Slow Food USA

Slow Food USA is a nonprofit education organization with 12,000 members, which is divided into 140 local “convivia,” or chapters. It is dedicated to preserving endangered foodways, celebrating local food traditions, such as animal breeds and heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables, and promoting artisanal products. It advocates economic sustainability and bio-diversity through educational events and public outreach programs. Created in 2000, it is the U.S branch of the international Slow Food organization, which began in 1986 in Italy with a protest against the “fast food” way of life. When a McDonald’s opened in Rome near the Piazza di Spagna, Italian journalist Carlo Petrini organized a demonstration using bowls of penne pasta for weapons. By 2006, the international organization had grown to encompass a collection of nonprofit and commercial entities, including a university and a hotel, and had amassed a membership of 83,000 worldwide. The first American convivium was started in 1991 in Portland, Oregon, by Pastaworks owner Peter de Garmo, who is currently on the Slow Food USA board of directors.