Events

CONFERENCE: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Annual Conference

November 13-15, 2009

Raleigh, North Carolina

The theme of this year’s conference will be Crucial Cuisine–Putting Rare Breeds Back on the Table. The event will focus on topics such as breed choices, breeder selection for productivity, livestock and poultry health management, product processing (including whole carcass cut up), marketing, and business planning. In addition, there will be special focus workshops, including a repeat of the popular Effective Governing Boards for Breed Associations, and a poultry incubation workshop.

Visit the ALBC website for more information.

In conjunction with this year’s ALBC conference theme, ALBC is hosting a rare breeds recipe contest! (Recipes were due by September 1, 2009.)

CONFERENCE: Stone Barns Center for Sustainable Agriculture Young Farmers Conference

December 3-4, 2009

Pocantico Hill, NY

This December, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture presents its second annual Young Farmers Conference: Reviving the Culture of Agriculture, a program especially for young and new farmers. It is designed to help remove obstacles faced by young farmers, such as access to land and capital, working with various distribution channels (markets, cooperatives, institutions), lack of general agricultural skill-sets, and more. RAFT Alliance led workshops include “Selecting Heritage Chicken Breeding Stock for Productivity” and “Marketing Heritage Foods, Telling Local Stories”.

Visit the Stone Barns website for more information.

Visit RAFT co-founder Dr. Gary Nabhan’s website to learn about Gary’s upcoming RAFT talks.

PAST EVENTS

WORKSHOP: How to Raise Heritage Turkeys on Pasture

Saturday & Sunday, January 31 - February 1, 2009

Live Oak, Florida (Suwanee County)

Saturday & Sunday, February 21-22, 2009

Adams Run, SC

These American Livestock Breeds Conservancy workshops are an opportunity to learn how to do it right from the nation’s leaders in heritage turkey production, master breeder Danny Williamson. Topics to include: brooding, health and biosecurity, feeding and pasture, processing, marketing and more. Presentations will take place in the classroom and on the farm.

Registration: $50. Limited to 50 participants.

Visit the ALBC website for more information.

WORKSHOP: Selecting the Best Turkeys for Breeding

Friday, February 20, 2009

Adams Run, SC

To have the best product you have to start with the best breeding stock. Take this American Livestock Breeds Conservancy workshop to learn how to evaluate your own birds and improve your flock. Learn to handle and compare live birds for quality, learn indicators of size, and learn why to select for the APA Standard of Perfection.

Registration $75. Limited to 20 participants

Visit the ALBC website for more information.

MEETING: Kick Off for 2009 Providence RAFT Grow-Out

Sunday March 1, 2000, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

La Laiterie Bistro, Providence, RI

Chefs Collaborative is hosting a meeting for Providence area growers and chefs who are participating in the RAFT 2009 Heirloom Vegetable Grow-out. Other members of the local food community will also be on hand to help brainstorm outreach and promotion plans for the project. The goal of the grow-out is to help rebuild markets for produce varieties that grow well in New England and are linked to our agricultural and culinary heritage.

For more information on this event, contact

MEETING: Kick Off for 2009 Portsmouth RAFT Grow-Out

Sunday, March 8, 2009, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Black Trumpet Bistro, Portsmouth, NH

Chefs Collaborative is hosting a meeting for Portsmouth area growers and chefs who are participating in the RAFT 2009 Heirloom Vegetable Grow-out. Other members of the local food community will also be on hand to help brainstorm outreach and promotion plans for the project. The goal of the grow-out is to help rebuild markets for produce varieties that grow well in New England and are linked to our agricultural and culinary heritage.

For more information on this event, contact

MEETING: Kick Off for 2009 Boston RAFT Grow-Out

Monday, March 9, 2009, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Craigie on Main, Cambridge, MA

Chefs Collaborative is hosting a meeting for Boston area growers and chefs who are participating in the RAFT 2009 Heirloom Vegetable Grow-out. Other members of the local food community will also be on hand to help brainstorm outreach and promotion plans for the project. The goal of the grow-out is to help rebuild markets for produce varieties that grow well in New England and are linked to our agricultural and culinary heritage.

For more information on this event, contact

WORKSHOP: How to Raise Heritage Turkeys on Pasture

Thursday & Friday, March 19-20, 2009

Wheatland, Missouri (Hickory County)

This American Livestock Breeds Conservancy workshop is an opportunity to learn how to do it right from the nation’s leaders in heritage turkey production, master breeder Danny Williamson. Topics to include: brooding, health and biosecurity, feeding and pasture, processing, marketing and more. Presentations will take place in the classroom and on the farm.

Registration: $50. Limited to 50 participants.

Visit the ALBC website for more information.

MEETING: Forgotten Fruits Experts Summit

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison, WI

Dr. Gary Nabhan, Slow Food USA and Native Seeds/SEARCH will bring together a dozen heirloom apple experts for a day-long meeting to discuss the status of current grassroots efforts to conserve and promote heirloom apple varieties in North America and bring them back to our farms and tables. Topics will include: (1) the gaps in our knowledge-base regarding these apples and the geographic areas where not enough attention is being given to collecting scion of old-time varieties or restoring historic orchards; (2) changes in the nursery industry that are reducing the availability of such apples; (3) heirloom varieties that should be promoted through Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste and network of volunteer chapters; and (4) a strategy to assist those individuals who are doing the most to perserve American apple heritage.

This is a closed meeting. For more information contact and review the draft Forgotten Fruit Manual & Manifesto booklet on the Resources page.

WORKSHOP: Heirloom Fruit and Heritage Orchard Restoration

Friday, March 20, 2009, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison, WI

Native Seeds/SEARCH is hosting a heirloom fruit and heritage orchard restoration workshop that will include instruction in orchard production and restoration techniques, taught by nationally recognized fruit advocates and writers Gary Nabhan, Ben Watson, Dan Bussey and Kanin Routson. In the afternoon, Edgerton orchardist Dan Bussey will lead a tour of his own heritage orchard and a few others in the Madison area. This workshop is for experienced and beginning orchard growers alike, or anyone wishing to join the growing group of people knowledgeable and dedicated to the region’s unique fruits. In addition to classroom and hands-on instruction, the workshop is an opportunity to build stronger connections with local and regional orchard growers.

Price: $25 Limit to 25 people.

RSVP:

Workshop full

PUBLIC TALK: Bringing Diversity Back to the Farm and Table

Friday, March 20, 2009, 7:00 PM

University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison, WI

This public talk, co-sponsored by Slow Food Madison, the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and Slow Food University of Wisconsin, will feature readings on linking ecological and cultural diversity. Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan, Dr. Curt Meine, and Ben Watson will discuss the value of the unique place-based heritage foods of North America, the causes of their loss from our food system, and highlight recent efforts to conserve them and restore their place in regional foodsheds. The talk will focus on foods at risk in the Great Lakes foodshed and issue a call to action to communities to safeguard and celebrate them.

Contact Slow Food Madison or for more information.

WORKSHOP: Identifying Foods At Risk in the Great Lakes

Saturday, March 21, 2009

University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison, WI

The goal of this workshop is to bring together a small group of people knowledgeable about the region’s foods and the traditions associated with them. Participants will inventory food species and varieties unique to the region, and then assess which are threatened or at risk of going extinct. In addition to data gathering, this workshop will provide an opportunity to build stronger connections between people and groups doing agricultural conservation work in the region. The information gathered from this workshop and the workshop held last October in Traverse City, MI will result
in a co-authored publication.

This is a closed meeting. Visit the Resources page to help RAFT expand/edit the List of Foods at Risk in the Great Lakes that is in progress. For more information contact .

WORKSHOP: Selecting the Best Turkeys for Breeding

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Wheatland, Missouri (Hickory County)

To have the best product you have to start with the best breeding stock. Take this American Livestock Breeds Conservancy workshop to learn how to evaluate your own birds and improve your flock. Learn to handle and compare live birds for quality, learn indicators of size, and learn why to select for the APA Standard of Perfection.

Registration $75. Limited to 20 participants

Visit the ALBC website for more information.

CONFERENCE: Society of Ethnobiology 32nd Annual Conference

April 1-4, 2009

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

The first-ever symposium on the cultural and ecological restoration of traditional foods—led by Gary Nabhan and RAFT partners Rafael and Kanin Routson, Jim Veteto and Justin Pitts—will be the lead session in the Society’s annual conference on April 2. Topics include: “Restoring Historic Fruits in Oasis Orchards of Baja California: Determining a Baseline, Setting Goals and Involving Communities”; “Restoring Heritage Livestock Breeds in Pineywoods Communities of Mississippi”; and “Food from the Ancestors: Eastern Cherokee Heirloom Seeds, Traditional Dishes, and Strategies for Continuance”.

To learn more about the conference, click here.

PUBLIC TALK: The Conservation Question that the First Earth Day Forgot: Renewing America’s Food Traditions

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 5:30 PM

Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan will give a free, public talk about Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT). As a member of the headquarters staff for the first Earth Day in 1970, Nabhan never heard about the loss of biodiversity, loss of farmlands or how industrial agriculture contributed to American’s large ecological footprints. These issues are now being addressed by the Renewing America’s Food Traditions alliance and its many partners.

For more information, visit the Williams College website.

PUBLIC TALK: Renewing America’s Food Traditions

Thursday, April 23, 2009, 5:30 PM

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA

Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan will give a free, public talk about Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) as part of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Spring Semester Green Living Seminar on Good Food: Sustainable Agriculture for the 21st Century.

For more information or to listen to the podcast, visit the MCLA event website

PUBLIC TALK: Renewing America’s Food Traditions: An Evening With Gary Paul Nabhan and Ashley Rood

Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 6:00-8:30 PM

Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

Sponsored by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture

Gary Nabhan will travel from Pinyon Nut Nation to speak at the Ferry Building about Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continents Most Endangered Foods. He will be joined by local Acorn Nation environmental advocate and sustainable agriculture activist Ashley Rood, who contributed to this book and coauthored its precursor. Together they will offer tales and tidbits from the book, including success stories about the renewal and revitalization of traditional foodways. These stories remind us how our food choices can support biodiversity and reinforce a region’s distinct culinary identity. The presentation will be followed by a tasting of some rare and endangered foods found at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Tickets are $10. For tickets and more information, click here.

PUBLIC TALK: Renewing America’s Food Traditions

Sunday, August 9, 2009, 4:00-6:00 PM

Queen Emma Palace, Honolulu, HI

Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan will give a public talk on reviving food traditions in “Fish and Poi Nation”. A panel discussion will follow with Eric Enos, Director of Waianae’s Kaala Farm and Paul Reppun, Waiahole taro farmer and water rights activist. Karen Miyano, the Reluctant Caterer, will provide refreshments.  This talk is sponsored by Slow Food Oahu and Honolulu Weekly.

For more information, call 261-1172.  Suggested donation $10.

CONFERENCE: Mid-Atlantic Grass-Fed Beef Conference - “Making Sense of Grass-Fed Beef”

August 11-12, 2009

Sheraton Imperial RTP, Durham, NC

As consumers strive to better understand the origin of their food supply, grass-fed beef has emerged as a product of interest to both consumers and producers. In an effort to better understand the challenges facing producers and address consumer questions about grass-fed beef, the Lois G. Britt Agribusiness Center at Mount Olive College, collaboratively with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, NC Cooperative Extension at NC State, NC Cattlemen’s Association, NC Choices, NCDA&CS, Farm Bureau and a number of NC cattle producers are hosting this conference.

$25 for Aug 11 pre-conference farm tour. $25 for Aug 11 grass-fed producer panel and dinner. $75 for Aug 12 educational series. Deadline for pre-registration is July 24.  To register and learn more, click here.

PUBLIC TALK: American Traditions: Bringing Heritage Breeds Back to the Farm and Table

Monday, August 17th, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

The Study at Astor Center, New York, NY

Join Jeannette Beranger of American Livestock Breeds Conservancy in discovering the unique stories of heritage animals. Jeannette will describe the diversity and history of endangered breeds and the importance of conserving the vital genetics they represent to the long term security of agriculture. Joining Jeannette is Craig Haney of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture who will then take the conversation further to describe how heritage breeds are practically utilized at Stone Barns and how they are making a comeback on the American table. Wine and light snacks will be served.

Tickets are $25.00. For more information and tickets, click here.

CONFERENCE TALK: Renewing America’s Food Traditions

Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 7:00 PM

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan will give the keynote address about RAFT at the conference, Bridging the Gap: Collaborative Conservation from the Ground Up. His talk is entitled, “What You Reap When You Sow Collaborative Conservation in Your Community”.

For more information, visit CSU’s Center for Collaborative Conservation’s website.

TALK: Renewing America’s Food Traditions

Monday, September 14, 2009, 4:30 PM

Carleton College, Northfield, MN

Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan will give the school’s opening convocation address entitled, “Renewing America’s Food Traditions”.

For more information, visit the Carleton College website.

CONFERENCE: Chefs Collaborative National Summit

Tuesday, September 15 - Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Kendall College, Shedd Aquarium and the Chicago Zoo, Chicago, IL

The Chefs Collaborative National Summit will bring together leaders from around the country for conversations and workshops about our food and food systems. The Summit provides a great opportunity for chefs interested in sustainability to engage in meaningful conversation, continue their education through practical workshops, and share expertise from the culinary field. The first day will include a full day at Kendall College with plenary sessions and workshops and a Sustainable Seafood reception at the Shedd Aquarium in the evening. The second day will include a Chicago Green City Market tour and tastings, as well as lunch and the closing session at Café Brauer at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Speakers include: Rick Bayless, Frederick L. Kirschenmann, and David Mas Masumoto.

$200 for Chefs Collaborative members; $250 for non-members.  To register and learn more, visit the Chefs Collaborative website.

FIELD TRIP: Heritage Orchard at Kline Creek Farm in the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:00-6:30 PM

Chicago, IL

Learn more about heritage fruits of our region. Join Slow Food Chicago and the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) Alliance on a field trip and tour of a historic farm museum preserved from the 1890’s. Kline Creek Farm has a small heritage orchard with several varieties from the original farm. Enjoy the company of ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan and local orchard historian Dan Bussey as they discuss the history of forgotten fruits of the Great Lakes region. Bus will pickup and return from Cafe Brauer in the Lincoln Park Zoo. Sponsored by Native Seeds/SEARCH.

$20 per person (to cover transportation costs). RSVP at Brown Paper Tickets Questions? Contact .

WORKSHOP: Forgotten Fruits of the Great Lakes: Restoring heritage varieties to our tables

Thursday, September 17, 2009, 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM

Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, IL

Led by nationally and locally recognized fruit advocates Gary Nabhan, Ben Watson, and Dan Bussey, the workshop includes a historic overview of the diversity of fruit in the region.  Panel discussions focus on: (1) challenges and opportunities for orchardists, (2) urban and community-based approaches to growing heritage varieties, (3) strategies for how to get people hooked on these varieties so they will seek them out, and (4) the chefs’ perspective: what chefs are doing with heritage varieties and how they work with growers.

Workshop is full.

EVENT: Forgotten Fruits of the Great Lakes Region: Heirloom Apple & Cider Tasting

Thursday, September 17, 2009, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Southport Grocery, 3552 N. Southport, Chicago, IL

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 proceeds benefit the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP). For tickets, go to Brown Paper Tickets.

WORKSHOP: Return of the Buckeye Chicken Breeders’ Clinic

Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 10:00 AM-Noon and 2:00-4:00 PM

Happy Days Lodge, 500 W. Streetsboro Road, Peninsula, OH 44264

The Countryside Conservancy invites all those interested in reintroducing Buckeye Chickens to their flocks to attend this hands-on workshop led by Jeannette Beranger, Research and Technical Programs Manager for the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The clinic will consist of a one-hour lecture-discussion of heritage poultry breeds, their use in sustainable agriculture, ALBC’s Buckeye Recovery PRoject, how to evaluate production traits and practical breeding strategies for bloodline improvements. The second hour of the clinic will be devoted to careful physical comparison of a dozen Buckeye birds in order to understand how a breeder/grower can improve commercial traits over time.

For more information about the Breeders Clinic, click here. For more information about the Buckeye Chicken, click here, and for the press release, click here.

PUBLIC LECTURE & DISCUSSION: Heritage Livestock: Protecting the Genetic Future of Animal Agriculture

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 7:00-9:00 PM

Happy Days Lodge, 500 W. Streetsboro Road, Peninsula, OH 44264

Join Countryside Conservancy in welcoming Jeanette Beranger, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy’s Research and Technical Programs Manager, for an evening discussing the history and future of American livestock breeds. What is a breed? How do breeds change over time? What makes them popular and/or useful? What dangers result from the extinction of breeds? how do we protect the genetic future of animal agriculture? The program is designed to be broadly interesting for general and family audiences. The evening will conclude with delicious samples of heritage livestock meat (beef, pork, goat and chicken) prepared by chef Ben Bebenroth of Spice of Life Catering.

A donate of $15 per adult and $10 per youth (under 18) is requested to help defray the expense of bringing the speaker to Ohio for this program, and to cover the cost of the food. To register or call 330-657-2542.

EVENT: Heirloom Harvest Barn Dinner

October 11, 2009, 4:00 PM

Meadow’s Mirth Farm barn in Stratham, NH

The celebration will feature a multi-course, seated meal in a historic four-story barn overlooking picturesque Meadow’s Mirth Farm in Stratham, NH. Led by chef Evan Mallett of the Black Trumpet Bistro, Grow-Out participant chefs will each prepare a course for the meal highlighting heirloom vegetables grown by local Grow-Out participant farmers. Project farmers will be in attendance and honored at the event. Funds raised from the dinner will support Chefs Collaborative and Slow Food Seacoast’s continued work on the RAFT Grow-Out project next year

$95 donation per person. Go to the Chefs Collaborative web site to learn more about the dinner. Click here to purchase tickets.

EVENT: Heirloom Harvest Week: A Celebration of the New England RAFT Grow-out

October 12-18, 2009

Boston, MA, Providence, RI and Portsmouth, NH

Heirloom Harvest Week is a celebration of New England’s agricultural heritage, biodiversity and farmer-chef connections. On October 12th – 18th, all the Grow-Out participant restaurants in Boston, Providence and Portsmouth will have one or more items on their menu highlighting and honoring locally grown vegetables from the project.  Stop by to eat delicious food while supporting your local restaurants, farms and New England culture.

Go to the Chefs Collaborative web site to see the list of participating restaurants in Boston, Providence and Portsmouth.

EVENT: Local, Sustainable, Delicious: A Seasonal Celebration! Honoring New England Farmers and Chefs

Sunday, October 18, 2009, 6:00PM

Regattabar at the Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

This event will celebrate the work of growers and chefs in the 2009 New England Grow Out – a RAFT Alliance project lead by Chefs Collaborative that promotes farm to chef relationships and promotes the agricultural history and culinary culture of New England.

Cost to attend is $100. For more information about the event and to purchase tickets, visit the Chefs Collaborative web site.

PUBLIC EVENT: Franklin County Cider Days

November 7-8, 2009

Franklin County, MA

CiderDays is a community event celebrating all things apples in Franklin County, Massachusetts. 2009 marks the 15th year of the event, and there will be two days of orchard tours, tastings and workshops on grafting, cidermaking, and tending backyard apple trees. The event includes a workshop about apples of the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste with a guided tastings of rare and regional varieties led by Ben Watson and Tom Burford.

Visit the Cider Days website for more information.