Slow Food USA: Social Justice on the Menu

By Tom Philpott, Editor of The Grist

“If you haven’t noticed yet, Slow Food is about to get political!” announced Erika Lesser, executive director of Slow Food USA. She was addressing the Slow Food USA chapter — for one day, Terra Madre had broken into meetings of regional and national contingents.

Few could have missed the political turn. Unlike many Slow Food USA events I’ve been to, there were few or no odes to the transformative power of a perfect peach. Here, speakers focused on how to broaden access to healthy, ecologically raised food.

Josh Viertel, Slow Food USA’s new president, set the tone. He announced that the organization would from now forward pursue two main priorities: youth organizing and social justice. “Our food system disproportionately hurts poor people and people of color, and alternatives aren’t accessible to those groups,” he said.

He said that in the past, the group had focused its rhetoric on values: commitment to “good, clean, and fair food,” for example. From now on, it would emphasize rights. “Access to good, clean, and fair food is not a privilege,” he declared. “It’s a right, and we have to make that clear.” That message, he insisted, was the most important one that delegates could bring back to their communities.

He also vowed that Slow Food USA would work to avoid doing something it has been accused of doing in the past: suck the air out the sustainable-food movement by hoarding resources and media attention at the expense of social-justice activists.

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I’m sure many of you have seen or heard about Slow Food Nation, the country’s largest and most comprehensive arrtisan food event being held this upcoming weekend in San Fransisco. If you haven’t, you can check out the event’s site here, or read articles about it in most every major publication available. A quick google will return all kinds of results, but I’ll save you the trouble by offering you these links: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and more. Also look for a feature in the September issue of Vanity Fair.

In related news, Buffalo’s own Flying Bison and White Cow Dairy will have their extraordinary products featured at the event. In both cases this is a hard earned and well deserved honor.

Finally, for those of you more interested in an up close and personal look at the event, the website CHOW (best known for lumping Buffalo and the rest of New York State in with its ambiguous Tri-State Region classification), has posted a good number of podcasts featuring Slow Food Nation organizers. Director Anya Fernald gives a great overview of the event and chats a little bit about the many misconceptions associated with Slow Food as an organization. Also of interest are podcasts from the curators handling specific food categories for SFN. Coffee, beer, preserves, and pickles and chutney each get a little airtime of their own.

In the next few weeks we’ll post a few other stories providing you with links to important and interesting information about Slow Food as an organization. Stay tuned.

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I am a mother of two girls and my husband is often away. This has given me an appreciation of how hard mothering can be. I keep myself pretty busy with my livestock farm south of Buffalo. I tend to forget things between the cows, the chickens the pigs and the kids, and it seems to me that time moves especially fast in the summer.

One warm morning I was feeding my Tamworth and Herford heritage breed mama pigs in the five or more acres of woods they call home. I noticed that one of my mama’s looked like she was going to farrow (give birth) soon. I had some errands to run but soon John, a young Amish man that helps on the farm one or two days a week, would be arriving. So, before I packed up the kids to run into Buffalo for a few hours I left John a note asking him to bring the mama pig down the hill to an old garage we often use for farrowing. The weather had been very wet and damp and I didn’t want to risk putting her in one of our A-frame huts. If she had dug out a nest for herself in the dirt under one of those it may have flooded and that would have been awful for the babies and her. Read the rest of this entry ?

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The Slow Food movement is a thriving international organization dedicated to preserving the craft, culture, and traditions that surround the production of artisanal food and drink throughout the world. Slow Food stands in stark contrast to the homogeneity presented by our “Fast Food” society. Slow Food has dedicated itself to the promotion and preservation of quality products produced by local agricultural and culinary craftsmen.

Local chapters are to encourage the continuation of local food and drink traditions; to safeguard regional agricultural heritage against environmental degradation; to help consumers find fresh, healthy food at a reasonable price; to educate young people about the value of food; and to research and promote gastronomic pleasure with a “smiling, tolerant style.”

Slow Food Buffalo is a chapter of enthusiastic individuals joined together with the common purpose of pursuing the Slow way of life in the Western New York area. Slow Food Buffalo’s goals and ambitions include:

· Highlighting the diverse and rich food traditions of Western New York in order to discover local roots and how they connect us as individuals and a region to the wider world.

· Identifying and supporting local growers, food artisans, and purveyors in order to expand the wealth of quality food selections available in Western New York.

· Participating in the reparation of Western New York’s “broken food chain.”

· Becoming a focal point for the development of a food community that brings the people behind the diverse food related businesses in Western New York together in a “convivial” atmosphere in which to share their combined talents and experience.

· Developing and promoting events that reflect the Slow Food philosophy and the local products that exemplify Slow Food’s ideals.

It is our hope that in pursuing these goals Slow Food Buffalo will help raise awareness—both locally and throughout the world–of the wonderful quality of life to be enjoyed in Western New York. We invite anyone who shares these values and ambitions to join us in our celebration.

Please visit our membership page to join Slow Food Buffalo.

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What is Slow Food?

Slow Food is an international movement that first began in Italy in 1986. When founder Carlo Petrini came to realize the many losses that were resulting from the industrialization of food systems, he began Slow Food as a way to preserve what was left. Quite simply put, Slow Food is the opposite of all of the things we think of when we hear the term ‘fast food’. The movement embodies the concepts of good, clean and fair food as outlined by the Slow Food organization. Slow Food is currently active all over the world.

How did Slow Food come to Buffalo?

In 2002, ten Buffalonians committed to preserving WNY’s food heritage, supporting its family farms and educating people about the Slow movement came together to form Slow Food’s Buffalo convivium. Since then they have spent most of their energies working behind the scenes, extolling the virtues of heritage breed animals to local farmers, supporting area producers and occasionally throwing a shindig or two.

What is Slow Food Buffalo doing now?

In light of the recent fervor regarding sustainable agriculture and local foods criss-crossing our nation, Slow Food Buffalo has decided to step forward into the public light to further educate consumers about the benefits associated with living a Slow life. Organizing professional cooking demonstrations at local farmers markets, providing educational programming for various conventions and meetings, assisting WNY school systems to integrate farm-to-school practices, and working to improve the connection between farmers and consumers through a variety of avenues are just a few of the ways that Slow Food Buffalo is making a difference in WNY.

Why should I join Slow Food Buffalo?

When you join Slow Food Buffalo, you’re actually joining Slow Food USA. The bulk of your membership dues go toward supporting the very worthy projects they are working on. If you live in the WNY area, Slow Food Buffalo will become your local convivium. Slow Food Buffalo members are as involved as they want to be. Are you interested in organizing, implementing or coordinating one of Slow Food Buffalo’s WNY projects? Maybe you’d like to sit on a member-committee designed to support farmers, markets or restaurants? Maybe you’d just like to come to our fantastic, fun foodie get-togethers and receive discounts to other such area events? In all of those ways–and many more–Slow Food Buffalo has a place for you. (For a full list of membership benefits, click here).

What kinds of people join Slow Food Buffalo?

All kinds. Slow Food Buffalo is a group made up of farmers, chefs, store-owners, producers and consumers. There’s a place for you here whether you have a Ph.D in Agriculture or simply like to shop at your local farmers market.

How is Slow Food Buffalo structured?

Slow Food Buffalo currently operated with a board making the decisions through the democratic process. In early 2009 an election will be held to elect a new board with further details to be determined in the near future. The board is currently made up of Jo’el Drajem, David Setzer, Sandra Starks andChrista Glennie Seychew.

Slow Food Buffalo’s members participate on whatever level best suits them as individuals.  Some are organized into committees that deal with specific issues while others prefer to participate in a more general manner.

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