“A Movable Feast” Canceled – But You Can Still Support Slow Food East End With Virtual Auction

Slow Food East End (SFEE) and the Joshua Levine Memorial Foundation’s beloved “A Movable Feast” benefit was supposed to take place on Sunday, March 29 at Dodds & Eder in Sag Harbor, but unfortunately as New York is currently under a “New York State on PAUSE” executive order, the gathering had to be canceled.

“In light of concerns about coronavirus, we have made a difficult, but necessary, decision to cancel this year’s ‘A Moveable Feast,'” Pennie Schwartz, chair Slow Food East End, said in an email. “It was difficult, because the support you provide is used for our 30 school gardens, but also our Master Farmers, the Chef to School Program, and many other events we sponsor and support. It is the right decision; your health and wellbeing means more to us.”

While typically the evening includes irresistible fare from amazing local chefs, delicious local wine and beer, and a spectacular silent auction – Slow Food East End has made it so that the community can still partake in one of the party aspects from the comfort of their own home. A Movable Feast On-Line Auction launched on Sunday, March 22 at 4 p.m. and supporters will be able to place bids through Sunday, March 29 at 9 p.m. The auction features a myriad of exceptional prizes that range from Dinner at Noah’s to a Day of Pampering to a Golf Getaway with Beach Views to a Bee Keeping Experience to a NYSE private insider tour to a Custom Fishing Rod to a Pizza Party for 50 to Veggies all Summer – and even Baby Chicks.

“We have more than 50 local business who have donated items for our silent auction,” Eileen Duffy, board member, Slow Food East End, relayed. “We usually have all the items on tables at our event. now, for the first time, it’s all online.”

Slow Food East End’s mission is to “inspire and encourage individuals and communities to change the East End of Long Island through food that is good, clean and fair for all.” Proceeds from the online auction will support SFEE’s more than 30 school gardens on the East End, as well as the successful Chefs to Schools program, an initiative to foster relationships between culinary experts and local schools – with the goal of collaborating with teachers, parents, school administrators and school nutritionists to help teach students about food and making healthy eating choices.

“The proceeds will go towards Slow Food’s mission for good, clean and fair food for all. Which in the case of Slow Food East End is supporting the current 30 school gardens on the East End, and this year we were able to give out $1,000 each to ten different organizations that wanted to start or maintain their gardens. We also give stipends to ‘master farmers’ young farmers who will help start and maintain gardens,” Duffy said. “In addition, we had a pilot Chefs to Schools program that debuted last year. Students and Oysterponds had an eight-week program that taught them food safety as well as cooking skills. At the end of the program the students made dinner for their parents and teachers.”

For more information about Slow Food East End, visit slowfoodeastend.org. To place a bid, visit givesmart.com.