Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

The Slow Food Movement began with a protest against the opening of a fast food restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome, which sparked the creation of the Slow Food organization. Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported international organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Slow Food Upstate is the local convivium of Slow Food USA.  Upstate South Carolina includes: Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens, Cherokee, Oconee, Union, Laurens, Greenwood and Abbeville.

Slow Food Upstate’s Mission:

• Educational Outreach – To raise awareness of issues and practices related to “good, fair, and clean” food. To provide opportunities for the development of gustatory discernment (tasting good things, making good food choices). Providing practical support and information that empowers people to be responsible and enthusiastic co-producers of the food they consume.
• Educational “Inreach” – Community Building for those already knowledgeable about and living a slow lifestyle and engaged with slow food production professionally or at home.
• Convivium – Sharing (eating, cooking, etc.), honoring, celebrating and enjoying together the bounty of slow food.

We place special emphases on:

• Local traditions and production that are slow. By “local” we mean our immediate region (Upstate/Piedmont) but also our State and the south; however we give special pride-of-place to the Upstate. While we intend to honor traditions associated with the dominant historical culture, we also want to honor traditions of minority and immigrant cultures that are a part of our community.
• Eating and the well-being of the person, environment , and community in the context of a slow lifestyle and outlook on life. While not promoting any one type of diet, we welcome those who follow a dietary program that fits with the Slow Food emphasis on “good, clean and fair” food. We want to encourage and model eating practices that balance health, justice and enjoyment.
• Accessibility. Our programming should be available and affordable to those seriously interested in knowing about and practicing good, clean, and fair eating. We want to model honoring quality with a fair price in a culture that thinks cheaply about food. We also want to avoid the confusion of conspicuous consumption with good eating.