Slow Food North Louisiana

Slow Food North Louisiana has three primary focus areas:

1. Advocacy: 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.

2. Education & Information Sharing: Teaching people about the joy of real food, why you should ask questions about where it came from (which country, which farms), 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.

3. Access to real food: We support 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.

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.

In 2022, our main program areas include raising awareness of Biodiversity by donating heirloom seeds from the Slow Food Ark of Taste to local farmers, community gardeners and youth gardens; supporting the launch of programs at the We Grow Together Campus in the Stoner Hill neighborhood, such as a new weekly green market for neighbors kicked off in 2021; and increasing local consumer awareness of local farms and how consumers can connect with them, which will include Slow Food pop ups at area farmers markets, farm field trips, and special events held at local farms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have launched some new programs that can easily be programmed virtually, such as Slow Food Book Club and Dinner & a Movie, featuring books and films that align with our mission.