It's Old Bills 2022 Giving Season!
It’s Old Bill’s Fun Run 2022 giving season and this year we are celebrating “Six Weeks of Slow Food” with six “Tales of Snails”. Each week we’ll present a short video featuring a familiar face from the community sharing why their favorite Slow Food program is personally meaningful. Slow Food in the Tetons programs connect our community with good, clean and fair food. “Six Weeks of Slow Food” will feature our Cooking and Farming Summer Camps, the Local Food Discount Program, the Farm Stand and Online Marketplace, the People’s Market, the Teton Farmer Fund and the Community Gardens. Get ready to learn more about some of our most popular programs and why the community loves them as much as we do!
Old Bills Fun Run helps keep Slow Foods in the Tetons’ community programs running. We are grateful for this event which gives us the opportunity to highlight our work and to thank the community for coming together to support local nonprofits of all kinds. Please consider donating in support of Slow Food in the Tetons.
Week 6: The Community Gardens with the Morton Family
The JH Community Gardens program provides gardening opportunities for people without home gardens, cultivates green space, builds community, increases access to fresh and healthy food, and acts as a living classroom for growers of all ages. The three community gardens are located adjacent to Jackson neighborhoods and involve over 150 gardeners and their families who complete a combined 500+ volunteer hours and generate weekly harvest season donations of locally grown food to area nonprofits.
Week 5: The Teton Farmer Fund with Rafe Rivers
This week’s Tale of a Snail comes from a busy Rafe Rivers at the People’s Market. Rafe is one of our loyal vendors at the People’s Market and is known well in the community for his farm, Canewater. Last year Canewater Farm was one of the nominated farms to receive grant money from the Teton Farmer Fund. Rafe used the money to build a new greenhouse on his property, allowing him to extend his growing season and grow some of the delicious vegetables we see at his People’s Market booth and the Slow Food Farm Stand.
This grant is awarded annually with the goal of supporting Teton area farmers and ranchers and increasing the amount of good, clean and fair food in our community. This fund provides support for emergency relief, capital expenditures, creation of new farms/gardens, finding or maintaining workers, producer business incubation projects, and other food production projects. 2022 recipients included Canewater Farm, Larks meadow Farm and Winter winds Farm. The Teton Farmer Fund is made possible with support from the Teton Conservation District and private donors.
Week 4: The People’s Market with Johnny and Katie Ziem
This weeks Tale of a Snail comes from Johnny and Katie Ziem on why they love the People’s Market! Johnny and Katie have been involved with the market for several years both on the vendor side and now as loyal customers. The People’s Market is meaningful to them as it is a way for them to support local farmers and businesses and enjoy an afternoon engaging with the community.
The People’s Market is a year-round, in-person farmer’s market for local and regional producers; an incubator for local food businesses; and a gathering space for the community to celebrate good, clean and fair food. Impacts include over $400,000 in direct to consumer sales annually; support for over 120 local and regional farm, ranch and packaged food vendors; 50,000+ annual attendees; and designated free booth space for local nonprofits and organizations.
Week 3: The Farm Stand and Online Marketplace with Madison Gilmore
This week’s Tale of a Snail comes from Madison Gilmore, a frequent shopper at Slow Food’s Farm Stand and Online Marketplace. Madison tells us why she loves these programs, which include having access to deliciously fresh foods straight from her “backyard” of Wyoming to being a part of the Slow Food community through these initiatives.
These market programs provide vegetables, fruits, herbs, dairy, meat, baked goods, and packaged foods on behalf of small-to-medium local and regional producers. Summer shoppers line up under the tent next to Twigs for a chance at the first berries of the season and then continue to enjoy local food options online throughout the year. Online and in-person shoppers can find the farm name, farm location and growing practices on every product allowing them to make more informed decisions.
This summer you can find the Slow Food Farm Stand open on Thursdays and Fridays from 11am-6pm next to Twigs through September 23rd. Slow Food’s Online Marketplace is open weekly, Mondays at 12pm until 6pm on Tuesdays throughout the year, with a few off-season breaks.
Mountain Standard Realty is the 2022 Presenting Sponsor for the Farm Stand and Snake River Brewing for the Online Marketplace.
Week 2: The Local Food Discount Program with Sam Fogel
We are thrilled about this summer’s launch of the Local Food Discount Program! This initiative offers shoppers the option to select a reduced price at both the Slow Food Farm Stand and the Online Marketplace. These discounts are intended to be used by anyone who finds cost to be a barrier in buying nutrient dense, seasonally delicious, locally produced food.
We spoke with Sam Fogel, a Jackson local and hard working young professional who has found our Local Food Discount Program to be helpful to her personally as well as the community. By participating in this program Sam is also supporting local, small farmers. Sam states, “this is exactly what we need for a food revolution in terms of having access to super local, super sustainable produce and actually being able to afford it.”
Slow Food in the Tetons is committed to helping build a regional food system in which access to good, clean, and fair food is available to all. This program is being made possible with support from the Hughes Charitable Foundation and private donations.
WEEK 1: Cooking and Farming Summer Camps with Maria Turner
We are kicking off week one of “Six Weeks of Slow Food” with one of our favorite programs, Cooking and Farming Summer Camps! Now in its 5th season, this program takes place at the Calico Garden where kids spend five days cooking in an outdoor kitchen using ingredients from the garden. We fully immerse campers in small farm life, gardening, cooking and natural world skills. Students from 3rd – 8th grade are taught where their food comes from and how to create local, seasonal, deliciously healthful meals from scratch.
This week’s Tale of a Snail comes from one of our rockstar campers, Maria Turner. Maria attended one of our week-long Kids Cooking and Farming Camp this summer where she says she learned, “new things and how to cook!” Over 150 children and their families participate annually in Slow Food educational programming including classes, week-long camps and mini-sessions with our local food partners.
