2016
Friday
February
12

Slow Food USA - Loving the Earth: A Digital Valentine's Card

With Valentine’s Day approaching, we send you this message of love. Love food. Love community. Love the Earth! Not only is it the theme of this year's Terra Madre Salone del Gusto but it's also the hopeful theme that binds us together. How do we count the ways? Here are 10 ways we love ...

 

1. New Hawaiian entries to the Ark of Taste. The ‘Ulu is an endangered variety of Hawaiian breadfruit. It is one of the "canoe plants" brought by early Polynesian settlers from the Society Islands to Hawaii centuries ago. According to legend, the god Ku, fell in love with a human woman, married her, and raised a family. During a time of terrible famine, he transformed himself into a breadfruit tree to feed his family. The small root shoots that grew from the tree were spread to family and friends and are the source of all ‘ulu trees in the islands. Learn about the ‘ulu and other recent Ark of Taste entries.

 

2. Kids who cook. More and more classrooms are using our Good curriculum and as a result are learning how to cook, taste and value food differently via school gardens. Students also learning the value of commerce via our Youth Farmers Markets. Can this work at your school this spring?

3. Terra Madre 2016. Our global Slow Food gathering will be here before you know it! Get ready for a new format and new dates. Here’s where to stay tuned. Here’s where to apply to join the USA delegation. Here's where to get inspired

4. Simran Sethi and her love letter to chocolate, wine and disappearing foods. Read her blog; and see her speak at the Chefs Collaborative Summit this April.

5. Good ideas that spread. Slow Meat began in Denver, but this spring alone, events promoting “better meat, less” take place in Cuba, Denmark, and Germany. Let’s turn the herd! Learn more.

6. Slow Fish New Orleans. What's not to love? Lent, seafood gumbo, and the best fish tales in North America. It’s not too late to get your fisher and yourself to the March gathering. Read Slow Fish. Attend Slow Fish.

7. A good egg. We love that Cage Free eggs are catching on. Hello? Who’s making thechange? And here’s what change means.

8. Child Nutrition. We love legislators who put posturing aside to renew the Childhood Nutrition Act. #CNR2016 will improve childhood access to high quality, nutritious, local food; expand successful farm-to-school programs; and maintain nutrition standards to reduce chronic diseases? Tell the House Committee on Education and Workforce that the children of America need a strong CNR. If you live in SC, NC, CA, TN, MI, AZ, KY, IN, NV, AL, VA, GA, WI, OK, FL, NY, TX, CT, OH, CO, OR, and MA, your representative may serve on this committee. Find your representative; learn about Slow Food's CNR vision. Urge passage now.    

9. Lolis Eric Elie's Love Letter to BBQ. It seems to repeat itself. Not as tragedy and farce, to use Karl Marx's historic analysis. Rather, first as caricature, then as fetish. Clearly, we are currently experiencing a fetish phase. Let's free ourselves, read and rediscover the true meaning of barbecue in America. 

10. Thoughtful discourse. Amidst often less-than-thoughtful discourse in the political sphere, we are encouraged by recent gut-check postings that trigger some provocative discussions taking place on- and off-line. Consider FoodTank's recent call to Presidential candidates for answers to 10 food policy questions, or Tamar Haspel's "Surprising truth about the food movement" in the Washington Post. Or even better, Chellie Pelligrie and Anna Lappé's response, "The food movement is small?" What do you think? Join the conversation online