Slow Food Reno Mission
The mission of Slow Food Reno is to create a culture where the Great Basin Community promotes and advocates wholesome, clean and flavorful food. Food has the power to improve personal wellness, unite friends and family, celebrate cultural traditions and maintain environmental health. We support and encourage agricultural biodiversity, sustainable practices, and humane animal treatment. Slow Food Reno will work to promote these values as well as fostering education about their importance.
Good, Clean & Fair
Good: The word good can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For Slow Food, the idea of good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help to build community and celebrate culture and regional diversity.
Clean: When we talk about clean food, we are talking about nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promote biodiversity.
Fair: We believe that food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.
Board Member Bios
Bob Blesse – Chair
Bob Blesse has been interested in food ever since graduate school, when he taught himself to from Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. A native of Oakland, CA and longtime environmentalist, he and his wife Vicki are dedicated to helping change our planet and its people by promoting sustainable living and locally grown food. They enjoy gardening, traveling to Italy, and cooking for friends.
Bob’s photographs have appeared on a number of travel websites, exhibitions and publications. He has a master’s degree in English from CSU, Chico and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from UCLA. He is currently Professor of Art at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he teaches book arts courses and directs the publishing activities of the Black Rock Press.
Erin Fisher – Vice-Chair
JoAnn Ellero – Secretary
JoAnn is a first generation American, born to Italian parents who were raised in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region. Homemade meals, gardening, and eating together each night as a family, as well as a bowl of pasta as an after school snack, were normal events in her childhood.
JoAnn is passionate about home cooking and sharing meals with friends, and is very excited about spreading the word about Slow Food to Reno! She is an anesthesiologist and distance runner.
Nick Hinz – Treasurer
Victoria Davies – Events Chair
Joanna Drakos – Communications Chair
Mary Lou Banta – Member-at-Large
Shelley Brant – Member-at-Large
Melissa Gilbert – Member-at-Large
Andy Pasternak – Member-at-Large
