Slow Food seeks to help us connect to the story behind our food –its cultural and historical context, the politics of its production, and the diversity of our ecosystems and communities. As 2000 delegates from 130 countries prepare to attend Slow Food’s Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre and the International Congress in Torino, Italy from October 25th to October 29th, we thought we’d check in with some of our delegates to hear what’s on their minds. The delegates we interviewed, like so many others who will be at the global gathering, are the everyday food movement leaders who are “feeding the planet in a good, clean, and fair way”, this year’s theme for Terra Madre.
Greg Boulos
Age: 37
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Slow Food Connection:Mid-Atlantic Regional Governor, farmer (Ark of Taste)
Cynthia Hayes
Age: 62
Hometown: Savannah, GA
Slow Food Connection:Slow Food Savannah Board of Directors
Lauren Lin Howe
Age: 21
Hometown: Easthampton, MA
Slow Food Connection:Co-Founder and Co-Leader of Slow Food Hamilton College
Esperanza Pallana
Age: 38
Hometown: San Francisco, but has resided in Oakland, CA for 8 years
Slow Food Connection:My connection to Slow Food is in the work that I do and my colleagues. I work for Oakland Food Policy Council where we work to establish an equitable and sustainable food system. Personally I believe one of the most powerful ways to affect food choice is to awaken, explore and practice one’s food heritage. I appreciate the message of Slow Food yet also see an opportunity to bridge the dialogue of food injustice to the message of sustainability.
Jim Embry
Age: I am 63 years old but I represent 2 million years of human evolution, 4.5 billion years of Earth evolution and 14 billion years of Universe evolution…so I am as old as dirt!
Hometown: Lexington, KY
Slow Food Connection:I have been a member of Slow Food Bluegrass since 2008, a Terra Madre delegate in 2008 and 2010, delegate to the International Congress in 2012, supported hosting the Slow Food USA National Congress in Louisville, KY this past April, and speak about Slow Food in some 40 talks each year.
Vince Vang Lee Xiong
Age: 38
Hometown: Plymouth, MN
Slow Food Connection: Minnesota Food Association (a friend of Slow Food Twin Cities), farmer
Frances Roberts-Gregory
Age: 22
Hometown: East Coast of the United States (NJ, NC, and VA)
Slow Food Connection:SAAFON, SoGreen Network, Slow Food Atlanta, and I want to start a campus Slow Food chapter at Spelman College
