Last Wednesday, CLUCK! got the go-ahead to convert a former gas station into an urban farm supply store as the Zoning Board of Review voted 4-to-1 to approve a zoning variance.  Located at Broadway and Courtland Street, CLUCK! is the first of its kind to enter the city of Providence.

Elias Ayoub and applicant Drake Patten sought the variance to install gardens and sell yard and garden supplies, beekeeping and preserving equipment, farm books, chicken feed and sometimes live chicks and young hens.

Opponents of the variance said the change would attract rats and traffic congestion.  However, CLUCK!’s presence will not only bring jobs and agricultural products to the area and encourage home farming, it will also support urban farmers, increase local food production, and allow other urban agriculture to flourish statewide.

And boy are you in luck: coming up in March, Farm Fresh RI is hosting its annual CSA fair at the Wintertime Farmers Market in Pawtucket.  The CSA fair will run on Saturday, March 16th during the market from 9am-1pm at Hope Artiste Village.  What better way to learn about what CSAs are all about and the food you eat than by talking to the farmers themselves, while enjoying the vibrant and delicious winter market scene.  Mosey on down to the market on the 16th to discover the ins and outs of the local CSA scene, and visit www.farmfreshri.org/csa for more information.

BROOKLYN, NY (January 8, 2013) – Slow Food USA announced today that Richard McCarthy will join the organization as Executive Director. McCarthy has been a Slow Food USA member since 2001 and brings 17 years of executive leadership experience in the non-profit sector. He will begin on January 22, 2013.

“Richard’s deep understanding of both food producers and consumers and his proven success in creating more joy and justice in communities around the US and the world is a perfect fit for Slow Food,” said Katherine Deumling, Board Chair of Slow Food USA. “I am thrilled that he’s joining our team and excited to see where his creativity and passion take Slow Food USA in this next chapter.”

“I am humbled to have the opportunity to lead the organization that has inspired me for so many years to grow community through purposeful food programs,” said Richard McCarthy. “In that sweet spot of tradition meeting innovation, Slow Food USA provides us all with the promise of a future where producers and consumers join hands for good, clean and fair food for all.”

McCarthy is currently the Executive Director of Market Umbrella (www.marketumbrella.org), an internationally recognized non-profit mentor organization for markets, community building and sustainable economic development. Since he founded the organization in 1995, it has steadily grown and now serves 1,250 markets around the world. At the core of Market Umbrella is the Crescent City Farmers Market he co-founded in New Orleans. Under his leadership, it became one of the first farmers markets in the Deep South to accept public assistance benefit cards, resulting in a 400% increase in the use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) at the market.

“I am most delighted Richard will serve Slow Food USA as executive director,” said Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food International. “He possesses a deep commitment to protecting our universal right to food and pleasure and is a proven advocate for the people who grow and prepare our food. The United States has a tremendous role – and responsibility – to play in leading the fight for good, clean and fair food, and we must continue to build momentum to realize the world we believe in.”

“Richard McCarthy is nationally known and respected for his pragmatic, data-based and highly successful approach to making good food available to all through his work in farmers markets,” said Ricardo Salvador, Director and Senior Scientist of Food and the Environment at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a member of the Slow Food USA committee that led the executive search. “His skills as a patient, visionary organizer and respectful leader will serve Slow Food USA well.”

McCarthy earned his master’s degree at the London School of Economics and is a graduate of The American University of London.

About Slow Food USA

Slow Food USA is part of the global grassroots movement led by Slow Food International, which was founded in 1989 to counter the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in where their food comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Slow Food envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow and produce it and good for the planet. Today, Slow Food has over 100,000 members and involves millions of people in 150 countries around the world. Through local community projects, educational events and campaigns, Slow Food USA volunteers are promoting environmentally friendly food production, teaching children how to grow and prepare their food, and working to make real food accessible to all. For more information, visit www.slowfoodusa.org

With the 2012 Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre theme Foods that change the world, the almanac reveals powerful messages and triumphant stories of those who are creating viable alternatives that will forever change the way we grow, see, and enjoy food.

Click here to get lost in the stories, projects, products, and people that “explain[s] exactly how we put food at the center of everything”, as noted by Carlo Petrini himself.

Looking for a last-minute gift for the foodie on your holiday shopping list?  Deliver holiday bliss with one (or more) of the Cornucopia’s Institute’s top ten foodie books.

1.     Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Joel Salatin

2.     Turn Here, Sweet Corn by Atina Diffley

3.     Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

4.     Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

5.     Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook

6.     The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz

7.     Plenty (Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet) by Alisa Smith, J.B. Mackinnon

8.     Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe by Maria Rodale

9.     Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

10.  The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

Where can you get fresh Rhode Island food during the cold winter months?  This year 6 different winter farmers markets are available throughout the state, from North Kingstown to Aquidneck Island to Glocester and several stops in between, Rhode Islanders can find fresh, Rhode Island grown food in every corner of the state.  Though often thought of as a time of rest and recuperation, wintertime in Rhode Island brings forth a prolific and abundant harvest with everything from potatoes, carrots, and onions; to brussels sprouts, apples, and kale; milk, eggs, cheese, and meat; as well as locally crafted jams, jellies, and preserves. Find fresh food at:

-The South Kingston Indoor Farmers Market in the Peace Dale Mill Complex at 1425 Kingstown Road (Route 108) in Peace Dale, open on Saturdays through April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m (www.southkingstownfarmersmarket.org).

-The Coastal Growers’ Winter Market in North Kingstown at Lafayette Mill on Route 102, just west of Wickford in North Kingstown, open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April 27 (www.coastalmarket.org).

-The Mount Hope Winter Farmers’ Market at Mount Hope Farm in Bristol is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m until May 18 (www.mounthopefarm.org).

-The Farm Fresh RI Wintertime Farmers’ Market at the Hope Artiste Village at 1005 Main Street in Pawtucket is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through May 11. From now through January 30, the market will also be open on Wednesdays (except for Dec. 26) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m (www.farmfreshri.org).

-In Glocester, the Northwest Winter Farmers’ Market is open Sundays through May 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m (www.northwestfarmersmarket.org).

-The Aquidneck Growers’ Market located in the parish hall of St. Mary’s Church in Portsmouth is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through May 11 (www.aquidneckgrowersmarket.org).

Walk, bike, or drive to the nearest market and pick up some delicious local goodies today.  For a glimpse at what’s in season check out this RI Harvest Calendar.

Click here to watch my how-to tutorial for all your homemade pumpkin pie needs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

THE CHALLENGE: This September 17, you’re invited to take back the ‘value meal’ by getting together with family, friends and neighbors for a slow food meal that costs no more than $5 per person. Cook a meal with family and friends, have a potluck, or find a local event.

WHY: Because slow food shouldn’t have to cost more than fast food. If you know how to cook, then teach others. If you want to learn, this is your chance. Together, we’re sending a message to our nation’s leaders that too many people live in communities where it’s harder to buy fruit than Froot Loops. Everybody should be able to eat fresh, healthy food every day.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED: Sign up for the challenge! You can cook a meal with friends and family, find a local event, or host your own event. When you sign up, we’ll send you $5 cooking tips.

The enticing, easy-to-prepare recipes feature specialties like Greek dolmades, Haitian soup joumou, Dominican sancocho, Persian Kou Kou Sabzi, and Sudanese mulukhiyah. Together with Robin Radin’s beautiful photographs, these stories and recipes will inspire cooks of all levels to explore new traditions while perhaps rediscovering their own culinary roots.

Books will be available for purchase and Lynne will be on hand to sign copies following her reading and discussion.

Lynne Christy Anderson (www.lynnechristyanderson.com) is a writer, teacher, and cook who lives in Jamaica Plain.  For many years she worked professionally in award-winning restaurants until she turned to a career in teaching, first working with immigrant adults learning English as a Second Language. Her students–mothers and fathers from places like Guatemala, Pakistan, Vietnam and Morocco, grandparents from Haiti, Cape Verde, Brazil, and China–shared the triumph and loss that marked their coming to America and the way that food lessened the struggle by serving as a link to the past and a bridge into the future. These stories led Lynne to first consider the powerful relationship between food and cultural well-being and were the inspiration for her book, Breaking Bread:  Stories and Recipes from Immigrant Kitchens. Lynne was the recipient of a Bread Loaf Rona Jaffe Foundation scholarship in non-fiction in 2008.  Currently, she teaches at Boston College and Bunker Hill Community College.

Thursday, April 14, 6 – 8 p.m. at Local 121, 121 Washington St., Providence, RI 02903.

$20 at the door – this includes cover and heavy appetizers. There will be a cash bar.