• SFCNY Announcements: This is the default list that everyone should be on. It is for the Chapter Board to send out announcements to the community. If you want to know what’s going on with Slow Food in the area, sign up for this low-activity list.
• SFCNY Discussion: Using this group is like sitting in a large meeting room. Everyone can hear you – you’re never responding to just one person. Every email you send in will be received by every member of the group, whether you initiate a topic or hit “reply” in response to a message. Please be aware of this. If you want to reply privately to someone, you will have to CHANGE the email address in your “To” box before you hit that “send” button.
• SFCNY _____ Committee: We now have five committees (more on this in the meeting #3 minutes), each with its own unique group discussion list. Committee chairs will email more information about his/her specific committee in the coming week.

  o Slow Food in Schools

  o Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT)

  o Food Justice and Advocacy

  o Public Relations

  o Events and Fundraising

• SFCNY Chapter Board. This list contains the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and the five Committee Chairs. It is a way for the local leadership to all be on the same page.

To sign up for one or more of these lists, please email Lonnie at “lonnie dot chu / at / gmail dot com.” She has taken charge of managing the lists and for that I am so grateful. Also, if you have a gmail account, you should be able to sign up for the groups on your own by following the links above (except for Chapter Board – you need to be on the board for that one).

Personally, I can’t wait for us to become official so we can get on the SFUSA website. Why is that a big deal? When people sign up online they will be able to select our convivium from the lis! Right now people are getting placed in our local sister convivia. (I think we CNYers are split between the Rochester Convivium and the Leatherstocking Convivium.) It’s the little things that excite me.

At the Central New York Convivium, we intend to rediscover the rich and diverse food traditions of our region and ensure that everyone has access to quality and affordable food. We will support local growers, food artisans, and purveyors. We will empower individuals to become involved in their food from seed to fruit. Understanding that we are all interdependent, we will always strive to work with sister organizations and cultivate future food leaders whenever possible.

We didn’t talk about that last interdependence line at the meeting, but I think it’s something very important to add. On another note, we also decided on our motto:

So to start a chapter (convivium) of Slow Food USA here in Syracuse, I need to get people to sign up to become Slow Food USA members. This costs money. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t really enjoy asking people for money. But many things require money to happen. Money is also a commitment (ie, “put your money where your mouth is”). So let’s talk about the costs of Slow Food membership, what that money gets you, and where it goes.

Membership Costs
This information is taken directly from the Slow Food Memberships page.

• Individual membership: $60 / year
• Couple membership: $75 / year
• Student membership: $30 / year

So, for an individual, it’s equivalent to paying $5 a month. Not bad in greater scope of things. Also, I’ve gotten asked “what makes someone a couple?” Well, that is up to Slow Foods USA. But please don’t short-change the organization. As you’ll see below, they do some pretty awesome stuff.

Membership Benefits
Here are a list of the membership benefits, which were again taken from another Slow Foods USA page…

• A one-year subscription to the Snail journal, which covers good, clean and fair food issues such as: sustainable seafood, food systems education, alternative food distribution, protecting biodiversity and regional food traditions.
• The Slow Food Almanac from Slow Food International that features in-depth stories of the movement from around the world.
• The Food Chain, our monthly e-newsletter that highlights the activities of our 200+ convivia, our diverse programs and the latest headlines in food sustainability.
• A personal membership card and a copy of the Slow Food Companion (for first-time members, mailed quarterly), which details Slow Food’s mission, network and projects.
• Membership in your local Chapter and invitations to local, national and international Slow Food events ranging from seasonal feasts to film festivals, farm tours to taste workshops.
• Discounts on merchandise including the Slow Food Guides to New York City, Chicago and San Francisco, as well as other items in our General Store. Call for member discount or order through the monthly Food Chain.

Phew! Glad I just had to copy and paste all that. As you can see, you get a lot of perks for being a member. And a card. You also get a card in the mail.

Where the Money Goes
Again, I will pull from one of the Slow Food USA pages. I get the feeling I’ll be doing that a lot. The chart below breaks out all the money. I’ll explain some pieces as best I can. However, if you want more detailed information, I encourage you to contact Slow Food USA directly. I’m really just working off what little I know.

First: Slow Food International Allocation. This portion of your money assists with opening up chapters of Slow Food across the globe. And as much as we don’t like to think about it, we in America take up much more than our fair share of international resources. I personally see no problem with having about $20 of my dues go toward encouraging local, sustainable agriculture throughout the world.

Next biggest chunk: Leadership Training & Convivium Development. Well… that’s money going toward helping Syracuse get off the ground. Every new convivium gets a disbursement of $100 its first year to assist with start up costs. I expect it also covers the operating expenses associated with assisting new convivia get off the ground.

Your money also goes toward making the publications happen, supporting Slow Food USA’s programs (which I can get into in another posting if people want) and annual convivia disbursements (the first year we’ll get $100 – every year thereafter we get an amount based on the number of people in our convivia). Oh, and let’s not forget overhead expenses for the organization as a whole.

Full disclosure time: I was in the middle of writing up a nice big long blog post (complete with charts and subheaders) addressing all this questions. … and my computer froze. Bear with me people, I’m new to blogging. So I will just focus on the first question now.

What is Slow Food?

Slow Food started in Italy, as part of a protest to the fast food movement. It has since grow to over 50 countries, with thousands of grassroots chapters. The organization is about nourishing healthy food systems: supporting local farms, educating people about food choices, providing access to healthy fresh food to impoverished neighborhoods, patronizing restaurants that provide local fresh food.

Or, as I like to say: It’s about making brownies from scratch instead of from a box.

Some people ask about what is the difference between Slow Food and organic food. Basically, organic food is good, but you can still have monocrop industrial organic farms that ship around the country and don’t pay the workers fair wages. Slow Foods is about creating a sustainable food system. Farms that nourish the earth. Kitchens that nourish friends and family. Consumers and restaurants that support the hinderland. In a way, it’s about fighting entropy through the blessed action of eating.

Not enough for you? Check out the Slow Food USA website. They have their own (probably better) explanation of what Slow Food is. It also has links to the benefits of membership and information and events happening around the country.

Thanks for reading this far. Check back in the future, or subscribe to the RSS feed! Next post I’ll be talking about what membership in Slow Food USA gets you, and where the money from your member dues goes.