Slow Food Nations thinks About the Planet

A focus on the environment in Denver

Slow Food Nations is an international event organized by Slow Food USA, with the support of Slow Food International. It will take place in Denver, Colorado, from July 14-16, 2017, and will have more than 450 delegates from numerous countries including Australia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Cuba, Fiji, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Switzerland and Vanuatu.

Slow Food Nations promotes the Love the Earth – Defend the Future philosophy and has the ambitious objective of being a single-use-plastic-free festival so as to minimize its environmental footprint. One of the key problems with large events is the creation and improper disposal of waste. Slow Food Nations is addressing this in a number of ways. For example, all the drinks supplied during the festival will be served in reusable stainless-steel cups rather than plastic. All vendors have been asked to use compostable products, and delegates will be given reusable bamboo utensils and recycled fiber notebooks.

Food waste and sustainability issues within the food system will be addressed at several specific events:

• During The Endless Unsustainability of Restaurants, chefs will discuss strategies for minimizing waste and maximizing the utility of ingredients that often end up in the dumpster.
• Before the tour of Metro Caring, during Food Waste to the Rescue, experts from across the US will offer creative ideas about the role food waste can play in solving food insecurity. They will also explore how communities can prioritize and promote access to healthy food.
• For Zero Waste Family Meal, chefs will create a family meal using food scraps from the event.
• In his workshop, chef Steven Satterfield, author of Root to Leaf Cooking, will discuss tips for whole vegetable cooking as a way to reduce food waste in the home kitchen.
• Denver Food Rescue will be collecting food from events throughout the day to deliver to nearby food pantries.

Slow Food Nations will also delve into issues such as seed saving and school gardens. As for seed heritage, delegate John Coykendall, a 74-year-old Tennessee horticulturalist and one of the most important seed savers in the US, will be present at the event. John locates, preserves and shares vegetable varieties that were once abundant in the United States, particularly in the South, and are now close to extinction. The documentary Deeply Rooted, all about his work and activities, will also be screened. As for food gardens, a panel  will present a vision for the future of school gardens and edible education in schools. In addition, after the Delegate Summit on Friday July 14, Slow Food school garden leaders and national partners will plant 15 beds as part of a school garden installation.

Other events and activities will be dedicated to Slow Food projects such as the Ark of Taste, a catalog of small-scale quality foods that belong to the cultures, history and traditions of the entire planet, and the Presidia, which support quality production at risk of extinction, protect unique regions and ecosystems, recover traditional processing methods and safeguard native breeds and local plant varieties.

To discover all other events dedicated to the future of our planet, you can have a look at the online program.

For more details, please visit slowfoodnations.org. For press accreditation please visit slowfoodnations.org/about/media/apply/.

For further information, please contact:

Slow Food International Press Office

[email protected] – Twitter: @SlowFoodPress

Slow Food Nations

Emily Smith, +1 3039034970, [email protected]

Slow Food is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet. Slow Food involves over a million activists, chefs, experts, youth, farmers, fishers and academics in over 160 countries. Among them, a network of around 100,000 Slow Food members are linked to 1,500 local chapters worldwide, contributing through their membership fee, as well as the events and campaigns they organize. As part of the network, more than 2,400 Terra Madre food communities practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality food around the world.