Promoting good, clean, fair food in Portland, OR

Attending the Organic Seed Growers Conference opened my eyes to the deeper stories behind the food we grow and eat. Representing Slow Food Portland, I connected with seed savers, farmers, and activists from around the world who reminded me that seeds are more than just the start of a plant—they're vessels of culture, memory, and resistance. This blog shares some reflections from a weekend that left me inspired and hopeful for the future of our food system.

Reflecting on an eventful year, the 2024 Slow Food Portland Year in Review captures the essence of community and collaboration. We're grateful for continued partnerships with venues like Cookshop and supporters such as Aviation American Gin, whose efforts helped raise over $3,000 during Negroni Week. From engaging talks on the Oregon olive oil industry to interactive farm tours and enriching community potlucks, join us in celebrating a year of significant impact and connection within our local food movement.

Our Slow Food Portland board chair, Michael Albert, recently showcased his culinary creativity at the "How Have You Bean" event hosted at Wellspent Market on December 1st. For those who relished the dish and for our community eager to recreate it at home, here's the vegetarian version of a Southern classic—Hoppin' John.

This is a southern dish traditionally served on New Year’s Day over rice using black-eyed peas. If Butterscotch beans are available, they are a great substitute, otherwise, navy or cannellini beans will work great. The best version uses dried beans soaked overnight, but canned will do.

Have you made it to one of our recent Conviviums? If so, you may have sampled one of our board member’s tasty treats, her Olive Oil Cake. We're thrilled to share this beloved recipe with our Slow Food Portland community. This cake is rather simple and will only be as good as the olive oil you use (hint: splurge for the good stuff, at least for the final drizzle), highlighting the deliciousness of the oil. This cake pairs wonderfully with fresh fruit and whipped cream

When was the last time you thought about the biodiversity of your diet? For the Slow Food Movement, protecting and defending the biodiversity of cherished food products is a top priority. One of the ways this work manifests is through the online catalog The Ark of Taste.

Oregon is a great place for farming, with rich soils and a (mostly!) benevolent climate, and visitors and residents enjoy the resulting bounty of local food, other farm products, farmers markets, and agritourism. However, development and other pressures threaten our farming communities and make it harder for those who don’t already own land to continue this legacy.

In 2023 Slow Food Portland set out to host a range of social and educational events in order to re-engage with our community, to help promote local small businesses and to raise awareness about important sustainable food systems work being done by other organizations.

Promoting foods grown by regional farms in schools can help expose children to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, while inciting a curiosity about new foods and their local food systems.