Good, clean and fair food for all!
Good, clean and fair food for all!
Joins us (12.30pm to late afternoon) on the first and third Thursday of the month in The Levee for a "paddock to plate" experience at Maitland's Slow Food Earth Markets. From 1 Nov the Earth Markets will move west (1 block along...
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Ordering: Pre-purchase your pre-packed box of local produce and collect from Maitland's Earth Markets. Boxes must be pre-purchased through Try Bookings (the cost is $35 per box). From our Home page, click the Read More link to navigate to the Earth...
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The next general meeting is on 6 November. Our general meetings are held every second month with executive-only meetings held in the alternate months. For a full list of all scheduled meetings (general and committee meetings) in 2018 please see...
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Aimed at educating and inspiring growers on any sized acreage to grow high-value Australian garlic using good, sustainable practices, this is the first of a series of six events. The events will include seminars, marketing and a garlic degustation lunch....
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It's on again! Our November Food for Change Challenge! Join a global effort to reduce climate change by eating less meat and more legumes, nuts and seeds. You are invited to take up the Slow Food Food for Change challenge this...
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Mangos Mangos Mangos! This Thursday at the Earth Market you can get pesticide free, biodynamically grown Kensington Pride mangos right here in Maitland.
Spring brings abundance and right now it’s mangos – which are the focus of this season’s food rescue. The mangos are are on their way from Townsville and will be sold at the Earth market this Thursday 15th November (remember the earlier start time of 12.30pm).
Seven pickers picked all day to rescue a ton of mangos! They couldn’t rescue them all but they have done their best and the result is a ton of mangos bound for Maitland.
This food rescue has come about because when the mangos are ready in the Townsville region, they are picked in a three week period, creating a glut. Small-scale farmers like Helen and Bruce Hill cannot compete on price and volume so their prod, so this ton of mangos would be wasted and another farmer left without an income. So in keeping with Slow Food’s “no waste” philosophy and in support of our current November Food for Change campaign, shoppers can stock up and know that an Australian farmer is selling their crop right here in Australia and Maitland is doing its bit.
So come down to the markets this Thursday. Make a dish with mangos, add pulses, seeds and nuts and enter our Food for Change competition. Or post your creation on the Maitland Mercury Facebook pages. There are prizes to be won but, more importantly, Maitland will have another way for consumers to support Australia’s small-scale farmers, reduce food waste and feel like we are making a small contribution against global warming, climate change and the inequitable nature of our mainstream food system.
Slow food Hunter Valley would like to thank Townsville farmers Bruce and Helen Hill. We are also pleased and proud to partner with the Maitland Mercury and the Maitland City council to bring this delicious food rescue to our city.
In 2016 we rescued acres of pumpkins that were destined to be ploughed into the ground. The pumpkins were gathered by Slow Food Hunter Valley volunteers and sold via a pumpkin pop-up stall in the Levee in Maitland’s main street. The participation of our local farmers, the support of Maitland City Council, the reaction of the media and the amazing response of locals (far and wide) meant hundreds of tonnes of pumpkins did not go to waste. This proves that together we can fix our food system.
At Slow Food Hunter Valley – in just one year – we turned 704 kg of fresh food into nutritional meals for the local community centre. The food is distributed to locals who are finding it difficult to make ends meet. This process is made possible through donations from local farmers, home gardeners with excess produce, and Greenhills Fresh Grocer. As many as seventeen Slow Food Hunter Valley volunteers have helped with the preparation and cooking at the Reader’s Cafe in East Maitland.
To encourage farmers and chefs in and around the Hunter Valley to focus on – and work with – local, seasonal produce we offer a scholarship to Turin, Italy to attend the bi-annual Terra Madre (Mother Earth) event. In 2016 Tom Christie, a local small-scale farmer, was the winner of the inaugural scholarship. The experience provided Tom with exposure to a wealth of knowledge from farmers across the globe and enabled him to realise the potential of small-scale farming. This scholarship will be open again in 2018.
Slow Food Hunter Valley continues to support school gardens such as the Telarah Public School who runs a Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. The garden provides 130 children access a two-hour program each fortnight. As the program has matured, the teaching focus in the classes has widened to include applied learning in maths, science and English. It also engages parents who volunteer in the program and includes all student teachers who are rostered on for a turn in the garden.
Fresh food is still achievable even in remote outback communities. In Central Australia, Slow Food Hunter Valley is partnering with Watarrka Foundation and working with local Indigenous leaders and schools to grow fresh food. The supplies fresh produce to locals who would otherwise have to travel up to 600km (one-way) to buy what can be grown in their own back yard. Our Fresh Food in Remote Communities project has been ongoing for three years.
Slow Food Hunter Valley is made up of everyday people who, together, realise they can do a lot of great things that make a difference. And from time-to-time, a we even do a few extraordinary things. You too can make a difference. In fact, everyone can make a difference. Your contribution, regardless of how large or small, helps. So become a member, volunteer, come to a Talking Dinners event, attend our meetings, or make a donation. Whatever you can do, it all makes a difference.
As a devastating drought continues to impact Hunter Valley - and other NSW - farmers, Slow Food volunteers in the Hunter region...
On ABC' Women's Work, read about how Amorelle Dempster turned a field of muddy pumpkins into a slow food revolution.
Our friends at Warners Bay Community Garden Inc. volunteered to turn several boxes of donated aprons into bags that can be used...
The Tocal Field Days were held on May 5, 6 and 7 this year. Slow Food Hunter Valley was engaged to look after...
