Civil Eats

Through the end of today you can become a member of the organization Slow Food and pay whatever amount you wish.

The organization began in Italy as a political stance against the way fast food was changing the local eating culture, and has since grown to 100,000 members in 132 countries, all interested in building a food system that is good, clean and fair. There are groups, called conviviums, in cities across the US that meet to discuss and enjoy food together. Much of the focus of Slow Food has been on protecting biodiversity: their program Ark of Taste promotes plants and animal breeds that have been dying out as industrial agriculture spreads a handful of species through standardization. But now, they’re rolling back their sleeves and setting their sights on food justice.

In Slow Food’s most recent campaign, Time for Lunch, the organization began to bring awareness to the upcoming Child Nutrition Re-Authorization, which will allocate funding to our nation’s school cafeterias — and will help decide if our kids will continue to be the recipient for excess commodity calories, or if instead we’ll start serving them fresh, home-cooked food, featuring the fruits and vegetables we’re told we should be eating more of. During these tough economic times, many children are getting their most important meal(s) of the day at school, so starting there with healthy alternatives could be a down payment on the future well-being of the nation.

Time for Lunch featured over 300 eat-ins in all fifty states, where neighbors gathered to eat each other’s home cooking, and talk about how to organize for better school food. Their campaign has recieved a lot of media attention, and their petition to Cogress requesting an additional $1 for school lunch has garnered 30,000 signatures to date.

With continued focus on child nutrition and more social justice-oriented programs, now could not be a better time to get involved with a national organization that works to build a better food system for all to participate in, and pay what you wish!

Paula Crossfield is the managing editor of Civil Eats. She is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and is a contributing producer at The Leonard Lopate Show on New York Public Radio where she focuses on food issues. An avid cook and gardener, she currently seeks out urban places to cultivate in San Francisco. You can follow her on Twitter for the latest food policy news.