“Slow Food works to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread taste education and connect producers of excellent foods with co-producers through events and initiatives. Slow Food believes the enjoyment of excellent food and drink should be combined with efforts to save the countless traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, animal breeds and food products that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and industrial agribusiness. Through the Ark of Taste and Presidia project (supported by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity) and Terra Madre, Slow Food seeks to protect our invaluable food heritage.”

http://www.slowfood.com/

There’s a whole world of small artisanal producers out there. They’re making the kind of high-quality foods and beverages which can be impossible to find outside a handful of gourmet shops, sold at prices which most people can’t afford. Recently these products have come to be described as niche, which makes them sound rare and expensive, the privilege of a lucky elite. Eataly was founded to disprove this preconception and show that, in reality, even so-called niche products can be available to more people. A group of small-scale producers who make different kinds of food and wine have come together under this brand to offer the fruits of their labor, in the spirit of the old saying “union gives strength.” (…) Eataly brings together the best of artisanal products from the infamous “niche” but offers them at completely affordable prices. How do we do it? Simply by reducing the distribution chain to the bare minimum. In practice the producers offer their products directly to the final distributor, skipping the various intermediate links of the chain.

http://www.eataly.it/