With the funds raised in the Netherlands Slow Food is ready to kick start the Ugandan Ark of Taste book
Place, date — Last June, 2021, Slow Food the Netherlands officially launched their book ‘The Ark of Taste in the Netherlands’. The 100-product-featuring catalogue of Dutch gastronomic heritage was received with great enthusiasm. After that, Slow Food the Netherlands started a fundraising campaign to help realize the Ugandan Ark of Taste book.
The international Slow Food network at its best
A collaboration such as this one, highlights the strength of the international Slow Food network. Edie Mukiibi (Executive Director Slow Food Uganda and Vice-President Slow Food International) explains that this is at the very core of Slow Food: “Cross border exchange of resources, knowledge, expertise and ideas is important in building a stronger Slow Food Movement globally. This collaboration to develop the Ark of Taste is a perfect example of North-South partnership and collaboration we envision in Slow Food. We need to go beyond our territorial boundaries to support the efforts of other activists as one global family. This is the spirit of Slow Food.”
Prints as fundraising tool
Dominic van Asseldonk (communication officer at Slow Food the Netherlands): “We thought, what if we can use the success of the Dutch book to kick-start the next Ark of Taste book project? Slow Food Uganda turned out to be more than ready to take on this challenge!” In November 2021, Slow Food the Netherlands started selling prints of Ark of Taste illustrations on high quality sustainable paper. These prints are replicas of the original illustrations of the Ark of Taste products in the Dutch book, as hand-drawn by Amsterdam-based illustrator Toos Marie. All proceeds of these sales were set aside with the sole purpose of being used for the development of the Ugandan Ark of Taste book. The prints were purchased by many Dutch Slow Food members and other enthusiasts. The amount raised was supplemented by Slow Food the Netherlands, to reach the final contribution of €2500! Nelleke Don (Chair of Slow Food the Netherlands): “The focus of Slow Food The Netherlands, of course, mainly lies with projects within the country. However, we are always eager to look beyond our borders, as this is where the strength of the international Slow Food network lies! When Dominic pitched the idea of continuing the Ark of Taste in this way, I was immediately enthusiastic. We are happy to pass on the baton to Slow Food Uganda and we will share the knowledge we have gained during the development of our book. We hope we have set a stronger international collaboration on the development of the Ark of Taste project and the Atlases in motion!”
2022: The project begins
In January 2022, Dominic van Asseldonk from Slow Food the Netherlands officially handed over the raised amount at the office of Slow Food Uganda, in Mukono, Uganda. The team of Slow Food Uganda received the contribution with pleasure. Slow Food Uganda’s core team is young, dedicated, and full of energy. John Wanyu (head of biodiversity at Slow Food Uganda) explains they are more than ready and fully committed to start this project: “The Slow Food Global Network has brought us close to like-minded people worldwide in the fight to protect biodiversity. Our team of regional coordinators is continuously feeding us with information on the products at risk of extinction. Therefore, we are to start with diving into the already existing online Art of Taste catalogue and enrich it to our target of about 100 products which will be reflected in the book. Thank you Slow Food Netherlands for the funds. I am really excited about the AoT Book for Uganda”. One of the great aspects of the Ark of Taste is that it is participatory: everyone can suggest a product to be included!
The contribution that Slow Food the Netherlands made is enough to kick-start the project, but for the full development of the Ugandan Ark of Taste book, more funds will be needed.