We work to re-invigorate our local food system and preserve our food heritage. We build connections among all stakeholders (and eaters!) in our region with community-wide events like the Local Food Summit and the HomeGrown Festival. We organize special events (like Pie Lovers Unite! and potlucks) centered around the pleasure of enjoying food with friends and family. We build connections with local farmers and food artisans to help our community learn about the path their food took before arriving on their plate. We advocate for healthy food access.
Equity Work
Slow Food USA is dedicated to the development of an equitable, just, and healthy local food system that truly works for all of us. We recognize that injustices — theft of land; farmworker, fisher-harvester and other food and seafood chain worker exploitation; lack of access to land, oceans, freshwaters, and healthy foods; food apartheid neighborhoods; and diet related health problems — are rooted in race, class and gender disparities. As these injustices continue, all too often the voices of people of color, poor or low-income people and women are excluded from the mainstream food movement.
Slow Food USA is committed to listening to those most impacted by food injustice; to being honest about how white supremacy, economic exploitation, and cultural domination have fundamentally shaped the agricultural history of the U.S.; to furthering our own education on how to build a just and equitable food system and supporting our local chapters to do the same; to honoring local knowledge; and to taking appropriate action to support, deepen or create local food justice and food sovereignty efforts. We also believe that it is essential to encourage a diverse range of perspectives and experiences within our board of directors, national staff and within our local organizations so that we are making decisions that best reflect the varied needs of our entire community and that are especially inclusive of the traditionally marginalized voices of people of color.
Slow Food Huron Valley chapter highlights:
2005 - Slow Huron Huron Valley is officially established as a chapter
2006 - SFHV sponsors its first Terra Madre delegate
2007 - Launch of Pie Lovers Unite! Award received from Pie Across America for “Best Pie Event”
2008 - First HomeGrown Festival
2009 - SFHV hosts the first Local Food Summit
2009 - SFHV members help launch Selma Cafe
2011 - Creation of the Wurster Edible Park
2012 - Local Food Summit session leads to launch of the Washtenaw County Food Policy Council
2013 - SFHV coordinates its first CSA Fair at The Pittsfield Grange Hall
2016 - Chapter awards the first mini-grant
2016 - SFHV helps facilitate the boarding of the Jesuit Pear to the Ark of Taste
2017 - First Jesuit Pear Summit held in Detroit
2017 - SFHV plants its first Ark of Taste garden
2018 - SFHV partners with Project Grow on an Ark of Taste class
2019 - First monthly Slowcial is held
2020 - SFHV awards local COVID-19 mini-grants to farmers and food businesses
2022 - SFHV hosts its 12th Annual Pie Lovers Unite
Slow Food Huron Valley Leadership Team
Misty Callies (Chair)
Janet Osborn (Secretary)
Lauren Bloom (Technology)
Kim Bayer (Chair Emeritus)
Shannon Brines (Treasurer)
Sofia Gaudioso (Communications)
Slow Food USA
Slow Food U.S.A. is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. Slow Food U.S.A oversees Slow Food activities in North America and supports and promotes the activities of 70 local chapters, each called a “convivium” that carry out the Slow Food mission at a local level. Each convivium advocates sustainability and bio-diversity through educational events and public outreach that promote the appreciation and consumption of seasonal and local foods and the support of those who produce them.