As it concludes its 7th International Congress – held this year in Chengdu, China – the Slow Food Movement has issued a bold eight-point plan to “change the world through food”.
The Congress also pledges a “radical renewing of Slow Food” and says it will “try out new forms of aggression, involvement and participation” to thwart the powerful few who “decide the fate of the world’s food”.
The Declaration of Chengdu sets out a path for “to meet the challenges of Slow Food in the coming years”. It places at its heart the principles of “defending diversity in all its forms – the greatest wealth we possess as human being; reducing inequality – fighting to oppose every thought an action that deprives the weakest segments of the population of their rights; and guaranteeing access to knowledge – recognising traditional knowledge as equal to equal to academic knowledge”.
While it has sweeping ambitions, Slow Food says that “our daily choices, starting from the table” and “small gestures that each of us makes several times a day are the first and most important instrument that we wants to implement”.
In his closing speech at the Chengdu Congress, Carlo Petrini – reconfirmed as the president of Slow Food by 400 delegates from 90 countries – said: “This congress reaffirms our rejection of the current development model. These days of work and testimony from the Slow Food and Terra Madre networks have confirmed that alternative models exist, and are successful.
“The Slow Food Youth Network in China is also committing to this path, which is of extraordinary importance when one considers how crucial China’s role is to the challenges which face our entire planet
“We are revitalizing the network, good, clean and fair small-scale businesses: on the local scale, we have the strength to make a difference. For the last thirteen years, Terra Madre has been the heart of the Slow Food network. We stand with the most humble in the fields, we defend them in the farmers’ markets, and we strengthen them through the alliance between chefs and producers.”
The Declaration of Chengdu
1) that good, clean, fair and healthy food is a right of all and that we shall not give up the fight until every last person and the entire web of life on this planet has access to it;
2) that the whole world is our home and that our action is global in scope. Our network knows no boundaries. We thus reject any form of political, economic and social exclusion that turns into outlaws people who migrate on account of conflict, violence, discrimination, eviction, poverty and natural calamity. We fight oppose every thought and action that deprives the weakest segments of the population of their rights, that rides roughshod over indigenous cultures, that fails to hold women, children and the elderly in due esteem. In particular we recognize, favor and promote the fundamental contribution that women bring in term if knowledge, work and sensitivity, in the family, community and the social spheres;
3) that environmental protection is the main priority of our work as activists, farmers, shepherds, fishers, artisans, scholars and cooks. The production, distribution and consumption of food cannot conflict with the right to enjoy a healthy environment and its fruits for generations to come;
4) that diversity is the greatest wealth we possess as human beings and as a community. Be it genetic, cultural, linguistic, generational, sexual or religious;
5) that the unjust division of riches and opportunities originates suffering and discrimination, hence needs to be addressed courageously at every decision-making and practical level – starting from the theme of labour – in order to achieve a fairer distribution among the women and men of our planet;
6) that access to knowledge is a right of all and that traditional knowledge and skills must have the same dignity as academic learning. Only informed, mindful people can make well-pondered, well-reasoned free choices.
7) that our daily choices, starting from the table, can contribute to changing the world, and these small gestures that each of us makes several times a day are the first and most important instrument that Slow Food wants to implement.
8) That we work to ensure the future action of Slow Food extends this vision and these rights not just to human beings but to all living creatures.