Slow Food, Slow Money

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Carlo Petrini speak at the Slow Money National Gathering at the beautiful Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado. Always charismatic, his remarks were engaging, electric, challenging, and inspiring.

By: Abbe Turner, co-leader of Slow Food Northern Ohio

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Carlo Petrini speak at the Slow Money National Gathering at the beautiful Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado. Always charismatic, his remarks were engaging, electric, challenging, and inspiring.

His keynote address united Slow Food and Slow Money as important institutions charged with leading the efforts to reverse the effects of a broken “criminalized” food system. As we know, the focus of Slow Food is protecting and promoting food that is good, clean and fair; the focus of Slow Money is to bring money “back down to earth” by encouraging investment in food and farm entrepreneurs. The Slow Money network has had a hand in shifting over $24 million into over 190 small food enterprises over the past few years.

Petrini spoke of the importance of a new way of doing politics at this historical moment where change really matters and we must show strength in this new economy. Citing the challenges of soil fertility, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, climate change and landscape destruction, Petrini stated we need to understand the central role that food has as a vehicle for change.

He went on to say that food is the energy of our lives and for this reason our vision of food must be holistic; respect for nature, love of landscape, music, spirituality, knowledge of family and agricultural traditions, and knowledge of other cultures. “We must respect food because it is the very essence of life — Food is not just economic and political, it sustains life, and to do this we must return money to the soil. As Americans you do this through reciprocity and the exchange of resources at farmers markets, CSA’s, and more… You have started a revolution with your money!”

Because of important organizations such as Slow Food and Slow Money the opportunity to join this revolution has never been so ripe. The local food scene throughout the world is being invigorated with an entrepreneurial spirit that needs to be supported, rewarded, and nurtured. At Lucky Penny we are proud to be a part of this revolution. Come join us; make change.

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

A Wave of Hope

Yoko Sudo, the Fukushima convivium leader, despite an earthquake and tsunami devastating her country, led the charge for “a new vision of agriculture” at Terra Madre Japan.

written by Piero Sardo, President of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity

When the young Fukushima convivium leader finished speaking at the plenary dinner of Terra Madre Japan, held in Unzen last December 2-4, the attendees were visibly moved. Yoko Sudo, who comes from a farming family, has been living a nightmare since the earthquakes and subsequent tsunami hit last March. But she didn’t come to the Terra Madre meeting to ask for help. Her message was very clear: “We will keep fighting for good, clean and fair food and a new vision of agriculture, even though this will mean huge sacrifices and enormous effort for all of us from the devastated area.”

Her speech set the perfect seal on the Terra Madre event, highlighting the vitality of the Slow Food movement in Japan and its most critical issues. Over three days, producers from the slow network across the country came together to participate in meetings and present their products in a public fair, with the Japanese Ark of Taste products presented in a special display of wooden panels designed by the renowned designer Kosei Shirotani.

All the producers participated not only to sell their goods, but to collectively send a message to the media, authorities and consumers that environmental disasters do not come from bad luck or chance, but are a direct consequence of a flawed way of managing soil, agriculture, resources, energy and water. The second important part of their message was to show that another path is possible.

Among those showing the diversity of good, clean and fair food production were the remarkable local group of women from the Unzen Takana Vegetable Presidium, led by the legendary Setsue Baba and the Nagasaki convivium leader, Masatoshi Iwasaki, one of Japan’s organic agriculture pioneers.

The general assembly of Slow Food convivium leaders was held simultaneously with Terra Madre Japan and installed a new leadership, headed by the young new president Tsuyoshi Goto. Attendees included Yoko Kurokawa, long-time member and supporter of biodiversity projects; Akihiko Sugawara, convivium leader for Kesennuma, a town destroyed by the tsunami; Yujin Yusa, the general secretary for the Fukushima convivium, home of the damaged nuclear power plant; Katrine Klinken, Dutch convivium leader of Copenhagen Convivium; and Luigi Romani, the director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Osaka.

We hope that the new leaders will be able to give Slow Food’s ideas and projects the opening and public resonance that they deserve, so that the Japan’s consumers can begin to fully understand the positive implications of good, clean and fair production.

Terra Madre Japan was made possible with the support of the Unzen municipality, the biggest sponsor of the event, represented by Hidetomo Shibata at the event.
Designer Kosei Shirotan – who runs a ceramic school in Unzen that is creating innovative utensils for food and designs new forms of communication - is assisting the development of Slow Food in the Nagasaki area by providing his design services for free.

This blog was originally posted on the Slow Food International website, www.slowfood.com.

Immediately after the earthquake on March 11, 2011, Slow Food began collecting donations through its websites and international network. Visit www.slowfood.com/donate to find out more or make a contribution.

This World Food Day, host a $5 Challenge Meal

October 16th is World Food Day. How about hosting a $5 challenge meal?

It sure is the harvest season!

You’ve heard of Food Day—to be held on October 24th.  But did you also know that on October 16th it’s WORLD food day? That’s one more chance to host a $5 challenge meal, this time as part of our partner Oxfam America’s Sunday Suppers/World Food Day campaign.

As Oxfam describes it:

This World Food Day, Oxfam America is teaming up with a host of allies across the US and around the globe. We have a simple yet compelling idea—to host a Sunday Dinner October 16th that fosters a conversation about where your food comes from, who cultivates it, and how we can make the food system more just and sustainable.

You can order materials to help you host your dinner and register your event by clicking here.

And of course you can read a ton of wonderful tips and tricks collected as part of our $5 Challenge initiative by going to our tumblr (click here).

Over 5,570 meals shared

Yesterday, as part of the $5 Challenge, over 5,570 meals took place all over the country. Hundreds of people submitted photos as well as sharing what parts of the challenge were difficult and what made it difficult.

Yesterday, as part of the $5 Challenge, over 5,570 meals took place!

Click here to see photos from Hawai’i to Illinois to New York to Texas….from potlucks to family dinners to community suppers to food truck rallies,

No matter where they were or how they came together, they were all trying to answer the question: is it possible to make a healthy, local, and delicious meal for under $5 per person?

People got creative and brought their own flair to it—like Bear Braumoeller of Slow Food Columbus, who decided to take the $5 Challenge one step further. He attempted (and, SPOILER ALERT, succeeded) to create a sustainable $5 meal in 15 minutes—to show that sustainable cooking can be quick as well as affordable. Also he live tweeted it.

Bear wasn’t the only one tweeting his progress. Joe Yonan, food editor of the Washington Post, asked his 6,000+ followers questions like “My #5challenge dilemma: Cut which of these to make budget: 3 of 8 apples 4 tart? Squash (ergo soup)? Sausage 4 stuffed peppers (more rice)?”

More after the jump

A market for non-GMO foods

Slow Food Upstate leader Janette Wesley tells us what makes Earth Markets different from other farmers markets, how the project got started, and what’s next for the market.

Our chapter ran into a large dilemma when we were developing plans for the market which became our primary reason to see the realization of the project. At first we had reservations about starting a market in Greenville because our region has many established markets.  As Earth Markets have a strict no-GMO policy, we began to discover, to our astonishment, there were no producers in the entire southeastern USA making a non-GMO animal feed. Therefore, many otherwise good producers of meat, cheese, poultry, and eggs were knocked out of the application process.

Although many farmers who raise animals or use animal products in their foods would be interested in being GMO-free, the closest source of non-GMO animal feed is in Ohio, rendering it too expensive and logistically complicated to be a viable feed option.  We also discovered that “Certified Organic” gives an option if non-gmo feed is not available or too cost prohibitive to allow for GMO animal feed to be included under the certification, and we felt the consumer had a right to this information.

However as a result of our conversations, and the discovery of how widespread the conundrum goes, we now have formed a small group of producers who are looking for ways to manage this problem, and have an apple grower in North Carolina who has grown this summer non-GMO corn for feed, and which is now ready to harvest and mill.

More after the jump

It’s Easy! It’s Hard! Slow food for the price of fast food

“In one moment I am buying something and can’t believe how much I get for so little money; the next item I pick up gives me sticker shock. How can both of these things be true?” the author asks.

Earlier this summer, as I was hauling a bag of farmers market produce home 15 blocks and up four flights of stairs, sweating bullets, cursing my choice to buy a melon (they’re heavy!), I stopped mid-step.

“Does it really have to be this hard?” I asked myself.

My story is particular to me, of course, but all over the country there are people trying to put food on the table and asking themselves “does it really have to be this hard?”

I was living, at the time, in a neighborhood with few supermarkets. The ones within a long walking distance were either very expensive or lacking the seasonal produce I craved. So on weekends I would hike over to the big farmers market. But at the farmers market I always find myself of two minds. In one moment I am buying something and can’t believe how much I get for so little money; the next item I pick up gives me sticker shock. How can both of these things be true?

When people ask me: “Doesn’t the food you eat (some mix of local, sustainable, organic, etc.) cost so much more than “regular” food?” I protest and agree at the same time. When they say “Doesn’t cooking from scratch take a lot of time?” I remember the awesome pasta I cooked the other night that took 7.5 minutes. But also the weekend of foraging I did going from one store to the next.

I live in New York City; I make a living wage; I am not trying to feed a family; I work on these issues for a living. If I find it hard/tiring/expensive sometimes, what must other people feel?

In the spirit of this conundrum, Slow Food USA launched the $5 Challenge last week.

More after the jump

Today we launch our campaign to take back the value meal

Today, Slow Food USA launches the $5 Challenge, our campaign to take back the value meal.

Today, Slow Food USA launches the $5 Challenge. See the official release below or download it here...

More after the jump

What does “here” taste like?

Slow Food NYC members recently took an urban foraging tour with locavore botanist Leda Meredith. Here’s what leader Jena Eiden saw, smelled, tasted, and thought.

—by Jena Eiden

  To hear Leda Meredith recall past foraging expeditions, you might think she was roaming the aisles of the famed Park Slope Food Co-op or a local farmers market. Hen-in-the-woods mushrooms, mulberries, wild black cherries, garlic mustard… wait, didn’t I just see that back on aisle three? If you are lucky enough to attend one of Leda’s foraging tours, you might just find a few similarities between your neighborhood market and Prospect Park.

Last Saturday our group of 11 foraging neophytes met at Grand Army Plaza to join local botanist, ballerina, locavore, and author Leda Meredith (author of The Locavore’s Handbook and the memoir Botany, Ballet & Dinner from Scratch) on a 2-hour foraging tour through Brooklyn’s largest green space, Prospect Park, followed by a trip to nearby Beer Table to sample Leda’s foraged snacks alongside a craft brew.

So what made this Saturday different than any other Saturday spent strolling through the park and grabbing a drink from a local watering hole? It was relaxing, educational, inspiring, but most of all—fun!

More after the jump

Table Talk: recipe contest highlights food stories

Share your experience of cooking with good, clean, and fair food, and you could win prizes from Slow Food USA and Anolon Cookware!

UPDATE: Thanks for the 62 submissions!  The submission period is now closed. Winners will be announced on our blog by the end of July.

Whether you turn to your food roots for inspiration or continually experiment with new flavors to share with family and friends, your plate has a lot to say. As summer harvests begin to hit full swing, what memories and experiences come to life as you shop, cook, and eat? 


From now until

June 21 at 11:59pm *Deadline Extended!*, we’re accepting submissions to Table Talk: a recipe contest that celebrates good, clean, and fair food and the stories that bring it to life. We will announce the winners in a blog post in mid-July.


SUBMIT YOUR RECIPE HERE using our online submission form. Please read the contest guidelines, downloadable here and copied at the bottom of the submission form) before submitting your recipe.


Prizes
Share your favorite original recipe and the story behind it, and you could be one of the first people to own a piece of Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel: a brand-new cookware line from Anolon!


Four 1st place winners will each receive

   
• Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 10 PC set
        Total Value: $300

Four 2nd place winners will each receive

   
• Anolon Chef Clad 10” Skillet
   
• Anolon Chef Clad 5.5 Qt Covered Casserole
        Total Value: $200

Four 3rd place winners will each receive

   
• Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 3 Qt Covered Saute Pan
        Total Value: $100

All twelve winners will have their original recipes published right here on our blog and on Anolon’s website.  Winners will also receive a one-year membership to Slow Food USA which includes regular updates on the latest food news, exclusive discount offers, plus tips on cooking, gardening, and ways to “go slow.”

More after the jump