Thanks to CREDO members, Slow Food USA is fighting to create a radically better food system

As a network of over 115 chapters and 5000 members in the US, our grantee partners at Slow Food USA are centering food as a delicious solution to climate justice and helping to mobilize a dynamic network to push for radical change in our food systems.

In May 2021, CREDO members voted to distribute $40,965  to Slow Food USA to defend cultural and biological diversity, educate and mobilize citizens, and influence food policies in public and private sectors.

Here are a few of the organization’s accomplishments thanks to CREDO’s financial support:

Slow Food USA accomplishments

• In the fifth year of SFUSA’s Plant a Seed, Share a Seed campaign, 250 growing kits containing Ark of Taste-honored seeds were sent to school gardens, and 325 individual gardeners purchased kits for home use. Share a Seed piloted in Washington, D.C. and hosted community seed exchanges.
• SFUSA deepened relationships with Slow Food Turtle Island Association (the Indigenous-led entity) through winning a grant to support Native American / American Indian farmers, and through an ongoing partnership with SFTIA and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) that culminated in a vibrant virtual event, Co-Producers Unite!.
• SFUSA convened Slow Fish 2021, a virtual gathering of fishers and friends of our waters and foodways that featured 45 speakers across six days for 354 attendees.
• SFUSA’s Slow Food Live series featured 19 panel discussions and workshops that engaged thousands of attendees and revealed the many facets of our movement toward good, clean and fair food for all.

New Initiatives by Slow Food USA

• The Snail of Approval program in the US expanded from 16 individual chapter initiatives into a national network of 345 businesses, all displayed in an interactive map and governed by a unified set of criteria centered on sourcing, environmental impact, cultural connection, community involvement, staff support, and business values.
• SFUSA hosted its first Slow Seed Summit in March 2021. This six-day virtual symposium featured 55 speakers addressing the intersections of histories and meanings of seeds. 340 people attended the summit, which will be reprised in spring 2022.
• The 2022 Slow Food Summit will take place May 13-15, and tickets will go on sale Thursday, April 14.

If you’d like to learn more or get involved with Slow Food’s important work, please visit their website, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.