By ANNA Mulè, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SLOW FOOD USA
Last year was a challenging year for the Slow Food network. With COVID still severely limiting in-person gatherings, and many volunteer leaders in transition with jobs and families, 2021 was a year of evaluation, new relationship building and asking tough questions. It was a year of remaking our movement.
My primary guiding question for last year was, “How do we continue to decentralize power, create collaborative and participatory models with the network, and center equity in everything we do?” After the public statements in support of racial justice in 2020, we are determined to make joy and justice a daily practice that embeds equity and access into all of our work.
Throughout this Annual Report, you will see that our chapters are also making joy + justice a daily practice in their communities. Five streams of activity flow together into a powerful and intersectional look at the Slow Food movement across the United States: Embracing racial equity and justice, nourishing cultural and biological diversity, increasing access to food and nutrition, mobilizing people and communities, and advancing policies that transform food systems.
Thank you for your partnership with Slow Food last year through your generous donations, your time and your knowledge! As we begin to emerge from the global pandemic, we invite you to reconnect with your local chapters, to recommit to joy + justice in your daily life, and to remake this movement with us.
Warmly,
