Since 2009, Slow Food celebrates Terra Madre Day each year on December 10. The day was first celebrated in 2009, marking the 20th anniversary of the Slow Food Manifesto, an online petition.
A global grassroots organization that promotes local eating, agricultural biodiversity, and regenerative agriculture, Slow Food involves over a million eaters in about 160 countries. This year’s Terra Madre Day focuses on Slow Food’s first international fundraising campaign Love the Earth, Defend the Future, which helps collect funds for this organization to continue to operate independently. Slow Food envisions a food system in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.
Celebrations take shape this year with hundreds of events ranging from collective meals, fundraisers, community festivals, workshops for children, seeing food production facilities and much more. From China to Uganda and Italy to Costa Rica, gatherings will take place all over the world.
In the United States, Slow Food locals all over the country are organizing events in honor of the global day by coordinating a Secret Snail Swap – Share a recipe, receive a recipe. Slow Food members from around the world are invited to share a family recipe by December 10 (Terra Madre Day). Participants will be given a recipe submitted by another member around December 15. The Secret Snail Swap is one way to start interesting conversations about food with other members.
Slow Food asks eaters to include the hashtags #lovetheearth or #defendthefuture in social media posts to help spread the word about the campaign.
