Our Chapter
Good, Clean, Fair.
Slow Food North Louisiana is a chapter of Slow Food USA. Slow Food USA is part of the global Slow Food network of over 150,000 members in over 150 countries. Our chapter was born in 2007 in Shreveport, LA.
Our chapter shares the mission of Slow Food USA: to ensure good, clean and fair food for all.
Slow Food is about real food. It’s about connecting the planet to the plate. It’s about celebrating the bounty of this planet through shared meals. And making sure we can continue to do this for generations to come.
We do these things through hosting our own events throughout the year, partnering with other organizations on community wide events focused on food, partnering with farms to get consumers on their land for shared meals, and regular communication to our members about news, programs and events that align with our mission.
We focus on:
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We support the sustainability of programs and initiatives in our region that align with the Slow Food mission. In particular, we support the implementation of the We Grow Together! Food System Master Plan.
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Teaching people about the joy of real food, why you should ask questions about where it came from, and what to do with it after you grow or buy it are the things you will hear us most often talking about. We also serve as an information hub for where to find real food locally, at farms, at farmers markets and at local stores, and host regular farm field trips to bring consumers and farmers together.
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We support any programs that increase access to real food for our regional populations, including community gardens, school and youth-focused gardens, food hubs, CSAs, co-ops and more.
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We support growing practices that encourage a diversity of foods grown in our region and around the world, a return to foods that were once common but are now at risk of extinction because of industrial food production, which values seeds and breeds that allow for speed to market and and uniformity of product. To do this, we donate heirloom seeds from the Slow Food Ark of Taste to farmers, school gardens and home growers throughout the year, and encourage awareness of biodiversity through educational events.
“Food is the sweet spot between tradition and innovation, richer and poor, young and old, pleasure and responsibility.”
Richard McCarthy, Former Slow Food USA Executive Director