Slow Food Usa Celebrates Regional / Sustainable / Artisanal Foods

On October 2, 2005, Slow Food USA will hold Urban Harvest, its festive tribute to the farmers and food artisans who provide New York and the surrounding region with foods that are delicious, ecologically sustainable, and humanely produced.

Urban Harvest is comprised of two parts: New Amsterdam Market, to be held from 10:00am to 2:00pm at the New York City Municipal Building (1 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan); and The Spirits of the Region, a three hour unlimited tasting of the region's best handcrafted wines, beers, and ciders at the Institute for Culinary Education, (50 West 23d Street.) from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Both venues will showcase artisanal and sustainable products from New York City and its hinterlands, including New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. This vast region corresponds closely to the lands that were once claimed by the Dutch as the New Netherlands, with New Amsterdam as its capital.

New Amsterdam Market will be held under the magnificent vaulted arcade of the NYC Municipal Building, designed in the Beaux Arts style by McKim, Mead, and White. This setting, reminiscent of traditional European market halls, will be populated by over 40 farmers and producers, including those who are either new to production, too small in scale, or too distant from the city to participate regularly in the Greenmarkets. Offerings will include honey-smoked bacon from Betty Acres Organic Farm and pastured chickens from Snowdance Farm, both in the Catskills; artisanal Tiger Spud potato chips from the East End of Long Island; traditionally fermented sauerkraut and pickles made by Real Pickles in the Berkshires; locally produced milk from the newly formed Hudson Valley Fresh cooperative in Dutchess County; sustainably farmed tilapia from Laughing Duck Farm in the Champlain Valley; and chocolates made with locally sourced fillings by Cocoa Vino in New York City. Market goers will be able to sample dozens of antique heirloom apples and over 30 varieties of artisan cheeses from the northeast, many of them represented by the Vermont Cheese Council. Wines and hard ciders produced in New York state will also be sold by the bottle. Admission to the market is free; tasting plates prepared by New York City chefs with seasonal, regional ingredients will also be available. Tasting tickets are for sale online and at the market site (six for $20).

Independently produced wine, beer, and cider from today's "New Netherlands" will be poured all afternoon at The Spirits of the Region, a walk-around tasting at the Institute for Culinary Education. Hand-crafted American ciders  a food category recently listed on Slow Food's "Ark" of endangered foods will include those produced by Flag Hill Farm in Vershire, VT; West County Cider in Colrain, MA; and a new producer, Pup's Cider, in Greenfield NH. Beers from Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown NY, Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, DE; and Heavyweight Brewing Company in Ocean Township, NJ will be served along with other regional offerings. The wine tasting will feature vintages from Long Island's East End, including Macari, Bedell, Wolffer, and Shinn Estate. In addition, there will be a special tasting of fruit liqueurs and eaux-de-vie made by Westford Hill in Ashford, CT. Tickets for the event are $65 ($55 for Slow Food members). Informal workshops on the history and culture of wine, beer, and cider in the region will take place throughout the afternoon, and a special fruit syrup workshop for kids will also be offered.

For more information or tickets, visit www.slowfoodusa.org or call (718) 260-8000