Slow Food

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Slow FoodAn Introduction
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Slow Food works to conserve the biodiversity of
our agricultural crops
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and the great diversity of our traditional
foods.
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Slow Food also works to protect food culture.
conserving regional traditions encouraging young
people to be interested in food working against
the homogenization of the food supply
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The Slow Food Movement

• Slow Food believes that individuals have the
  right to enjoy food and to enjoy a natural rhythm
  of life.
• Slow Food researches, describes, and sustains
  food culture.
• Slow Food develops taste education for young
  people.
• Slow Food safeguards and defends agricultural
  heritage and culinary techniques in countries
  around the world.
• Slow Food promotes the diffusion of quality
  eco-compatible food products

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Why is Slow Food so interested in biodiversity?
Agricultural issues Biodiversity is a resource
for disease resistance and adaptability Monocultu
res are vulnerable
Cultural issues Losing traditional food losing
human culture Traditional foods are adapted to
the needs of different populations Farming,
food, eating, and cooking are part of the fabric
of human culture
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More importantly, can you imagine a world with
only one cheese?
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Slow Food combines the enjoyment of food with the
promotion of a new consciousness about the
environment and agriculture
gourmet association
environmental action group
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The Ark of Taste
1996 Ark of Taste founded 1998 First 10 products
of the Italian Ark of Taste presented at the
Salone del Gusto 1999 The Ark of Taste swells to
include over 450 products 1999 Ark founded in
USA 2001 Ark founded in Germany, Switzerland,
France, Holland, Canada 2002 Creation of
International Ark
The Ark of Taste is a project to catalog quality
products at risk of extinction vegetable
species, animal breeds, and high quality
gastronomic specialties tied to a specific region
or area.
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The Presidia Project
What do the Presidia do?

• Small investments in infrastructure
• Technical assistance (consultancy of
  veterinarians, agronomists, etc.)
• Stabilization of a rigorous production protocol
• Create a cooperative of farmers
• Promotion through Slow Food publications
• Assistance in marketing

What effect do they have?

• Recognition from community
• Creation of brand for artisan products
• Give producers a means for promotion and
  development of their product
• Give consumers a guarantee of quality
• In Italy, average earnings increase of 42

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Internationally 30 Presidia
Irish Smoked Salmon A handmade product using
natural ingredients, Smoked Wild salmon is
increasingly losing ground to farmed salmon. This
Presidia project combines a environmental
intervention with promotion and taste education.
Basmati Rice Slow Food has selected varieties of
Basmati for their aroma and flavor
characteristics. This Presidium is financing the
creation of eight seed banks in Uttranchal,
Punjab, and Haryana to promote the cultivation of
typical varieties and to increase the stocks of
the rarest seeds.
Black Tolosa Beans Eight years ago, producers
from the Tolosa region began an effort to
preserve the best varieties of their black beans.
The Presidium today is educating consumers and
restaurateurs about this native Spanish specialty
and supporting the traditional local market.
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In Italy 160 Presidia
Classic Bologna Mortadella The Presidums
mortadella classica is made from pork from
heavyweight Italian pigs and only a bare minimum
of preservatives. The only flavorings are salt,
black pepper grains, ground white pepper, mace,
coriander, and crushed garlic.
Piedmontese Cows Like most white native breeds,
the Piedmontese cow is descended from an ancient
breed. At the start of the twentieth century,
there were still 680,000 cows, but today the
number has dropped to fewer than 300,000.
Gargano citrus fruits The citrus fruits of
Gargano ripen all year round The orchards, or
giardini as they are called here, are clustered
around farmhouses and protected from the wind by
dry-stone walls or reed or holm-oak/laurel wood
fences.
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The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity
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The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity
The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity was inaugurated in 2000 with the aim
of identifying and acknowledging research
activity, production, commercialisation,
promotion or cataloguing work which was of
benefit to biodiversity in the context of food
production. The Award is for work carried out and
for the consequences of the work the work must
also have practical uses. The Award is an
expression of gratitude to people who are
defending something that still exists, but is
ignored by most people it risks being forgotten
and disappearing if the few defending it are not
assisted.
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The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity
The first Award ceremony was held in Bologna, in
October 2000. The 13 winners of the first edition
Slow Food Award edition were from Europe, Africa,
America and Oceania there was immediately
considerable media attention focused on this
initiative from all parts of the world.
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The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity
Porto hosted the second Slow Food Award on
October 13, 2001. The 14 Slow Food Awards for
2001 were granted in the Monastery of San Bento
da Vitoria in the presence of the international
press and dignitaries holding the highest
political and institutional positions.
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The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity
The third Award ceremony was held in Turin on
October 23, 2002. During the ceremony, which took
place in the Carignano Theater in Turin, the 13
Awards have been granted to individuals and
associations from four continents.
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The Slow Food Award for the Defense of
Biodiversity
Naples hosted the fourth edition of the Slow Food
Award on November 9, 2003 in the San Carlo
Theater and the ceremony has been closing all the
events within the framework of the International
Congress held in Naples (November 6-9).
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The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity is a
new non-profit organization for the defense of
biodiversity, which will support the other Slow
Food projects that directly promote agricultural
biodiversity in the world the Slow Food Award,
the Presidia, and the Ark of Taste. The
Foundation will have its head office in Florence
and the Tuscany Regional Authority, a founder
member, was instrumental in its creation. Ideas
and projects for the Foundation for Biodiversity
are very welcome and you are also invited to
provide information on products, producers or
interesting methods (fondazione_at_slowfood.com).
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Taste Education Projects
In 1993 Slow Food began an educational project in
Italian schools using taste as a learning tool
courses for training and further study have been
organized across Italy, authorized by the
Ministry of Public Education.
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The Taste Workshops and the Master of Food program
The Taste Workshop is Slow Foods classroom for
taste education. The model is simple experts
from the association offer guided tastings of
various enogastronomical products. The tasting
seminars begins with theories of tasting
techniques and a brief description of the product
in question and remarks about the most suitable
food-drink combinations. Then the real tasting
begins the speaker questions the participants
about their preferences and guides them in
recognizing aromas, as well as the overall
quality of the products. In 2002, Slow Food
initiated the Master of Food program, a teaching
project for food, wine and sensory understanding.
The aim is to recover taste-related knowledge and
to spread awareness of production and tasting
techniques, along with the history and culture of
food and wine. Courses are held all across Italy
they comprise three to six evening classes within
the Slow Food philosophy and style. The Master of
Food has also helped bring together a group of
almost 300 teachers unified by a single program
to present new courses of study.
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The University of Gastronomic Sciences
The University of Gastronomic Sciences was
founded by Slow Food to address a specific need
the reshaping of gastronomy as a serious subject
of academic enquiry. The University is meant to
educate the next generation of leaders in the
food world. An extensive faculty has been
assembled to teach and conduct research in two
areas of study Gastronomy and Agroecology. The
Regional Authorities of Piedmont and
Emilia-Romagna have provided considerable support
in establishing two campuses, one in Pollenzo,
(near Bra, hometown of Slow Food, in Piedmont)
and the other in Colorno (near Parma, in
Emilia-Romagna).
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The University of Gastronomic Sciences
The Pollenzo campus will welcome the first class
of 60 students in the Gastronomy program in
October 2004, while the Agroecology program will
begin at a later date. Each program will offer a
basic three-year training degree and a two-year
specialization degree, as well as a one-year
Master course and intensive seminars for food
professionals.
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The Edible Schoolyard
The Edible Schoolyard model was developed in
Berkeley, California, by chef and Slow Food
International Governor Alice Waters. It is a
practical approach to the problem of educating
future generations about how to care for, select,
prepare and enjoy food. It consist of a garden in
a schoolyard, which the students themselves care
for and tend, and which is used as the base for a
series of classes. Created in 1995, the idea for
an Edible Schoolyard came about through the
collaboration of Alice Waters and School
Principal of Martin Luther King Middle Jr.
School. The project is in total synthesis with
the Slow Food approach to education, and now the
promotion and diffusion of the Edible Schoolyard
model is developing through the Slow Food
movement. The first Edible Schoolyard in Italy
was launched last September in Piedmont.
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Slow Food Events

• Salone del Gusto
• Biennial event
• 150,000 visitors
• 800 market stands
• Enoteca with 2000 labels
• 5 day event

• Cheese
• Biennial event
• 120,000 visitors
• 300 market stands
• 4 day event

• National Events
• Dinners
• Taste Workshops
• Master of Food courses

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