WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT

As a 501(c)3 non-profit, the mission of Chow Chow Asheville is to celebrate and enrich the unique foodways of the Southern Appalachian region. As makers, chefs, artists, and farmers, our vision is an equitable and thriving regional food system, where culinary and creative enterprise are central to community identity and resilience.

PILLARS OF OUR WORK

• Creating immersive shared experiences to cultivate understanding of our region.
• Providing a platform to amplify voices in our communities working to sustain and strengthen our foodways.
• Celebrating and invigorating our local food sources and opportunities for creative enterprise.

OUR VALUES

• We believe in catalyzing the powerful potential between local creative makers and the communities these makers serve.
• We strive to recognize the cultures and traditions of our region’s diverse food and agricultural heritage.
• We advocate for thriving local food sources.
• We acknowledge and embrace the interdependency we share.
• We champion the collective contributions of our local creative economy.
• We celebrate justly through bringing people together, lifting up community voices and raising awareness of and within our unique corner of Southern Appalachia.
• We commit to providing immersive experiences that broaden our understanding of one another.

Equity Around the Table: All sponsors of and participants in Chow Chow 2021 have been asked to support our efforts toward building a more equitable organization and programming. We hope you will also join us in our work towards building equity around the table.