01/08/2013
Introducing Slow Food USA's new Executive Director, Richard McCarthy!
ANNOUNCEMENT ! NEW SLOW FOOD USA -EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Richard McCarthy, founder of the Crescent City Farmers Market and leader of Market Umbrella in New Orleans, joins Slow Food as our new Executive Director.
He's packing up his family and moving to New York now, expected to officially take the reins around January 20.
***********************************“Food is the sweet spot between tradition and innovation, rich and poor, old and young, denim and white linen,”******************************
Here's an interview in this morning's New York TImes :
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/new-leader-for-slow-food-usa/
Mr. McCarthy will move from New Orleans to Brooklyn, where Slow Food USA is based, and assume the post on Jan. 22. Here is more of my interview with him about the future of Slow Food and his plans to lead the organization.
Q.
Many members believe that Slow Food USA missed its chance to engage the larger American public, and is already perceived to be out of the conversation on food. How do you plan to overcome that, and why will you succeed where your predecessors haven’t?
A.
It’s interesting. Everywhere I travel in my work to grow the capacity of local communities to reclaim some control over the food systems in their regions, I meet Slow Food members. So I don’t see Slow Food USA missing its chance to engage the larger American public at all. At some point, I stopped counting how many Slow Food members I’d meet who were working behind the scenes to grow markets, build gardens, change food policies, etc.
During this difficult economic period of nonprofit soul-searching and business model rethinking, some of the pillar organizations haven’t even survived the financial realities. And interestingly enough, the ones that have grown — Wholesome Wave, Fair Food Network, for instance — are so deeply rooted in the values of good, clean and fair food for all. I find hope in that.
During my tenure, will Slow Food USA be where both leaders as well as vulnerable families come home to Slow Food for nourishing ideas and comfort? I have been asking myself those same questions. I have a great deal to learn as I step out from beneath the umbrella of the farmers’ markets into the wider food conversations. I will approach this larger venue with the same instincts that have served me well in the rough-and-tumble place where commerce meets community at markets: listen and build trust.
Q.
Why hasn’t Slow Food USA held a national meeting since Slow Food Nation in 2008?
A.
There actually was a national meeting, last year, in Louisville. It was a gathering of local volunteer leaders from across the country. It wasn’t a large public event like Slow Food Nation, and with travel dollars melting away from individual and organizational budgets, it’s hard to say what scale and tone works in this day and age. Big meetings aren’t always better.
I heard marvelous things about last year’s gathering in Louisville. In Slow Food’s DNA is a proclivity to convene – and I certainly hope that we will be convening people who touch the food system at various points of the delivery from field to fork, as well as those who don’t get to touch it enough.
Q.
What is your biggest priority for Slow Food USA?
A.
My biggest priority is to assure its members that the house is standing on solid values, and to assure partners and supporters that you can count on us to be there for them to grow a good, clean and fair food system that serves everybody. I look forward to providing support to Slow Food members and to chapters so that they can become more effective. I hope we can cultivate leaders who listen, who build bridges and who possess the skills to creatively address the conditions that prevent our food system from providing decent livelihoods for farmers, food access for all consumers and the cultural assets that define a sense of place for communities.
