Terra Madre
Most of you will have seen the e-mail from Slow Food USA earlier this month about the upcoming Terra Madre 2010, in Turin, Italy. This bi-annual international conference of people working on sustainable food issues will take place, along with the Salone del Gusto, Slow Food's international exhibition of Good, Clean and Fair food, from October 21 - 25. Slow Food USA plans to have a good presence, not as big as last time, but still on the order of 400 delegates.
Slow Food South Bay wants to participate in this unique and important event. We want to recommend delegates to represent our region's sustainable food community, and to help those who may need it to raise funds for their trip to Italy. If you are a food producer, cook, educator, student, or activist working on sustainable food issues, we hope that you will apply.
For the first time, Slow Food South Bay is putting together a formal program for Terra Madre. While we do not choose the delegates from our area, we can recommend delegates, which will improve their chance of being chosen by the selection committee at Slow Food USA. We certainly expect some delegates to be chosen from our area, and we want to work with those delegates to introduce them to Slow Food members in our area, and to raise funds to offset expenses for their trip to Italy. Here, then, is the plan:
APPLICATION - Those people who are interested in attending Terra Madre as candidates need to apply to Slow Food USA, who will make a representative selection of delegates from U.S. food communities, based in part on the recommendations of Slow Food chapters. The application is a two-part process, part on-line and part written. The deadline for submitting this application is May 15 (postmark deadline for the written part). Slow Food USA will notify delegates of their acceptance on June 15. Anyone accepted as a delegate will have all ground costs (lodging, food, local transportation) in Italy paid for by Slow Food; transportation to and from Italy is not included. You can get details about the application and complete the on-line part at the Slow Food USA web-site.
RECOMMENDATION - Slow Food South Bay would like to recommend candidates from our area to help their chance of being accepted as delegates. We feel this is a great opportunity to connect Slow Food members with people working on sustainable food issues in our area, to get to know each other better. So we are asking each candidate to forward a copy of their application to us, with a cover letter introducing themselves (or letting us know of their intentions if we already know them). Please scan your application to Slow Food USA and e-mail it to terramadre [AT-SIGN-HERE] slowfoodsouthbay.org (if you don't have a scanner, please send an e-mail asking for a postal address). If we don't know you yet, we may ask to have a chat, in person or on the telephone, in order to learn more about what you are doing and to enable us to give a good recommendation.
SUPPORT - Slow Food South Bay would like to work with those who are selected as delegates. In particular, we plan to raise funds for delegates to help cover their transportation expenses to and from Italy. As part of the effort, we will ask the delegates to participate in 3 events with us. First, we would like each delegate to join us at a fundraising dinner at a restaurant in the South Bay, where we would introduce them to our members. If our delegate is a food producer, we will try to showcase their products as part of these dinners. Second, we would like each delegate to host an event at their location. This might take the form of a tour, especially of a farm. Finally, we would like each delegate to attend our next Annual Business Meeting, which will take place in November, shortly after everyone's return from Terra Madre, where they can talk about their experience at Terra Madre. Anyone requesting support should include in their letter to terramadre [AT-SIGN-HERE] slowfoodsouthbay.org a few words about how they would participate in these events.
Various local businesses have already expressed interest in working with us on these events. Cafe Primavera at Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park and Quattro at the Four Seasons Hotel in East Palo Alto have both approached us about holding fundraising dinners. Cafe Primavera is also talking about one day each month where a portion of the bill for anyone who mentions Slow Food South Bay will be donated to Terra Madre. And to kick off our program a portion of ticket sales from this weekend's Enoteca 100 Primavera at Donato Enoteca will be donated as well.
Do note that we cannot be sure yet how much financial support we will be able to give each delegate, especially since we do not know how many delegates there will be from our area. Rest assured that we will do our best to help as much as we can with our fundraising efforts.
If you have been considering going to Terra Madre, don't wait too long to apply. If you know someone who might like to go, please forward this e-mail to them and encourage them to apply, and let us know who they are.
If you aren't going, but would like to get involved, please consider becoming a part of our chapter's Terra Madre committee. You will get a chance to know our delegates and to work with them while helping to put together the various events and other efforts as part of our project. Let us know if you are interested at terramadre [AT-SIGN-HERE] slowfoodsouthbay.org.
Your Slow Food South Bay Terra Madre Committee