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My first Slow Food event
I recently attended my first Slow Food event and I will try to describe what an incredible day I had. I hope I will be able to convey how an entire day devoted to learning how naturally grown and organic food has been so transformational.
If you’ve not yet read my reasons for joining the Slow Food movement, I encourage you to read the original post here: Why I am a member of the Slow Food movement
A Slow Food event is really like a meeting of the minds.
We were a small group of about 11 people and we spent the whole ride to the farm tour talking about food and the Food, Inc. movie (which came out in June 2009).
If you’ve not read not yet read my reviews of the Food, Inc. movie, you can read them here:
2) Review: Food, Inc. documentary
The great thing about my first event is that we spent an entire day travelling outside of the city to learn from the farmers who are devoted to producing naturally raised food and organic food.
For a hardcore city girl like myself, this trip was blissful because not only was I able to step away from my computer for an entire day, but I was also able to set my heels and designer shoes aside and sport my flip flops.
The farms we were visiting were in the area of Creemore, Ont. and it’s one of those new areas of the province I had never discovered before.
Our day trip took us to two farms:
1) Metheral Meats
2) The New Farm
We started the day under an umbrella of clouds and as we were driving to Creemore the sky ripped open and the rain poured so heavily that driving became quite challenging and the organizers (Miriam and Paul) feared that we’d end up in a big pile of mud. Luckily for us it was a heavy shower that quickly ended and the blue sky and sun greeted us well before our arrival to the first farm.
Our first stop was Metheral Meats! Metheral is a family-owned farm that naturally raises sheep, beef and pork. The animals on this farm are born on the grass, they are fed grass and they run around on the grass. The animals aren’t caged and they aren’t feed a steady diet of corn.
1) Metheral Meats is a farm that raises natural meats!
Our first stop at the Metheral farm was at the abattoir.
I’ll be honest that after seeing Food, Inc., I wasn’t too sure I actually wanted to spend anytime whatsoever ever inside an abattoir, but I’m so glad I decided to think of the readers’ experience before thinking of myself. I have to say that it took me about ten minutes to get adjusted to the smell inside the abattoir, but once I was able to get accustomed to the smell and the cold temperature, I was okay.
It’s not that it smelled bad, but there is a particular smell to a place where animals go to die.
Neil was the one who introduced us to his farm and opened the discussion by giving us an overview of what exactly happens in an abattoir. As he was explaining the day in the life of a sheep farmer, I started looking around and quickly discover how spotless the abattoir was. I mean, this abattoir was as clean as my kitchen and that said a lot about how they handle their meat.
We were then able to see some of the sheep they had just killed. I’ll be honest – I wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or not, but once the door was open I was able to see a number of very clean carcasses that didn’t smell at all. I was so enthusiastic about how brave I was in all of this new adventure that I took two photos (you’ll see them below)!
>>>> Photo of Neil’s son Rick holding a few carcasses of meat:
>>>> Here’s the saw they use to cut up the sheep:
>>> Here are more photos of the sheep from Metheral Meats
>>> Here are photos of some of the cut of lamb a lot of us took home:
It’s a strange feeling to be so close to the production of my food. Like most people I buy pieces of meat at the grocery store and spend little time wondering how exactly they get a sheep, cow, chicken or turkey from the farm to my dinner table. Meeting Rick and Neil and visiting their farm gave me a different perspective.
After the tour, we were able to select some lamb to take home with us. Since it was warm and we didn’t have much ice, most of us ended up buying frozen lamb to take home and we stored the meat in a cooler at the back of the bus. I was one of the only ones who asked for sausages and I’m happy to say that most of the other people on the tour regretted not following my move (I’ll reveal more later).
After the Metheral Meats farm, we were back on the bus and headed to The New Farm where we would visit an organic vegetable farm, but not before having one of the most delicious lunches I’ve had in a very long time.
I have loads of photos of the lunch, but before that I should give you the menu that awaited us:
>>>> Farm Tour Menu:
1) Local bread prepared by a local baker from Red Fively Breads
2) Lamb sausages from Metheral Meats (these were the most incredible tasting lamb sausages I’ve had up to now. I’ve bought some at my local grocery store, but I was less than impressed with them and never bought them again).
3) Raw beets and carrot salad (This was my first time eating raw beets. I love cooked beets, but now I’m totally hooked on raw beets)
4) A spinach, egg and organic strawberry salad (the spinach and free range/grain fed eggs were from The New Farm)
5) A spinach and organic strawberry salad (the spinach was of course from The New Farm)
6) Organic mesclum mix salad (grown on The New Farm)
7) Homemade salad dressing (the dressing was so divine that we finished it well before we finished the salads)
#8) Condiments from Culinary Condiments
9) Creemore microbrewery beer (Creemore was generous enough to donate a whole keg! I much prefer microbrewery beer to conventional beer and this Creemore beer was ice cold and so refreshing)
10) Mapleton organic ice cream (Mapleton sent one pint of vanilla ice cream and the other was ginger ice cream. Had I not been able to taste ginger ice cream for the first time I don’t think I would have ever considered ordering it … it was outrageously delicious and I went back shamelessly for seconds)
11) Homegrown strawberries from Barrie Hills Farm
As you can see from this long list, I ate myself silly, but I was so happy in the process. In fact, I ate so much that later on that night I went out with a few friends and could not eat a bite of food … I was that stuffed!
>>>>Here are the photos of our delicious menu (which we ate outside under the shade of a tree on three picnic tables … I can tell you that at that moment in time, I never wanted to go back to the city anymore).
>>> Some refreshing beer from Creemore Spring Brewery
>>> Organic ice cream and organic strawberries!
2) The Stop:
On our tour we had the pleasure of having Chef Scott MacNeil. After our divine lunch, Chef Scott gave us a brief description of a movement he’s part of. I will give you only a few brief lines of description on The Stop, but I intend on interviewing Chef Scott a little more.
The Stop Community Food Centre (The Stop) works to increase people’s access to healthy food in a manner that maintains dignity, builds community and challenges inequality.
The Stop offers so many incredible initiatives to help those who have less. What most impressed me was when Chef Scott explained how they made an effort to include fresh produce in each food basket they give to the less fortunate who visit their Food Bank (The Stop provides a three-day supply of nutritious and culturally appropriate food once a month to individuals and families who live in the vicinity). Wow! Most times when you see those big boxes where people leave donations for food, you often see ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese in a box, peanut butter (and not the good kind), lots of sugary treats and loads of refined sugar foods, but rarely do you see foods that are packed with nutrients.
As I said, I was so taken aback by Chef Scott’s presentation that I will spend more time with him in the coming months and I’ll let you know all about The Stop!
3) Touring The New Farm:
To help us digest, Brent and Gillian, who are the owners of The New Farm took us on a tour of the farm. This was such an incredible experience for a city dweller like myself.
The New Farm sells its produce at local farmers’ market, but it also supplies high-end restaurants in the city of Toronto who have a passion for locally grown foods.
The photos I have below tell the whole story about the passion that Brent and Gillian put into everything they do. It’s hard to believe when you look at their operation that they’ve only been farming for three short years (that said, Gillian grew up on a sheep farm in Vermont, U.S., so she had farming in her blood).
Not only does The New Farm produce delicious organic products that are eaten daily at some of the top restaurants in Toronto, they are also big supporters of The Stop!
>>> That is all fresh garlic you see below:
>>> Organic greens that make the tastiest salads!
>>> More organic veggies!!!
>>> Lessons teaching of the tools used to plant organic seeds!
>>> More great photos from The New Farm
>>> I had a great day and I look forward to the next Slow Food event!
I kid you not, this is one of my favourite Saturdays in a long time!
I’m looking forward to future Slow Food events and I’m also looking forward to the Terra Madre event, which happens every two years in Italy … the idea of spending five days eating Italian food grown by smaller farmers thrills me to no end!
In the meantime (the next event will be in 2010), I will gladly indulge in events organized my local chapter of Slow Food!
One last word, I’m sure you’ve heard of the 100 miles/100 kilometre diet (where you eat foods that are grown within 100 miles/100 kilometre of your home, well this farm event was exactly it and it could not have tasted better!
>>> Key Websites if you want to recreate your own farm day trip:
1) You’ll find many chapters of Slow Food movements in many countries around the world. To find out more, I highly suggest that you visit the main site and pick your country to become a member of one of the coolest movements around: Slow Food
2) Metheral Meats farm: Here’s a link where you’ll be able to find all the information you need: Metheral Meats farm
3) If you are looking for organic vegetables that are grown with lots of love, I’d say you need to head to: The New Farm
4) Barrie Hill Farms: You’ll find a lot of yummy berries at: Barrie Hill Farms
5) The Stop Community Food Centre (The Stop): This is the most innovative community centre I’ve ever heard of: The Stop
6) Mapleton Organic ice cream is out of this world. You can discover them for yourself: Mapleton Organic
7) If you like microbrewery beer as much as I do, you love this beer: Creemore Springs Brewery
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