If you've got inquiries or would like to discuss story ideas, upcoming events, or the movement in general, please contact Kate Evanishyn at kate@slowfoodusa.org or 718.260.8000.

2008 Press Releases

April 20, 2008
NEW ANALYSIS OF AT-RISK FOODS IN NORTH AMERICA
The Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) Alliance announces the first continent-wide analysis of at-risk food species and varieties in North America. More than 1,000 unique seeds, breeds, fruits, nuts, fish and game are currently threatened or endangered across the continent. The RAFT Alliance has not only identified which foods are vulnerable, but is calling for the restoration of regional food networks, farms, wildlands and waters to prevent such extinctions.  

2007 Press Releases

November 19, 2007
SLOW FOOD NOMINATES YOUNG VICE PRESIDENT
An international delegation of youth attended Slow Food’s International Congress in Puebla Mexico and presented a six-point proposal that establishes opportunities for leadership by, investment in, and engagement of youth in the Slow Food movement and organization. Their presentation was met with enthusiasm by Slow Food leaders, culminating in the nomination of 20 year-old Kenyan student John Kariuki Mwangi as one of three International Vice Presidents of Slow Food.

November 2, 2007
YOUTH FOOD MOVEMENT
New York City, NY: In order to highlight the work being accomplished by youth around the country, and to inspire international Slow Food leaders to bring these models for youth engagement back to their home countries, Slow Food USA and Slow Food International are sponsoring a delegation of Youth Food Movement representatives to attend the Slow Food Leaders Congress in Mexico this coming week.

August 30, 2007
THE SLOW FOOD USA ARK OF TASTE SETS SAIL ON THE WISCONSIN STATE CAPITOL STEPS
On September 15th, 2007, rare American heirloom fruit, vegetables and livestock such as the Native Wisconsin Cranberry, the Mississippi Cotton Patch Goose, the Florida Wilson Popenoe Avocado and the Inland Empire Old-Grove Navel Orange from California will be welcomed onto the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste.

August 10, 2007
SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT BECKONS AMERICA’S YOUTH
Slow Food USA is pleased to announce the expansion of their Slow Food membership chapters to college and university campuses across the country.  In response to demand from college aged students eager to get involved in the national conversation about food and the environment, Slow Food USA and its program Slow Food in Schools, will bring together a diverse group of students who are passionate about food and sustainability issues.  

July 20, 2007
ARK TO DOCK IN BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Slow Food USA to Board Bison onto the ‘Ark of Taste’ Next Week -- Erika Lesser, executive director of Slow Food USA, is expected to make the formal announcement of the bison addition to the Ark of Taste when she addresses the International Bison Conference in Rapid City,
South Dakota.

May 10, 2007
SAVE THE DATE! SLOW FOOD NATION 2008
On May 1 – 4, 2008, Slow Food USA will hold an unprecedented public event, Slow Food Nation, at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.

May 9 , 2007
SLOW FOOD SF'S GOLDEN GLASS EVENT COMING THIS JUNE
Top Italian indigenous & regional wines complemented by gastronomic delights from leading Bay Area restaurateurs and food producers

April 19 , 2007
Native Foods Celebration at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe
Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) and the Institute of
American Indian Arts (IAIA) are bringing together over two dozen farmers, ranchers, gatherers,
historians, cooks and food activists for a Native Food Producers’ Retreat at IAIA in Santa Fe, NM. To
complement this retreat, a free public celebration will be held on Sunday May 20 from 10:00am to
4:00pm on the IAIA campus.

2006 Press Releases

September 21, 2006
SLOW FOOD REVOLUTION: Carlo Petrini in Conversation with Gigi Padovani
Can food be political?  The question might seem frivolous, but to Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food, and to the more than eighty thousand worldwide members of the movement, the question is vital, and the answer is yes, absolutely. 

September 8, 2006
Terra Madre 2006: October 26-30 in Turin, Italy
Largest International Gathering of Small-Scale Farmers and Food Producers, Including 500 from the U.S. Chefs and Universities Will Also Attend  

August 26, 2006
Slow Food USA holds its first Sustainable Seafood Gala
On September 25, 2006, Slow Food USA will hold its first Sustainable Seafood Gala at Agraria Restaurant in Washington, DC, to highlight the importance of responsible fishing practices, sustainable food systems and ocean conservation.

May 9, 2006
Ragya—Tibetan Plateau’s First Yak Cheese Export
The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and the Trace Foundation announce the advent of Ragya Yak Cheese, a unique and aromatic creation from the high-altitude land of Tibet.

March 14, 2006
Slow Food's Terra Madre Katrina Relief Fund awards grants to 12 Gulf Region producers and restaurant owners in an effort to help rebuild the local food system
New Orleans, Crescent City Farmers Market, March 21st, 2006, 10am: Slow Food USA will distribute $30,000 to twelve local food producers and restaurant owners who have been heavily affected by Hurricane Katrina.

January 19, 2006
The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco
When people around the world think of the San Francisco Bay Area, they immediately think of delicious food. Its restaurants, farms, vineyards and specialty food producers are at the epicenter of cutting edge food in America.

2004-2005 Press Release Archive

2001-2003 Press Release Archive

Slow Food in the Press Archive

SLOW FOOD NATION
Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, and Fair

By Carlo Petrini
 
In Slow Food Nation, Carlo Petrini, founder and driving force of the Slow Food Movement, offers models for reforming the way food is grown, prepared, and eaten, while outlining the different routes by which we can take back control of our food. Like An Inconvenient Truth, this is a call to action: we must teach gastronomy in schools, we must revolutionize the polluting system of food distribution, and we must demand information about the food we buy. Today, there are countless threats looming in the food world – books such as the best-selling Fast Food Nation have alerted us to dangers such as genetically modified organisms, food-borne diseases, and agribusiness monocultures. Fortunately, there are forces battling back -- Slow Food, the eco-gastronomic organization with a worldwide membership of more than 80,000 in 100 countries, is devoted to improving our health and the health of our planet, led by its charismatic leader, Petrini.

In his travels around the world, Petrini witnessed firsthand the many ways that native peoples feed themselves without making use of the harmful methods of the industrial complex. In Slow Food Nation he relates real-life anecdotes about the crises such peoples are facing in such varied places as Chiapas, Sweden, Mongolia, Bangladesh, and Puglia. The Slow Food movement is based on three principles that reflect Petrini’s worldview: first, food must be sustainably produced in ways that are sensitive to the environment; those who produce the food must be fairly treated, and lastly, the food must be healthful and delicious. Petrini was born and raised in Bra, in the countryside of Torino, where the harvesting of fresh produce and the use of local natural ingredients was integral to his way of life and subsequently, vital to the book’s message. In fact, Slow Food Nation was published in Italy as Buono, Pulito, Giusto which means “good, clean, and fair,” a motto that encapsulates Petrini’s mission and resonates on a global scale with all those concerned about the issues of contemporary gastronomy. 

With a foreword by Alice Waters, lauded by the New York Times as the “Mother of American Cooking”, who also serves as a Vice President for Slow Food International, Slow Food Nation presents ideas to raise awareness and arouse passion about the food we eat. In a country that is plagued by obesity and mass consumerism, it is critical that Americans look for guidance from other cultures around the world and begin to build a new and better way of eating in our communities here. Ultimately, Slow Food Nation is a book with a message of hope that we can, through awareness and preservation, and create a new culture of gastronomy that complements both nature and society.

ABOUT CARLO PETRINI: Carlo Petrini is the founder and driving force of Slow Food and was recently acclaimed as a “great innovator” in Time magazine’s list of “European Heroes.” He is currently a professor of Sociology at the Università di Trento and is an active participant in Italian political affairs. Born in 1949, Petrini has been writing for Italian newspapers and periodicals about eco-gastronomy since 1977. He was recently elected as the counselor of Il Manifesto, a communist newspaper in Bra, the city of his birth, located in the Piedmont region of Italy. Petrini will be available in the United States for interviews May 8th- 25th. On May 15th he will hold a lecture at the American Museum of Natural History to discuss his book. For more information or to arrange for an interview, please contact Aubrey at Sally Fischer Public Relations at 212.246.2977 or aubrey@sallyfischerpr.com . 

ABOUT SLOW FOOD: Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic organization that was started in Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini in response to the opening of a major fast-food restaurant in Rome. The movement’s underlying motive is to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of traditional local food and people’s dwindling interest in what they eat and how food choices affect the global environment and economy. Today there are upwards of 80,000 Slow Food members in more than 100 countries.

“Slow Food’s straightforward message is hard to argue with: Foods and food preservation that have given culinary pleasure for decades (or much longer) should be treasured and preserved.” — The Washington Post

“Fighting for the survival of the unfittest is the best way to preserve North America’s culinary diversification.” — Food & Wine

“Slow Food is now sweeping the United States with the message that fast food and factory farming lack taste.” — Utne Reader

SLOW FOOD NATION: WHY OUR FOOD SHOULD BE GOOD, CLEAN, AND FAIR
By Carlo Petrini
Hardcover, 5 5/16 x 8 7/16”, 304 pages
$22.50
Rizzoli New York
ISBN: 0-8478-2945-6
Rights: World English Language

Release date: May/June 2007