December 10, 2010, Mary’s River Grange, Philomath, Oregon

Ten Rivers Food Web, Slow Food Corvallis, and the Mary’s River Grange teamed up to produce a fun, food-focused December event to celebrate Terra Madre and, simultaneously, to celebrate our local food-shed during the holiday season. The community gathering was held on Friday, December 10th at the newly refurbished Mary’s River Grange Hall in Philomath, and included a local food fair and talks about our delegates’ experiences at Terra Madre, from 4 to 8 pm. Terra Madre is Slow Food’s international congress of good, clean, fair food producers from around the world. Over 5,000 food producers, chefs and food activists gathered in Torino, Italy in October 2010 to learn from each other and network about ways to preserve and re-connect to local food traditions.

Several delegates from the mid-Willamette Valley were selected to participate in Terra Madre 2010 and shared their experiences and insights at our Terra Madre Day Celebration. Participants heard inspiring stories of international and cross-cultural exchange and got an opportunity to taste the evidence of Terra Madre 2010’s lasting impact on the Willamette Valley. Speakers included Terra Madre delegates Joan Gross and Kate Griffin; farmer-delegates Andrew Still (who featured prominently on the event poster) and Sarah Kleeger presented their products at a table, and Chef JC Mersmann of Gathering Together Farm presented tastes of his locally produced sausages.

At the food fair, a variety of local producers presented their best wares for sale, for holiday gifts and general enjoyment from 4 until 8 pm closing. Locally crafted mustards, honey, CSA shares, beer, wine, winter vegetables, and more were provided by vendors including the Weinsteiger Mustard Co., Matt-Cyn Farm, Herbal Alchemy, Lumos Wines, The Mushroomery, Earth and Sea Salts, Gathering Together Farm, Sunset Valley Organics, Two Track Farm, Nuts Around the World, Honey Tree Apiaries, Charles Goodrich, Denison Farms, Stalford Seed Farms, Open Oak Farm, My Pharm, Oregon Trail Brewery, Rocket Queen Cupcakes, and First Alternative Co-op. Ready-to-eat (and take home and freeze) tamales by Intaba of FireWorks Restaurant completed the festive atmosphere of the event.

Perfect atmospheric background music was provided by When Picks Fly.
A donation drawing and silent auction were also part of the event, to raise funds for Slow Food Corvallis’ and Ten Rivers Food Web’s future programs.