|
|
|
| |
Defense of biodiversity
The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity was created by the Slow Food movement in partnership with the Region of Tuscany, recognizing that the appreciation of gastronomy must include the additional step of safeguarding our gastronomic resources.
As an independent non-profit entity, the Foundation supports the projects of the Ark of Taste, the Presidia and Terra Madre to accomplish this goal. The Foundation exists thanks to the Slow Food movement but also through generous support from public and private donors.
While the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity promotes projects around the world, its direct financial contributions are especially dedicated to the world's less developed countries, where conserving biodiversity means not only improving quality of life, but actually saving lives, communities and cultures.
Ark
Slow Food makes its support of biodiversity real by promoting artisanal producers of quality products. Createdin 1996, the Ark of Taste is a growing catalogue of foods that have been forgotten or marginalized and are at riskof disappearing completely. The Ark identifies over 500 animal breeds, fruit and vegetable varieties, prepared foods and specific dishes and offers a resource for those interested in sourcing and promoting quality foods.
Find out more
Presidia
The presidia were created in 2000 to help artisan food producers directly. These small-scale projects protect traditional production methods by supporting producers in situ and helping them find markets for traditional foods. The presidia, which began with just two projects in Italy, now encompasses more than 270 projects all over the world.
For some presidia, a little assistance goes a long way: all it takes is to bring together producers, help them coordinate marketing and promotion and establish quality and authenticity standards for their product. Other products take more effort to save: sometimes it’s necessary to build a dairy or an oven or develop new ways to use or prepare a particular food.
Slow Food presidia work in different ways, but the goals remain constant: to promote artisan products, stabilize production techniques, establish stringent production standards and, above all, to guarantee a viable future for traditional foods.
Presidium products have not only conquered cooks and gourmets, but have also won over everyday consumers.
The success of the presidia has proven that consumers are willing to pay fair prices for quality products, which are hence economically feasible to make.
Find out more
Terra Madre
This initiative brings together food communities that work for the sustainability of their food products and for quality which accounts for exceptional taste and respects the environment and people.
In Turin, October 2004, Slow Food held the first edition of Terra Madre, a world meeting of food communities.
Nearly 5,000 delegates representing 1,200 food communities from 130 countries attended Terra Madre 2004, including farmers, breeders, fishermen, processors, distributors, cooks and agricultural experts.
At each edition of Terra Madre, held biennially, participants attend workshops and panel discussions devoted to problems they encounter every day as well as on broader themes, such as biodynamics and genetic engineering. Most importantly, they meet each other. Beekeepers from Turkey share their experiences with beekeepers from Zambia and Mexico. Bulgarian berry foragers get to know Canadian wild blueberry gatherers. Coffee growers from Ethiopia, Honduras and Laos discuss their work and possible solutions to common problems.
Terra Madre creates new networks among food producers all over the world that Slow Food continues to cultivate. Farmers, producers and distributors have since organized smaller meetings, set up websites to exchange ideas and worked to market and promote their products internationally. Slow Food is also working with communities to create dedicated small-scale projects.
Find out more
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
| Join us: |
 |
 |
|
|
