Apply to be a Terra Madre Delegate, Deadline April 6

Join the International Community!

Diversity and a global perspective are at the heart of Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto.  Delegates come from all around the world, representing the various communities, cultures, histories, struggles, and solutions united under the banner of good, clean, and fair.  Historically, Terra Madre has also been an opportunity for Slow Food USA to broaden and diversify our network by bringing different folks together - from the person who is new to Slow Food to the person who is a long-time supporter.  It has been an important avenue for those of us from the U.S. to realize ourselves in the context of and in relation with a truly global movement and community.

This year, Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto will come together as a unified event open to the public in Turin, Italy from October 25-29, 2012. The International Congress, which is a closed conference for Slow Food leaders worldwide that happens every five years, will take place concurrently in Turin from October 27-29, 2012.  There will be a total of 2000 delegates to both events—and for the first time, regional selection committees will be choosing the majority of U.S. delegates. 

Being a U.S. delegate - sponsored by Slow Food USA - comes with the honor and responsibility of showing up well as a global citizen from the U.S. Are you ready to join the international community gathering in Turin, Italy this fall?  Click here to apply to be a U.S. delegate!

But before you do—please read these Application Guidelines. Also, note that the U.S. delegate application is for both Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto and International Congress. If you indicate interest in attending International Congress, you will be considered ONLY for an International Congress delegate spot. If you are not selected, you will NOT be reconsidered instead for a delegate spot to Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto.

CLICK HERE FOR THE APPLICATION. The deadline to submit your complete application has been extended to 11:59pm ET on April 6, 2012.  You should receive an auto-response confirmation email after you submit your application. If you did not or do not receive one, email Hnin@slowfoodusa.org.

Good luck!

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You may also attend Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto 2012 as a public event-goer. Tickets will go on sale at http://www.salonedelgusto.com sometime in May.

Monticello Garden Ambassadors

This year Monticello is launching a new garden program entitled Thomas
Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden

Tour<http://www.monticello.org/site/visit/tours/thomas-jefferson%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-garden-tour-monticello>.

 This tour is more in depth than our typical garden tours and focuses on
the fruit and vegetable gardens in particular, while also including a
“hands-on” gardening component.



Monticello is looking for volunteers who can help with this program
specifically, and possibly other garden activities if they are interested.
These tours are running from April 27- Oct. 27 on Friday and Saturday
mornings from about 9-11:30 am.  Training would be provided, of course, and
volunteers would be working directly with the visitors and other Monticello
staff.


If you are interested in getting involved in Monticello's world-renown
gardens, please contact Emily Tenhunfeldt.   etenhundfeld@monticllo.org

Vandana Shiva to speak at UVa today

Internationally acclaimed food democracy advocate Vandana Shiva will be giving a free public lecture TODAY, March 20th at 5:30pm in the Auditorium of the Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections Library.

The winner of the 1993 Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (also known as the Right Livelihood Award), Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental activist and one of the leading voices in the local food movement. Based in New Delhi, India, Dr. Shiva is the Director of the Research Foundation on Science, Technology, a leader at the International Forum on Globalization and the author of over twenty books including Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development (2008), Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace (2005) and Water Wars: Pollution, Profits, and Privatization (2001). She is also the founder of Navdanya, an organization that promotes the conservation of diverse seed pools threatened by the spread of genetically-modified (GM) biota.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to have Dr. Shiva in town.  Arrive early if you plan to go, as seats are expected to fill quickly!

More information on the Brown College Visiting Environmental Writers and Scholars Lectures Series available here.

Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement is Changing What We Eat

Looking at this post and the previous post, it is pretty clear that our food community ROCKS!  Thanks to those of you who are working to honor good, clean and fair food.

All across the country, Americans are seeking more fresh, local foods – at home, in their schools, in restaurants, and at food markets. Grassroots community food projects from Boston to Nashville to Birmingham to Seattle are rising to meet this demand. Led by innovative, creative people from all walks of life, these projects are building community by creating valuable jobs, preserving cultural traditions, building local knowledge about growing food, and educating school-children. Inspirational stories of nearly 60 grassroots food programs provide hundreds of useful “lessons learned,” offering an enduring handbook for everyone hoping to join the movement.

Whether you like to buy local food, raise a garden, are a beginning or experienced farmer, a school nutritionist, or economic development guru, this book can help you.

You’ll be inspired and, more, you’ll learn a host of important lessons from community food leaders of more than 50 different food projects across the U.S.  Their successes offer both inspiration and practical advice.

Where others have made the case for the local food movement, Reclaiming Our Food shows how communities are actually making it happen. This book offers a wealth of information on how to make local food a practical and affordable part of everyone’s daily fare.  source: www.tanyadenklacobb.com

A Central Virginia Food Heritage Gathering

Great event hosted by the Virginia Food Heritage Project.  Maybe we'll see you there!

You are invited to join the first “Food Heritage: A Central Virginia Gathering” where people will learn and share knowledge about the special food heritage of our Virginia Piedmont region. Bring your knowledge and adventure to this exciting and innovative project.

When and where:

• Monday, March 26, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
• Lane Auditorium, Albemarle County building in Charlottesville—401 McIntire Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22902
• A sampling of heritage foods will be provided

(Download a PDF of our flyer)

What is “food heritage?”

Broadly defined, it is the history and culture of foods produced and processed in our region – old-fashioned varieties of fruits and vegetables, family recipes, heirloom seeds, former grain mills, cideries, and much more. This project intends to use our local food heritage to create jobs and economic development. We want you to help us identify ways to preserve and revitalize our food heritage, and ways this effort could support economic development.

With your participation, this free community event will help us re-discover and identify our food heritage as well as reconnect with each other. By knowing our past, we can grow our future!

Who’s invited?

Anyone who knows something about our food heritage is invited: gardeners, farmers (young and old!), local chefs, market vendors, senior citizens, 4-H Clubs, historical societies, local food purveyors, dieticians, farm bureaus, area churches, culinary students, conservationists, area businesses, elected officials. Please bring friends, family, and other guests who may be interested in learning or contributing!

There’ll be something for everyone! After a brief introduction to the project, participants will be able to visit different “booths” where you can learn and share information. You might want to tell us about an old-time apple you don’t see anymore, or vegetables that are unique to this area, or a heritage chicken breed you’re now raising. You can share old-time recipes and food traditions. You can swap stories about how food used to be grown, processed, or sold. Help us locate old farms, orchards and other food heritage sites on maps. You can even tell a story while being interviewed on video. And we hope everyone will offer ideas for how we can integrate our food heritage into our future community development.

Who’s hosting?

The Virginia Food Heritage Project is a collaboration of community organizations and passionate individuals who seek to build understanding and documentation of our food heritage, and who aspire to use this knowledge to advance our local food, agriculture and economy.

What to bring:

• Old recipes, menus or historic cookbooks
• Locations or pictures of old food sites (mills, farms, orchards, etc.)
• Pictures and names of heritage foods
• Stories of how you or your elders planted, grew, harvested or cooked food
• Heritage or heirloom seeds for an old-fashioned seed swap (bring in labeled packets)

Please join us!  Feel free to bring guests, and walk-ins are welcome too.

Help us honor our local food heritage and lay the groundwork for growing a strong, healthy future for Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Louisa, and Nelson Counties and the City of Charlottesville!

To help us plan enough refreshments, if you think that you might attend, please RSVP to Paul Loren Hughes at  or to Ellen Martin at (434) 924-1970.