The Food movement
has a choice
The food movement can't survive alone. There's no food movement that just locks itself off and says, "Look, if only we drink the right olive oil and have the right red wine, everything's going to be fine."
Because that's rubbish.
The only way that the food movement could really make the kinds of change it needs to make is in alliances with indigenous people, and with unions, with labor movements, with radical politics with women's rights organizations and with organizations that want reparations for the ills of colonialism and organizations transitioning towards a zero carbon future. The food movement can't do all that by itself.
“Food is an excellent opportunity to decolonize yourself, to go back and figure out the origins.
This movement is about justice; about the future of how we will eat, how we will treat each other, and how we will live”
— Winona LaDuke, Slow Food USA
PODCAST: EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE: A CONVERSATION WITH JIM EMBRY
Slow Food Youth Network wants to raise attention for the concept of social justice within our movement and in the food system, because we believe that this particular historical moment is pivotal for a shift in the definition of human rights and we as a movement want to be part of this change towards a more just and fair food system and world.
“This is the time and place for the indigenous food movement.
The Western perspective may see us as a trend or a fad, but we’ve always been here; we’ve just been overlooked. Not only did our ancestors survive colonization, but so did our ingredients.”
Recordings from the Virtual Leader Summit
CENTERING EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE
Join three of the key authors of the Slow Food Equity, Inclusion and Justice Manifesto to understand the history of how and why the manifesto was created, deepen your understanding of its meaning, and to connect in breakout groups to workshop your own chapter’s action steps. With Jovan Sage, Jim Embry and Denisa Livingston
ADVOCACY, BEYOND THE FORK
A participative, advocacy skills-building session focused on how grassroots advocacy can lead to positive outcomes. This panel will discuss food and farm immigrant labor justice, the effects of aquaculture commodities on community and tribal-based fisheries, and agricultural resilience in climate change.
THE COVID PIVOT: EVENTS TO ACTION
Slow Food chapters have pivoted from in-person events to a focus on action, leveraging Slow Food’s renewed commitment to equity, inclusion and justice to help their communities navigate this crisis. We’re bringing a few of these chapter leaders together to share reflections on their process and how others can do the same.
BLACK LIVES MATTER:
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE
SLOW FOOD COMMUNITY
“Let’s not fall into a trap of saying we don’t know how to respond. A diverse Slow Food coalition created an Equity, Inclusion and Justice Manifesto in 2018, and it’s time for every chapter leader and member to commit to putting those words to work in local communities and in the nation’s food system. In doing so, we will take a united approach in addressing the intersection of food and race with new earnestness. Use the EIJ Manifesto as a practical guide and starting point. We will succeed and we will fail, but we cannot stop learning and trying, and we certainly cannot hesitate. “
— Anna, Giselle, and Felix, Slow Food USA
NO FOOD JUSTICE
WITHOUT RACIAL JUSTICE
+ READING LIST
“Racial justice is inextricably linked to food justice. The basis of the Slow Food Movement is our core belief that all people deserve good, clean, and fair food—food that is delicious, nutritious, affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate.
Black ingenuity and labor built the United States’ agricultural economies, food sovereignty movements, and the foundation for our celebrated regional cuisines. Now and always, it is crucial that we uplift Black voices and honor the resilience and resistance of Black communities and individuals. We must address the injustices in our food system that disproportionately affect Black communities to actively engage in the work of dismantling white supremacism and eliminating racism.”
— Amelia, Lauren, Lucy, Maddy, Sara, Slow Food Youth Network USA
RECLAIMING NATIVE TRUTH
“In Slow Food, we need more of this integration that rightfully and respectfully honors the sacred food and life ways of our people that also honors their contribution and efforts. Many times, we are misrepresented; we should be invited to the table to share in the ways meaningful to us.”
— Denisa Livingston
DENISA LIVINGSTON AT TERRA MADRE 2018 ON FOOD DESERTS, HISTORIC INJUSTICE AND ADVOCACY
Denisa Livingston, a Diné woman from New Mexico, is the Slow Food International Councillor for the Indigenous Network in the Global North. Last fall at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Denisa spoke about what Slow Food means in the Native North American context, and what the Diné community is doing to overcome the effects of colonization on their food culture. (caption: Slow Food USA)
SLOW FOOD COLUMBUS’ EQUITY WEBINAR
This is the first of a three-part series co-sponsored by the Ohio State Anthropology Public Outreach Program (APOP) and Slow Food Columbus. Inspired by Slow Food USA's Manifesto for Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, our autumn 2020 lecture series draws on the collective experiences of our panelists, who will share how these themes are manifested in their work.
SLOW FOOD COLUMBUS’ INCLUSION WEBINAR
This is the second of a three-part series co-sponsored by the Ohio State Anthropology Public Outreach Program (APOP) and Slow Food Columbus. Inspired by Slow Food USA's Manifesto for Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, our autumn 2020 lecture series draws on the collective experiences of our panelists, who will share how these themes are manifested in their work.