More than 40 farmers, chefs, academics and food activists from all across Canada gathered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, from April 19th-22nd for the 13th annual Slow Food in Canada Summit.
In addition to conference presentations and working sessions, the participants enjoyed farm tours, panel discussions, an Indigenous dinner and theatre performance plus a delicious gala dinner made with food that would normally go to waste.
The conference theme was “Eat Where You Are” and eating was definitely accomplished! Throughout the conference there was a focus on getting to know your farmers and food producers, learning about indigenous food systems and speaking about the future of food. Rebecca Gordon from Guelph, Ontario, speaks about her participation: “it was inspiring to be able to meet and have discussions with so many good food activists. I learned a lot from the Slow Food Saskatoon food community and I can’t wait to take my knowledge back home and share it with my own community”. Noelle Chorney, the Slow Food Saskatoon Leader and organizer of the conference says: ‘‘putting on the Slow Food in Canada Summit gave us a testing ground for several activities in our community, such as food showcases and farm tours, that we will replicate in future events. We got a lot of press coverage as well as new interest from our community. We also loved showing off all the things we love about our region to the national delegates. At the end of the summit, I had a team of tired and also galvanized committee members looking at me asking, “So, what next?” With the Summit under our belt we have no doubt about our capacity or ability to host any number of community events in the future.” Slow Food in Canada is truly thankful to Noelle and her entire organizing team for pulling out all the stops to go above and beyond to ensure the summit was a huge success.
Moving Forward
Slow Food in Canada wants your advice on how we can grow the good, clean and fair food movement. At the National Summit, delegates participated in an Action Cafe where discussions took place about how the Slow Food movement in Canada can strengthen communications and financially sustain itself so that it can create a more inclusive regional network beyond membership. You can find the full summary of the Action Cafe here. We want to open this discussion up to all of our members and engage everyone on the issues and opportunities surrounding the present and future of Slow Food in Canada. If you have any feedback, please let us know by filling out this survey. We will be using all recommendations to create a strategic plan for Slow Food in Canada.