Slow Food…much more than a style of cooking
The global shift began with not merely a process of tenderising meat; Slow Food has conceived the worldwide movement towards slow. The movement has gained such a following and exposure that most have knowledge of, or at least heard of, Slow Food.
Inspiring slow practices in many disciplines, the Slow Food Movement was born out of the infiltration of fast food in Italy in the late ’80′s. With Carlo Petrini at the head, the planned opening of a McDonalds “restaurant” in Rome was met in protest, famously, by a group throwing pasta from the Spanish Steps. And cheers to that! Can you imagine a world full of fast food, globalized chains? That is the way the world was headed (and still is to an extent), but there is great light at the end of the fast tunnel.
Slow Food believes that ‘everyone has a fundamental right to the pleasure of good food and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible’. In this time of modernization and globalization we are losing touch with food production; what is being produced, where, how and by whom. Slow Food is reacting to this, encouraging and motivation producers and consumers to come closer together, with food.
With the mission of Slow Food being an ‘international grassroots membership organization promoting good, clean and fair food for all’, it has now grown to 100,000 members in 153 countries.
It is about tradition, heritage, local, craftsmanship, artisan, community, culture, diversity, co-producers, quality, appreciation, support, knowledge, education, value, taste, pleasure…all of which are being threatened by our fast production and consumption of food.
I encourage you to find out more about Slow Food and get connected by going to the website here, and find out what is happening near you here. Food is one of our most important basic human needs and on the website this fact is explored and honoured.
In this section we will be exploring slow food, be it sharing recipes, restaurants that are flying the slow flag or farmers markets stocking the best in season. Please share your insights and experiences too as we rediscover the joys of food, produce, and eating, tasting our way towards slow.
Bon Appetite!
