Slow Food mourns the passing of Ursula Hudson

13 Jul 2020

Today, unfortunately, we have to communicate sad news, news that we would never have wanted to give: the loss of an important member of our great family. Ursula Hudson, President of Slow Food Germany and member of the Slow Food International Executive Committee, left us on Friday after a courageous battle against a disease that proved too great an enemy to defeat.

A professor of Cultural Studies, Ursula had always been interested in food, its history and culture. Ursula taught at various universities in Germany and England and joined Slow Food many years ago. She became president of Slow Food Germany in 2012 and had since joined the Executive Committee of Slow Food International, where her passion, expertise and the great quality of her commitment and contributions always stood out. In her role as President, Ursula gave the movement in Germany a growing strength through her passion and work. She set a clear political position and dedicated attention to food quality and food education; many projects have seen a marked increased at the national level.

Ursula was an extraordinary woman, full of ideas, projects, and activities; she had a vision for the future. She was active within the association right until the end, an important international leader whose political and advocacy work contributed significantly to Slow Food’s impact in Germany, Europe, and the world. Over the years, Ursula has participated in various conferences with institutions in Brussels, the Balkans, and several other countries to carry out her advocacy projects, contributing to the emergence of various collaborations across the sector. She had recently become the international spokesperson for the Slow Meat campaign and was committed to Slow Food’s active participation in the Wir haben es Satt event in Berlin, one of the largest European initiatives dedicated to promoting a more sustainable agricultural model.

“The passing of Ursula Hudson is an immense loss for all of our network and indeed the entire world” says Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food. “Personally, I have lost a true friend, one who symbolized that emotional intelligence which should be a defining characteristic of the Slow Food movement. Ursula’s commitment, passion and generosity for Slow Food were important for the development of our movement. The choices made in the last years across the whole Slow Food movement were strongly influenced by her critical, constructive contributions, and we will always be grateful for that”.

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“There are no words to describe the void that Ursula leaves in our global movement,” continues Paolo di Croce, Secretary General of Slow Food. “Our battle for the right to good, clean and fair food for all becomes even stronger, and from today we will also fight for Ursula, in honor of her life and her dreams.”

Ursula was able to combine her vision and organizational capacity as few others manage to do; thanks to her Slow Food has significantly raised the quality of its content. Her seriousness and commitment to her work, her acute intellect, her ability to argue and her wit in debate made her one of the mainstays of the movement.

The entire Slow Food network will be thinking of her family, friends and all the people who had the good fortune to cross her path and understand what an extraordinary woman she was.

We are immensely grateful to Ursula for how she shaped the heart of our great international family over the years. Her loss leaves an immense void, which we will try to fill by increasing our own commitment in honor of her memory. Auf Wiedersehen Ursula, we will miss you dearly.

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