In Worldwide Lockdowns, Slow Food Acts to Support and Inspire

The current outbreak of the coronavirus #COVID19 has disrupted the lives of almost every country in the world. With Europe currently being an epicenter of the pandemic, many countries are under lockdown, with people confined to their homes, schools, and workplaces closed, and only essential businesses still operating. 

As Slow Food, we want to send out a message of solidarity to all those hard hit by this crisis, who are countless, also within our movement. Think, for instance, of the restaurants that had to close for weeks. We also want to send out a message of hope: in Italy, where our mothership is based, kids have been hanging at their windows big drawings saying “Tutto andrà bene” – everything will be fine.

Even though Slow Food’s headquarters in the north of Italy had to go under complete lockdown, we continue working hard to support small-scale sustainable food producers and to encourage all citizens to choose good, clean and fair food.

In a recent interview Slow Food’s President, Carlo Petrini has offered words of hope and encouragement not only for Italians but the rest of the world: 

“We have been given the opportunity to make a paradigm shift. To recreate a system that gives more space to territories and communities. I foresee the issues of sustainability and food sovereignty topping the agenda. We can no longer think that food is produced by one company for all. We have stolen space from the countryside, we must regain it to kick start a primary economy at the service of the local communities.” 

More than ever before, Slow Food believes in the importance of solidarity and of local communities. In these weeks, our movement has put those principles in action. 

Paolo Di Croce, Secretary-General of Slow Food during the COVID-19 pandemic

Every Wednesday, we will bring you stories from all corners of the world, shedding light on our local networks and their efforts to inspire and encourage people to keep going. 

We want to connect with every Slow Food network member and follower. Do you have a recipe to share? Have you and your local community come up with innovative ways to help people find good, clean and fair food? Do you have a message of solidarity? We want to share your stories of resilience – whether you are a cook or a producer, a teacher or activist, whichever your background and expertise, let the network know how you are responding to this crisis and inspire others to do the same. 

How Can You Share Your Story?

Share your messages, ideas, videos and pictures on social media, using the hashtag #SlowFoodSolidarity, and tagging us. We will make sure to repost them on the main Slow Food channels. 

Don’t forget to film your videos horizontally, make sure it has good audio. 

If you have a longer story to be shared with the movement, please contact us at [email protected]

Together we can be stronger and more resilient. #SlowFoodSolidarity

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