Preserve biodiversity
The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity coordinates projects that defend local food traditions, protect food communities, preserve food biodiversity and promote quality artisanal products, with an increasing focus on the global south:
Presidia – Working with groups of small-scale producers to sustain quality food productions at risk of extinction in over 400 projects…
The Ark of Taste – Cataloging endangered traditional foods: an extraordinary heritage of fruits, vegetables, animal breeds, cheeses, breads, sweets and cured meats…
Earth Markets – Building an international network of farmers’ markets that promote good, clean and fair food…
The Cooks’ Alliance – Uniting over 850 chefs with local small-scale producers…
10,000 Gardens in Africa – Our plan to create 10,000 food gardens across the continent; in schools, villages and the outskirts of cities…
Narrative labels – Going beyond legal labeling requirements to provide the whole story of a product…
Slow Food officially began working on agrobiodiversity in 1997. In 2003, the international Slow Food association and Slow Food Italy, with assistance from the Region of Tuscany, created the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. With its own statute, organizational structure and budget, the Slow Food Foundation is the association’s operational arm, charged with protecting food biodiversity. It coordinates many of Slow Food’s projects around the world: the Presidia, the Ark of Taste, the food gardens in Africa, the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance and the Earth Markets.
Active in over 100 countries, the Slow Food Foundation works with thousands of small-scale food producers, providing them with technical assistance, training and communication. It prepares tools for the various projects (guidelines, protocols, educational manuals), researches the issues linked to these projects (sustainable agriculture, raw milk, small-scale fishing, animal welfare, seeds, GMOs, etc.) and promotes themes and activities relating to biodiversity through training and communication activities within the association.