundance of heirloom apples and other fruits to our landscape.  He’ll also discuss the culture of apples:  the recipes, songs, stories and the skills to graft, plant and make cider or pies with particular apples.

“Cider, Hard and Sweet” author Ben Watson will also speak, along with local farmers on heritage orchard restoration and production, and honoring craft cider growing.