Welcome to Italy 2015 -- view the blog for the newest updates!

Getting ready for Italy 2015, stay posted!

Harvest on Summer Street

 Many neighborhood gardens and small market garden farms could use help at harvest -- check out Craig's list!

Harvest in the Cornwall Park neighborhood

Processing milk into cheese -- making Mozarella

Just before stretching --  Mozarella

Norwegian lefsa, paper thin -- for fall Scandinavian Fair

Summer capstone -- Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture

Field-based Agroecology and Sustainable Ag courseENVS 410 (Huxley capstone)July 27-August 2overnight camping, weekends and afternoonsSpace limitedContact Gigi Berardi or David Swayne

 gigi.berardi@wwu.edu    swayned2@students.wwu.edu   Principles and core concepts of regenerative and resilient food systems
   Ecology of food (research and practice)
   Raw foods, grass-based diets, and homesteading practices   Practical applications and field work
   Field trips and field visits
   Permaculture design principles

Study Food in Italy

Florence, Italy Study food this summer in Italy ENVS 437L Ecogastronomy Intensive   10 credits WWU: June 16, 2014 (online option available) Florence, Italy: June 22 - July 6,2014 Optional excursion: Switzerland (June 19 - 22, 2014) This food course begins with a culinary intensive in Bellingham, also available online, then moves to Florence, Italy, where students study Italian and food culture of Italy. Students also study at the prestigious University of Florence sensory taste sciences department. Study is with renowned European faculty, Erminio Monteleone,Caterina Dinella, and Johannes Wirz (Switzerland excursion) as well as with Western professor, Gigi Berardi.

Info Session: Tuesday April 22 3:00 PM | CH 231 Thursday, May 1 4:00 PM | CH 135

6 food events in January and February -- to promote and to bond around Italy, good times, good books, and good food

The following are the February info sessions for the Food Cultures of Italy class, as well as events at the Co-op and Village Books in Bellingham, WA. The info sessions are more geared towards the student course in June and July -- but all of these are opportunities to meet up, talk, and answer questions.

Best Gigi

(1) Thursday, Jan 30

1:00-3:00 Viking Union (International Fair)

(2) Thursday, Feb 6
3:00 PM | CH 135

(3) Tuesday, Feb 18
3:00 PM | CH 135

(4) Tuesday, Feb 25
3:00 PM | CH 135

and also

(5) Slow Food and Nourishing Traditions at the downtown Community Food Co-op

with Gigi Berardi, Monday February 3 6:30-8:30 

(poster is attached)

(6) Readings Gallery of Village Books on Thurs., Feb. 13, 7-8pm.  Gigi Berardi, Western faculty and Global Discovery leader, will share her experiences and food background at the information session, including growing up in an Italian home and how that inspired her culinary passions. Berardi’s research in food culture and her belief in the importance of minerals, sun and Mediterranean fats in the diet strongly inspire her method of teaching about food. Global Discovery trips are non-credit and offer an opportunity for people to travel with Western faculty and immerse themselves in another culture. Enjoy slides of work at Slow Food hot spots in Europe, as well as in Bellingham and narrations by Gigi Berardi – who will be sharing excerpts from her newest book project- A Cultivated Life.

Information session for Italy Thursday, January 16 at 4:00-5:00

Hello all, the next information session is fast upon us --

See http://www.wwu.edu/ee/studyabroad/index.shtml#summer at 4:00-5:00 in CH 137

An additional information/food session will be Monday, Feb. 3 at the downtown Community Food Co-op at 6:30. Fee $6-8.

 Italy program includes

• 14 nights lodging
• Most meals
• 7 excursions, including 2 into the countryside (biodynamic farm, wine estate)
• Daily instruction in Italian
• Classes at the University of Florence

Grand Total: $4,500 payable in installments

Please note the following:

• EESP  helps direct people to financial aid — over half the students have financial aid who enroll in the program.
• Excursions are not given in great detail, but they include in Tuscany: Chianti country, castle winery (with tasting and meal in the courtyard), hands-on ceramics/pottery classes, cooking classes, biological farm. An optional Switzerland excursion also is available (cost, additional).
• The weekend in between the two weeks of instruction and excursions is free, but sometimes we go as a group to Assisi, Perugia (this is another region — Umbria), or in Cinque Terra (region: Liguria) along the Italian riviera. 
• Also included in the price are two optional field trips in Whatcom County and on Lopez Island, once we return.
• Additional credits are available (you can talk to me about this).

Some of the best feedback can be found here: VISIT GINA'S BLOG, THE COURSE DAY-BY-DAY: http://good4ugastronomy.blogspot.com/ and also: https://www.facebook.com/groups/629347747092601/