FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2018 — Slow Food USA launched the Plant a Seed campaign today, inviting individuals and schools to plant the “Three Sisters” in biodiverse gardens across the country. It ties into the Slow Food theme for 2018 — Food for Change — that encourages individuals and communities to make changes in everyday eating habits that will impact the food system as a whole and address climate change.
The Three Sisters are bean, corn and squash that, when planted together, help one another thrive and survive. Corn provides a tall stalk for the beans to climb. Beans provide nitrogen to the soil for the other plants to use. Squash create a microclimate to keep the soil moist and free of weeds. This indigenous technique of companion planting has been embraced the world over.
The specific varieties selected for the campaign are on the Ark of Taste, Slow Food’s library of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction: Stowell’s Evergreen Sweet Corn, the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, and Christmas Lima Bean. These plants each have fresh flavors and a story of near extinction.
“We are especially excited for gardeners of all ages to rally around traditional methods of companion planting,” says executive director Richard McCarthy. “In each garden we see an emblem of hope and pragmatic action that adds up to the kind of systemic change we need to make food a significant part of the climate change conversation.”
For every kit purchased ($45), Slow Food will send a kit to a school garden. Official campaign partners are Chili Smith Family Foods, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange and Davines. Order a kit at slowfoodusa.org/plant-a-seed.
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About Slow Food:
Slow Food is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet. Slow Food involves over a million activists, chefs, experts, youth, farmers, fishers and academics in over 160 countries. Among them, a network of around 100,000 Slow Food members are linked to 1,500 local chapters worldwide, including over 150 chapters across the United States.
Contact:
Anna Mulé
Director of Communications and Campaigns, Slow Food USA
718-260-8000 x152
anna@slowfoodusa.org
