It has almost become expected to see a McDonalds in every city across the United States or even in any major city throughout the world. Living in a fast-paced world means that eating fast food is sometimes the easiest option. In the United States, we are spending almost $150 billion at fast food chains each year with the global fast food market growing at about 5%. At the same time, obesity rates continue to rise, our overall health and well-being are becoming more of a priority, and the need to preserve our environment is finally getting attention. An attempt to combat many of the problems associated with the fast food industry is exactly the mission of a young food movement: slow food.
Slow food is defined by how food is prepared, where it comes from, and how it should be enjoyed. It’s about local, hand-made ingredients, traditional cooking methods, the producers and chefs who follow the movement and the supporters who take the time to learn about the food and enjoy it. The intention is not to expect people to grow all of their own vegetables and spend all day cooking and eating them. The intention is more to take the time to know and enjoy your food-to provide an alternative to large supermarket chains and fast food places. Slow food can be as simple as taking the time to brew a cup of tea from a local grocer.
The slow food movement is fairly new to global food politics but its practices date way back to the early farm-to-table days. According to Slow Food International, “Our movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet. Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.”¹ Started in Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini, he realized that a great deal of taste and flavor was being standardized in the fast food and supermarket industry. Food production and food consumption were happening too fast. So in order to promote a slower, tastier approach to food, it was necessary to take an eco-gastronomic approach to the movement. The movement has grown as an organization to include over 85,000 members in 122 countries. As an international member-supported organization, different branches work on different projects to help realize the ultimate mission of defending biodiversity, promoting taste education, and linking producers with co-producers (aka consumers).
So has it made an impact? It is still too early to tell what kind of direct impact the Slow Food Movement has made on the global food market. Although, it is safe to say that it has contributed to a rising awareness of health concerns linked to food consumption, a growing demand for organic and local foods, and an increase in education at the primary and secondary level for good, clean, and fair food. Just this past Labor Day weekend 2008, San Francisco hosted the largest celebration of American food in history called the Slow Food Nation. Over 60,000 people participated in Slow Food Nation and celebrated the birth of a broad and inclusive food movement to build an American food system that is sustainable, just, and delicious.²
Outside of the Slow Food Nation, the movement is making its footprint in grocery stores, publications, and restaurants across the United States. If you cannot make it to a local farmers market, try shopping at Whole Foods Market or Wild Oats-two big grocery chains whose strategies mirror the slow food mission (and both of which saw annual revenue double in the past five years as overall supermarket revenue fell)³. You can read more about the history of slow food and find recipes in The Pleasures of Slow Food: Celebrating Authentic Traditions, Flavors, and Recipes by Corby Kummer or any of the books written by celebrated chef and founder of Chez Panisse, Alice Waters, including Slow Food: The Case for Taste (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) (with Carlo Petrini and William McCuaig). Many of the restaurants that practice slow food ideals are found in New York and Northern California-but are now branching out in other areas like Eve in Ann Arbor, Michigan or The White Dog Café in Philadelphia. Slow Food USA has also published guides to New York, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area-with hundreds of restaurants, markets, and bars that promote the slow food mission. For more information and slow food resources, check out Slow Food International http://www.slowfood.com/ and Slow Food USA http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ .
For an extended evaluation of slow food success, check out the Greeniac blog
http://www.wordpress-837916-4114959.cloudwaysapps.com/GreeniacsBlog/Recipe_for_Success.
