If you think all cooking oils are created equal, we suggest you make plans to attend the next meeting of Slow Food Buffalo Niagara at 6:30 p.m. Monday, February 25, at D’Avolio Olive Oils and Vinegars, 5409 Main St., Williamsville.
The focus of the program, which will be free and open to the public, will be sorting out the facts and myths about vegetable and olive oils, how they are produced and how they can impact your health.
As health-conscious Americans in recent decades have turned away from animal fats in favor of those from vegetables, U.S. production of fats and oils has surpassed 12 million metric tons. Telling the “good” from the “bad” when it comes to vegetable and gourmet oils isn’t easy and labeling on bottles promotes them all as “healthy.”
Our speakers will be Niki Klem, a registered dietitian, and Danny Gagliardo, founder and owner of D’Avolio Olive Oils and Vinegars.
A registered dietitian with a passion for whole and local foods, Klem is a full-time faculty member in the Food and Nutrition Department at Trocaire College. She also is a member of the board of directors of Slow Food Buffalo Niagara.
Gagliardo, whose family has been cooking with olive oil in the restaurant business for more than 90 years, opened D’Avolio in 2010. Now with five locations in Buffalo Niagara and a growing online business, D’Avolio is a purveyor of fine olive oils, vinegars and gourmet oils. Olive oils will be sampled during Gagliardo’s presentation.
Slow Food Buffalo Niagara is a chapter of Slow Food USA and shares its belief that everyone has the right to good, clean and fair food. Slow Food USA advocates for food and farming policies that are good for the public, good for our planet and good for farmers and workers.