2016 Heritage Food Project Highlights the Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean

This article submitted by Slow Food Asheville

You in the Slow Food community voted, and the winning bean variety for the field and garden trials this year is the Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean:

photo courtesy of Slow Food Asheville

This Cherokee bean has been prized in the Southern Appalachian mountains for its flavor and growing qualities, and this year Slow Food will be highlighting the bean in its community variety trials. Grow with us! 

Home gardeners, farmers, and slow food enthusiasts alike are all welcome to participate in growing the bean, sharing photos and observations, drying and saving seed, and/or sharing a meal at the end of the season to celebrate the bean and learn from each other. 

Sign Up To Participate Here

Our chapter will also be exploring the historical context of the beans and the stories carried within them. Clearly there is a tragic story associated with the Trail of Tears beans, evident in its name. Tragic stories are often some of the most important ones to be told. We seek through this project to honor the hardship of the Cherokee, embrace the legacy of the bean, and carry forward our collective learnings and seeds for the future.  

Slow Food Asheville is located at 1679 Barnardsville Hwy in Barnardsville, North Carolina (a bit northeast of Asheville)

Slow Food Asheville Presents a Night of Fatback in Film

April 24 - It's hog time at the Isis on Haywood Road.  Slow Food Asheville presents an evening of film, followed by live music.  You can get to know some of the local farmers, including Allan Benton of Benton's Bacon, in “Preserve,” a film by Blind Pig. Then follow the process of butchering a hog from start to finish in Susannah Patty's film, “Community of a Hog.” 

The programming wraps up with a short film chronicling FEAST, including the program's history and stories from its free cooking classes for children that focus on fresh, affordable local ingredients.  After the hour of film there will be plenty of time to dine, discuss, and groove with your new food-minded friends.  The first screening will begin at promptly at 6:30 PM, so plan to arrive early.

The event will be held at The Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 734 Haywood Road in Asheville NC

Slow Food Asheville Hosts FEAST

July 14, 4 PM to 8 PM at Highland Brewery, 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Asheville NC -  Slow Food Asheville teams up with Beer, BBQ, and You to support FEAST.   Support FEAST while enjoying a beer from Highland, BBQ and sides donated from local Asheville restaurants. There will be plenty to please vegans, vegetarians, and carnivores alike.

Groove to live music from the Galen Kipar Project and enjoy a dunking booth with a chance to dunk 98.1 DJ Heather Anders, Mountain Xpress food writer Mackensey Lunsford, Slow Food President Nan Kramer, Gypsy Queen Suzy Phillips, or Bob Bowles of Asheville Chef's Challenge fame. Door prizes include tickets to Navitat and tickets to the Asheville Food and Wine Festival!!

Tickets will be $25 in advance and $30 at the door - buy tickets at http://feastasheville.eventbrite.com/
All the Food and the price of one beer are included in the ticket price

Slow Food Asheville’s FEAST program empowers school age children to make healthy eating decisions through free cooking classes.

CAKE WALK Fundraiser for the Appalachian Food Storybank

April 29, 1-5 PM - Slow Food Asheville has announced CAKE WALK! Fundraiser for the Appalachian Food Storybank. The free event will be held on  at Carrier Park Picnic Pavilion, 220 Amboy Rd. in Asheville. A traditional Appalachian cake walk, set to live music, will be one feature of the event. Cake walk tickets are $2 a round and in each round, someone wins a cake! Cakes come from local bakeries and individuals, some using heirloom ingredients or recipes.

The fundraiser will also feature heirloom plant vendors, food vendors, demonstrations of traditional Appalachian tools and methods, and a phenomenal raffle. Prizes include gift certificates to local restaurants, a class at John C. Campbell Folk School, gift baskets, and more. Zach Phillips of Cultured Foods will give a Kraut making demo, and Jean Benfield will be present to sign her book, Mountain Born. Most of all, attendees will enjoy an afternoon in the park with good food and friends.

The Appalachian Food Storybank is an oral history initiative centered on southern Appalachian heritage foods and foodways. The project works to preserve and collect precious stories of heritage foods and traditional foodways in Appalachia. A “storybooth” will be in place at the CAKE WALK! event, presenting an opportunity for attendees to record their stories of history, culture, and heritage.

Sponsors, Vendors, and Raffle Donors include: ASAP, John C. Campbell Folk School, Imladris Farm, Reems Creek Nursery, Sow True Seed, Tupelo Honey Cafe, Bill Whipple, Buchi, Barbara Swell’s Log Cabin Cooking, Spinning Spider Creamery, Earth and Spirit Designs, Red Stag Grille, Wildwood Herbal, Rise Up Rooted Farms, Fifth Season, Eagledove Greenhouses, Gypsy Queen Cuisine, Southern Fryz, the Potters of Madison County.

Bakeries represented include: Short Street Cakes, West End Bakery, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, Farm and Sparrow, and the Montford Walk-in Bakery.