Brooklyn, NY
Richard McCarthy embodies the phrase “think globally; act locally.” He joined Slow Food USA as executive director in January 2013 and has since introduced important new initiatives: Slow Meat (the campaign for better meat/less meat) and a national school garden program. He is also launching a new global gathering in Denver, Colorado, July 14–16, Slow Food Nations, with the goal of using food as a tool for social cohesion.
Previously McCarthy served as executive director of Market Umbrella, an internationally recognized practitioners’ public market think tank. After Hurricane Katrina, he played a key role in restarting the local agricultural economy and community in New Orleans via the revival of farmers markets and the development of one of the first Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) incentive programs in the USA.