Presidia

MAINTAINING production of the blue and green eggs produced by Chile’s temuco chicken is a presidium project.

SLOW Food’s presidia programme was created in 2000 to help artisan food producers. These small-scale projects protect traditional production methods by supporting producers in their communities and helping them to find markets for traditional foods. The programme began with just two projects in Italy and now encompasses more than 270 across the world.

For some presidia, a little assistance goes a long way: all it takes is to bring together producers, help them coordinate marketing and promotion and establish quality and authenticity standards for their product. Other products take more effort to save: sometimes it’s necessary to build a dairy or an oven or develop new ways to use or prepare a particular food.

Slow Food presidia work in different ways, but the goals remain constant: to promote artisan products, stabilise production techniques, establish stringent production standards and, above all, guarantee a viable future for traditional foods.

Presidium products have not only conquered cooks and gourmets, but have also won over everyday consumers. The success of the presidia has proven that consumers are willing to pay fair prices for quality products, enhancing the economic feasibility of producing or making them.

More information
Slow Food international presidia projects