Supporting Good, Clean, and Fair Food

US Terra Madre Network

Terra Madre: Information for Past Delegates

Welcome to the Terra Madre Network page, a place for former Terra Madre delegates (and others) to connect, keep each other up to date on their initiatives and accomplishments, and share resources. It is a work in progress and constantly updated, so we urge you to check back frequently.





Voices of Terra Madre: What everyone is up to

It's a real pleasure to see how vocal and present you all are, not just on the farm and in the kitchen, but on the streets, in the press, and in the blogosphere. Here are some highlights that give you a sense of your geographical spread as well as the diversity of your talents:

  • Michael di Alessi was named to the California Sustainable Seafood Panel, a California state initiative to help California fisheries attain internationally accepted standards for sustainability and to promote the purchase of sustainable California seafood.
  • Chris Howell started Vermont Farm Tours, a culinary tour company that takes guests behind the scenes to experience the story and flavor of Vermont's unique culinary landscape.
  • Montana farmer Jacob Cowgill was named state agricultural liaison to Montana senator John Tester (D).
  • Steph Larsen wrote on the Huffington Post about the need for building up policies to support the entire food chain, not just farmers.
  • Chef Timothy Tucker was covered in USA Today for his rehabilitative vocational training with homeless men in Louisville, KY.
  • Delegate Tanya Jisa is reportedly making progress on her farm-based transitional program for women leaving state prisons. She is presently looking for land in Alamance County, North Carolina.
  • Delegate Jim Embry of Lexington Kentucky will be serving as a mentor to one of the recipients of the Compton Mentor Fellowship whose proposal is entitled, Grow Lexington! Nurturing Young Minds on Common Ground for a Greener Tomorrow, focused on providing food security for low-income residents of Lexington,KY.
  • Asta Schuette started a Slow Food Tufts group at the Friedman School of Nutrition & Science Policy
  • Professor Arthur Lizie (Bridgewater State College) started a Slow Food chapter (Bridgewater South Shore), as well as a local Farmer's Market.
  • Craig Lapine, of Cultivating Community, contributed to this publication called "Healthy Landscapes for Affordable Housing," writing about "Food's Place in Green Communities."
  • Nathan Leamy and Gordon Jenkins are now both on staff at Slow Food USA!
  • Melina Shannon-DiPietro and Anastasia Curley from the Yale Sustainable Food Project have become regular contributors to the Atlantic Monthly's new food site "The Atlantic Food Channel."
  • Academic delegates Jonathan Deutsch and Annie Hauck-Lawson celebrated the publication of their book "Gastropolis," reviewed on the SFUSA blog.
  • Winona LaDuke talks seeds in Yes Magazine's April edition.
  • California rice farmer Greg Massa wrote a piece for Ethicurean about his speaking engagement in Germany and his history as an anti-GMO fighter.
  • Will Allen was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business! Also, he gave some advice to Obama and his transition team. Also, he was up for White House Farmer . And, check out the feature about Will and Growing Power and all of their innovative urban agriculture techniques in Yes magazine.
  • Michael Grady Robertson and the Queens County Farm Museum got attention in the NY Times for Robertson's revitalization of their working sustainable farm.
  • Alissa Hamilton's book "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice," came out in May 2009, and the Boston Globe did a Q and A with her.
  • Tim Galarneau was featured in Mother Jones for his amazing work as a co-founder of the Real Food Challenge, which seeks to transform college dining.
  • The work of Julia Perkins and Damara Luce and their organization--the Coalition of Immokalee Workers--was featured in Gourmet Magazine, in an article called "Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes." Congrats to them for their success in getting Florida Governor Crist to voice support for their Fair Food Campaign!
  • Jonny Hunter (and former Slow Food USA staffer Cecily Upton) got a ton of great write-ups for the New York extensions of his Pre-Industrial Pig Dinners. Check it out in Gourmet, on the NY Times blog, and in the Madison, Wisconsin paper Isthmus.
  • Farm Manager Clare Strader of GroundWorks at Troy Gardens in Madison Wisconsin won the online contest to be the White House Farmer.
  • Inspired by Terra Madre 2008, Lora Lea Misterly and the Quillisascut Farm School did a week-long Slow Food Youth farming workshop this past August and will do another in 2010!
  • And so many more!

In addition, you may have noticed that on our blog (and then again in our monthly e-newsletter) we have highlighted a Terra Madre delegates. If you have an initiative you'd like to share, please get in touch with Jerusha (jerusha[at]slowfoodusa[dot]org) to talk about it and get it on the blog! In addition to others, you can read about Bob Perry's Kentucky Hamburger Alliance, Nathan Leamy's (recurring) bread basics, Chef David Swanson's RSA program, Lianna Bishop's work with the University of Montana's dining halls, and Timothy Tucker's work as a chef instructor for the homeless, at the Salvation Army in Louisville, KY.





The 2008 conference

Many of you have expressed interest in videos, audio recordings, transcripts, etc. Here's a rundown of what's available and where. This will be updated as we find out more. If the links to Slow Food International's Terra Madre pages are in Italian, you'll need to go back to the Terra Madre home page and choose "English."

  • Slow Food USA Blog: Visit our blog for ongoing (after the fact) reporting about the event. There you can find Sam Levin's remarks from the Opening Ceremony, Ariane Lotti's take on the Closing Ceremony, and more.
  • Faces of Terra Madre: Remember that photo booth? Here's a link to the photographs.
  • Press: Here's a link to Slow Food International's list of press coverage. If you know of additional coverage (or if you yourself write about the event for a paper, blog, etc.), please send the articles to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
  • Earth Workshops: There are transcripts up mostly in Italian.
  • US Regional Meeting: For a copy of the program from the event, click here. For video coverage of Josh Viertel's remarks, click here. For video coverage of Winona LaDuke's remarks, click here. For a video of Dominic Palumbo's remarks, click here.
  • Opening and Closing Ceremonies: For transcripts of several of the opening ceremony speakers (including Alice Waters), as well as the complete program of speakers, click here. For a recap of the closing ceremony, and a transcript of Heeni Hoterene's comments, click here. Still trying to find out if the concert was recorded--will let you know. FYI, the band at the center of it all is the Torino-based group Mau Mau. Click here for more info and a link to their site.
  • Photos: We started a Flickr Group for sharing photos of the event. Click here to join in the fun!


Delegate Contact Info

TERRA MADRE BOOK: We encourage you to use the Terra Madre book as a resource. When you make plans to travel abroad--look for fellow TM network members and get in touch. It's a wonderful way to keep the network alive. In the back of the 2008 book is a CD-ROM with descriptions of all the food communities present. You can find this information online here. Also, the descriptions of US food communities are available for download right here.





Keeping us in the loop

We know that many of you have returned home to share your experience with your local school/convivium/neighborhood. Please do let us know about these events (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).



Youth Delegates



Breakout Session Follow-up



  • FOOD JUSTICE: Many thanks to those of you who attended the Food Justice Breakout Session. Here is the list of everyone who attended the meeting. As mentioned in the meeting, please check out the Growing Food and Justice website.
  • MEAT WORKING GROUP: This gathering of producers, chefs, and organizers was a terrific continuation of the conversation begun at Slow Food Nation. Here is the list of everyone who attended the meeting at Terra Madre.