Every day around the world, a local Slow Food network organises events, averaging one event every 20 minutes. Where does this energy and success come from?
IDENTITY CARD
Slow Food is a global network of local communities (called convivium) founded in 1989 in response to the disappearance of local food traditions in opposition to the fast-food culture. Slow Food reunites millions of people from over 160 countries who work towards the following goals: good food that is good because it is healthy and tasty, clean for the planet and fair because it is respectful of producers.
The biodiversity of wild and cultivated species, as well as certain modes of cultivation and production are at the heart of Slow Food’s actions.
SLOW FOOD IN ACTION
- Promotion and protection of all forms of agriculture practiced in harmony with the environment facing climate change, food insecurity and inequalities.
- The transmission of knowledge. To reduce the gap between traditional knowledge and modern science, the academic institutions must validate the knowledge accumulated by the various communities over the centuries. Slow Food encourages initiatives valorising knowledge sharing. This is one of the key objectives of Pollenza University of Gastronomic Sciences founded in 2004.
- Biodiversity at the service of humanity. Global warming and the industrial model of food production and distribution have exacerbated the erosion of food biodiversity. Slow Food proceeds: by nominating products to the Ark of Taste catalogue, and by developing concrete local projects with the communities, such as the Sentinels*, the Earth Markets*in the Terra Madre* (Mother Earth) network.
- Indigenous peoples are precious allies for defying global challenges. Sometimes without knowing it they are guardians of biodiversity and their knowledge becomes essential. Slow Food is engaged to developing local projects with the autochthone communities supporting the indigenous youth by multiplying opportunities for participation, meetings, and exchanges.
- Plastics and ecosystems of the planet: Plastic degrades into micro and nano plastics found in water, earth, air and finally in the food chain; Slow Food promotes a circular economy, selective sorting, plastic recycling, reduction of packaging and plastic replacement, if possible, with biodegradable equivalents.
- Ten thousand gardens in Africa. Launched in 2010, the project has already promoted the creation of nearly 3,000 vegetable gardens in schools, villages and on the outskirts of cities in 35 African countries. The gardens are cultivated durably: responsible use of water, local horticultural varieties, and natural pest treatments. This project is a way to ensure a healthy and fresh food supply to communities, thereby improving the quality of life while saving money. These vegetable gardens are moving in the direction of food sovereignty and self-sufficiency.
* Find the profound sense of all the key words Slow Food mentioned in this article with a * and even more in the Slow Food vocabulary online at kachen.lu/slow-food-vocabulary