In 1986, when a fast-food chain was set to open at the base of Rome’s Spanish Steps, a group of Italians staged a protest unlike any other. Instead of shouting or throwing stones, they arrived with big bowls of penne pasta, sharing it with the crowd as they chanted:

“We don’t want fast food. We want Slow Food!”

That joyful act of resistance became the spark for the Slow Food movement. Three years later, delegates from 15 countries gathered to endorse the Slow Food Manifesto, which declared:

“A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life. Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food… Slow Food guarantees a better future.”

Since its founding, Slow Food has become a global movement that champions biodiversity, flavor, and farming practices that are grounded in caring for people and the planet.

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto

Every two years in Turin, Italy, Slow Food hosts Terra Madre Salone del Gusto—an international festival that brings together farmers, artisans, activists, and food lovers from across the globe. It’s a celebration of food cultures, but also a living demonstration of what a more sustainable and delicious future can look like.

Bringing Terra Madre Home 

For Farmer Al, Slow Food has always been more than an idea. It’s something he has lived.

“At least 30 years ago, Becky and I went to the Terra Madre Salon in Turin, Italy, and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Seeing all these passionate people—doing unique things with food, growing things, processing things—it was incredible. Extremely creative, high-energy, passionate people, all connecting over these unique food experiences. And it wasn’t just Italians. It was people from all over the world—every continent represented.”

That gathering left a lasting imprint on how we farm and what we value.

“What I carried home from that experience was the passion for taste - growing fruit that develops exceptional flavor and sweetness. It’s all about taste. The joy of eating. That was at the heart of Slow Food, and it’s at the heart of what we do at Frog Hollow.”

Embodying the Slow Food Ethos

Flavor is our compass: we select fruit varieties prized for their eating qualities like the legendary Suncrest peach, the classic Santa Rosa plum, and the delicate yet extraordinary Warren pear.

Each of our 60,000 trees is hand-pruned and thinned so every fruit can reach its full potential. For fruit that ripens beyond the point of fresh-market handling, we lean into age-old preservation traditions, like drying, to capture the flavor and value of the harvest. By growing and championing varieties that many commercial growers have abandoned, we’re helping preserve biodiversity and keep these exceptional flavors alive.

In all these ways, we embody the values of Slow Food every day: resisting speed and efficiency for their own sake, and instead putting taste, biodiversity, and joy at the center of farming and eating. 

Terra Madre Comes to the Americas

This coming weekend, we’re honored to join Slow Food’s first Terra Madre Americas, September 26–29th, in Sacramento. The free, four-day celebration will feature tastings, live music, chef demonstrations, educational panels, artisan vendors, and more—bringing together flavors and traditions from California and around the world.

Share the Flavors of Slow Food

If you’re planning to attend Terra Madre Americas, we’d love to welcome you at Booth 126. Come taste the diversity of slow food and sample our dried fruits, fruit spreads, and olive oil. 

If you won’t be in Sacramento, you can still experience the flavor of Slow Food from afar. Our Warren Pears are in season now—a variety most growers avoid because they’re challenging to cultivate. We choose to grow them because their flavor is exceptional and because keeping unique varietals like the Warren alive is part of preserving biodiversity. It’s extra effort, but the reward is extraordinary flavor. Experience them for yourself.