Projects around the world
Organizing school cafeteria activities – Slow Food Brno (Czech Republic)
Slow Food works with schools and school cafeterias to improve the quality of the catering and to develop food education for tomorrow’s consumers. Skutečně zdravá škola is an initiative organized by a number of organizations in the Czech Republic, including Slow Food Brno. It offers over 300 nursery, primary, and secondary schools a program aimed at improving school meals and food culture. The project has led to an improvement in food standards in national schools, introducing good practices like increased use of fresh seasonal produce from local farms, more vegetables instead of meat, and meat of higher quality.
Reducing sugary drink consumption – Slow Food Turtle Island (USA)
The introduction of a tax on sugary drinks is one of the tools that can help reduce sugar consumption among the population. Denisa Livingston (USA), of the Diné or Navajo people, is a Slow Food International Councilor for the indigenous network and a member of the steering committee of Slow Food Turtle Island. Her work led to the introduction of the first tax on junk food in the United States, in 2014. The Healthy Diné Nation Act of 2014 imposes a 2% tax on sugary drinks and foods with a high content of salt, fats, and/or sugar, and eliminates a 5% tax on fresh fruit and vegetables. In the first 4 years the tax raised over $4 million, which was used for projects to promote well-being within the community.
Slow Food Turtle Island works with advocacy and awareness-raising activities to combat the epidemic of diabetes affecting the Navajo people and oppose the dominant culture, which promotes the consumption of unhealthy and industrially produced foods.
Involving cooks in the introduction of healthy foods on the menu – Slow Food Uganda and Kenya
The Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance not only play a crucial role in safeguarding food and agricultural biodiversity, but can also contribute to communicating the importance of making healthy and sustainable consumption choices. The Alliance cooks in Uganda and Kenya are committed to using and promoting alternatives to margarine and stock cubes.
For example, the dried leaves of Moringa oleifera contain eight times more vitamin C than oranges and are traditionally used to season dishes, while ground peanuts toasted with a little salt, known as binyebwa, can be used instead of margarine and contain protein, calcium, phosphorous, iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, and vitamins A, B1, B2, niacin, B6 and C.
Every year in Uganda activists organize a Fruit and Juice Party and a Vegetable Festival in schools with the aim of improving school meals and encouraging the sustainable production of vegetables, fruit, and local fruit juices. Local fruits like mirandano passion fruit and mpafu, which can help keep people healthy, are promoted on these occasions.
Treating childhood malnutrition with honey – Slow Food Mexico
Slow Food Mexico is involved in a project to treat childhood malnutrition with products from the Yucatán Peninsula Xunankab Bee Honey Presidium. According to Mayan traditional knowledge, both the honey and pollen of Mayan bees (Melipona beecheii) are rich in minerals and vitamins, making them the ideal foods for effectively treating childhood malnutrition and anemia.
The project includes the nutritional monitoring of malnourished children aged between 2 and 6 who will receive these foods for a period of 10 months, and the training of nutritional promoters in the community.