- The Slow Food movement promotes sustainable, locally-based food systems as a way to counteract industrial agriculture and globalized food chains.

This shift supports not only individual health but also long-term environmental wellbeing.

- Slow Food has roots in Italy, with the movement emerging in the 1980s as a reaction to fast food culture, seeking to preserve local food traditions and protect biodiversity (e.g., the reference to protecting bees and biodiversity in Italy).

The movement is now global, linking individuals and communities in a wider network.

- A key tenet is supporting small-scale farmers and regenerative agricultural practices to foster a sustainable and resilient food future.

- Indigenous food sovereignty efforts, particularly among Native American groups in the US, parallel and intersect with the Slow Food movement’s ethos by emphasizing self-sufficiency, the cultivation of native foods, and the preservation of traditional agricultural knowledge.

- The pandemic and recent global crises, such as supply chain failures, have fueled a renewed interest in localized economies and food systems.

These reveal vulnerabilities in global food networks and highlight the benefits of eating locally and seasonally.

- Community efforts worldwide—like tribal farms, seed banks, and community-supported agriculture—showcase diverse expressions of the movement across cultures, addressing both food sustainability and cultural preservation.

- There is a rising emphasis on “cool food,” family meals, reducing food waste, and regenerative farming, signifying broadening awareness of the interconnected impacts of food choices.

- Internationally, Slow Food experiences can be found not only in Italy (the birthplace), but also in places ranging from Lamu in Kenya to the Onondaga Nation in the US and Napa in California.

- Current proponents range from grassroots activists, Indigenous leaders, and local farmers to chefs who prioritize local sourcing and biodiversity.

- The Slow Food movement promotes sustainable, locally-based food systems as a way to counteract industrial agriculture and globalized food chains.

Title:

Content: Breaking The Industrial Cycle With Slow Food

Where do you go to get your groceries? If your first thought was your local supermarket, you are not alone. Shopping in large grocery stores became the norm for many of us, and we rely on these outlets more than we realise. They are convenient, filled to the brim with seemingly every product you could imagine and have a price point that fits most pockets.

From afar it seems like the perfect solution, but we all witnessed what happened in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic turned life on its head and among many others, highlighted the fragility of our food economy and the part supermarkets play in it.

The University of Oxford describes our food system as “a complex set of interconnected practices and relationships that ultimately deliver food from farms, processing facilities, factories, warehouses, and retailers, to the dinner table.”

Slow Food

The industrial food system is built for scale and efficiency with an aim to maximise production, reduce cost, and function much like factories.

Although many supermarkets and producers are taking steps to include the origins of their products on their labels, there is still not enough transparency around where our food actually comes from. This industrialised structure offers customers accessibility to a wider range of products at more affordable prices but has economic and environmental impacts that many are not aware of.

Industrial agriculture is notorious for using a range of fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides in their processes to maximise output, some of which stays present in the soil long after the crops are harvested. The products are then processed in factories, stabilised with preservatives and packaged in plastic, all occurring before they are loaded onto long haul freights, planes, lorries to arrive in distribution centres and eventually to supermarket shelves.

BBC Good Food reported that “DEFRA estimates that moving food is responsible for 25 per cent of all miles covered by heavy goods traffic in the UK. Transporting food within, to and around the UK produces 19 million tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to around 5.5 million typical cars.”

The length of the supply chains involved in industrial food systems result in a fragile structure as any slight disruption throughout the intricate process can halt the supply chain at any time.

However, this industrial food system is not the only one available to our economy. While our modern supermarkets heavily rely on large-scale agriculture, large scale production and precise, uninterrupted international food trade and fast turnaround times, the alternative slow food system focuses on a more resilient structure.

As the resilient alternative to this industrial cycle that many in the industry are championing, Slow Food is focused on returning to the traditional methods and celebrating all things local.

The not for profit grassroots organisation, Slow Food was set up in Italy in the late 1980s in a bid to promote traditional food preparation methods and locally sourced ingredients, going against the arrival of the American fast-food chain McDonald’s in Rome. The eco-gastronomic organisation now has around 100,000 members in over 150 countries.

Recognising and raising awareness of the negative impact the industrial food system had on society, the economy and the environment, the organisation ignited a Slow Food movement: a new way of conscious consumerism that takes seasonality, locality and tradition into account.

A slow, or resilient food system can take on many forms, starting with us as individuals making a conscious effort to engage with producers, venues and outlets that are aligned with the slow food values, to foraging, growing our own produce and going to local farmers’ markets.

Any involvement in the movement can make a significant difference in local communities and build a more sustainable, resilient and eco-friendly food system.

As the first accredited Slow Food destination in Northern Ireland, the Causeway Coast and Glens have been spearheading the move toward this resilient system and together with Taste Causeway, the collaborative network of local food and drink businesses.

From exciting slow food events to highlighting producers and awarding them with Slow Food accreditation, Taste Causeway and Slow Food NI are putting local suppliers and venues at the forefront of consumers’ minds, one business at a time.

To find out more about how you can support the Slow Food movement, the businesses involved and the upcoming events on the Causeway Coast, go to https://slowfood.tastecauseway.com/

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What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

On returning to traditional food methods

What is the purpose of Taiwan's Taitung County Government ito hold the "SLOW SUPER Taitung Slow Farmer Market"?

To promote sustainable agricultural development

This shift supports not only individual health but also long-term environmental wellbeing.

Title:

Content: Skip to content

10 Dietitian-Backed Food Trends You Should Try in 2023

These nutrition trends will make a big difference for your health next year.
FACT CHECKED BY Olivia Tarantino

The nutrition industry is always changing, with many new food trends popping up year after year. Some of these trends come and go, but there are a few that nutrition experts say are here to stay in the New Year.

While you may not see fad diets on this list, you will find nutrition trends that will actually make a difference for your health in 2023. Just because these trends are popular right now, doesn't mean that they won't have a big impact on our health.

So let's dive in to find out exactly what experts say you can keep your eyes peeled for in 2023. Read on, and for more, don't miss Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail by February & How To Make Yours Sustainable.

Eat more plants

You don't have to become a full-fledged vegan to be considered plant-based, and simply increasing plants in your diet has many benefits on its own.

"Plant-based eating is still rising in popularity as one of the biggest health food trends, and will likely continue through 2023 as a more cost-effective way of eating. According to the research, a plant-based lifestyle is linked to improved blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and a healthier weight. You don't have to become a full-blown vegetarian to reap these potential benefits – you can start small by incorporating 1-2 meatless meals every week and go from there," encourages Melissa Mitri, MS, RD of Melissa Mitri Nutrition.

RELATED: Incredible Effects of Eating Vegetables Every Day, Says Dietitian

Source sustainable seafood

Sustainable and wild-caught seafood is on the rise as many consumers seek out higher-quality products. Choosing wild-caught Alaskan salmon or sustainably-raised Argentinian Seabass are two of the sustainable seafood front-runners.

"Sustainably sourced and produced foods have gained significant momentum, and I predict will continue to do so in 2023. From sustainably sourced seafood and a focus on plant-based options, there are many ways you can support both your health and that of the planet," according to Sarah Anzlovar, MS, RDN, LDN, an Intuitive Eating Dietitian for Moms.

RELATED: 10 Restaurant Trends You'll See Cropping Up in 2023

Eat more pulses

Beans, peas, and lentils are all pulses and have been shown to improve health in a variety of ways. From the Blue Zones to the Mediterranean Diet, healthy populations around the world include pulses regularly, and they are here to stay in 2023.

"Pulses are a great addition for 2023! Incorporate half a cup of pulses per day for your health: improve gut health, stabilize blood sugar, and lower blood pressure. If you're not a fan of the texture, white beans can be blended and added to soups and casseroles for a creamy texture that is still nutrition-packed," Amanda Lane, MS, RD, CDCES of Healthful Lane Nutrition explains.

Focus on family dinners

Dani Lebovitz, MS, RDN, CSSD, CDCES, food literacy expert in Franklin, Tennesee, and founder of Kid Food Explorers tells us why family dinners are trending in 2023: "Although the surge of family meals that occurred during the peak of the pandemic has somewhat fizzled out, an anticipated trend for 2023 is more meals being prepared at home due to rising food costs and inflation," Lebovitz says.

She continues, "As the research suggests, the return to family meals also aligns with another food-related trend: rejecting diet culture to help kids develop healthy relationships with food. Family meals with responsive parenting practices and supportive feeding environments can positively shape children's beliefs, attitudes, and eating habits for a lifetime."

Shop food subscription services

Meal kits have been around for a while now, but new, niche food box services are popping up for nearly every kind of food. From coffee and wine to pasture-raised meat and produce boxes, you can subscribe and get customized products shipped directly to your door.

Some companies that we expect will continue to grow in 2023 are:

Eat intuitively

According to the CDC, during the pandemic, there has been a surge of eating disorder cases in emergency departments from 2019-2022. Intuitive eating and a non-diet approach have become more popular with consumers in recent years. We expect to see this trend continue in 2023 as people seek help for their eating disorders or disordered eating behaviors.

With the rise of intuitive eating, people are turning away from dieting and trying to find a balanced way of eating. We know that years of dieting have a direct effect on our mental health and can create a disordered relationship with food. Seeking out help and working towards a positive relationship with food is a trend we can get behind!

Incorporate cultural foods

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition was released in December 2021 stating that there is a lack of diversity among nutrition professionals. Many dietitians have since come forward expressing a need for representation of all backgrounds in the field of nutrition, and also in the foods that dietitians recommend to their patients and clients.

"Seeking culturally diverse foods continues to be a trend and priority in both retail and institutional food service. This can provide an opportunity to increase dietary diversity through new types of root vegetables or legumes and incorporate more herbs and spices, which are full of polyphenols that act as antioxidants and fuel our gut microbiota. This trend can also help ensure that as many people are included in conversations about nutrition and health as possible because they see their cultures represented and embraced," registered dietitian Christina Badaracco, MPH, RDN, LDN tells us.

Opt for a 'homestead lifestyle'

Farm-to-table takes on a whole new meaning here. Homesteading is the practice of growing your own food and raising your own animals at home. During the pandemic, we have seen a huge rise in folks moving away from the city. Homesteading, or even home gardening, was on the rise after being home more during the pandemic.

Dietitian Lara Clevenger MSH, RDN, CPT notes, "I have loved seeing the homesteading trend rise. Growing your own fruits and vegetables, raising your own livestock, and forming a community with other local homesteaders or farmers changes people's lifestyles to a slower pace of life. You can control the quality of the produce, how humanely the animals are raised, and the quality of the meat or dairy you eat."

Choose upcycled food products

Upcycled foods use products that would have otherwise gone to waste. Think fruit rinds, vegetable pulps, and extracted fibers from plants. Just because these would have otherwise gone to waste, doesn't mean they don't offer plenty of nutrition!

Upcycled products turn imperfect produce or food that would otherwise be wasted into delicious, edible snacks are just one way you can support both your health and the health of the planet," Anzlovar says.

Upcycled product examples are popping up everywhere. We love ReGrained for repurposing grains from the beer-making process and creating super nutritious flours. Similarly, The Ugly Company makes discarded fruits into dried fruit snacks.

Stay up-to-date with food labels

A couple of years ago, we saw the Nutrition Facts change with an "Added Sugar" line. Now, we may begin seeing products labeled "Healthy" if they meet a specific set of requirements. Namely, the product must be whole grain, low in fat, added sugar, and salt to qualify for the new label according to a release from the FDA this fall.

Consumers are becoming more invested in the quality of their food, and food companies are listening. Keep your eyes peeled for the new nutrition label in 2023 to keep up with the latest trends in the industry.

Caroline Thomason, RDN
Caroline is a women's health Registered Dietitian and diabetes educator based in Northern Virginia. Read more about Caroline
Filed Under

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

A movement promoting responsible use of marine resources.

What is the purpose of Taiwan's Taitung County Government ito hold the "SLOW SUPER Taitung Slow Farmer Market"?

To promote sustainable agricultural development

- Slow Food has roots in Italy, with the movement emerging in the 1980s as a reaction to fast food culture, seeking to preserve local food traditions and protect biodiversity (e.g., the reference to protecting bees and biodiversity in Italy).

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

On returning to traditional food methods

What happened after the opening of McDonald's restaurants in Rome opened?

What is the birthplace of the slow food movement?

When did Carlo Petrini launch the Slow Food Movement?

The movement is now global, linking individuals and communities in a wider network.

Title:

Content: A View from Ukraine: Only with Solidarity Can We Safeguard Biodiversity and Lay the Foundations for the Future

Whatever their nature, crises have much to teach us. One of their fundamental lessons is this: Together we are stronger.

This belief underpins the Slow Food network. Wars, pandemics and natural disasters only highlight our awareness that we are one big community with a specific duty, to help each other and protect our Mother Earth.

The solidarity that we have seen in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion exactly one year ago offers a strong and concrete example of this. More than 400 donors from over 27 countries have donated over €47,000, pledging to support not only the safety of those who have fled their home country but also those who have chosen to stay and look after their animals, crops and villages, protecting the wealth of local biodiversity currently under existential threat.

Slow Food has seen evidence of the network’s solidarity from around the world. Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian Slow Food communities are hosting refugees; Slow Food Australia has collected humanitarian aid and sent it to the borders; Slow Food Prague has run workshops to showcase Ukrainian cuisine; and in France and Italy Slow Food has organized fundraisers in aid of Ukrainian producers.

So far over 60 communities have been helped by this communal solidarity in various ways, with a focus on assisting those affected by the conflict to carry on with their daily lives and save local biodiversity. At a time of war, safeguarding biodiversity might not seem a priority. But in fact it represents a vital foundation for a future recovery.

“War is total destruction,” said Andrea Pieroni, professor of Ethnobotany and Ethnobiology at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, speaking to us last summer. “It also puts at risk the entire biodiversity of a country, and consequently an entire traditional gastronomic heritage. The environmental consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war are manifold, and the effects fall (and will fall) as much on the present as on the future of each of us. But if a war can do damage, even more damage—and this time irreversible—can be done by reconstruction, if it does not respect the traditions and cultures that existed before, seeking instead to globalize and perhaps respond to global needs rather than local ones. The Slow Food network can play a key role in supporting Ukrainians to hold on to traditions, such as those of family production and farmers’ markets.”

The activities that Slow Food has been supporting in recent months include safeguarding traditional animal breeds by purchasing forage, providing medical assistance, distributing hatching eggs of local-breed chickens, providing farmers with seeds and plants of local varieties and helping to preserve local seed collections. The Slow Food network has also helped to purchase basic equipment, such as cultivators, fridges and wheelbarrows, for communities that have either been decimated or are hosting refugees. It has helped to fix a ruined school and buy containers for the meals being prepared by Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance cooks to distribute to the needy. For Christmas the network organized the delivery of food straight from farms to over 30 families where children were staying with their grandparents, so they could have good, wholesome food for the holidays.

“The money that we have received from Slow Food is vital, both to deliver humanitarian aid to people in need, and to preserve these native Carpathian bees and their ecosystem,” explained beekeeper Vitali Pavlu. “It’s all part of a spiritual and moral outlook that we promote: to do things not because they are profitable, but because they are good. So we take with one hand and give back with the other, to create harmony.”

While some have donated financially, others have chosen to donate their time and work. Just one example out of many: Dutch Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance member Jeroen van Nijnatten and his partner Marike Reinhard. Normally working as a caterer, Jeroen is well equipped to cook on location. About a month ago he and Marike packed their van full of cooking gear and ingredients and set off for the city of Lviv.

Their action was supported by the Ukrainian Education Platform and Kerk In Actie, a Dutch collective of Protestant churches. Since then, they have served about 1,400 pancakes in and around Lviv. Moving their mobile kitchen from orphanage to shelter to football stadium, everywhere the displaced happily queued up for a plate of warm Dutch pancakes. Marike has also been running yoga sessions for children in local orphanages. Says Jeroen: “The people we cooked for—mainly women and children of course—were very happy. The best part of these weeks was to see that they really felt supported.” Jeroen and Marike have recently returned to the Netherlands, but plans for a second trip are already being made.

Solidarity has also been on show in the places where Ukrainian refugees have arrived. Kateryna Prykhodko is a goat’s cheese producer and veterinarian who attended Cheese 2019. She fled from Kiev to Italy in March 2022, bringing three children, her mother and a number of dogs. In Ukraine, she had a farm called Dragonfly, located on the outskirts of the capital. Now everything is destroyed. But thanks to the hospitality of Eros Scarafoni and his family at the Fontegranne farm in the countryside near Fermo, in the Marche, Kateryna has found not just a safe haven but also the opportunity to continue her work as a cheesemaker, teaching the locals the secrets of her blue goat’s cheese. Local and regional Slow Food coordinators are working closely with her to promote her Italo-Ukrainian cheeses, organizing a series of meetings and events to give Kateryna a hand so that her Dragonfly can “fly” again.

“We are infinitely grateful to each of you, each community, each national association and the international headquarters,” said Slow Food’s coordinator in Ukraine, Yuliia Pitenko. “We are grateful to the whole extended Slow Food family for the quick and very effective assistance. We have been able to help those who are in the occupied territories, those who are near the front, those who are in Kyiv and those who received displaced people in western Ukraine, without bureaucratic obstacles. We understand that this is solidarity, real solidarity. We understand what heart-to-heart help means, and even now, when we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, we still want to invite you to Ukraine, let it be in a year, when we will have restored our country and saved our local animal breeds, seeds and gastronomic dishes.”

Each of these activities is a step toward the future we want to see become a reality. We are all part of a global network. And while safeguarding biodiversity, educating others and advocating for policy change in your corner of the world is paramount, progress begins with the exchange of stories, knowledge and projects across the globe and is built on the relationships we forge with one another. Only together can we cultivate a better future. Wherever we are, we are not alone.

See all of our updates on the network in Ukraine

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How many countries have members of Slow Food organization?

- A key tenet is supporting small-scale farmers and regenerative agricultural practices to foster a sustainable and resilient food future.

Title:

Content: Philippine agriculture

[OPINION] The future of food: Regenerative farming is the key to securing our food future

Louise Mabulo
'Supporting small-scale farmers and producers who prioritize regenerative practices is crucial to beginning to create this more sustainable food system'

Food is an essential part of our lives, but the way we produce and consume it has enormous impacts on not only our individual health – but the health and longevity of our planet.

Unfortunately, the food industry’s large-scale pursuit of fast, easy, and cheap food has come at the massive expense of our environment, and it is responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and pollution.

In the Philippines – where 40% of the population relies on agriculture, and a sector that contributes 20% of the country’s GDP – many people are faced with challenges like food security, sustainability, and environmental problems. Additionally, small-scale farmers face challenges accessing markets and obtaining fair prices for their products, further perpetuating poverty and food insecurity.

The good news is that we’re not too late to do something about it, and through a combined effort, we have the power to reverse this situation.

As Earth Day 2023 draws near, it’s the perfect time to contemplate the future of our food industry, and begin the transition towards regenerative food systems that close supply chains and promote sustainable practices.

Food security comes full circle

While sustainability is about slowing deterioration, regenerative food practices go even further to future-proof what later generations will inherit of our food systems. In short, regenerative agriculture is a focus on soil health and biodiversity, which uses cover crops, crop rotation, and natural fertilizers to improve soil quality, sequester carbon, and increase yields.

If you’re not sure why this is important, think of it like this: the soil acts like the skin of our planet. It’s a barrier and an important layer that holds nutrients and water, as well as key organisms and organic matter. Without it being healthy, we simply cannot grow quality food. And with food demand set to rise by as much as 50% by 2050, and one-third of our soil estimated to be degraded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this is a big problem.

But transitioning towards regenerative food systems requires a mindset shift away from the linear “take-make-waste” model associated with conventional farming practices, and towards a more circular one that closes supply chains. This means reducing waste, reusing resources, and recycling materials – but it also means connecting producers and consumers to create more localized food systems that are resilient to shocks and disruptions.

This is, of course, easier said than done when it comes to the dominance of large agribusinesses and the industrial food system. And this is why supporting small-scale farmers and producers who prioritize regenerative practices is crucial to beginning to create this more sustainable food system.

In 2016, I started actively engaging our farmers in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Nock-Ten, and as a result, I founded The Cacao Project, a social enterprise that promotes sustainable farming practices, supports, and empowers local farmers and communities in the Philippines. By providing training to farmers to improve their yields and income, the project promotes sustainable and high-in-demand crops, including cacao seedlings and short-term crops such as bok choy, okra, pumpkins, and more. We also utilize unused or otherwise barren lands to create productive economic forests and livelihoods for local and indigenous farmers. Our project ensures that farmers receive fair pay and are better positioned for sustainable success.

Additionally, we are continuously exploring ways to reduce waste and maximize our crop utilization. One of our recent innovations is using leaf fossilization to create stunning crafts and accessories, which upcycles waste while generating a secondary source of income for farming communities.

At the end of the day, I want to bring people closer to our food systems and cultivate an understanding of where our food comes from, how it is produced, and how it reaches our tables. It is a privilege for me to be featured in National Geographic’s Earth Day shortform Nat Geo Presents that will be premiering in the month of April where I can shed light on sustainable food systems and diets to a wide audience, creating a collective sense of responsibility and respect for the resources that sustain us.

The benefits of regenerative food systems extend beyond environmental sustainability – not only does it provide a host of natural services (such as acting as wind breakers and food shelters), it can create self-sufficient, healthier, and resilient communities.

As we approach Earth Day 2023, let’s take a moment to reflect on the impact of our food choices on the environment, and maybe make small changes to live more sustainably. Whether it be buying produce from local markets, supporting small-scale farmers who prioritize regenerative practices, reducing waste, and recycling. Let’s think before we shop and choose to live more lightly on the planet for the benefit of ourselves and future generations. – Rappler.com

Louise Mabulo is a National Geographic Explorer, chef, and founder of The Cacao Project.

On returning to traditional food methods

What is the purpose of Taiwan's Taitung County Government ito hold the "SLOW SUPER Taitung Slow Farmer Market"?

To promote sustainable agricultural development

- Indigenous food sovereignty efforts, particularly among Native American groups in the US, parallel and intersect with the Slow Food movement’s ethos by emphasizing self-sufficiency, the cultivation of native foods, and the preservation of traditional agricultural knowledge.

Title:

Content: On remote farms and in city gardens, a native American movement grows

In tribal farms, community gardens and home gardening, the Indigenous food sovereignty movement which aims to make Native communities self-sufficient through the cultivation of healthy foods

By Kevin Noble Maillard
Published: Aug 29, 2022

Angela Ferguson, supervisor of the Onondaga Nation Farm and a leader in the Indigenous food sovereignty movement, in South Onondaga, N.Y, on Aug 21, 2022. Through classes, seed banks and plantings, tribes across the United States are reclaiming their agricultural roots, growing healthy foods and aiming for self-sufficiency. Image: Tahila Mintz/The New York Times

SOUTH ONONDAGA, N.Y. — The solstice sun lingered overhead as Angela Ferguson surveyed the green hills of the Onondaga Nation in central New York.

“The ancestors know that we’re here and I think that’s what makes us all feel good,” she said. “They’re thanking us for utilizing this land for the purpose it was intended, which was to feed the people.”

Ferguson, 52, is the supervisor of the Onondaga Nation Farm, a 163-acre plot of tribally reclaimed land 20 miles south of Syracuse, New York. She is a leader in the Indigenous food sovereignty movement, which aims to make Native communities self-sufficient through the cultivation of healthy foods.

In tribal farms, community gardens and home gardening, the movement celebrates the agrarian traditions of planting, harvesting and eating as vibrant assertions of Native identity and community.

This coupling of foodways and identity begins with a fundamental relationship to land. “You have to have a connection with the place where you are growing,” Ferguson said. “You have to have your feet in the dirt to pick up that ancestral energy.”

That spark thrives at the Onondaga Nation Farm, a hub of community activity. Ferguson and her crew grow corn, beans and squash, known as the “three sisters” of Indigenous agriculture. They keep bees, chickens and buffaloes, and forage wild nuts, berries and onions. They sponsor a free weekly farmers market on the Nation, and offer programs to teach traditional ways of cultivation and cooking. They preserve meat and vegetables, enough to feed every tribal citizen for four years.

But the signature feature of this agricultural haven is its immense seed bank. Behind secured doors, Ferguson has amassed more than 4,000 varieties of corn, a crop central to many Indigenous diets. The seeds — kernels of corn — are exchanged through an active intertribal network of Native farmers known as Braiding the Sacred.

The room, which she jokingly calls a “field of dreams,” is tranquil, cool, sanctuarylike. In glass jars neatly stacked on wooden shelves, the seed archive is a who’s who of Indigenous agricultural endurance: varieties like Osage Red, Tecumseh’s Flint, Cherokee Rainbow Glass Gem and Haudenosaunee Strawberry Popcorn.

Some seeds have been found and returned to their tribal homes after being lost for generations. Some are thousands of years old, or the sole remnants of defunct tribes. In the seed bank, those cultures live on.

“This room is very powerful,” Ferguson said. “It is the epitome of food sovereignty.”

Self-reliance is a guiding tenet for children at the independent Akwesasne Freedom School, on the Akwesasne reservation in northern New York state at the Quebec border. In an intensive immersion curriculum designed to reverse the effects of assimilation, community members teach lessons in traditional planting, harvesting and cooking, using only the tongue of their ancestors.

“We need to be able to feed ourselves and not depend on the outside to do that for us,” said Alvera Sargent, the executive director of the Friends of the Akwesasne School. “If we can grow our own food, we have sovereignty.”

But most Native Americans live in cities, away from tribal lands, as a result of termination policies, federal relocation programs or voluntary migration. So community groups in places like Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Chicago have created spaces for gathering and planting traditional foods.

Native Health, a Phoenix nonprofit that offers holistic health care, maintains a traditional garden in the city center in collaboration with Keep Phoenix Beautiful. Using traditional, drought-resistant planting techniques suitable for arid climates — like Zuni waffle beds and Pima flood irrigation — the gardeners have efficiently managed a water supply for corn, wolfberries, gourds and sunflowers, along with Diné blue corn, Apache giant squash and Tohono O’odham melons.

As those names suggest, the gardens are a place where people of various tribes can connect with the land.

“Phoenix is a melting pot of different tribes, and we all have that commonality of food,” said Amanda Whitesinger, the Indigenous wellness manager at Native Health, who is Diné, or Navajo. “Having the garden helps us reclaim ourselves as Indigenous people and say, ‘This is tribal land, and we’re growing foods that kept our ancestors healthy.’ ”

A storage room at the Onondaga Nation Farm, holding thousands of seed varieties and preserved foods, enough to feed every tribal citizen for four years, in South Onondaga, N.Y, on Aug 21, 2022. Through classes, seed banks and plantings, tribes across the United States are reclaiming their agricultural roots, growing healthy foods and aiming for self-sufficiency. Image: Tahila Mintz/The New York Times

Urban community gardens also help restore links to land and community that were disrupted by government policies and programs. Perhaps the most devastating of those practices were federal boarding schools, which removed hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children from their families for forced assimilation.

“The generation that our elders are now are products of those boarding schools,” said Jacob Butler, 43, a citizen of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community who chairs Native Seeds/Search, a food-sovereignty nonprofit in the Southwest. “This big gap exists where that knowledge wasn’t passed down and shared.”

Last year, Ethan Tyo, 27, a Mohawk citizen from Akwesasne and a graduate student in food studies at Syracuse University, started a “three sisters” garden on campus to bring Native students together and to thank the campus community that supported him as a Syracuse undergraduate.

“I feel like I have something to give back,” he said.

This spring, he partnered with Ferguson of the Onondaga farm to plant another three-sisters garden at the State University of New York in Binghamton. BrieAnna Langlie, a paleoethnobotanist there, described the interactive garden system of corns, beans and squash as “biological symbiosis.” Like cooperating siblings, the corn acts as a trellis for the beans, and the squash is planted around the stalks to retain soil moisture and guard against pests and weeds.

Many Native nations share a belief in the Seventh Generation principle, which honors not only ancestors, but several generations to come. This is the intersection of Indigenous gardening and cultural preservation: planting for the future.

“To hold this seed in my hand today, somebody had to grow that for generations upon generations for it to be in my hand, and I’m just a link in that chain that exists way back in time,” Butler said. “It’s my responsibility to get it to the next generation and continue that practice and continue that tradition.”

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©2019 New York Times News Service

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On returning to traditional food methods

- The pandemic and recent global crises, such as supply chain failures, have fueled a renewed interest in localized economies and food systems.

Title:

Content: Supply Chain Failures Prove Growing Need for Localized Economies

The mainstream media — television, print and digital — routinely cycle through the litany of crises gripping the world. One week they’ll tell us about the latest climate disaster. The next, the focus may shift to the war in Ukraine. A few days later, COVID-19’s latest variant might be trending. The hot topic of the day is picked up, described in isolation and then discarded.

What we never hear is the fact that these crises are, in fact, connected. They are symptoms of a global economic system that is not only driving up resource use and pollution; it is squeezing people financially, undermining democracy, concentrating wealth and power in the hands of unaccountable global corporations, and exacerbating conflict and violence.

In addition, recent events have highlighted how vulnerable we are because of our dependence on the global economy. Long-distance supply chains are failing around the world, and the cost of living is skyrocketing as a result.

This is clearest when it comes to our most basic need of all: food. At the grocery store, Americans are paying 10 percent more for food than a year ago, while the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports that global food prices hit record highs in March. In the United Kingdom, the price of chicken is set to soon match the price of beef.

Why? Largely because economic globalization — which, in short, involves using public monies and government regulations to favor exports over self-reliance — has ensured that we source our food from ever farther away, via ever longer, more complicated supply chains.

That means that when China shuts down in response to COVID, it affects the whole world. When Russia invades Ukraine, global supplies of grains, vegetable oil and chicken feed are jeopardized. When energy prices rise, so do food prices, because industrial agriculture for export is built on fossil fuel-based fertilizers and fuel-guzzling transport. When synthetic fertilizer production facilities shut down because the price of fracked gas is too high, chemical-dependent farmers’ yields fall.

And when fears grow, they snowball: Countries across the globe have halted food exports for fears of food insecurity.

This would not be nearly so big a problem if the entire globe hadn’t been made so dependent on global trade for basic needs. Consider the fact that global trade volume is now roughly 40 times greater than it was in 1950. As governments — at the behest of global corporations — continue to subsidize and regulate in favor of global trade, people’s lives and livelihoods are at the mercy of middlemen operating transnationally.

Thanks to globalization, food produced regionally or nationally is more likely to be exported than to feed the local population: They’ll eat food imported from elsewhere. The situation is now so absurd that countries regularly import and export nearly identical quantities of identical products. In 2019, for example, the United States imported 1.53 million tons of beef, even as it exported 1.51 million tons. In 2020, Germany was the world’s top importer of butter ($851 million), and also the fourth-largest exporter of butter ($653 million). That year, France both imported and exported about $1 billion worth of beef. These are not outliers but typical examples of “redundant” trade in the global economy.

The list of actual and potential hiccups along these fragile supply chains is virtually endless. Those we have experienced recently include pandemic lockdowns, a blockage in the Suez Canal, and avian flu outbreaks. Last week, the Royal Bank of Canada reported that one-fifth of the global container ship fleet is currently stuck in congestion.

These are but harbingers of worse to come. The global food system itself — based as it is on chemical-intensive industrial monocultures for export — has decimated seed and livestock diversity, and is rapidly eroding topsoil and depleting fertility in our most important food bowls. Add to all this the fact that this food system is responsible for up to 57 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, and widespread food system collapse is very possibly imminent.

Can we assume that these and other real-world effects will finally lead to a rethinking of “comparative advantage” — a cornerstone of the modern economy? The 1817 theory — an article of faith among supporters of “free trade” and globalization — asserts that if countries specialize in what they produce best and trade for every other need, all countries will be better off.

The theory of comparative advantage may have been plausible 200 years ago, but globe-spanning supply lines make no sense in our increasingly fragile world. During the pandemic, most countries would have been far better off had they relied more on local production, rather than on specialized production for global trade.

Unfortunately, political leaders on both left and right have ignorantly continued to promote economic globalization despite its mounting costs. Their policies have enabled multinational corporations and banks to accumulate immense wealth: By 2000, more than half of the largest economies in the world were corporations. Their wealth enables them to distort the democratic process through campaign donations and vast lobbying efforts, and to spend billions of dollars shaping public opinion through advertising, data mining and media ownership. Trade agreements even allow transnational corporations to sue governments if environmentally or socially conscious laws or regulations get in the way of corporate profits. In short, globalization has reshaped society in the interest of unaccountable, internationally mobile corporations.

For many rather obvious reasons, this is a bad idea. For example, it is the main reason why governments have continuously failed to act on the climate crisis. It is why profit-driven media have become ever more polarizing and incendiary. It is why local businesses are being driven to bankruptcy by global giants, and why communities are being broken apart and amalgamated into ever-bigger, more anonymous, more resource-intensive megacities. It is why billionaires continue to get richer and richer, even as the majority of the world’s people must run ever harder and faster just to stay in place. As the resources needed to fuel this globalized system become more scarce, conflict both within and between countries is seen to rise.

The fact that these seemingly disparate issues are connected by their shared roots in the globalizing economic system is, perhaps counterintuitively, a reason for hope: By focusing on that root cause, we can more easily take steps that address all of those problems simultaneously.

And although we haven’t heard much about it in the media, initiatives across the world are proving the multiple benefits of shifting away from dependence on global corporations toward place-based, community businesses. These projects can be seen on every continent and constitute a movement toward what can best be described as “localization.”

Ordinary people are responding to the specter of food insecurity by boosting localized production of food and other basic needs. At the onset of the COVID pandemic, small farmers from Melbourne, Australia, to Mexico City were able to ramp up production in a matter of weeks to meet a doubling of demand, proving that local farms and businesses are not only much more resilient in the face of global crises but also far more responsive to the needs of their communities. We have heard from a number of sources that these farmers didn’t raise their prices, even though they ended up working harder and employing more people.

Similarly, people are organizing into informal community networks to help each other deal with the havoc of COVID lockdowns and — increasingly — climate shocks. In many cases, these informal groups have proven to be much more effective than centralized bureaucracies. They also galvanize community solidarity and lift people’s spirits in ways that simply cannot be achieved by large-scale organizations.

Because they’re happening under the radar, no figures will do justice to the proliferation of such informal groups. But it is telling that, in the U.K., more than 4,000 mutual aid groups emerged in 2020 alone.

Community mutual aid networks represent but one facet of a much broader movement for localization. Although sorely underrepresented in the mainstream media, concern for climate change, corporate rule and mental health are giving rise to a plethora of localizing responses.

A local food movement is growing on every continent. While the number of farmers’ markets in the U.S. has quadrupled over the last 20 years, organizations fighting for local food sovereignty are among the largest social movements in the world, representing more than 200 million small farmers.

Local food systems — which are based on small-scale, biodiverse production — not only dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions but actually regenerate the land. Studies by the Rodale Institute suggest that shifting to such techniques on all cultivated and pastureland would enable us to rebuild soils and sequester over 100 percent of current CO2 emissions. This doesn’t mean a reduction in production: Small farms produce up to five times more food per acre than industrial monocultures.

What’s more, reorganizing our economies around local interdependence instead of global dependence would significantly increase community prosperity. A 2021 U.K. study, for example, reveals that local food outlets create three times as many jobs for the same amount of food sold as supermarket chains.

The benefits of localization apply to more than just the food system. A case study on independent versus chain bookstores found that money spent locally left three times as much money in the local economy as money spent at a chain store — resulting in three times the job impacts, three times the income effects, and three times the tax proceeds to local government. Another study showed that every square foot of retail space occupied by a local business generates 70 percent more local economic impact than a chain store.

Meanwhile, regional government support for local, craft-based economies in some parts of rural India has increased earnings by more than 60 percent for hundreds of thousands of people, while slowing the widespread and damaging trend of hyper-urbanization.

Stronger local economies are important not only for the financial and employment benefits they provide, but also for the closer contact with nature and with community they offer. In a Norwegian study, the simple act of community gardening was shown to be more than twice as effective in treating depression as chemical antidepressants. Participants in such programs have overcome devastating mental illnesses and have described their experiences movingly (“as the garden began to bloom, we began to bloom”).

By understanding the root causes of our global crises, we can begin to identify systemic solutions. What’s more, we can also see that these solutions are already being pioneered by ordinary people all across the globe, acting with little if any government support but on goodwill and common sense.

This June, under the banner of “World Localization Day,” numerous projects and networks working toward economic localization are coming together to make their global movement known. The campaign demonstrates that localization is not about isolationism — in fact, cross-cultural collaboration is an integral part of the movement. World Localization Day is also an attempt to break the corporate stranglehold on information: While the mainstream media excels at highlighting the disparate symptoms of systemic breakdown, it fails to connect the dots between these symptoms, nor does it identify the plethora of real-life systemic alternatives.

The next time the daily news makes you painfully aware of the many crises we face, remind yourself that we don’t have to fight each problem on its own. We can instead expose their root causes and work together to withdraw dependence on the global system while reweaving local interdependence. We can join the movement to solve multiple crises at once.

These reveal vulnerabilities in global food networks and highlight the benefits of eating locally and seasonally.

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

- Community efforts worldwide—like tribal farms, seed banks, and community-supported agriculture—showcase diverse expressions of the movement across cultures, addressing both food sustainability and cultural preservation.

On returning to traditional food methods

- There is a rising emphasis on “cool food,” family meals, reducing food waste, and regenerative farming, signifying broadening awareness of the interconnected impacts of food choices.

What are the supporters of slow food movement advocating?

- Internationally, Slow Food experiences can be found not only in Italy (the birthplace), but also in places ranging from Lamu in Kenya to the Onondaga Nation in the US and Napa in California.

How many countries have members of Slow Food organization?

- Current proponents range from grassroots activists, Indigenous leaders, and local farmers to chefs who prioritize local sourcing and biodiversity.