What We’re Working On: April Monthly Update
Slow Food MN Board Minutes (4/22/2021 - Earth Day!)
Attendance: Cedar, Vidya, Doug, April, Ann & Adam
Check-in
30 seconds of silence to recognize the long road ahead to end systemic racism
Motions / Actions / Decisions:
Process of consent: the leadership team unanimously agreed to selectively use the five finger consensus process when necessary
Facilitator (Cedar) & co-facilitator (Adam): April will be co-facilitator for the next quarter
Our next meeting: You'll be receiving a doodle poll from Cedar with suggested dates to gather at Vidya's house: The dates we thought might work best for the group would be either Thursday or Friday (May 6/7) from 5:30 - 8 or the weekend (May 8/9) but earlier in the day (11:00AM - 1 / 12:00PM - 2 / 1:00PM - 3). Cedar and I also discussed that we could use the same day & time suggestions for the following week (May 13 - 16)
All video leadership team meetings moving forward will be on google chat (thanks to my computer which is all cloud and no OS)
We agreed on earmarking $1,000 for Growing Edge leadership development sessions as needed (group participation is likely not required, more targeted at Cedar)
Pitches:
April: she has a vast network within the realm food security and hunger relief; 5-6 vibrant food banks in the Twin Cities metro area & over 100 organizations that provide direct service of food accessibility; will share a 2017 food shelf client survey that highlights what people are looking for that isn't available and (on the contrary) what is provided but perhaps not needed; a common misconception is that these people don't know how to cook - they simply need access; how to connect smaller farm operations to a guaranteed supply chain.
Doug: he touched on two aspects of Slow Food USA: 1) The Snail of Approval accreditation which is unique and valuable because it coalesces the charitable ethos of Slow Food USA by recognizing those same values within food-focused commercial businesses. 2) Ark of Taste being the heritage meets diversity campaign of protecting distinctive foods facing extinction; as fascinating and important this work is, it may be too narrow-focused for our new leadership team right now but is worth revisiting down the road.
Vidya: her interests are centered around school gardens, youth engagement, and fostering good eating habits in children from an early age; believes we're not as much “creators” as we are “influencers”; says we should stay away from any elitist or self-serving initiatives and always prioritize the community; she's passionate about the process of cooking, growing produce and the convivial energy that comes from being with people for the activity of eating.
Ann: she's keenly interested in how we share information and build a network of knowledge so we can best harness the momentum from such a widespread international organization; has had previous discussion around access programming along with food and farm policy; she also really likes the idea of working with young people.
Cedar: apart from previously talking about many of the topics mentioned above, she's interested in how we can connect our local food leaders to a larger network by bringing them to Terra Madre so new and shared ideas can flourish within the global food community on a local scale.
Adam: for the lack of sounding redundant from all the wonderful points made by everyone else, he's interested in food knowledge and spreading the message that eating well should be a birthright and not defined by gender, race, class, or zipcode.
Check-Out
We concluded by recognizing this as our most productive meeting yet and can feel the momentum as Slow Food MN emerges on the heels of the pandemic.
