Slow Food USA Sign Up Information

IT'S TERRA MADRE DAY! JOIN THE CELEBRATION.

Thirty years ago today (December 10, 1989), the Slow Food international movement officially began when delegates from 15 countries endorsed and signed the Slow Food manifesto, written by founding member Folco Portinari. In the past thirty years, Slow Food has grown into a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries, working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food. 

Take part in the fight to change the world through food by joining the millions that have signed our manifesto. Celebrate Terra Madre Day with us!
Let's move forward together.

Rich History, Richer Future

To celebrate this anniversary, we are recognizing leaders whose diverse voices and cultures have made a significant impact on our network and the Slow Food movement. Increasingly, chapters and communities across the country are placing indigenous and youth voices at the forefront of our movement, along with the stories of immigrant food traditions. Our aim with this editorial series is to honor our history and celebrate our future by acknowledging both historical and emerging leaders of our movement.

@slowfoodusa   //   #slowfood

Dear James,

I was going through the photos on my phone the other day. Between pics of my little guy jumping in laundry and snaps of NYC life, something struck me: all my images of Slow Food involve small groups of people circled up and engaged in deep conversation. They are individuals connecting in a genuine and inspiring way, working together for good, clean and fair food for all.

Chances are you are one of those individuals. You believe in good, clean and fair food for all, and make choices every day to get us closer to that goal. We celebrated 30 years of Slow Food this year, and while it's exciting to recognize how far we've come, there is much more to do. We've got to keep expanding and moving forward, together. Your donation today makes this movement possible — from providing support to chapter leaders for dynamic local programming and resources for regional gatherings to helping eaters across the country understand why food matters and how you can make a real impact.

Your support makes a real impact.

We have so many outstanding, diverse leaders in the Slow Food network, and I hope you'll take a moment to read the leader stories we curated. These leaders strengthen the movement with an innovative and creative force. This coming year, we will be listening intently and lifting up new voices, to make space for a truly multicultural organization. And we want you to be a part of it, every step of the way.

Thank you for your generosity and for supporting good, clean and fair food for all!

Sincerely,

SLOW FOOD in the USA: New Mexico Chiles with Slow Food Santa Fe

— from Nina Rosenberg, Slow Food Santa Fe

In October, Slow Food Santa Fe partnered with the Santa Fe School of Cooking to explore the unique culinary history of New Mexico chiles in a delicious class led by Native foods historian and Chef Lois Ellen Frank.

Chef Lois, who has a Ph.D. in Culinary Anthropology, began the class with a fascinating discussion of the history of chiles, followed by a tasting that was similar in structure to a wine tasting. The group of 15 participants tasted six different green chiles: Big Jim and Joe Parker varieties from northern New Mexico, Hatch chile from southern New Mexico, Poblano chiles from both New Mexico and Mexico and finally Anaheim chile, the kind found most often in supermarkets.

TAKE ACTION // ON POLICY

Oppose the new SNAP rule that will increase hunger among 7000,000 Americans

Despite overwhelming public comment in opposition, including ours, on Dec. 4th, the Trump administration issued a final Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) rule that would limit states’ ability to waive work requirements in still depressed, high-unemployment areas for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) receiving SNAP benefits, pulling food assistance out from under about 700,000 Americans. This harsh resolution denies Americans food assistance when they need it most, when they are without employment, and even the administration does not estimate any improvements in employment to result from the ruling.

READ. LISTEN. WATCH.

photo of Sonoko Sakai by New Guru from Slow Food Nations 2018

We are very big fans of Sonoko Sakai, who joined us at Slow Food Nations in 2018 and just released a new cookbook, and was the most recent guest chef on the podcast Japan Eats! from the Heritage Radio Network. Listen and learn, friends!

The Kitchn seems to have an impressive but possible solution got for every holiday table scenario this holiday season, from A Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Hanukkah Menu to a round-up of 80+ Easy and Delicious Holiday Cookie Recipes.

COMING UP

March 19-22, 2020 // Durham, NH — Slow Fish + Slow Food Northeast Gathering
at the University of New Hampshire.

May 15-17, 2020 // Charleston, SC — Slow Food Southeast Slow Down

September 11-13, 2020 // Denver, CO — Slow Food Nations

October 8-12, 2020 // Turin, Italy — Terra Madre Salone del Gusto

BROWSE ALL EVENTS

@slowfoodusa   //   #slowfood #arkoftaste

A new year tends to bring with it an air of optimism and energy, of hope and the possibility of a fresh start; ever more so with the start of a new decade. And we're feeling it! We learned a great deal in 2019, and we're looking forward to putting that knowledge to work in the 2020 projects and campaigns ahead of us. We'll begin the year with a Plant a Seed campaign that focuses on the story of seeds and we'll end the year with a new food heritage project. In between, Slow Food communities across the nation will gather, we'll host the 4th annual Slow Food Nations and support the 13th edition of the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, we'll go straight to the source(s) to learn and share with you how to eat local in the real world and our partnerships will render creative and impactful projects.

It's going to be a great year. We're going to ride this wave of optimism and energy right to the end. Thank you for being with us in this new year and for your ongoing support of the Slow Food movement!

Cheers to a joyful new year from the Slow Food USA team!

Follow us on social media so you don't miss a beat!
Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // Linkedin

We asked Slow Food Nations 2019 festival-goers, 'How do you go slow?' This is what they said.

What's cooking in early 2020...

We'll be launching the annual Plant a Seed campaign next month. This year, we're focusing on the story of seeds — where they come from, who brought them here and how we use what they grow!

The Spring Food/ocracy Slow Food box will be released with a whole new batch of unique and tasty goods.

Slow Fish will host a gathering on March 19-22 in New Hampshire. Tickets go on sale later this month. Save the date!

@slowfoodusa   //   #slowfood

Dear James,

I can't believe 2019 is nearly a wrap! I just got word that an anonymous donor will match your gifts up to $12,500. That means your donation today will be doubled and we have just two days left in our end-of-year fundraising campaign. Will you take a moment to support Slow Food today?

Your donation supports leaders like Taylor in New York and Elsi in Florida. Taylor was the policy fellow for Slow Food USA in 2017, helping people understand the Bristol Bay watershed and how to take action. I've only met Elsi on the phone, but she uses Slow Food resources to cultivate an incredible community garden in Florida that connects people with their culture through food. Their leadership inspires individuals and communities to change the world through food that is good, clean and fair for all.

Your gift today will double the impact for Slow Food leaders and projects throughout the United States.

Do you own a business?

If you own a business, help Slow Food get off to a bright start in 2020 by becoming a Small Business Supporter today. The Small Business Supporter program is an excellent way to show your support for Slow Food in your business and beyond and make a real impact on our work to keep the movement moving!

@slowfoodusa   //   #slowfood #arkoftaste

Hi James,

Edie Mukiibi sent a note to the global network earlier this month and I wanted to be sure you saw it. Do you know Edie? He is the vice-president of Slow Food International and I met him in Kenya last year, and he's just a fantastic visionary for the global network.

James, we are down to the wire on fundraising for 2019. We are so close to the goal, but have $8,400 to go. Thanks to an anonymous donor, your gift will be doubled until the end of today (and the year)! Will you consider making a year-end gift today? Then let's celebrate the New Year!

Warmly,
Anna

--
Anna Mulé
Executive Director
Slow Food USA
718-260-8000

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Edie Mukiibi
Date: Tues, Dec 31
Subject: 30 Years of the Manifesto
To: Anna Mulé <comms@slowfoodusa.org>

Dear Friends,

From a humble idea, Slow Food has evolved over the past 30 years to become a global food movement, supporting the right of all people on the planet to enjoy good, clean and fair food.

Slow Food plays a key role in the defense of the planet’s biological and cultural diversity, the foundation of our daily food.

I believe these last 30 years since the signing of our Manifesto mark the beginning of a long journey, and a point in time when we need more than ever to consolidate our efforts, our support for each other, and our work to amend a broken food system and turn it into a good, clean and fair one.

It’s time to make for the Slow Food approach to food sovereignty, gastronomy, social justice and environmental justice into the everyday norm for everyone, everywhere: we cannot afford for it to be just an alternative way of thinking.

The journey ahead will be a long one, but I believe that together we can continue to go even further. This is why your support is fundamental to guarantee a better future for our planet.

SEE YOU IN 2020!

All of us at Slow Food USA are wishing you a happy, safe and delicious New Year's Eve!

@slowfoodusa   //   #slowfood

SLOW FISH 2020 + NE REGIONAL GATHERING
March 19-22, 2020 | New Hampshire 
Registration Now Open!

USE CODE 'EARLYFISH' FOR $50 OFF CONFERENCE FEE UNTIL JANUARY 31.
(ENTER CODE ON EVENT PAGE WHEN SELECTING TICKETS)

SLOW FISH 2020

Building upon the Slow Fish International campaign and Slow Fish USA national working group, we are organizing a 4-day event that will bring together fish harvesters, chefs, scientists, youth, and seafood eaters from around the country to connect, celebrate, and advance our shared values of good, clean, and fair seafood for all.

SLOW FOOD NORTHEAST GATHERING

The Northeast Regional Gathering will bring Slow Food leaders from across the Northeastern states together to celebrate all things good, clean & fair! Together we will plan for our region’s Slow Food engagement by focusing on key areas and programs of our network: Ark of Taste, Snail of Approval, School Gardens, event planning, succession planning for chapters, delegations to conferences, ideas for public engagement and more!

@slowfoodusa   //   #slowfood

GET OUT YOUR CALENDARS!

We've got just about a whole year ahead of us to gather, and that means a broad horizon of opportunity to gather, connect and work together. And it's an exciting year — regional, national and international gatherings of people from every region, community, industry and experience in the world of Slow Food! Get the dates below on your calendars and stay tuned for more info, ticket sales, scholarship information and delicious news.

SAVE THE DATES

SLOW FOOD CALIFORNIA LEADER GATHERING
February 22-23, 2020 // Oakland, CA
 Leaders from all over California are welcome to learn and teach, to network and plan, to create stronger chapters and a stronger Slow Food network in California.
And, of course, we'll eat and celebrate.

SLOW FISH 2020 & SLOW FOOD NORTHEAST GATHERING
March 19-22, 2020 // Durham, NH
It's a two-for-one! Slow Fish 2020 is a collaborative gathering of fish harvesters, fishmongers, chefs, educators, researchers and advocates working to create more direct supply chains based on Slow Fish values. The Northeast Regional Gathering will bring Slow Food leaders from across the Northeastern United States together to celebrate and plan for our region’s engagement in key Slow Food areas and programs.

SLOW FOOD SOUTHEAST SLOW DOWN
May 15-17, 2020 // Charleston, SC
A regional gathering of producers, chefs, students and eaters in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina.

SLOW FOOD NATIONS 2020
September 11-13, 2020 // Denver, CO
A good, clean and fair food festival for all; the showcase event for Slow Food USA.

TERRA MADRE 2020
October 8-12, 2020 // Turin, Italy
The biggest international event dedicated to food, the environment,
agriculture and food politics.

Are you hosting a Slow Food event in 2020? Add it to the network events calendar!

READ. LISTEN. WATCH.

This month, we're dedicating this section to George Washington Carver, at the encouragement of Jim Embry, the new Slow Food governor for Kentucky and long-time Slow Food advocate. Jim has been thinking a lot about Carver lately, on account of his exemplary and often overlooked contributions to just about every field of thought and work related to food and agriculture, long before the Slow Food movement even came to be.

"Carver was an ordinary man seeking to do extraordinary things, who climbed out of the evil depths of enslavement and perched himself at the very mountaintop of human genius and service to others. We can find the values and principles of good, clean and fair everywhere in Carver's life." 

Slow Food in the USA: 'Food in the Workplace' with
Slow Food South Bay and Airbnb

On a beautiful fall Saturday in Northern California, three dozen guests descended upon Hidden Villa, a teaching farm in Los Altos Hills, for a panel discussion we called Farm to Workplace. “This project is an excellent example of what Slow Food can accomplish when we partner with other like-minded organizations to nurture advocates,” Kim noted. “I was honored to moderate the panel discussion on my favorite topic: supporting values-driven farming. We want to tell stories to inspire.”

This was the first in a new series of talks called Food Champions, organized by Hidden Villa, Kitchen Table Advisors, and moderator Kim Marinucci Acker, food advocate and Vice Chair of Slow Food South Bay. The organizers — Kim along with Blair Thompson (Hidden Villa’s Animal Husbandry Manager) and Noelle A. Fogg Elibol (Kitchen Table Advisors’ Partnership Manager) — designed the event around conversation over a delicious meal “to nourish your body and soul, stimulate your brain, and inspire your inner food advocate.”
 

"“If you are here today we imagine it is because you think a bit about food and how it is produced. You probably shop at a farmers market, or at least give preference to organically labeled products at the grocery store, you may garden, you may even count a farmer or two amongst your friends and want to support them. And for those of us in this position, we know our dollar matters, that who we buy from shows what kind of practices we support, and we value that. But your personal dollar can only go so far. Individual purchasing power is important but it is not enough to break through the systemic barriers that keep the dominant models in our food system from being replaced by more responsible and resilient ones. This event is for you, and we hope it is a series that is for you. So we invite you today to celebrate what is happening to bring economies of scale into the world of farms driven by values.“

— Blair Thompson, Animal Husbandry Manager, Hidden Villa

This Valentine's Day, we're offering you a poem by a fisherman in love and
asking for a little of your love.

Before you get lost on the sea of love, help us bring seafood harvesters and Slow Food leaders to Slow Fish 2020 and the Slow Food Northeast Gathering in New Hampshire next month.

Our goal is to raise $5,000 to support scholarships for registration and transport to the event. We have already received over a dozen applications and your support will make it possible to bring new, important and diverse voices to the table. 

A Sea of Love On Alaska Airwaves

a fisher-poem by Kevin Scribner of Bristol Bay, Alaska 
Slow Fish-Harvester, Forever Wild Seafood

The Bristol Bay Messenger Service, FM public radio, where teenage interns read streams of love letters out into an Alaska Bush bereft of phones, satellite dishes, and timely mail to pillow sweet intimacy into privacy. 

I love and miss you. Nothing to hide when we’re in love, m’dear. 

An alchemy of affection arcs these words made public, ante-raising the simple: I love and miss you—into a hum now among many ears over airwaves, hungry hearts nodding in their own sighs of reveries with memories, saddled in bunks throughout the fleet. 

For millennia, did mariners bundle love in pouches tenderly tucked beneath bunks, or in necklaced amulets swinging heart-close? Some say being a skipper’ll save a marriage and make families, with house-bound pressures whistled away, gone with the outgoing tide, then joy and foreplay in the return, with a child or three conceived in time with the moon-driven coming and going. 

I love and miss you. Out around the Bay and back. 

Again: I love and miss you…a Summer-season Valentine as public as any crooner plucking heart strings in a city. What can embarrass a fisherman in love? 

I love and miss you, shared out loud, heart proud, with ten thousand souls my witness. 

I love and miss you…
 

Learn more and register for Slow Fish 2020 and the Slow Food Northeast Gathering. 

SNOW ON THE GROUND, SEEDS ON OUR MINDS

Your garden may or may not be covered in snow right now, but are you thinking about seeds? We are. And we're not the only ones... Farmers are ordering and receiving seeds for the upcoming growing season and seed companies are hard at work fulfilling those orders. We're all up in the seed mix, making some big seed orders of our own for the annual Plant a Seed campaign launching next month! This year, we're telling the story of each the six Ark of Taste seeds in the kit—how they got here, who brought them here and why they're important. We'll be launching pre-sales of the kit very soon. In the meantime, preparation for the Slow Fish 2020 and Slow Food Northeast Gathering is well under way and it's going to be a really great event. We launched the Rising Tide scholarship fund to bring more and diverse experts from across North America and throughout the seafood industry to New Hampshire next month. So make a contribution, get your gardens ready and go slow!

photo: Woody Roseland for Slow Food USA, Comal dish at Slow Food Nations 2019

READ. LISTEN. WATCH.

February is Black History Month. We're offering a few delicious pathways here to learn more about, engage with and support black people and communities in
food and agriculture.

Photo: Chef Arden Lewis of the Denver-based Comal Heritage Food Incubator and the Colorado Five at Slow Food Nations 2019, behind the dish pictured at the top of this e-mail.

This wonderful list, by Chef Therese Nelson of Black Culinary History, of cookbooks by "the tastemakers, working chefs, and culinary personalities of color" that includes Pierre Thiam, Carla Hall, Bryant Terry and many more.

People are talking about Soul Fire Farm, and for good reason. Check out what the Soul Fire team members are doing as land stewards and food sovereignty activists and educate/inspire yourself with a copy of Farming While Black by Soul Fire Farm co-director Leah Penniman.

At the beginning of this month, Carla Hall wrote in a post: "Black History IS American History, but I'm using this month as an inspiring time to learn and share more about our culture and the heroes who make us proud." Learn more about Carla on her website and savor the chance to meet her and hear her speak at the Slow Food Southeast Slow Down in Charleston in May!

Slow Food in the USA: the Slow Wine Tour comes to the US this month!

Slow Food International created a new guide to wine in 2010, to facilitate an interplay between the appreciation of the social and environmental impacts of wine production with our enjoyment of the age-old libation. The first Slow Wine Guide, published in Italy, was a watershed for lovers of Italian wine on both sides of the Atlantic. It marked a bold departure from the cultural hegemony of score-based and tasting-note-driven wine reviews, instead scoring with respect to the companionship between wine and the social and natural effects of its production.

The Italian public responded rapidly to the philosophy and concept of Slow Wine. By its eighth year of publication, it was Italy’s most popular wine guide. The guide initially featured only Italian wines, but soon expanded to include wines from neighboring Slovenia in 2016 before crossing the Atlantic the following year to feature wines first from California and now Oregon. Each wine in the guide has been vetted for quality in the deepest sense of the word, making way for unabashed quaffing.

This February, Slow Wine Editore and the Slow Wine Guide are going on their now annual tour in the United States. The tour will traverse five cities—San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, New York, and Boston—with tasting and outreach events. The events will feature over one hundred select wines and the people who craft them, and will preview the 2020 edition of the Slow Wine Guide.
 

WELCOME SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORTERS!

Thank you for supporting good, clean and fair food for all.

Antonelli's Cheese Shop
Fairfield/Greenwich Cheese Company
La Balena
The Fraiche Kitchen

photo: Antonelli's Cheese Shop, Austin, TX | The Antonelli's mission: Do Good. Eat Good.

We just opened applications for Round Two of the National Resilience Fund! As part of our commitment to equity and justice, and becoming an antiracist organization, we are dedicating a minimum 50% of Round Two funding to Black-led food initiatives in local communities. The National Resilience Fund directly supports vital businesses and workers in community-based food systems, through local Slow Food chapters and groups.

See the 23 projects we funded with your support in Round One.

Are you working on a project that might be a good fit for a National Resilience fund grant? Apply here with your local Slow Food chapter!
If you don''t know what your local chapter is, find out here.

THE SUMMER SLOW FOOD BOX IS HERE!

This limited edition collection of artisanal and earth-friendly foods will make your tongue dance and your spirit soar.  Explore delicious, hand-selected and unique products featuring heritage ingredients from the Slow Food Ark of Taste.
20% of proceeds come back to Slow Food USA.

Meet the Makers On Slow Food Live!

June 19, 2019 | 2pm EST

The Summer Slow Food Box contains 4 hand-crafted items from the Slow Food Ark of Taste. It includes the highly celebrated Jimmy Red Cornmeal, Heirloom Black Tepary Beans, cold-pressed Benne Oil, and Chiltepin Peppers. The makers behind each of them will be joining us on Slow Food Live to tell the unique stories behind each of these Ark of Taste ingredients.

INTRODUCING SLOW FOOD BOOKS!

Slow Food Books was created to connect readers and food enthusiasts with writing that inspires thought and discussion around the food you love, diverse food cultures, historical foodways, food justice, and the joy in food.

The Slow Food USA National Office staff will be reading How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi this summer. We would love for you to read it with us! We will be sharing the author’s discussion questions, creating our own discussion questions, and organizing virtual reading discussion groups with our regional governors, chapters, and staff.  We''ll keep you updated on upcoming virtual group sessions in this newsletter this summer, and provide resources to host your own discussion group!

COMING UP ON SLOW FOOD LIVE

RICE PAPER DEEP DIVE WITH ANDREA NGUYEN
Wednesday, October 21
​3pm PST / 6pm EST
Slow Food Live x Ten Speed Press

photo: Andrea Nguyen on a visit to Vietnam in 2003

Andrea will dive deep into all things rice paper, including how it''s made, the different kinds, what’s most accessible, and how to roll your own like a pro. Andrea Nguyen is one of the country’s leading voices on Asian cuisine and the author of the acclaimed Asian Dumplings, Asian Tofu, The Banh Mi Handbook, the James Beard– and IACP-nominated Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and Vietnamese Food Any Day.

NEXT MONTH

BECOME A MEMBER FOR ANY AMOUNT TODAY!

Hello, friends! Today is give what you can day, which means you can become a member of Slow Food USA for any amount! Membership is the best way to connect with the local and global Slow Food network. Our members are essential and enable us to educate, connect and sustain the Slow Food movement in the US and beyond with projects like Slow Food Live and Terra Madre 2020. Today only, you can become a member wherever you''re at, and be a part of the movement for
good, clean and fair food for all!

JOIN THE MOVEMENT.

We''re spending all of September answering a very simple question: What Is Slow Food? Because, hooray, it''s our annual membership drive!

You might be surprised by the answers. Slow Food is reviving endangered foods that provide important biodiversity. Slow Food is aligning with partners that center equity, inclusion and justice in the food movement. Slow Food is feeding communities fresh, nutrition-rich foods in the thick of a pandemic. This is Slow Food.

If you believe in good, clean and fair food for all, we hope you''ll become a member today. When you join Slow Food USA as a member, you bring important and joyful initiatives to life, like the National Resilience Fund and Slow Food Live, while supporting the 104 local Slow Food chapters around the nation. 

Take a read through the stories below and follow our social media for more. Let''s unite joy and justice as we work at the intersections of food, race, class, gender and climate. Let''s knit together resilient ecosystems where we can build and uphold a great diversity of people, cultures, places, foods and tastes. 

THE HOʻŌLA BEEKEEPERS

Kailin Kim and Kai Hudgins are native Hawaiian beekeepers in Kohala, Hawaii. Their journey to honeybees happened by sea and by land. 

Now, they remove bees from building interiors and relocate them to nearby places that benefit from the bees. They keep hives at their farm that support the orchards, flora, and fauna in the area. They’ve created an educational program for school children on the Big Island. They call it all Hoʻōla — 
to save, to heal, to thrive.
 

COMING UP ON SLOW FOOD LIVE

BANG BANG CHICKEN WITH CATHY ERWAY
Wednesday, November 4
​3pm PST / 6pm EST
Slow Food Live x Ten Speed Press

Cathy Erway will demonstrate the recipe for Bang Bang Chicken from her new cookbook Sheet Pan Chicken. Cathy is a Brooklyn-based food blogger and freelance writer. Her blog — Not Eating Out in New York — is based on a two-year mission to forego restaurant and take-out food in place of home-cooked meals.

photo by Lizzie Munro for ''Sheet Pan Chicken''

The COVID-19 crisis is far from over. We are $4,000 away from our goal of $15,000 for Round Two of the National Resilience Fund. Will you help support essential community initiatives, by Friday, July 31?

With such a complex crisis, it’s extremely difficult to fund a single one-size-fits-all initiative. The National Resilience Fund relies on our broad grassroots network to tell us what their communities need. We have been blown away by the creative and diverse responses by Slow Food groups around the country, many centered around resilient and historically marginalized people.

All donations made between now and the end of the month will be entered to win a thematic stack of inspiring Slow Food books (see book stacks below!).

With your generous contributions, we raised $30,000 in the first round of the National Resilience Fund to fund 23 projects that included children’s programs, food distribution to elders, the cultivation of food for communities, seed sharing and much more. In round two, a minimum of 50% of the funds raised will be dedicated to Black-led food initiatives. Applications are open through July 31 and must be submitted in affiliation with a Slow Food chapter or group. The funding will be awarded in August.

BE ENTERED TO WIN WHEN YOU DONATE THIS WEEK!

We''ll be sending one of these book stacks to each of six lucky winners at the end of the month. All donations made today through the end of the month will be entered to win!

GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT

In a mid-season update, Linda from the ''We Tend to Grow'' project reported, "With the need for food on the climb, our collaboration with Slow Food Denver has never been more important in feeding those in need. As an all-volunteer organization, we needed help gathering enough volunteers for our largest site located at Civic Center Park. They mobilized 30+ people in their community on our behalf, through emails and social media posts, [and] the garden plots grew from 2 to 8 in a matter of weeks [with their help and] thanks to the generosity of Denver Parks and Recreation... our total harvest is at 61 pounds of fresh produce, all of which was donated to Metro Caring, a nearby food pantry serving those needing immediate access to food."

QUESTIONS? 

Donors:
Anna Mulé, Executive Director, Slow Food USA
anna@slowfoodusa.org

Applicants:
Felix Wai, Community Engagement Manager, Slow Food USA
felix@slowfoodusa.org

Media:
Giselle Kennedy Lord, Communications Director, Slow Food USA 
giselle@slowfoodusa.org

TODAY IS TERRA MADRE DAY!

December 10 is Terra Madre Day, and we like to celebrate this day by opening up our membership so that you can join the global Slow Food community for any amount! 

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER THE RAFFLE!

Enter to win delicious prizes in time for the holidays! Your entire donation supports Slow Food USA''s National Resilience Fund.⁠ ⁠

This raffle is hot, folks! Honestly, read the list below. That''s what you could win, and you can''t go wrong (and you can tell us what you most want when you enter!):⁠

• mixology class with The Cocktail Bandits
• cooking class with Chef Kevin Mitchell⁠
• custom fishing rod and design session with Al Goldberg
• honey duo from Hani Honey Company ⁠
• honey flight from Food/ocracy
• product development series with East End Food Institute
• Slow Food box from Slow Food East End ⁠
• six pounds of delicious Ramona Farms beans⁠
• hearty helping of Peconic Escargot

Dear James,

We have made the difficult decision to cancel the Slow Food Nations festival this year. We will sorely miss gathering together in person to celebrate good, clean and fair food, but we know it is the right decision with all of today’s unknowns and the deep struggles of the current pandemic. We are currently crafting plans for virtual programming this fall and we''ll keep you in the loop with this newsletter.

We want to extend our gratitude to the chefs, farmers, merchants, partners, attendees, producers and friends who created the magic of Slow Food Nations these past three years. It has truly been a remarkable experience for all of us and we appreciate you.

Most of our festival partners, chefs, producers and participants are working overtime to keep their businesses alive. Now is the time to focus on cultivating a truly sustainable food system in the US, and ensuring that local food communities have the support that they need. Slow Food USA has set up a National Resilience Fund to directly support important local initiatives designed to both sustain those communities in the current crisis and build more resilient food systems in the long term.

It is more clear than ever that the world needs Slow Food. We need robust and resilient local food communities. We need the practical skills of slowing down. And we need to gather in person to unite joy and justice in the world of food. When we emerge from COVID-19, we will rethink how to come together in an even bigger and stronger way. We must use this moment to build #SlowFoodSolidarity across the globe.

Yours,
Krista, Anna and the Slow Food team

2019 FESTIVAL SNAPSHOT

Head to the Slow Food Nations website to see a full list of SFN merchants, past participants, read the stories from last year''s festival and see a short video reel of beautiful moments from Slow Food Nations 2019.

THANK YOU, PARTNERS

We’d like to extend a big thank you to our presenting Slow Food Nations sponsors—Visit Denver, Larimer Square and Whole Foods Markets. Without their support, and that of our many sponsors and partners, we would not have been able to create
Slow Food Nations as a free festival for all.

SLOW FOOD LIVE

We love our Slow Food Nations family and we are highlighting many of them on Slow Food Live. Remember the pizza you enjoyed last summer at the Italian Cucina? Well, now you can make that pizza at home with Chef Fabrizio Facchini and his daughter. Or you can cook up some zero waste minestrone with Chef Eric Lee, make ginger beer with Danny Childs, or brew kombucha with Teatulia.

We created the National Resilience Fund to give direct financial support to vital businesses and workers in community-based food systems, through local Slow Food chapters and groups. The fund is an investment in the long-term biocultural diversity of our food chain. By giving funds to local community initiatives that most need support now, we will help them survive the current crisis and build resilient economies and communities for the future, with good, clean and fair food front and center.

THANK YOU.

MOVE WITH US

 We''ve had a slight and exciting change to our Slow Food Live schedule for Friday!

Friday, March 29: Music and Moves with DJ Cavem

Dj Cavem will spin some organic beets to get people moving!

Dj Cavem is a deejay, public speaker, organic gardener and father of eco hiphop. He has been featured on the Rachel Ray Show and can be seen in the recent Leonardo DiCaprio documentary Ice on Fire. He''s shared the stage with music icons Sugar Hill Gang, Parliament, and Gill Scott Heron.

CHECK OUT NEXT WEEK''S SCHEDULE:

SLOW FOOD IS SAVING HEIRLOOM SEEDS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

“Within our food system, people don’t think of seeds…
They are the ultimate part of the food system.
They are the beginning and the end of the food system.”
— Alison Magill, Slow Food Seacoast

JOIN THE MOVEMENT.

We''re answering a very simple question for our annual membership drive: What Is Slow Food? In the story above, Slow Food is reviving near-extinct varieties, saving seed and bringing the fruits of that labor to the garden and the table. This is Slow Food. 

Slow Food is many things to many people — farmers, cooks, gardeners, good food enthusiasts, youth, scientists, scholars, activists, the list goes on — because food is a many-splendored thing and part of every human life. We are in a crucial moment in our history, with the potential to change the food system for good and lift up those who work tirelessly to provide the food we all need to thrive.

Slow Food USA will continue to work toward those goals and our members make that possible. We are halfway to our membership goal for the month, with a little less than half the month to go! We hope you''ll become a member today and help us reach that goal in the coming weeks. We can''t do this work without your support!

JOY + JUSTICE

Our food and farm policy committee compiled a list of organizations cultivating equity, inclusion, and injustice in the food and agriculture system. We seek to support and increase awareness of the vital work being done by these organizations.

Dear James,

These are upside down days. When I read the news and walk out my front door, it''s easy to feel paralyzed by the impact of COVID. So many things are crumbling before our eyes. But I''m also talking with Slow Food leaders around the country and am blown away by the creative and collaborative responses to COVID in their communities.

From Slow Food East Bay establishing a direct farm-to-consumer pipeline focused on food access to less-served communities, to Slow Food Chicago supporting a community garden''s infrastructure to support neighborhood farms and emergency food relief to elders, there are inspiring examples blooming around the country. But they need funding.

We just launched a National Resilience Fund to give direct financial support to vital businesses and workers in community-based food systems, through local Slow Food chapters and groups. The fund is an investment in long-term biocultural diversity of our food chain. We know that COVID-19 is not the last crisis we will face; climate change is putting pressure on all links of the food chain. We are prioritizing chapter and group efforts that support black and Indigenous communities, people of color and women.

Will you contribute to this fund and support the crucial work of our chapters and communities? Donate here.

In solidarity,
Anna

#SLOWFOODSOLIDARITY

We are shipping Plant a Seed kits each week! Many people have taken to the garden and the 2020 Plant a Seed kit has five Ark of Taste seed varieties that are a perfect bundle for your garden, whether you''re a beginner or expert gardener. When you order a kit, we''ll send one to a school garden for free!

We''ve published the story of each seed on our website — just click the image of each variety to go to its story. We ''re very excited to include the first couple podcast episodes dedicated to those seed stories — the Cherokee Purple and the Yellow Cabbage Collards— from Zachary Paige, the host of the Seed Stories podcast!

Slow Food Solidarity with Italy

Slow Food International in Italy is the network mothership. COVID-19 is also wrecking havoc on the Italian economy. The entire Slow Food International office is closed, and the staff is on furlough. We are family. So we are also raising money to support our colleagues in Italy and stand in #SlowFoodSolidarity.

LET''S GET TOGETHER, WHILE WE''RE APART

As we march on — in more ways than one — towards the end of summer and the beginning of a school year unlike any other, we''re focused on growing a bigger and better Slow Food network around the nation to cultivate more resilient, more sustainable local food systems.

On September 1, we''ll kick off our first ever Virtual Leader Summit, where we''ll be hosting sessions nearly every weekday throughout the month that will cover everything from digital media to donors. Also in September, we''ll be sharing Slow Food stories from around the country for our annual membership drive, and asking you to join the movement! We''ve partnered with Storey Publishing to welcome a few great authors to Slow Food Live, and we''re working with the international community on great global programming for Terra Madre 2020, beginning in October. 

There''s a lot going on in the world of Slow Food this season, while we''re navigating the major changing tides and challenges happening in our world. Let''s continue to find creative ways come together to make change, and make dinner, while we''re apart. We''ll *see* you in September!

Chapter Spotlight: Slow Food Dallas Fort Worth
DFW Lunch Breaks 

Slow Food Dallas Fort Worth has been hosting Slow Food Lunch Breaks on Tuesdays at noon - a series of conversations with the snail blazers in Dallas Fort Worth working to reimagine a local food system that benefits all.

This is the home stretch. Whatever the outcome with Pebble’s permit, we need to stand for Bristol Bay. On Saturday August 29th, join us for a very unique national livestream event – Salmon Rising!

Get a ticket to watch The Wild on Saturday and get access to a whole afternoon/evening of events, featuring salmon warriors, cooking, singing, poetry  and a review of the Pebble Mine situation in a discussion panel.

Your ticket purchase puts money directly into the hands of the coalition protecting Bristol Bay.

CONNECT WITH THE SLOW FOOD YOUTH NETWORK!

The Slow Food Youth Network in the USA is a fantastic place to to begin your Slow Food journey! Subscribe to the SFYN USA newsletter, read the blog posts, follow along on Instagram and Facebook and/or add yourself to the youth leader directory if you''re a Slow Food Youth Network leader!

SLOW FOOD LIVE THIS WEEK:

Thursday, May 28: What''s the Buzz on the Ridge? at the Forest Ridge School

Friday, May 29: Heirloom Cocktails with Dry Land Distillers

Register for any session from the links above or watch the recorded sessions later.
All sessions take place at 2pm EST

Click for a script to send to your senator

COMING UP ON SLOW FOOD LIVE

The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener with Niki Jabbour
Wednesday, September 30, 12pm PT/ 3pm ET
Slow Food Live x Storey Publishing

photo by Darcy Hunter/Seed Photography

 The homegrown harvest doesn''t have to come to an end with the arrival of autumn. Award-winning author Niki Jabbour continues to harvest a wide assortment of vegetables and herbs in her fall and winter garden - and she lives in zone 5B in Halifax, Nova Scotia! In this presentation, Niki will share some of her favorite season extending devices like cold frames and mini hoop tunnels, as well as spotlight the best cold tolerant crops. Are you ready to learn how to be a
year-round vegetable gardener?

#thisisslowfood

GIVE WHAT YOU CAN (TO)DAY!

Well, hello there! We are closing in on our goal of 1000 members this month and are excited to top it off with one more Give What You Can Day. Join today for any amount and to help us reach our membership goal, and so we can continue to do the work of good, clean and fair food for all! 

COMING UP ON SLOW FOOD LIVE

The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener with Niki Jabbour
Wednesday, September 30, 12pm PT/ 3pm ET
Slow Food Live x Storey Publishing

photo by Darcy Hunter/Seed Photography

 The homegrown harvest doesn''t have to come to an end with the arrival of autumn. Award-winning author Niki Jabbour continues to harvest a wide assortment of vegetables and herbs in her fall and winter garden - and she lives in zone 5B in Halifax, Nova Scotia! In this presentation, Niki will share some of her favorite season extending devices like cold frames and mini hoop tunnels, as well as spotlight the best cold tolerant crops. Are you ready to learn how to be a
year-round vegetable gardener?

#thisisslowfood

GIVE WHAT YOU CAN (TO)DAY!

Well, hello there! We are closing in on our goal of 1000 members this month and are excited to top it off with one more Give What You Can Day. Join today for any amount and to help us reach our membership goal, and so we can continue to do the work of good, clean and fair food for all! 

Dear Benjamin,

Last Friday, Felix and I Zoomed nine panelists through the 46 applications we received for the National Resilience Fund. Checks totaling $28K are going out this week, and we are excited to announce the recipients to you now! Take a minute to read the inspiring initiatives in the Slow Food network. Here''s a glimpse:

Slow Food Utah and Utah Diné Bikéyah are sourcing seeds and sheep from Native seed keepers and sheep producers to give out free of charge to Native families interested in expanding their food sovereignty.

Slow Food Indianapolis is supporting farmers markets and launching a SEEDS for Good program that will buy leftover produce and overstock from vendors to donate to food pantries and other organizations fighting hunger in vulnerable communities.

Slow Fish advocate, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, has launched a seafood donation program that provides weekly distribution of seafood directly to local Sitka families in need during these challenging times.

Big thanks to the 66 donors who contributed $18K and to Whole Foods Market in Dallas for donating $10K to Slow Food Dallas partners. This fund is proof that, together, we can make a big impact! 

We are now turning our attention to raising funds for Round 2. We were only able to fund half of the applicants, and we want to change that. Your donation here is an investment in the long-term bio-cultural diversity of our food chain.

In solidarity,
Anna

WHAT''S HAPPENING & WAYS TO CONNECT

The Slow Fish team is hosting a dynamo webinar on June 5 on Salmon, The Fish That Keeps Giving. Through the story of those who live on the water and in communities that depend on salmon and know it intimately, this webinar hopes to get you hooked to this bountiful fish, and eager to join the effort of those on the front lines to save forests and rivers salmon thrive in … and perhaps, to save ourselves. Register here.

The Good Food Foundation has announced the inaugural Good Food Foundation Virtual Mercantile — ''a series of weekly tastings where buyers tune in live as they taste along in their shops.'' They have also published a ''Ship Anywhere'' list to fill your pantry with Good Food.

To help navigate the challenges of COVID-19, the James Beard Foundation is hosting webinars to help provide resources for the hospitality industry and to better stay connected throughout difficult times. 

FoodTank is covering COVID-19 from a food-forward perspective.

The American Farmland Trust has launched a new web series, Farming in a Pandemic, featuring farmers and conversations about what it''s like to farming in a pandemic.

The Slow Food Youth Network launched the SFYN podcast. And Heritage Radio Network is keeping a running list of COVID-19 coverage on HRN podcasts. 

Read articles on the state of the international Slow Food movement and global community at SlowFood.com

Zwilling launched a revenue share program to support chefs and the food industry through affiliate purchasing. Click here to shop Zwilling and other cookware brands, and 25% of your purchase will come back to Slow Food USA. Thank you.

The Importance of Community Resilience

with Slow Food Southwest Washington

"The fact is that, even without a global pandemic, the US’s industrial food system is woefully unequipped to ensure all Americans have equitable access to fresh, healthy food. Add in a crisis at this level and we begin to see crops tilled under, milk dumped, meat packing plants becoming viral hotspots, all while more people than ever before are worried about where their next meal will be coming from. Amid all the turmoil, however, there’s a beautiful seed sprouting- widespread, grassroots, community resilience efforts.

"For Slow Food Southwest Washington, this has taken the form of encouraging community residents to grow their own food, avoid grocery stores, and promote food justice. The chapter’s Urban Abundance program, which is typically holding biweekly volunteer events, began a campaign at the end of March to send seeds for free to anyone who wanted them in hopes of supporting food sovereignty from afar. The campaign was highly successful with almost 100 participants, and the program has sent out around 1,000 vegetable, herb, and wildflower seed packets over the past month and a half. Hopefully, these are seeds of change that represent not only increased home food production, but a new developing practice of folks prioritizing connection to their food supply."
 

We''ve published the story of each seed on our website — just click the image of each variety to go to its story. We ''re very excited to include the first couple podcast episodes dedicated to those seed stories — the Cherokee Purple and the Yellow Cabbage Collards— from Zachary Paige, the host of the Seed Stories podcast!

THANK YOU.

At the national office, we are full of gratitude to the many activists, educators and leaders who make up the Slow Food network. You are our village, and we''re grateful to you today and every day.

We hope your day is filled with love and gratitude, both incoming and outgoing.

Thank you to our members, donors, partners, sponsors and small business supporters for your vital and continued support of Slow Food USA. We truly cannot do this without you and we appreciate you for your commitment to and trust in our work. You inspire us to do more and better, and you make it possible!

Thank you to our chapters and national working groups for keeping your communities active and effective, and continuing the fight for good, clean, and fair food for all during this especially challenging year. The strength of Slow Food is rooted in our grassroots network, in local communities and in your leadership.

Thank you to Slow Food Turtle Island — especially Denisa, Elizabeth, Jacqueline, Shiloh, Vincent, Louis, Loretta, Sean, Crystal, Elena, Brian — for your collaboration on projects like Recipes from Turtle Island and Slow Fish.

Thank you to the Slow Food Nations team — especially Krista, Lara, Emily and Philip — who put their heart and soul into planning the festival before COVID struck.

Thank you to the founding members of Slow Books in the USA — Tammy, Katie and Cedar — who created valuable resources to host a national book discussion on Ibram X Kendi''s How to be Antiracist and to enable chapters around the country to do the same.

Thank you to our interns — Alana, Alejandra, Alison, Aliza, Caitlin, Caroline, Daniel, Emily, Melanie, Olivia, Stephanie, Tracey, Victoria, Vivian — for crafting proposals, leading projects, connecting with network leaders, and contributing to complex conversations.

Thank you to Slow Food International and the global Slow Food community for keeping us connected, collaborating on new ideas like the Resilience Fund, and inspiring us to reach beyond political borders for good, clean and fair food.

Thank you to our governors for your work in becoming an even more effective and enthusiastic support system for our local chapters. A special thank you to Shelu for your support to governors in the transition to using new tools and to organizing new regional team collaboration. And a hearty thank you to Julie for representing the Board of Directors in the governor network and for leading with the wisdom of time and experience as Slow Food evolves.

Thank you to our board of directors — Alessandro, Ben, Ed, Joel, Jon, Julie, Kathryn, Kate, Kevin, Laura, Paolo and Tomoko — for providing strategic guidance, for making connections, for encouraging us to keep on keeping on throughout all the challenges of 2020.

Thank you to the activists fighting every day for good, clean and fair food for all.

Thank you to those who labor to grow, produce, prepare, package, serve and protect our food and the earth on which it grows.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Anna, Giselle and Felix
Slow Food USA staff

A little throwback to Slow Gratitude at Terra Madre in 2016.

Hi Benjamin,

Thanks for subscribing to the Slow Food USA newsletter and happy to keep you in the loop on all things Slow Food here! Welcome to the global community of individuals working and advocating for good, clean and fair and fair food for all.

The Slow Food movement happens at home and around the world with local chapters throughout the United States, campaigns that champion food for change, promoting biodiversity with the Ark of Taste and much more. Here are a few more ways to connect:

• Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
• Become a member
• Get involved with your local chapter or a local garden
• Sign the Slow Food Manifesto and share it with friends

We''re glad you''re here!

Cheers,
The Slow Food USA Team

SLOW FOOD LIVE

This webinar series is our way of offering you—our community—a way to access and engage in all things Slow Food while we can''t crowd in a kitchen or around a table together (and your kids are at home all day). These are free, virtual sessions led by experts in a skill or topic, that you can
join from anywhere on your digital device.

We''re off to a good start and have learned a lot about what works in a webinar series! Next week''s line-up is pretty exciting and we''ve got something for you almost every day this week. Register for any session from the links below or
watch the recorded sessions later.

THIS WEEK:

Monday, March 29: Beekeeping Basics with Jennifer Holmes

Thursday, March 30: Herbal Tea for Immunity with Alkemia Earth

Wednesday, April 1: DIY Spa Day with Christine Buckley

Friday, April 3: Make Pizza at Home with Chef Facchini & Family

SLOW FOOD USA COVID-19 RESPONSE

SLOW FOOD LIVE

This webinar series is our way of offering you—our community—a way to access and engage in all things Slow Food while we can''t crowd in a kitchen or around a table together (and your kids are at home all day). These are free, virtual sessions led by experts in a skill or topic, that you can join from anywhere on your digital device.

We''ve got another awesome line-up of people and topics this week!

photo of Sonoko Sakai by New Guru from Slow Food Nations 2018

THIS WEEK:

Register for any session from the links below or watch the recorded sessions later.

Monday, April 13: DIY Elderberry Syrup with Ed Kennedy

Tuesday, April 14: Social Permaculture with Adam Brock and Abrah Dresdale

Wednesday, April 15: Japanese Curry Bricks with Sonoko Sakai

Thursday, April 16: Soil! with Allison Magill

SLOW FOOD USA COVID-19 RESPONSE

SEAFOOD, MICROGREENS AND DUMPLINGS

This week on Slow Food Live is all about getting the good stuff into your kitchen and on your plate. Take a look at this week''s sessions and join us for one or all of them.

Slow Food Live is our way of offering you—our community—a way to access and engage in all things Slow Food while we can''t crowd in a kitchen or around a table together (and your kids are at home all day). These are free, virtual sessions led by experts in a skill or topic, that you can join from anywhere on your digital device.

SLOW FOOD LIVE THIS WEEK:

Register for any session from the links below or watch the recorded sessions later.

Monday, April 27: Know Your Fish! Slow Fish 101 with Colles Stowell

Tuesday, April 28: The Magic of Microgreens with Roberto Meza

Wednesday, April 29: Dumplings with Mei Li of Double Awesome Chinese Food

THE SLOW FOOD USA NATIONAL RESILIENCE FUND

SLOW BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Your Slow Books curators have put together a few lists of books great for holiday gift giving or adding to your own library at home! We partnered with Readers to Eaters to compile a list of fantastic food books for kids.
Check out each list at the buttons below or view the full list here.

ENTER TO WIN THREE GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUR FAVORITE YOUNG READER!

We’re giving away a trio of books from Readers to Eaters (pictured above)!
Click the button above to see the books and find out how to enter.
Entries are open through Tuesday, December 15. Slow Food USA will ship all three books to the person of your choice, anywhere in the United States.

RAFFLE EXTENDED!

There is some truly great stuff in this raffle—from a virtual mixology class to a custom fishing rod to a virtual cooking class to developing your own shelf-stable product—and we want you to have a shot at it.

You could win a virtual cooking class with Chef Kevin Mitchell (above) or any one of 8 other things! Tell us what you want to win when you enter. Get in there! Raffle closes Sunday, December 13, 11pm PT.

Your entire contribution supports Slow Food USA''s National Resilience Fund.⁠ ⁠

Today we''re sharing the videos of the Terra Madre Forums that took place in the first months of Terra Madre, now translated into English. If you haven''t already, check out the wealth of knowledge and useful reflections emerging from the Slow Food movement worldwide.

Terra Madre sessions available in English:

Water: a common good - session one
Water: a common good - session two

Reviving the land: traditional seeds and agroecology - session one
Reviving the land: traditional seeds and agroecology - session two

Edibile cities, cities of the future - session one 
Edibile cities, cities of the future - session two

Rivers connect the world – Land creators: the Mississippi and Mekong

From the terraces to mountain huts, from the Andenes of Peru to the milpa of Mexico: taking care of the highlands

Indigenous people’s resilience in confronting the future

Humans and Trees: a paradox - session one
Humans and Trees: a paradox - session two

Common Agriculture Policy: keeping the ambition high in Europe

Milpa, three sisters and food forests: ancestral intercropping systems

The Urban food forests revolution

The territory of Greater Caribbean

Rice: a food that grows in water - session one
Rice: a food that grows in water - session two

Terra Madre Olive: stories of peoples and landscape. What future?

Food and cultural heritage: an EU policy perspective

Training_Improve your skills: understanding your impact

Terra Madre is six months long; all information on forthcoming events is available on the event website. 

Follow along on the Terra Madre 2020 journey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, our newsletter and stay up to date with everything going on!

OUR (VIRTUAL) CELEBRATION IS THIS SUNDAY!

Join us tomorrow to raise a toast to the 2020 Snailblazers and celebrate their work with a stellar line-up of special guests! Proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards the Slow Food USA National Resilience Fund and the fight for good, clean and fair food for all.

Sunday, December 6, 2pm PT/5pm ET

You do not need to be ''present'' to win in this raffle. Raffle will end December 10 at 11pm ET. 

AWARDS PRESENTED BY SOME OF OUR FOOD HEROES

THE 2020 SNAILBLAZERS

SNAILBLAZERS IN CONVERSATION WITH HERITAGE RADIO NETWORK HOSTS

A COCKTAIL WITH THE COCKTAIL BANDITS

MUSIC BY IRKA MATEO

#thisisslowfood

WE''RE HAVING A (VIRTUAL) PARTY!

From coast to coast, food chains have been turned upside down this year. But we are blown away with the creative and resilient response of individuals and communities in response to this pandemic. 

Join us on December 6 to meet the final selected Snailblazers, raise a cocktail in their honor, and turn the COVID pivot into a dance. All proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards Slow Food USA’s work for good, clean and fair food in 2021.

What''s happenin'' at the party?

We''ll present Snailblazer awards to one winner in each of eight categories: Cooking & Community, Food Justice, Biodiversity, Family Farming, Children & Education, Fishing & Waterways, Food & Ag Advocacy and Emerging Young Leader.

You''ll have the opportunity to watch and join conversations between Snailblazers and some of your favorite podcast hosts from the Heritage Radio Network!

We''ll make sure you''re inspired when it comes to what you''re sipping on during this event. We may have a surprise up our sleeve on that count.

We know there’s been a lot of zooming happening since the Spring, but we promise this will be a Zoom experience unlike all the rest! Join us for a fun hour of celebration and support another transformative year of Slow Food in the US.

#thisisslowfood

SEIZE THE SPRING. SOW THESE SEEDS.

The 2020 Plant a Seed kits are almost gone! But we''re still shipping — order a kit before they run out and #PlantaSeed with Slow Food USA. We''ve got the story of the seeds, planting tips and even podcasts about the varieties and their history on our website. Learn how to be an awesome gardener with the very popular garden sessions on Slow Food Live!

If you are a school or urban garden educator or administrator, and would like a kit for your garden, please fill out this form to add yourself and your school garden to the national school garden directory.

SLOW FOOD LIVE THIS WEEK:

Wednesday, May 20: Family Story + Ramen Hour with author June Jo Lee

We''re giving away a copy of June''s book in this session!

Friday, May 22: Horchata with Regina Escalante Bush

Register for any session from the links above or watch the recorded sessions later.
All sessions take place at 2pm EST

Slow Food Live is our way of offering you—our community—a way to access and engage in all things Slow Food while we can''t crowd in a kitchen or around a table together.
These are free, virtual sessions led by experts in a skill or topic, that you can join from anywhere on your digital device.

THE SLOW FOOD USA NATIONAL RESILIENCE FUND

Dear James,

Last Friday, Felix and I Zoomed nine panelists through the 46 applications we received for the National Resilience Fund. Checks totaling $28K are going out this week, and we are excited to announce the recipients to you now! Take a minute to read the inspiring initiatives in the Slow Food network. Here''s a glimpse:

Slow Food Utah and Utah Diné Bikéyah are sourcing seeds and sheep from Native seed keepers and sheep producers to give out free of charge to Native families interested in expanding their food sovereignty.

Slow Food Indianapolis is supporting farmers markets and launching a SEEDS for Good program that will buy leftover produce and overstock from vendors to donate to food pantries and other organizations fighting hunger in vulnerable communities.

Slow Fish advocate, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, has launched a seafood donation program that provides weekly distribution of seafood directly to local Sitka families in need during these challenging times.

Big thanks to the 66 donors who contributed $18K and to Whole Foods Market in Dallas for donating $10K to Slow Food Dallas partners. This fund is proof that, together, we can make a big impact! 

We are now turning our attention to raising funds for Round 2. We were only able to fund half of the applicants, and we want to change that. Your donation here is an investment in the long-term bio-cultural diversity of our food chain.

In solidarity,
Anna

WHAT''S HAPPENING & WAYS TO CONNECT

The Slow Fish team is hosting a dynamo webinar on June 5 on Salmon, The Fish That Keeps Giving. Through the story of those who live on the water and in communities that depend on salmon and know it intimately, this webinar hopes to get you hooked to this bountiful fish, and eager to join the effort of those on the front lines to save forests and rivers salmon thrive in … and perhaps, to save ourselves. Register here.

The Good Food Foundation has announced the inaugural Good Food Foundation Virtual Mercantile — ''a series of weekly tastings where buyers tune in live as they taste along in their shops.'' They have also published a ''Ship Anywhere'' list to fill your pantry with Good Food.

To help navigate the challenges of COVID-19, the James Beard Foundation is hosting webinars to help provide resources for the hospitality industry and to better stay connected throughout difficult times. 

FoodTank is covering COVID-19 from a food-forward perspective.

The American Farmland Trust has launched a new web series, Farming in a Pandemic, featuring farmers and conversations about what it''s like to farming in a pandemic.

The Slow Food Youth Network launched the SFYN podcast. And Heritage Radio Network is keeping a running list of COVID-19 coverage on HRN podcasts. 

Read articles on the state of the international Slow Food movement and global community at SlowFood.com

Zwilling launched a revenue share program to support chefs and the food industry through affiliate purchasing. Click here to shop Zwilling and other cookware brands, and 25% of your purchase will come back to Slow Food USA. Thank you.

The Importance of Community Resilience

with Slow Food Southwest Washington

"The fact is that, even without a global pandemic, the US’s industrial food system is woefully unequipped to ensure all Americans have equitable access to fresh, healthy food. Add in a crisis at this level and we begin to see crops tilled under, milk dumped, meat packing plants becoming viral hotspots, all while more people than ever before are worried about where their next meal will be coming from. Amid all the turmoil, however, there’s a beautiful seed sprouting- widespread, grassroots, community resilience efforts.

"For Slow Food Southwest Washington, this has taken the form of encouraging community residents to grow their own food, avoid grocery stores, and promote food justice. The chapter’s Urban Abundance program, which is typically holding biweekly volunteer events, began a campaign at the end of March to send seeds for free to anyone who wanted them in hopes of supporting food sovereignty from afar. The campaign was highly successful with almost 100 participants, and the program has sent out around 1,000 vegetable, herb, and wildflower seed packets over the past month and a half. Hopefully, these are seeds of change that represent not only increased home food production, but a new developing practice of folks prioritizing connection to their food supply."
 

We''ve published the story of each seed on our website — just click the image of each variety to go to its story. We ''re very excited to include the first couple podcast episodes dedicated to those seed stories — the Cherokee Purple and the Yellow Cabbage Collards— from Zachary Paige, the host of the Seed Stories podcast!

Dear James,

As protestors take to the streets demanding justice, we are reminded, yet again, that oppression is systemic. Oppression is deeply rooted in all American systems, including the food system. Slow Food USA stands in solidarity with front-line justice organizations by continuing the fight for a just food system. We stand behind our black community members — the farmers, chefs, activists, leaders, educators, food chain and restaurant workers, youth and fellow citizens — who have felt the pain of this fight every day of their lives.

We are committed to making Slow Food USA an anti-racist organization that authentically pursues good, clean and fair food for all. We cannot ever remain neutral. This week, we asked all Slow Food USA chapter leaders, staff, board directors, and working group leaders to publicly commit to this equity pledge and to organize an action plan by the end of summer. These action plans will be based on the Equity Inclusion and Justice Manifesto  created by a diverse coalition in 2018.

The strength of Slow Food USA lies in its members. We are focused on how we will be better accomplices (not just allies) to black communities, and we are asking Slow Food members and supporters to commit to action toward this shared goal. Let’s get to work and hold each other accountable. Read below for some specific commitments. We are asking you to join us. Let’s leverage our anger and grief over the senseless murder of black Americans like George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery into the work of real systemic change.

In pursuit of joy and justice,
Anna, Giselle and Felix
Slow Food USA Core Staff

''KNOWLEDGE + EMPATHY + ACTION''

Rachel Cargle offers a helpful recipe for anti-racism: “Knowledge plus empathy plus action. If you take any one away, you’re performing.” 

Commit to Knowledge

• Our team is reading “How To Be An Antiracist” by Ibram X Kendi this summer as a staff and would love for you to join us in our first ever network-wide group read! Stay tuned for virtual discussion groups. 

• Learn the cultural and historical stories of the food you love, start with A History of Southern Foodways with Chef Kevin Mitchell on Slow Food Live.

• Watch or attend panels featuring Black/POC leaders discussing equity and justice like this session on Food After COVID-19 with Jim Embry and Chanowk Yisrael.

• Pick one of these books from our new initiative, Slow Food Books. 

Commit to Empathy

• Show up for black people. Build relationships with them. Listen to their stories.
   
• Partner or volunteer with local organizations in your community advocating for social justice and policy reform. Support them with your dollars if you can.

Commit to Action

• Hold your Slow Food leader accountable to the committed EIJ action plan.
   
• Join an event led by a justice organization.
   
• Donate to the National Resilience Fund, which prioritizes marginalized communities.
   
• Plan your own reading and discussion group with your friends, family and colleagues.

SFYN: No Food Justice without Racial Justice

The Slow Food Youth Network compiled a list of resources for unlearning and learning our American history, and working towards authentic anti-racism.

all images from Terra Madre 2018 © Slow Food International

TERRA MADE GOES GLOBAL

Thank you to everyone who became a member in September! With your help,  we reached our goal of 1,000 new and renewing members last month. This month, we turn our eyes to Terra Madre 2020. Usually hosted in Italy, Terra Madre is a spectacular experience that connects us with Slow Food delegates around the world. This year, Terra Madre brings the inspiring Slow Food festival to the digital stage with explorations about our food, our planet and our future you can watch from home.

As Slow Food USA, we’re excited to bring voices from the US to Terra Madre with dynamic digital programming and projects. We’ve cooked up a special project with Slow Food Turtle Island Association and FAO, and are hosting a screening of the film Gather on Monday. We''ll welcome Clarkson Potter & Ten Speed Press to Slow Food Live in the coming months, and we''re featuring a conversation with Leah Penniman, Alice Waters, Chanowk Yisrael and Matthew Raiford in the opening Terra Madre relay on October 10.

Read on and mark your calendars! 

TERRA MADRE LAUNCHES OCTOBER 8

The 2020 edition aims to explore the way forward for the future of food and the future of our planet, and to show us how we can enact change together by putting ideas, proposals, projects and energy into the world of food and the food of the world. Through a mix of physical and digital events, we’re celebrating local food cultures and putting the spotlight on the importance of ecosystems beyond political borders. Terra Madre Salone del Gusto will run from October 2020 to April 2021, with special flagship events October 8 - 12.

COMING UP ON SLOW FOOD LIVE

Slow Food Live x Clarkson Potter + Ten Speed Press
Fall Author Series

We are delighted to be partnering with Clarkson Potter and Ten Speed Press this Fall to bring you some of the best cookbook authors out there, with sessions from their kitchens to yours.

WATCH GATHER WITH US ON MONDAY TO CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE''S DAY

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day by watching Gather with us on
Monday at 12pm PT / 3pm EDT.

Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.

After the screening, we’ll host a Q&A with film director Sanjay Rawal, seed + knowledge keeper Twila Cassadore, and Slow Food Turtle Island leaders Denisa Livingston and Shiloh Maples. Ticket proceeds will support Indigenous communities through Slow Food USA’s National Resilience Fund.⁠

Dear James,

The worldwide situation has changed completely over the last couple of weeks and we now face one of the biggest global crises of the last 70 years due to COVID-19. Many Slow Food leaders, staff and folks in the network have been personally affected overnight. To respond to a global virus, I want to think — with you — about how we can come together as a global community:

What are the needs you see in your community? 
Slow Food — local and national — is here to help. 

We asked Paolo Di Croce (Slow Food International secretary general), Slow Food staffers, and local chapters to share their experiences — read on here. We also want to hear what you are doing in your community. Just hit reply to this email and share your story.

Let’s be creative about funneling our collective strength instead of surrendering to fear. As more events are canceled every day, we are going to explore some new ideas to gain strength and sanity from conviviality:

1. We are going to start Slow Food Live — free, online sessions to share skills and stories, like how to make pizza or start seeds for your garden. Beginning Monday, March 23, you can Zoom in by yourself or with your kids at 1pm EDT and learn a new Slow Food skill. See details here or follow @slowfoodusa on social. Let us know if you would like to sign up to teach a session on a specific activity or topic by sending an email to giselle@slowfoodusa.org. 
    

2. If you’re stuck at home and have some garden space, Plant a Seed with Slow Food. We have six special seed packets in this year''s kit that open a door to understand issues of food sovereignty through the journey of seeds. Every seed we''ve selected is from the Ark of Taste and a few of them are scarcely available as garden seed. Use code FOODHEALS for free shipping this month. We’ll be in the garden planting the seeds with you on our social media platforms, so tune in on Instagram or Facebook!
    

3. We’re also compiling resource guides for small businesses, farmers, families and hospitality industries. More to come on that.

We’ve been working on good, clean and fair food for 30 years. The next year will present even more need for resilience in our food community and we''ll also need your help to get through this. Support Slow Food, too — we sent $25K to our Italian mothership last week to help them through this time, but we will also need extra support in the coming weeks. COVID-19 will not stop us, but we need your help to pull together and care for our local and global communities. 

Let’s talk. Email me at anna@slowfoodusa.org if you have ideas for us or want to connect with specific people.

Anna

SLOW FOOD VIRTUAL LEADER SUMMIT

This year, we''re bringing the Leader Summit to you! A network committee has put together a dynamic lineup in September for Slow food leaders, working groups, communities, youth and enthusiasts to build skills and connect with one another. Click the button below to see what''s on the schedule so far — we are adding sessions almost every weekday in September as we confirm with speakers and panelists, so check back soon for more!

photo: Slow Food Nations 2019 by Woody Roseland

THE SPRING SLOW FOOD BOX IS HERE

And it''s 100% Ark of Taste + 100% women-owned businesses!

In partnership with Food/ocracy, we do the research to make sure each delectable product in each box is good for you, good for the environment and supports small producers. You''ll find the short story of each of the Ark of Taste ingredients featured in the box below. Buy one box or subscribe to receive four unique boxes throughout the year. Twenty percent of proceeds go to Slow Food USA. Enjoy!

The SUMMER SLOW FOOD BOX now available!

Four delicious, earth-friendly, Ark of Taste products sent to your door! 

Food/ocracy donates $5 of the proceeds for every box back to Slow Food USA. Today through July 7th, they''re giving back $10 from each box to go towards the National Resilience Fund to directly support important community initiatives.

Our friends at Food/ocracy have been bringing you a box of Slow Food to suit every season, and this summer box has some real gems in it. Check out the recipe booklet for ideas on how to eat your new favorite ingredients!

Meet the Makers:

Watch the Slow Food Live session with a few of the growers and makers behind the tasty goods in the summer Slow Food box!

THE SLOW FOOD USA NATIONAL RESILIENCE FUND

TODAY IS TERRA MADRE DAY!

December 10 is Terra Madre Day, and we like to celebrate this day by opening up our membership so that you can join the global Slow Food community for any amount! 

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER THE RAFFLE!

Enter to win delicious prizes in time for the holidays! Your entire donation supports Slow Food USA''s National Resilience Fund.⁠ ⁠

This raffle is hot, folks! Honestly, read the list below. That''s what you could win, and you can''t go wrong (and you can tell us what you most want when you enter!):⁠

• mixology class with The Cocktail Bandits
• cooking class with Chef Kevin Mitchell⁠
• custom fishing rod and design session with Al Goldberg
• honey duo from Hani Honey Company ⁠
• honey flight from Food/ocracy
• product development series with East End Food Institute
• Slow Food box from Slow Food East End ⁠
• six pounds of delicious Ramona Farms beans⁠
• hearty helping of Peconic Escargot

image by Mihael Blikshtey for Melanie Brown feature on Salmon Life

Sunday Supper & Fish Head Soup on Slow Food Live

We''ve had a great time cooking with you on Slow Food Live, and we''ve got more tasty dishes with great cooks on deck! Since weekday afternoons can be a hard time for some to get into the kitchen, we''re moving these supper sessions to one Sunday a month. Grab your kids, call your mom, facetime your friends, and make Sunday supper with us! 

Sunday, June 28: Fish Head Soup with Melanie Brown

Register for any session from the webpage or watch the recorded sessions later.

We''ll be picking back up with our Friday happy hour sessions in July and have some exciting sessions in the works with the international Slow Food community! We are also in the process of collaboratively putting together panel discussions and knowledge share sessions that will explore important contemporary issues.

THE SLOW FOOD USA NATIONAL RESILIENCE FUND
Donate to round two to fund important local and community initiatives happening around the country.

SLOW FOOD IS A SENSE OF PLACE, FERMENTED AND BOTTLED.

“That sense of place you get from a California wine or a New England beer or cider translates into a uniquely American craft vinegar... It’s all about the importance of place and how place translates into our human experience.”
— Rodrigo Vargas,
American Vinegar Works + Slow Food USA Small Business Supporter

*plus a recipe for Quick Pickles with Montmorency Cherry Rice Wine Vinegar

JOIN THE MOVEMENT.

If you love learning about extraordinary producers like American Vinegar Works, become a member today! Slow Food USA relies on the support of members and small business supporters to continue our work of lifting up great producers and increasing access and exposure to good, clean and fair food for all! If you have a business and uphold values that align with Slow Food USA, we hope you''ll become a small business supporter.

PUT SLOW FOOD IN YOUR PANTRY!

#thisisslowfood

MEATLESS MONDAY TO MASALA CHAI

We''re here to make you a pantry hero this week on Slow Food Live! We''ve got a session for the urban gardeners out there, and we''ll wrap the week with something special for you and mom to make together.

Register for any session from the links below or watch the recorded sessions later.

SLOW FOOD LIVE THIS WEEK:

All sessions take place at 2pm EST

Monday, May 4: Meatless Monday with League of Kitchens

Wednesday, May 6: Pantry Staple Sauces with Katherine Deumling

Thursday, May 7: Urban Gardening with Kelly McGlinchey

Friday, May 8: Indian Masala Chai with Sapna Punjabi-Gupta

Invite the mom(s) in your life to join you on Friday to make Indian Masala Chai with Sapna, and sip your tea together in honor of Mother''s Day! 

Slow Food Live is our way of offering you—our community—a way to access and engage in all things Slow Food while we can''t crowd in a kitchen or around a table together.
These are free, virtual sessions led by experts in a skill or topic, that you can join from anywhere on your digital device.

THE SLOW FOOD USA NATIONAL RESILIENCE FUND

LET''S GET TOGETHER, WHILE WE''RE APART

As we march on — in more ways than one — towards the end of summer and the beginning of a school year unlike any other, we''re focused on growing a bigger and better Slow Food network around the nation to cultivate more resilient, more sustainable local food systems.

On September 1, we''ll kick off our first ever Virtual Leader Summit, where we''ll be hosting sessions nearly every weekday throughout the month that will cover everything from digital media to donors. Also in September, we''ll be sharing Slow Food stories from around the country for our annual membership drive, and asking you to join the movement! We''ve partnered with Storey Publishing to welcome a few great authors to Slow Food Live, and we''re working with the international community on great global programming for Terra Madre 2020, beginning in October. 

There''s a lot going on in the world of Slow Food this season, while we''re navigating the major changing tides and challenges happening in our world. Let''s continue to find creative ways come together to make change, and make dinner, while we''re apart. We''ll *see* you in September!

Chapter Spotlight: Slow Food Dallas Fort Worth
DFW Lunch Breaks 

Slow Food Dallas Fort Worth has been hosting Slow Food Lunch Breaks on Tuesdays at noon - a series of conversations with the snail blazers in Dallas Fort Worth working to reimagine a local food system that benefits all.

This is the home stretch. Whatever the outcome with Pebble’s permit, we need to stand for Bristol Bay. On Saturday August 29th, join us for a very unique national livestream event – Salmon Rising!

Get a ticket to watch The Wild on Saturday and get access to a whole afternoon/evening of events, featuring salmon warriors, cooking, singing, poetry  and a review of the Pebble Mine situation in a discussion panel.

Your ticket purchase puts money directly into the hands of the coalition protecting Bristol Bay.

CONNECT WITH THE SLOW FOOD YOUTH NETWORK!

The Slow Food Youth Network in the USA is a fantastic place to to begin your Slow Food journey! Subscribe to the SFYN USA newsletter, read the blog posts, follow along on Instagram and Facebook and/or add yourself to the youth leader directory if you''re a Slow Food Youth Network leader!

BECOME A MEMBER FOR ANY AMOUNT TODAY!

Hello, friends! Today is give what you can day, which means you can become a member of Slow Food USA for any amount! Membership is the best way to connect with the local and global Slow Food network. Our members are essential and enable us to educate, connect and sustain the Slow Food movement in the US and beyond with projects like Slow Food Live and Terra Madre 2020. Today only, you can become a member wherever you''re at, and be a part of the movement for
good, clean and fair food for all!

THE 2020 SLOW FOOD SNAILBLAZERS

We are excited to announce the fourth cohort of Snailblazers, individuals in the good food movement who have gone above and beyond for good, clean and fair food in the past year. The Slow Food Snailblazer award is one of the only grassroots, national awards that focuses on both sustainable food and community impact. The awards recognize individuals who are beloved in their communities, but not necessarily known nationally.

Slow Food is pleased to announce the 2020 Snailblazer Award recipients below! They will be introduced during a virtual award ceremony and celebration on December 6, 2020, with recognition given by well-known celebrities and activists Isabella Rossellini, Alice Waters, Pierre Thiam, Edie Mukiibi, Winona LaDuke, Raj Patel and others. 

COMING UP ON SLOW FOOD LIVE!

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