WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT

As a 501(c)3 educational 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.

What do ticket sales and sponsorship support?

Chow Chow: An Asheville Culinary Event series is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. Ticket sales and sponsorships support the production of the annual event series, and help us support our mission to celebrate and enrich the unique foodways of the Southern Appalachian region.

 - Compensation for Participants: We are striving towards our goal of creating a more relevant, intentional and equitable culinary event series. A significant effort towards that goal is reducing barriers for participation. Chow Chow has instituted a commitment to providing compensation (paid honorariums + stipends) for participating chefs, speakers and beverage producers. Out of town participants are provided with travel stipends as well as accommodations. We are also striving to be more inclusive for all attendees, offering a range of ticket pricing, including a new initiative in 2022 for a pay-as-you-wish community meal series.

 - Community Economic Impact: 95% of all Chow Chow expenses (or 95 cents of every dollar) are directly re-invested in our community through our work with local businesses, individuals and organizations including local event production companies, event staffing, rental companies, recycling and waste management, marketing and communications support, film and photography support, musicians and entertainers, and more.

- Amplification & Understanding: Through our programming, we create immersive shared experiences to cultivate understanding of our region; provide a platform to amplify voices in our community working to sustain and strengthen our foodways; and celebrate and invigorate our local food sources and opportunities for creative enterprise.

- Shared Experiences & Extraordinary Stories: By purchasing a ticket to a Chow Chow event, you are helping us to support our community of makers, chefs, artists, food and beverage producers and more to participate in Chow Chow and share the extraordinary stories of our region. You are also joining us around a table to enjoy a beautiful meal, experiencing a multitude of dishes and drinks, crafted through the hard work and dedication of many hands, from the fields to the plate.