So I’ve been using this term ‘slow food’ as my basis for talking about a lot of the ideas on this site. What exactly is slow food? And why is it so important to me? Well, The Slow Food Movement was started by an Italian man named Carlo Petrini in Italy to combat fast food. Some of the ideas the movement promotes are eating locally, preserving local culinary traditions/recipes, sustainable farming, ethical treatment of agriculture, animals, and farm workers, and most of all, acheiving immense gastronomical pleasure. The organization was started in Italy, however; now it has over 83,000 members (including myself) in over 122 countries worldwide.
In a world where convenience and speed are highly valued, we, as a global society, have lost touch with the true pleasures of the Earth; succumbing to the Fast Life and leaving very little time to slow down and enjoy the scenery. Life is too short to rush through things.
Through education about taste and local foods, we can learn to recognize what is truly good and where it can be found. As we become more educated about these topics, no longer do we need to rely on fast food (in the broad sense) to fulfill our gastronomical desires. According to the Slow Food Movement, it is time to rediscover our surroundings, one bite at a time.
From his book, Slow Food Nation, Carlo Petrini writes,
“Drawing on [the gastronome's] long experience in the quest for the good, for culinary pleasure, he discovers that there is also a different world of production and consumption, parallel to the currently dominant one, which contains the seeds of a better global system.”
“At one point in our history, gastronomical pleasure was considered a reservation for the high cultured wealthy class; however, now this quest for good, clean, and fair food is the very basis of our survival. All people, from every socio-economic class, deserve to eat the healthiest, most pleasureable food possible.
We must join together as a society eat our way to culinary enlightenment, and break our addiction to the draining, fast-paced, and bland world we have accepted for too long.
I read the book and it totally changed my perspective on the realities and dangers of the industrialized food business. By getting informed I was able to re-evaluate my habits, and join with others to help promote a better future, both for myself, the environment, and my grumbling stomach.
Check it out, it makes a really interesting read.
YOU can buy the book from the Grassroots Gourmet Store! Conveniently located on the links section to the left!
And thus begins a new Category on the blog, “Slow Food”. As a Slow Food USA member, very exclusive (HAHA), I attend various events/lectures about current trends and whatnot in the Slow Food culture. Through me, you all can vicariously be a part of the fun. Updates about these events and Slow Food info will be added occassionally to this category.
