Slow Food USA, in conjunction with the local chapters throughout the Heartland, has designated the Terra Madre Relief Fund as the movement’s official response to the devastation caused by the strong storms and flooding of the past few weeks. A portion of the sales of A Cook’s Journey will go to support these efforts.

Iowa, and the rest of the Upper Mississippi, experienced the flood of the century 15 years ago. That, of course, was a different century.

Over the last week Iowans have seen floods unlike any in living memory. 1400 city blocks in Cedar Rapids were inundated with water up to 11 feet deep. 20 University of Iowa buildings were flooded. Interstates 80 and 380 were closed by water flowing 2 feet over their bridges. Levees have given way from Des Moines to Columbus Junction. 36,000 Iowans are newly homeless.

Now, that water moves south, breeching levees in Missouri and Illinois, infecting groundwater, ruining lives.

All this will have lasting impact on our state and its neighbors, but the larger impact may be felt across the country and around the world. An estimated 2 million acres of freshly planted farmland is under water. Statewide, about 20 percent of soybeans and 10 percent of all corn grown is either lost or at risk of being lost, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture. The smaller sustainable family farms of the region are hit particularly hard because they lack many of the federal protections afforded the large commodity growers, but those big corporate farms grow roughly a third of the corn and soy in this country and the ripple effects on our already weakened economy will spread just like the floodwaters. Even the stockpiles left from last season’s bumper-buster harvest (those that were not themselves ruined by floodwaters), cannot be shipped to market because railroad bridges are closed or washed out completely and the Mississippi River is closed to barge traffic along Iowa’s entire eastern border.

Closer to home, my dear friend Susan Jutz, director of the area’s largest CSA, lost her 102-year-old barn to the storms. Restaurant owner Jim Mondanaro’s flagship restaurant is underwater, with all its equipment, furniture, and a $12,000 inventory of food. Scott McWane’s Dairy Queen, in the family since 1951, survived a Packard through it’s front window in 1958, 6 feet of water in the basement in 1993, and a tornado that opened it up like a pizza box in 2006. When the Iowa River crested on Sunday there were 8 feet in that same basement.
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Tags: Iowa, Terra Madre, food, food security by Chef Kurt Michael Friese
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Many of you may know that I have been working on my first book for quite some time. Well, I’m very pleased to announce I have a galley of it right here in my hot little hands, and the real deal just went to the printer. We’ll be releasing it in August.

A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland, is being published by a small local house called Ice Cube Press. The book is a collection of essays, 34 in all, about people who are “walking the walk” as it were, when it omes to the principles of Slow Food. Some are dues paying members of the organization, some are not, but all are working in their own ways to help reshape the food system into one that is Good, Clean, and Fair.

I’ll be shouting from the rooftops when the real deal hits the streets, and you can look forward to a launch party at Devotay and a reading this fall at Prairie Lights. Meanwhile, here’s what a few very nice people said about the book:

“Chef Kurt Michael Friese has written a terrific introduction to the theory and practice of slow food.” —Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food

“Artisanal techniques, sustainable practices—Slow Food in the Heartland offers delicious proof that these are not fancy new terms or culinary trends, but old-fashioned, Midwestern values. Through his honest and personal accounts, Chef Kurt Michael Friese introduces us to growers and artisans, chefs and advocates who not only put the heart in Heartland, but are also a driving force in the global Slow Food movement.” —Sherri Brooks Vinton, author, The Real Food Revival

“Move over foodies from the West and East coasts! Chef Kurt Friese has found in the honey-colored Heartland of America some of the richest, most delicious and sustaining farming and food initiatives anywhere on the continent. With a chef’s discernment of terroir, a photographer’s eye for memorable images, and a storyteller’s ear for a good tale, Friese takes us with him on an odyssey to discover what is truly nourishing the lands and peoples of the Midwest. Join him in this culinary journey.” —Gary Paul Nabhan, author, Renewing America’s Food Traditions

“Kurt Friese’s lovely, compelling and “slow” journey through the rich culinary heritage of our nation’s Heartland is one not to be missed. Whether you live in the Heartland yourself, or simply have a fascination with the surging local foods movement, you’ll enjoy this look into the food culture that is alive and well in the Heartland today.” —Tracey Ryder, President & CEO, Edible Communities, Inc.

“Slow Food in the Heartland will give great encouragement to the reader who cares about good food and enjoys sitting down to a convivial table. Kurt Friese has drawn a new portrait of the Heartland, these states are teaming with good cooks, fine producers and appreciative eaters who are turning their abilities and senses towards delicious foods and worthy traditions.”—Deborah Madison, Author of Local Flavors, Cooking and Eating From America’s Farmers Markets

“A Cook’s Journey is enthusiastic and appetizing proof positive that the food of the Midwest is much more than acres of corn and covered dish. How many people know that some of America’s most beloved food traditions were born in and continue to thrive in the Heartland? Friese’s charming portraits shine a light on these traditions and give insight into the many farmers, artisans, cooks, purveyors and activists who are slowly but steadily making our food system more sustainable and delicious. Here’s a voice that reminds us of the simple and deeply satisfying pleasures of the table, community, and pride of place.”—Erika Lesser, Executive Director, Slow Food USA

Stay tuned for more news, same Slow time, same Slow channel.

Tags: A Cook's Journey, Book, Deborah Madison, Erika Lesser, Gary Paul Nabhan, Michael Pollan, Sherri Brooks Vinton, Slow Food, Tracey Ryder by Chef Kurt Michael Friese
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