Slow Food and Negroni Week believe we can change the world through food and beverage.

We envision a world where everyone can enjoy food and beverages that are good for them, good for the people who grow and produce them, and good for the planet.

Slow Food defends cultural and biological diversity, promotes food education and the transfer of traditional knowledge and skills, and advocates for more just and equitable food policies. Among Slow Food’s many programs are the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance, Coffee Coalition, Wine Coalition, and Snail of Approval — active networks that are passionate about creating food and beverage spaces that are good, clean and fair for all.

Thanks to the funds raised during 2022 Negroni Week, we will be able to enhance the many Slow Food global programs, and to provide direct support to 33 local community-led projects which are leading the transformation of the global food and beverage system in 23 countries worldwide

Let’s discover them together!

Africa

Aygale Slow Food Gardens Community Agroecological Farming Initiative

Ethiopia – The Slow Food Aygale Community wants to help break the dependency on imported food items and promote local foods and beverages, as well as contributing to the preservation of good cultural practices currently under threat from conventional farming. The initiative involves improving community gardens and running agroecological training and will also support educational campaigns in schools and at community gatherings to raise awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of consuming seasonal and local products.

Project NutriHome

Nigeria – This Slow Food Youth Network Nigeria project combines a school garden with a campus café to promote food security among youths and the wider community. The café uses products from the school garden, with menus that feature locally sourced, seasonal and organic ingredients. The idea is to ensure that every young person can have access to safe and healthy foods. The project plans to implement several further activities: offering a free weekly meal, educating youth about good food, offering training on agroecology and organizing a monthly market.

Redes & Slow Food Regional Workshops

Senegal/Mauritania – Thanks to the collaboration between ecovillage association Redes and Slow Food Senegal, this project will allow community leaders in northern Senegal and Mauritania to improve their skills in developing agroecological techniques and grassroots initiatives in their communities while taking care of their local ecosystems. The project will support the creation of a local food forest, a tree nursery and a community orchard in Moundouwaye village, in order to diversify food resources, generate income and help local youth stay in their villages.

El Asli Kerkennah, Land of Flavors and Genetic Heritage – Preservation of El Asli indigenous grapes (Kerkennah, Terre de Saveurs et de Patrimoine Génétique – Préservation des Raisins Autochtones)

Tunisia – The aim of the Slow Food Al Majarra pour la Sauvegarde du Raisin Asli Community is to preserve and promote the cultural and biological diversity of the Kerkennah archipelago, with a particular focus on safeguarding the indigenous El Asli grapes—mapping and identifying the vines and working with experts in viticulture and genetics to study their unique characteristics. The project wants to create a network of local producers, develop agroecology training, implement a sustainable tourism circuit and also organize conferences, meetings and tastings.

Asia

Reviving Local Indigenous Slow Food Systems for Livelihood and Employment Security and Environmental Development in Jharkhand

India – Starting with research focused on traditional knowledge around the local food systems of the indigenous Munda and Oraon communities, this project, led by the Slow Food Ajam Emba Community, will explore the potential of nature-based products and contribute to reducing the knowledge gap between rural communities and urban stakeholders through training and local and national events. The project aims to use community-led activities to preserve the fast disappearing nature-based indigenous food traditions.

Slow Sake 

Japan – Sake breweries have historically played a vital role in communities in rural and mountainous areas. With this project, Slow Food Nippon aims to empower communities by supporting small-scale sake breweries nationwide. A “Slow Sake” guidebook will be created and published in English and Japanese and presented at local events to raise awareness, promote tourism across Japan and encourage a deeper understanding of Japanese culture. Slow brewing techniques will also be promoted through events and exhibitions.

Farmers’ Earth Market

Kazakhstan – Slow Food Akmola is planning to start a local farmers’ market and develop activities for its producers. This market will provide a socio-economic boost to rural areas and help protect local biodiversity. Farmers will be able to sell their produce at fair prices without any intermediaries, while city dwellers will have a chance to learn about local foods and traditions. The project will also provide the community with a shared space for events, training workshops, masterclasses, fairs, exhibitions and forums.

Farmers to Chefs

Kyrgyzstan – This project run by the  A-Lya De Polya city’s bistro and Ala-Too Slow Food Convivium aims to reintroduce the use of traditional and sustainable products in local restaurants. The project will not only help bistro chefs to develop dishes and drinks made using local products while supporting smallholder women farmers, but also raise awareness among urban consumers about the importance of eating local. At four tasting events, city residents will be able to meet with local farmers and producers to learn more from them directly.

Europe

Legumes For All! (Légumineuse Pour Tous!)

Belgium – Slow Food Liège and the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance in Belgium want to further develop and improve a mobile kitchen that can reach consumers with legume-based “Slow Street Food” and product demos as well as providing a venue for training sessions in places that would otherwise not have the facilities. The objective is to educate and raise awareness among local actors in the Liège area about the importance and feasibility of introducing good, local food into everyday life, with a special focus on the protein transition.

Market Days: Strengthening Consumer-Producer Relationships Through Community Building

Denmark – Thanks to the collaboration between Slow Food Danmark and Grønt Marked, this project will facilitate a process of outreach through debates and community dinners in three local communities across Copenhagen, with a strong focus on young consumers. Slow Food Danmark will also arrange outings to three of the producers that bring their products to Grønt Marked, in order to strengthen relationships between producers and consumers and create better insight into production, products, sustainability, quality, challenges and more.

Slow Bread

France – Ten local Slow Food hubs, together with the Ecole Comestible and the Ecole Professionnelle de Pizza et Panification Naturelle in Bordeaux, have joined forces to create a national network of producers and bakers to promote healthy bread from farm to fork in France and build partnerships and opportunities at all levels. The aim is to raise consumer awareness of healthy bread-making practices and cereal biodiversity and demand greater transparency on bread ingredient lists (including of additives).

Youth Wine Education

Germany – The Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN) in Germany wants to kickstart young people’s entry into winemaking, with a strong focus on agriculture, sustainable production and taste. The aim of the SFYN’s project is to promote sustainable wine production among younger generations with an easily replicable and accessible educational workshop about sustainable wine, held in a winery on a weekend. Additionally, online events will be organized to give more people the opportunity to learn about sustainable wine production.

Returning the Yellow Apple Swede into the Local Food System

Latvia – The Slow Food network in Latvia, in collaboration with the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance in Ligatne, the Pure Horticultural Research Centre and the Aija and Ilga Garden, is planning to revive cultivation of the yellow apple swede, a heritage variety on the verge of extinction. From field to table, the project will involve producers, local markets, cooks and consumers and includes the publication of a cookbook with recipes and educational information on the traditional variety of swede (also known as rutabaga).

Slow Wine Guide for Sustainable Local Wine

North Macedonia – Working with tourism operators, the hospitality sector, local authorities and consumers, the Slow Food network in Macedonia wants to develop sustainable wine tourism in North Macedonia. A national wine guide will be produced, based on the mapping of local varieties and featuring small-scale wineries returning to traditional ways of production that help protect local biodiversity and the environment. The project will also raise awareness during local events about the importance of preserving indigenous local grapes.

Sowing Food, Harvesting Farmers: Leading a Community-Driven Transformation in Vitoria-Gasteiz Through the Creation of Regenerative Agroecosystems

Spain – The Slow Food Araba group, based in Vitoria, intends to create a cooperative that will catalyze and facilitate the journey of new farmers—including those from an urban background—towards starting their own regenerative agriculture project based on carbon-neutral agroecology and crop protection. Direct producer-to-producer training will be encouraged by sharing regenerative agricultural techniques that make it possible to improve the soil, boosting its biodiversity and microbiology.

Coffee for Good

United Kingdom – Even though consumers are increasingly making sustainable choices by selecting seasonal foods and local suppliers, coffee often remains overlooked. In October 2023, Slow Food Glasgow will organize an event for Glaswegian cooks and restaurants to raise awareness about coffee production and connect them to the Slow Food Coffee Coalition’s sustainable local producers. The goal is to spread the culture of good, clean and fair coffee by giving a global reach to the local communities involved in the Slow Food Coffee Coalition.

Add a Legume to the Table (Aggiungi un Legume a Tavola)

Italy – “Aggiungi un Legume a Tavola” (Add a Legume at the Table) is an engagement initiative aiming to increase awareness of the nutritional, cultural and ecological value of legumes among the hospitality industry and diners. The campaign will empower around 200 Italian cooks from the Slow Food Alliance to add more legumes to their menus, giving them the opportunity to showcase their commitment to a more sustainable hospitality industry and to strengthen relationships with small-scale producers who grow local legume varieties at risk of extinction.

Latin America

Using Women’s Ancestral Montubio Culture to Strengthen Inclusive Urban Markets and Sustainable Diets

Ecuador – Led by Slow Food Alma, this project aims to directly involve rural Montubio women and their communities in the central-northern region of Manabí in the creation of agroecological gardens, including processing the products and selling them in local markets. The project will also promote food and nutrition security through the preparation and consumption of good, clean, and fair food, contributing to the construction of sustainable diets, as well as disseminating ancestral Montubio techniques and knowledge.

Artisanal Breadfruit Processing Facility

Haiti – The Slow Food Community for the Agro-Transformation of Haiti aims to provide the commune of Jérémie and its surrounding area with a small-scale artisanal processing facility, as well as the necessary skills and tools for them to transform locally grown breadfruit into flour and juice. The area is still struggling with severe malnutrition following the 2021 earthquake; breadfruit flour is renowned for its nutritional quality and can help reduce malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency among children and vulnerable people.

Negroni & Slow Food: A Tribute to the Women of Gastronomy

Argentina – The Slow Food Mar del Plata Community is seeking to promote gender equality in the gastronomy and cocktail industry. The plan is to strengthen alliances with the public and private sectors and influence decisionmakers to support good, clean and fair food for all. The project will initially carry out an exploratory diagnosis with the aim of highlighting and paying tribute to the work of women in gastronomy and cocktail-making, showing their contribution to culinary culture and the local economy.

Casa Sántiz

Mexico – The Casa Sántiz project has been developed by an active member of the indigenous network in Mexico. This community space aims to connect farmers, cooks and consumers and support activities to promote a deeper understanding of the Milpa cultivation agroecosystem and maize production, as well as raising awareness about traditional Chiapas cuisine and highlighting the key role of indigenous people.  Workshops will also focus on the importance of local food biodiversity.

Multiplying Life, Multiplying Knowledge and Recovering Territories Impacted by Fire and Drought

Chile – Part of the Slow Wine Coalition, Slow Food Marga’s project covers a rural area that struggled with fire and drought in 2022. The rural area will be regenerated by replanting various strains of different Creole vine species with a high capacity to withstand drought, helping local biodiversity thrive again. The project will organize educational activities, with workshops on agroecology and natural wine production, and develop tasting events in synergy with local cooks, raising the profile of good, fair and clean food.

North America

Coffee Education for the Culinary Industry

USA (California) – As part of this project, professionals will be trained on the nuances in coffee and their connection to where and how coffee is grown. Chefs and other coffee professionals will be provided with hands-on training and educated about coffee’s cultural context so that they can develop a fuller appreciation for the farmers that grow coffee and the supply chains that deliver it to their establishments. The project will work closely with the Slow Food Coffee Coalition, drawing on its training materials.

Slow Food East Bay’s Cultural Food Traditions Project

USA (California) – The project consists of organizing event dinners during which a culturally relevant meal is cooked by a chef from an immigrant or refugee background, paired with a discussion with the chef and a presentation by a partnering nonprofit. The goal is to create a safe and inclusive space to celebrate diversity in food while calling attention to the role of migration in the historical development of global foodways and the ways in which immigration is integral to the development and current structure of our food system.

Slow Food Denver Farm Dinner

USA (Colorado) – Now in its second year, the Farm Dinner organized in the fall by Slow Food Denver is a program of events where farmers and chefs work together to create menus featuring local products. These dinners will be an opportunity to raise awareness and strive to empower the next generation of consumers to become the changemakers for a more sustainable food system. The dinners provide not only economic support to the farmers and chefs, but also foster closer connections between diners and producers.

TLC Kitchen

USA (Colorado) – The Learning Council has created the TLC Kitchen food equity project to support farmers and ensure sustainability in agriculture. At this community kitchen and learning center, farm-to-table meals are prepared using local products and served to the community, and winter markets and agricultural classes are also held here. The project aims to create synergies in the community, feeding the most vulnerable and educating people. Cooking classes and lunches are also provided to local school children, with the goal of creating a healthier community.

Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Grow Greens for St. Louis Market

USA (Missouri) – With this project, Slow Food St. Louis aims to boost community support for diverse farmers in the St. Louis area, helping them sell their products to local chefs and the public and organizing training and exchanges. Connections between farmers, chefs, farmers’ markets, consumers and agriculture education communities are vital: This project focuses on each of these connections, working to strengthen them and help the community come together. A final celebratory meeting will be held in the spring of 2024.

Slow Food Vegas

USA (Nevada) – The project aims to promote good, clean, and fair food for all by expanding Slow Food Vegas’s Snail of Approval program. Slow Food Vegas will empower the development of local food systems by focusing on the needs of local residents, such as helping local seniors and students understand how to prepare and store fresh produce through chef demos. Slow Food Vegas will also work to identify local food deserts, mapping them and seeking to address the barriers that prevent communities from accessing fresh produce.

Flour Power

USA (New York) – Flour Power is a community-powered baking cooperative organized by Slow Food East End. All the participating bakers use the same nutritious recipe, packed with whole grains and seeds, to ensure a uniform product. The goal of Flour Power is to provide consistent access to the kind of good, nutritious, high-quality bread that many local people cannot afford. The project also provides education, resources and support to home bakers and facilitates partnerships with food pantries.

Ujima Garden and Urban Farm Expansion in East New York, Brooklyn

USA (New York) – The Ujima Garden is an urban farm that provides vital food distribution and educational services to the New York community. It is located in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, an area with high rates of obesity, diabetes and food insecurity as well as an extremely high concentration of fast-food restaurants. The project is aiming to reach a wider area and offer educational programming for young children in collaboration with schools, as well as a place for city dwellers to experience nature and gardening.

Growing the School Garden Movement

USA (Texas) – The Slow Food Gardens Network in the USA strongly believes that garden-based learning is the key to growing a healthier planet and creating change, especially among children. This project intends to support the program in Texas, including surveys to create new tools and methodologies adapted to the local context. The project will use local seeds and native plants as a way to foster biodiversity and regenerative agriculture methods.

Humble Eats

USA (Virginia) – The Humble Eats program teaches inner-city youth about fresh produce and ingredients so that they are empowered to cook nutritional meals. The project modules provide an interactive, hands-on learning experience, promoting food education and including topics like farming and growing fresh produce, safely cooking nutritious meals and food equity in the community. Students will also receive food vouchers to purchase healthier groceries so that they can provide their households with a wholesome, substantial meal rather than fast food. Read the article.

Quillisascut Farm School for Chefs & Culinary Students: Scholarship Support

USA (Washington) – Quillisascut Farm in Seattle works with chefs and culinary students to bring sustainable food system values to the table. This project is focused on the organization of a five-day immersion workshop in late summer 2023, targeting both culinary professionals and culinary and nutrition students from Bastyr University. Workshop attendees will experience all aspects of food production and be exposed to a variety of topics, with the goal of helping them evaluate their potential role as changemakers.