Slow Food Earth Markets Join the World Farmers Markets Coalition

Slow Food board member Richard McCarthy elected WorldFMC President at General Assembly in Rome

At the World Farmers Markets Coalition General Assembly, held May 20 to 22 in Rome, Slow Food international board member Richard McCarthy was elected president, while Carmelo Troccoli, executive director of the Campagna Amica Foundation, was appointed general manager.

The meeting was an ideal opportunity for representatives of farmers’ markets from all over the world to exchange products and knowledge and share challenges and hopes. Slow Food and Slow Food Italy have been partners of the World Farmers Markets Coalition since its inception in 2021, and a delegation of Slow Food Communities and Earth Market members also took part in the gathering. Raul Tiraboschi, vice-president of Slow Food Italy, also participated.

WorldFMC is a new Rome-based non-profit organization that brings together more than 70 associations present in over 50 different countries, representing 20,000 markets, 200,000 farming families and over 300 million consumers. It cultivates and serves a community of practice for farmers’ markets to benefit farmers, consumers, communities and the environment around the world.

The Slow Food Earth Markets are an international network of farmers’ markets created according to Slow Food guidelines. These community markets constitute important meeting points where local producers offer quality healthy food directly to consumers at fair prices and ensure environmentally sustainable methods. The markets also preserve the food culture of the local community and contribute to the defense of biodiversity.

“With farmers’ market leaders from over 50 countries, we gathered in Rome to launch an association devoted to crafting farmers’ markets that serve family farmers, consumers and the communities that host markets,” commented Richard McCarthy. “This strategy rebuilds the social contract that binds regions. I was so happy for the Earth Markets to join the first General Assembly of the World Farmers Markets Coalition.”

He added: “It became increasingly clear that there is more that unites the many and varied approaches to coalescing community and commerce beneath the canopy of markets. This is where we meet people where they are, in their everyday lives. This makes the strategy both individual and collective.”

During the gathering, a biodiversity showcase was organized in the historic Palazzo Rospigliosi, hosted by the Coldiretti organization. Products from the Slow Food network were also presented.

The following Slow Food Earth Market members were present as delegates in Rome:

• Yurany López – Slow Food Bogotá Mercado de la Tierra

• Pırıl Bilici – Slow Food Adana For Heritage Food

• Vittoria Nervo– Slow Food Barcelona Mercat de la Terra

• Yasmina Selfun Lokmanoglu– Slow Food Tarsus Earth Market

• Pham Thi Ngoc Bich –Slow Food Community in Hanoi

• Karolina Jarmolowska – Targ Pietruszkowy Earth Market in Krakow

• Elena Sandrone – Slow Food Earth Market coordinator 

At the General Assembly, 100 agricultural and community development leaders from around the world gathered for the first time to introduce a farmers’ market community of practice to the world. This community of practice was established to formalize the mandate for the organization, share best practices and reinforce a sense of camaraderie for the important task of cultivating purposeful and managed farmers’ markets. With the contribution of high-level representatives from Rome-based United Nations (UN) agencies, WorldFMC hosted several panel discussions based on strengthening local food systems worldwide, including conversations around economic impact and reviving rural economies through farmers markets.

This was a momentous opportunity to contribute to the development of a sustainable local food system model that focuses on rebuilding the link between rural and urban areas and strengthening local economies, public health and biodiversity.

Slow Food International Press Office

Paola Nano – [email protected] (+39) 329 8321285

Alessia Pautasso – [email protected] (+39) 342 8641029

Slow Food is a worldwide network of local communities founded in 1989 in order to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions and the spread of fast food culture. Since then, Slow Food has grown to become a global movement that involves millions of people in more than 160 countries and works so that we can all have access to good, clean and fair food.