Annual Membership Meeting and Celebration – November 7th
It’s time once again for our Annual Member Meeting! We meet once a year to vote on candidates for and reaffirm the Board, to get feedback on the past year’s events, and to get input from YOU on what you would like to see in the coming year! Slow Food members one and all, come and introduce yourself or get re-acquainted with old friends and help your chapter plan its future!
Below are the candidates for the Board of Directors. Come and cast your vote for one, two, three, or all four! Click here to go to our events page for more information on placing an RSVP.
Marlissa Peake
Ever since I can remember, food has been an integral part of my life. In junior high, I took my first foods class and knew that being in the kitchen and interacting with food would be a lifelong passion. Through the years, other passions have consumed me and have since culminated together to form some of my core beliefs. One of these passions include an intense desire to work with my community and the communities of the disenfranchised. This is evidenced by my profession, Special Educator, as well as the different organizations I have volunteered with; Slow Food, Utah Society for Environmental Education, The Democratic Party, SLC Green, etc.
I grew up in a rural Utah farming community and began my career working as a non-governmental development consultant in the former Soviet Union, as well as with the Utah Food Bank and as a youth program coordinator at Wasatch Community Gardens. These experiences instilled in me a love of global foods, social justice, and concern for the environment, as well as inspired me to pursue a career in public health. While the work I did took me away from food in a direct sense, it also may have triggered my return to food. Several years ago, I discovered that my eating habits and hectic lifestyle were the underlying causes of multiple health problems. Through conscious food choices and a renewed love of gardening and cooking, I not only improved my health, but gained a greater appreciation of food systems and their connectedness to issues I cared deeply about personally and professionally. It was natural that I would gravitate to Slow Food.
I would love to be a part of Slow Food Utah because I think it is vitally important to introduce people to the incredible benefits of locally and sustainably grown food. I didn’t know that much about Slow Food until I moved to Utah and what I’ve learned and experienced along the way — tasting and appreciating the delicious products, meeting the inspiring producers behind them, and joining other people who share that passion — has truly reinvented food for me. I’d love to be part of the community that spreads and encourages that experience for others.
I’ve been on the leadership team for Slow Food Park City since it’s inception. I’m not on the Board, but I run all of their social media and have helped with the planning and execution of all their events. I’ve moved from PC down to SLC, so that’s why I thought I’d ask how I could help with Slow Food Utah.