The Year of Slow Food

We hope you are feeling rejuvenated by the holiday break and inspired by the start of the New Year! We look forward to seeing you back at the IWFM this Saturday, January 8^th!

We have very exciting news to kick off 2011! Josh Virtel, President of Slow Food USA, will be speaking at the Slow Food Indy annual meeting on January 16^th! This is a very rare opportunity, and we strongly encourage you to do whatever you have to do to come and hear Josh speak about the incredible work being done nationally and internationally within the Slow Food community to change the system that will feed us, our children and our grandchildren. Location and time (lunchtime-ish) will be announced in next week’s e-newsletter.

Josh’s visit to Indy is largely due to some pretty great milestones in Indianapolis’ Slow Food and local food community in 2010, and it is aligned with the exciting momentum with which we’re rolling into 2011.

Here are our Top 10 Local Food Community Milestones for 2010:

1) Indianapolis Food, Farm & Family Coalition receives a coordinator and begins to bring people together in meaningful ways.

2) The Slow Food Garden @ White River State Park is created as a public emblem of our local food community.

3) The first Food Con brings in over 2000 at the Harrison Center for the Arts.

4) Indy’ Kitchen, the first rent-by-the-hour commercial kitchen opens bringing the possibility of food entrepreneurship into reach for more people.

5) 100 City lots made available for urban gardening.

6) Taste of Indiana returns bringing enhanced “taste” to White River State Park.

7) Spirit & Place 2010 is on the theme of Food for Thought bringing speakers such as Will Allen, Dan Barber, Michael Pollan, Frances Moore-Lappe and others speakers in Indianapolis.

8) City Market sees a new era of food vendors open for business in the historic Market Hall: Circle City Sweets & Soups, Natural Born Juicers, Thomlin Tap Room, 3 Days in Paris, Valentine Hill Farm & more.

9) The Food Cart scene comes to Indy with Duos – Slow Food Fast, and West Coast Tacos.

10) The first food coop, Pogues Run Green Grocer opens its doors to a grateful community.

11) BONUS – Craftedspoon.com is formed, exquisitely creating poetic video stories of our local food community.

12) BONUS - Butler University’s Center for Urban Ecology and Earth Charter chapter starts the first Butler Campus Farm.

We know this list just scratches the surface, even adding two bonuses to our Top 10 List. We've been so impressed by other ongoing efforts and food entrepreneurship that have grown in important ways this year: Big City Farms, Pay What You Can Dinner @ Earth House, Backyard Grower’s Network in Greenwood, KIB creating a school garden coordinator position, New Day Meadery succeeding in Fountain Square, and Goose the Market expanding to the Smokin’ Goose in 2011. Plus, there are many exciting potentials on the horizon for this year, which we really hope we’ll all be discussing as we head into 2012.

Share your favorite personal or community food milestones with us on Facebook so we can all celebrate the year past and the year ahead together.