Meet the 2012 U.S. Delegation to Terra Madre and the International Congress!

Slow Food USA is excited to announce this year’s 220 delegates to Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto and the International Congress!

Written by Hnin Hnin, Slow Food USA’s Associate Manager of National Programs

Every two years, Slow Food supporters from around the world come together for Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto to share innovative solutions and time-honored traditions for feeding the planet in a good, clean, and fair way.  And per tradition, delegates from over 130 countries are selected by Slow Food associations to join the 200,000+ visitors expected to attend this global gathering the size of two fiat factories. 

This year, Slow Food USA has invited 220 food movement leaders to join the U.S. delegation to this landmark food and farming conference on October 25-29 in Turin, Italy.  Nearly half of the delegation has also been invited to the International Congress, an exclusive meeting of Slow Food leaders worldwide that happens every five years and will take place Oct 27- 29 in the same location.

Being selected for this historic event is a special honor.  The 220 U.S. delegates were chosen from a competitive pool of 600 applicants by 20 regional selection committees (and 1 national committee) comprised of Slow Food and Terra Madre leaders. With almost 25% people of color and folks from 50 different food communities spanning all sectors of the food movement from labor to production to students, this year’s delegation is by far the most diverse the U.S. has ever sent.

Unlike the average visitor, delegates play a key role in showcasing good, clean, and fair products and practices, leading workshops, and speaking on issues from land grabbing to GMOs to gastronomy.  The select 103 U.S. delegates chosen to join their global counterparts at the International Congress will also have the opportunity to shape and decide the direction of Slow Food’s global work going forward.

Meet one of our International Congress delegates, Jim Embry, and hear what he has to say about Slow Food, Terra Madre, and the International Congress.

The 2012 U.S. delegation to Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto and the International Congress is full of bright leaders like Jim. Find out who they are here and here, respectively!

Inspired? Join us in congratulating them in the comments section below.

Organic Farming: “A Lifestyle Choice”

The golden rule of berry picking: “eat every third berry”, and other joys of organic farming.

Written by Eliza Phillips Real Time Farms Food Warrior

At Country Pleasures Farm in Middletown, MD, “quality control” is taken very seriously, and to assure such standards, there is a certain unique “golden rule” applied to berry picking. Lori Rice, in a very matter-of-fact way, explained to me that, “The rule is that you’re supposed to eat every third berry.”

She wasn’t kidding. As I filtered through the shoulder-high bushes, searching for perfectly plump, navy-colored berries, I found myself repeatedly distracted by the sound of my fellow “pickers,” and the “ooohs” and “aaaahhhs” emerging as they smacked their lips, their heads tilted ever so slightly back, towards the sky, their eyes closed, and their faces enveloped by blissful deliciousness. This put my careful, measured, no-nonsense approach to the task of finding the “perfect berry” to shame. As Eric retorted, sensing my reluctance to renounce my way of doing it, “you will not know what tastes good until you….taste it.” Seems simple, right?

More after the jump

Wins & Losses: Breaking down the Food and Farm Bill

The Senate has passed their version of the Food and Farm Bill, so who won?

Written by Tim Smith, Slow Food USA’s Associate Manager of New Media

Last week, Washington became the food capital of the country as the Senate debated the 2012 Food and Farm Bill, culminating in the passage of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 yesterday afternoon. Like most people in the country, your next thought most likely is: what does this mean for me?

Well, it means that we are one step closer to approval of the single biggest piece of legislation that governs what we grow and eat in this country, and how it is distributed. It is a 5-year, $969 billion bill that touches every single person’s life in this country. Every farmer, parent, cook, eater, student, and activist is impacted by the policies the Bill addresses and we only have one chance every five years to influence it. Now that the Senate has passed their version, it is up to the House of Representatives to pass their own version before the bill can officially become law.

Okay, now that we’ve cleared that up, you’re probably wondering: is the Senate Bill a good thing or a bad thing? Well, I guess that depends on what you’re priorities are. Back in March, Slow Food USA sent a letter to the leaders of both the Senate and House Agriculture committees outlining our priorities and asked for a good, clean, and fair Food and Farm Bill. You can read the letter here for more specifics, but we basically boiled it down to three key points:

More after the jump

Where’s the Pure Beef?

How escaping the supermarket and finding a more pure form of beef transformed a non-meat eater into a beef conisior

Written by Lynne Curry, co-chair Slow Food Wallowas and author of the new cookbook Pure Beef: An Essential Guide to Artisan Meat with Recipes for Every Cut

In 2001, I moved from Seattle to the remote Wallowa Valley in eastern Oregon. I was drawn to the lifestyle of a small town mixed with artists, self-starters and ranchers and easy access to the wilderness. Cows and their newborn calves populated the landscape that spring, but I didn’t give them a second thought.

At the time, I didn’t even eat meat, and I certainly never expected to devote over two years to researching and writing about beef. Back then, beef was beef was beef. In the supermarket, all of it came from a single, centralized commodity supply chain controlled by four corporations.

In 11 years, beef has diversified into many niche markets—natural, organic and grassfed. Across the country, high-end restaurants now feature grassfed steaks, grocery chains sell a variety of natural and organic brands, and we all have more decisions to make at the meat counter.

More after the jump

Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012

For the first time, Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre will be held at a joint even and will be open to the public.

The programme of the 2012 edition of the international Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre world meeting of food communities has been released, giving comprehensive information about the event that, from October 25-29 in Turin, Italy, will display the extraordinary diversity of food from all continents and unite small-scale farmers and artisans from around the world who follow the principles of good, clean and fair.

Entrance tickets are available here
Tickets for the bookable events are available here

More after the jump

U.S. needs a food and farm bill that works

Dan Imhoff & Michael Dimock argue that after 80 years, the time has come to rescue agriculture from the farm bill — and to improve the health of Americans in the bargain.

Written by Dan Imhoff, author of Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill and Michael Dimock, president of Roots of Change and chairman emeritus of Slow Food USA

This op-ed originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times

In 1933, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the very first farm bill, formally called the Agricultural Adjustment Act, he told the nation that “an unprecedented condition calls for the trial of new means to rescue agriculture.” That legislation, passed as the country struggled to emerge from the Depression, was visionary in the way it employed agricultural policy to address significant national issues, including rural poverty and hunger.

It may not seem obvious while standing in the aisles of a modern grocery store, but the country today faces another food and farming crisis. Forty-six million people — that is, 1 out of 7 Americans — signed up for food stamps in 2012. Despite some of the highest commodity prices in history, the nation’s rural regions are falling deeper into poverty. In 2010, according to theU.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.8% of those living in rural counties fell under the poverty line. Unemployment in Fresno County, the nation’s top agricultural producing county, stood at 17.4% in March of this year. Industrial agriculture has become a leading cause of soil and water pollution. In California, for example, fertilizer and manure pollution have so contaminated the Salinas and lower San Joaquin valleys that the groundwater will be undrinkable for the next 30 to 50 years.

After 80 years, the time has come to rescue agriculture from the farm bill — and to improve the health of Americans in the bargain.

More after the jump

How to Pick a Fresh Fish

Slow Fish, Slow Food’s campaign for sustainable fish on how to get the catch of the day every day.

Written by Slow Food International

The fresher the fish, the better, for taste and health.

Unfortunately, labels are not particularly helpful. For example, in the European Union it is not currently required to indicate the catch date, though the possibility of making it obligatory is being discussed by the European Commission.

For now, how could the European consumer know that the fillet of Nile perch sold as fresh was actually caught in Central Africa 12-16 days earlier? How many people are aware that many fish species from Asia are sold in Europe and North America as fresh, even though they may have been frozen and defrosted more than once?

More after the jump