The Slow Food MovementJoin now to read essay The Slow Food MovementThe Slow Food MovementIn 1987 Carlo Petrini started a coalition dedicated to the politics and pleasures of slowness and the opposition of fast food. (Leitch 439) He describes one of his goals by saying:
Im for virtuous globalization, where theres a just and true commerce to helpsmall farmers. Its important to have a commerce thats organic and sane andagainst genetically modified organisms and processes that poison the land withchemicals. For example, there is coffee in Chiappas, amaranth in Argentina. SlowFood is able to provide them with more money and better offers than big businesswould be able to. (Leitch 430)The efforts of the Slow Food Movement are essential to the survival of an aesthetic world of authentic food and respect for the people who produce, grow, and prepare it.
Slow Food is a deliberate name that is meant to be defined as the opposite of quick, unauthentic meals. (Pietrykowski 310) When developing his organization, Petrini thought that the snail would be the most adequate symbol for his cause because of the slowness of the animal. (Leitch 439)
I believe that in order to preserve the authenticity of regional cuisine the people preparing the foods need to possess knowledge about their culture, an understanding of the ingredients they are using, and the ingredients they select must be from their region and no other. In their essay Miele and Murdoch state in their essay *Slow Food in Tuscany,* “Slow Food believes that a combination of skill, know how, and the use of natural resources is essential to the quality of authentic regional cuisine” (324). Slow Food plays a very important role in conserving regional cuisines and in order for these foods to flourish they need to make an impact with the people of specific regions and make it apparent that there is a great need for them to embrace the cuisines of their respected areas. It is essential that people embrace their regional dishes in order to maintain dishes’ importance to a specific region. To emphasize my point, in *Slow Food in Tuscany,* Miele and Murdoch say, “In order for cultural heritage to be preserved, regional foods need to be protected because of their important representation of their respective cultures” (318).
In her journal *Italian Food and European Identity,* Alison Leitch says, “ Slow Food protects endangered or neglected foods from extinction. They lobby for the use of foods such as the red onion in Calabria. The movement believes that endangered foods need to be used in dishes in order to maintain their tradition (446). I have to totally agree with her thoughts on endangered foods. It is essential for all foods of a specific region to be used in cooking to preserve the authenticity of specific dishes. If instead of using a red onion someone decides to use an imported onion the taste might now be affected but the dish itself is no authentic. If one ingredient isn’t used and the taste does not differ then people are going to start thinking that substituting other ingredients is accepted and soon all regional cuisine will be tainted. While the use of regional ingredients is very important, the way you eat food is of equal importance.
For me personally, it is very important to share a meal with friends and family in order to have a delightful eating experience. Sitting at a dinner table surrounded by your loved ones with a homemade dish in front of you makes the eating every meal time worthwhile. Going through a drive-through or grabbing a quick meal by yourself doesn’t allow someone to enjoy their food or share any thoughts about the food. Bruce Pietrykowski states in his journal *You Are What You Eat,* “Slow Food tries to instill the value of the table. This means that instead of going to a fast food restaurant or eating just to eat, we must take time everyday to eat a well prepared meal and share it with the people we love” (314). In order to have the proper outlook on meals and give the meals their well deserved respect it is very important for people to be educated about the food they are eating.
Slow Food uses many festivals to educate people about slow food and teach them about the history and ingredients in regional cuisine. In his book *The Pleasures of Slow Food,* Corby Kummer talks about one of the largest festivals in Europe called the Salone de Gusta. “The Salon de Gusta in Jurin showcases the cuisine of hundreds of food producers, growers, and chefs. The festivals help dramatically in the efforts to keep interest in regional foods” (46). In my town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania there are several fests that showcase foods particular to our region and our culture. The largest festival is the Johnstown Folk Fest which features thousands of venders, musical entertainment, and activities for people of all ages. The fest
is a nonprofit of the Pennsylvania Food Network of Philadelphia.
5. The Food of the World
For millennia, we all knew that meat and poultry was a delicacy in the Americas. However, in the nineteenth century, we started to see a shift to live in the meat industry, especially in northern England. The English food industry began to shift away from domesticated meat foods, focusing instead on a modernized diet and a small amount of traditional animal products. Our dietary choices, which includes vegetables, lentils, and corn, came from many sources:
• Farmers who were able to get into the business in the first place,
• Women who had a large family and, even more important,
• Men who grew up on the farm with their own farm animals,
• People who lived in urban areas with few means of transportation,
• People who had limited health care;
• People who had no access to high amounts of meat;
• People who were exposed to the environmental damage they caused, including mercury, pesticides, pesticides and industrial chemicals; and
• People who had been fed a diet that was in fact unhealthy. From all the evidence, we’ve evolved.
So far so good. Now we want to change that. In early 2014 we’re going to have several new festivals, each focused around a different theme or product. With our festival partners in mind, the festival’s goal will be to inspire people to eat responsibly. This will include food from several types of vegetables including onions, peppers and celery, and fruits and vegetables such as squash, onions, celery, mushrooms, etc.
We’re thinking about how we can influence the cultural and nutrition of people in our community around the world.
How much of this is just some of the ingredients for these new festivals?
We believe the food on the outside of the festival is going to be healthy and bring people together. As we get started, every year or two, we’ll do something that will drive people to eat as much as they can (47).
How much of this is just some of the ingredients for this new festivals?
People are going to have a variety of choices and opportunities around the festival. In February 2015 on the East Coast, we’re inviting people to be part of what will be the American Meat Festival. This means we want to let people learn new things about agriculture and their impact on the climate worldwide. It will mean that farmers can use fresh and local food and produce more than they could before, thus changing the way we use our food throughout the country. It’s a positive change for local and world food. We also want everyone to eat healthier, for all people.
What events do you attend each year?
We have various