Chocolate Can Be Good, Clean And Fair - Learn How

On Tuesday March 3rd, SFMV will host Kallari chocolatier Enrique Cerda and intern Rebecca Roebbler, who will be visiting Toledo to share the techniques of organic cacao production and artesanal chocolate making.

The talk and tasting will be held at 7 PM at a location to be announced. The cost will be $10 per member, $20 for non-members.

Participants will also have the opportunity to sample various chocolates in a blind tasting, including several gourmet, organic, fair trade, and single origin dark chocolates.

The Kallari Association is the first indigenous organization of cacao growers to receive 100% of the proftis from their own line of chocolate bars.

Kallari cacao growers transport their cacao harvest to a nearby factory in Quito Ecuador. The Amazon beans are processed when they are still fresh, only weeks after the harvest. Kallari is one of the few chocolate bars made without the typical Methyl Bromide fumigation of cacao beans prior to export, weeks spent in airtight shipping containers and months/years spent in storage as brokers await price hikes in cacao or chocolate makers churn out bars.

Healthy Living Series

"Skyrocketing health care costs send the message that things need to change."
SFMV Members Lisa Bowe and Kris Johnson have lots of suggestions for those who want to change the way they eat. Their Healthy Living Series at Grace Lutheran Church begins on January 19th.

What To Eat

Dr. Marion Nestle, NYU professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, will be in Toledo on Tuesday March 17th to kick off a series of events offering local and global perspectives and strategies on food production and acquisition. Dr. Nestle will speak at 7:30 PM at UT's newly renovated Memorial Field House, Room 2100.

The series is sponsored by the UT Departments of Environmental Sciences and Women’s and Gender Studies and the UT Society for Environmental Education and are supported by a grant for the Program for Academic Excellence.

In preparation for this visit, several groups are forming to read Dr. Nestle's new book, What To Eat. If you'd like to join a group, please e-mail us: slowfoodmaumeevalley@gmail.com .

What To Eat is available at People Called Women, mention the book group for a discount.

Goodby Grocery Store Hello Farmer

Join D.I.G. (Dedicated Independent Growers) Local on Thursday, January 15^th at 4:30 pm BGSU/Hanna Hall Room 205. Come learn how you can have can have a personal shopper (your local farmer!) pick your fresh produce every week and deliver it to your neighborhood.

Meet the food growers in your community who have been feeding your family and theirs for generations, and learn more about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Thursday January 15^th 2009 at 4:30 pm,

Bowling Green State University

Hanna Hall, Room 205.

Sample next summer!

First Event of 2009 Draws a Record Crowd

Forty plus friends and members talked, traded recipes, and shared an amazing array of soups and breads, plus a couple of salads and some wonderful desserts.

As you can see, it was a hungry crowd, and nothing went to waste.

The leadership group will be meeting soon to plan more events for 2009. Members who are interested in leadership opportunities can e-mail us (slowfoodmaumeevalley@gmail.com ) or call Paula Ross (419.536.0807).

Soup in the New Year

On Monday January 12th, beginning at about 6 PM, Ralph and Gini Behrendt will host our second annual January Soup Supper potluck, featuring soup-and-everything-that-goes-with-soup, for SFMV friends and guests. The venue is the fabulous Flying Rhino at 436 13th Street in Toledo.

RSVP to slowfoodmaumeevalley@gmail.com

Slow Events This Week

This week, friends and members of SFMV are invited to celebrate community with SFMV member Mike Szuberla and Toledo Grows, and to celebrate the holidays with SFMV friends at C/J Natural Meats & Farmstead Cheese.

WHAT: The Greenhouse Project Ribbon Cutting.

WHO: The NorthRiver Weed & Seed Strategy, The Community Integration and Training for Employment (CITE) Program from the Lucas County Juvenile Court, Toledo GROWs, the Toledo Botanical Garden, The Connecting Point, Toledo City Councilman Joe McNamara and other community leaders.

WHEN: Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 1:15 p.m (Ribbon Cutting) – and at 5:15pm (Celebration of youth participants).

WHERE: The back grounds of the Connecting Point (1212 Cherry St.) along Lagrange Street, between Seneca and Onedia Streets.

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C/J Natural Meats and Farmstead Cheese invites you to A Homespun Christmas - December 4, 5, and 6

Featuring Canal Junction Grass Fed Meats,
Made-on-the-farm Cheeses and fresh Baked Goods

C/J Natural Meats and Farmstead Cheese
18637 Road 168
Defiance, Ohio
419-399-2350
SUPPORT LOCAL - BUY LOCAL!