The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and Table for Two Sign an Agreement in Support of the 10,000 Gardens in Africa Project

On February 2, 2015, the international non-profit organization Table for Two and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity started a partnership that will finance the creation of 111 new gardens in 4 African countries.

Slow Food is honored to announce that a very important agreement has been signed between the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and Table for Two, which will contribute in a substantial way to the development of the 10,000 Gardens in Africa project*. Table for Two has offered a remarkable donation to realize 111 new agro-ecological food gardens – community, school and family gardens in different African countries as well as a series of educational workshops and events in 2015. Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania have already been confirmed as three out of the four countries.

Founded in 2007, the mission of Table for Two is to counter the current imbalance of food distribution on a global level. The organization fights the injustices of the world’s 1 billion malnourished people by having people who dine in partner structures (over 600 corporations, universities, restaurants and organizations) contribute a small share to provide a school meal in developing countries. Within the framework of the agreement between Slow Food and Table for Two, the two organizations will work together to improve the alimentary situation on the African continent. New gardens will be established that will teach the local communities about growing food, as well as how to cook and consume their own locally grown food. The gardens will also educate the communities about the importance of traditional food and its health benefits. The 10,000 Gardens in Africa project is already operative in 34 different African countries, with a total of about 1500 gardens. The partnership will increase the impact of the project even further: The Slow Food staff will work alongside the Table for Two staff to be able to offer, for instance, community food experience workshops. For the organization and realization of these workshops, the organization Peace Kitchen will be involved as a third partner to help make these moments of education as fruitful as possible for the students.

One third of the food gardens will be school gardens to educate children about the importance of consuming healthy and local food on a daily basis. Among the positive effects of the creation of the 111 new food gardens, that are accompanied by educational workshops in the newly established school gardens, will be the huge potential to reach out to a large number of children, teachers and parents in the four African countries and to teach them how to adopt a better and more sustainable production and consumption system, as well as to instill pride in their culinary heritage and the use of local crops.

For further information, please contact the Slow Food International Press Office:

Paola Nano, +39 329 8321285 [email protected]

Slow Food involves over a million of people dedicated to and passionate about good, clean and fair food. This includes chefs, youth, activists, farmers, fishers, experts and academics in over 158 countries; a network of around 100,000 Slow Food members linked to 1,500 local chapters worldwide (known as convivia), contributing through their membership fee, as well as the events and campaigns they organize; and over 2,500 Terra Madre food communities who practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality food around the world.

Table for Two. By partnering with over 600 corporations, universities, restaurants, and organizations implementing our program in their establishments and products, TABLE FOR TWO has served millions of healthy meals to both sides of the “table.” On one side people are eating healthier meals, and on the other children are receiving nutritious school meals. In this way, we can say that when you dine at TABLE FOR TWO, you never dine alone. TABLE FOR TWO was initiated by and is an official affiliate of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

* 10,000 Food Gardens in Africa. Creating 10,000 good, clean and fair food gardens in African schools and villages means guaranteeing communities have a supply of fresh, healthy food, but also training a network of leaders aware of the value of their land and their culture who can serve as protagonists for change and the continent’s future.