Slow Food North Shore’s ongoing programs put our values into practice. We build relationships with farmers and artisans, teach food preparation and gardening skills, raise awareness and bring people together around a common table.
Slow Food in Schools
Chapter leaders Bhavani Jaroff and Amy Peters visit schools and pre-schools on a quarterly basis to include children in the important conversation about where food comes from and educate them on exploring taste, the basics of nutrition, growing food and composting.
Films at Cinema Arts Centre
We work with the Cinema Arts Centre to bring interesting films on food-related topics, including agribusiness, farm policy, school lunches and food safety. Besides thought-provoking and entertaining film screenings, these events offer opportunities to meet filmmakers, participate in discussions with guest speakers and attend receptions featuring locally produced food and beverages.
Gateway Park Community Garden
Slow Food North Shore was proud to join Long Island Community Agriculture Network (LI-CAN), a project of Starflower Experiences, and more than 15 other local organizations, in making the southwest corner of Lowndes and New York Avenues in Huntington Station into a community garden. This organic garden features 87 raised wooden beds that are free to the public. Twenty-four plots are expressly for children and six are specially constructed to allow easy gardening access for those in wheelchairs. In addition to growing real food and learning about sustainable agriculture, gardeners of all ages and backgrounds have found that the Gateway Park garden offers opportunities to socialize with each other, have fun and bond into a real community.
Slow Food Potluck Suppers
Getting together and sharing good food and ideas is at the heart of what Slow Food is all about. It’s the reason why our chapters are also known as “convivia,” a term coined by the Slow Food movement to describe groups who come together to enjoy good food and conversation while supporting local, small-scale producers. Our potluck dinners give Slow-Foodies the opportunity to gather in celebration of the local food community and its delicious bounty.
Other Programs
Slow Food North Shore members support and participate in a growing network of sustainable food-related activities, including: the LI Small Farm Summit, Suffolk County Food Policy Council, Slow Food’s Terra Madre Conference in Turin, Italy, Gardens in Africa, Sustainable Long Island’s Food Equity Advisory Board, Friends of Marion Carll Farm and NOFA-NY, just to name a few.
