For Immediate Release

SLOW FOOD NATION ATTENDED BY 60,000 PEOPLE

Largest Celebration of Food in America Set New Agenda for a
Sustainable, Healthy and Affordable Food System

San Francisco, CA (September 2, 2008)—Sixty Thousand people attended Slow Food Nation, the largest celebration of food in America, held in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. An unprecedented event, Slow Food Nation offered an extraordinary range of activities highlighting the connection between plate and planet.

Participants savored food from across the U.S. at the 50,000 square foot Taste Pavilions; met farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the City; learned from visionary speakers; and engaged in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Slow Food Nation also featured a music festival, workshops, films, dinners and hikes.

“Slow Food Nation started a conversation in America about how our culture perceives and prioritizes food, a conversation that we hope births a broader food movement that will effectively advocate for serious policy changes needed to ensure that access to good, healthy food is a universal right, not a privilege of the elite,” said Anya Fernald, Executive Director of Slow Food Nation. “The incredible response we’ve seen to Slow Food Nation speaks to a deep hunger in America for good food and to a growing concern about the damaging effects of our fast food values.”

The event sold 14,000 tickets overall to the Food for Thought speaker series, Taste Pavilions and workshops, while 5,800 tickets were gifted to partners, community organizations and collaborators, as well as distributed through programs such as scholarships for farmers, food producers and youth. Some additional statistics from the event:

  • Almost all of the ticketed events were sold out in advance. Tickets to the Taste Pavilions were completely sold out and tickets to the Food for Thought sessions were largely sold out prior to the weekend.
  • At the free-of-charge venues, an estimated 50,000 people visited the Civic Center Plaza, where 24,000 “Slow on the Go” items were sold at food stalls and 35,000 bags were used in the Marketplace for purchases of fruit and vegetables from farmers.
  • Of tickets sold, 75 percent were purchased by California residents and 25 percent by residents across America.
  • Of the tickets purchased by Californians, 33 percent were Bay Area residents.
  • During the days of the event, the Slow Food Nation website received 20,000 hits per day.
  • Most of the leftover food was donated to the San Francisco Food Runners.
  • The produce from the Victory Garden will continue to be harvested and donated to the San Francisco Food Bank.
  • In partnership with Food & Water Watch’s Take Back the Tap campaign, the water stations at all venues reduced estimated 100,000 water bottles from being used.

    • Over the next month, Slow Food Nation will interview all of the collaborators in the event planning and execution, as well as the farmers, food producers and community organizations who Slow Food Nation strives to serve. Based on the feedback from those interviews, Slow Food Nation organizers will begin planning for the future of Slow Food Nation. All of the lectures and cooking demonstrations at Slow Food Nation will be made available free of charge at slowfoodnation.org in the upcoming weeks.

    The event generated a small profit in its inaugural edition, all of which will be reinvested to fund the next edition of Slow Food Nation. The major expenses included hiring an event production company to help manage and run the weekend’s events, Dominic Philips Event Marketing (DPEM); the building and installation of the Victory Garden (which will remain in place until November, per the Office of the Mayor); venue rental; the cost of building the Taste Pavilions and of the products served there.

    Slow Food Nation was brought to life by the generosity of in-kind support and pro-bono work from dozens of architects, curators and many volunteers. It would not have been possible without the generous support of its many partners, in particular the lead sponsorship by Anolon cookware, Farina foods, Festival Network, Parkmerced, Rodale, Inc., Saveur magazine and Whole Foods Market. Slow Food Nation was presented by arrangement with the Fort Mason Foundation and thanks to the support of the City and County of San Francisco and the office of Mayor Gavin Newsom.

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    About Slow Food Nation
    Slow Food Nation is a subsidiary non-profit of Slow Food USA and part of the international Slow Food movement. It was created to organize the first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair through enjoyable, accessible and educational activities. Slow Food Nation is dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food and aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.

    Press contacts:
    Naomi Starkman
    Communications & Policy Director
    naomi@slowfoodnation.org
    917.539.3924-cell
    415.369.9950-office

    Layla Azimi
    Communications Coordinator
    layla@slowfoodnation.org
    925.785.0713-cell
    415.369.9950-office

    • NOV. 15 AND NOV. 22: COMMUNITY DAYS

      Come to the Victory Garden on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22 for events that build community through food.

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