The Slow Food Movement: Part 2 of 2

Yesterday I introduced the Slow Food Movement and gave you some information on its history and objectives. It’s an international organization with many different chapters, so today I’ll help you learn more about what you can do locally for slow food.

Slow Food USA began in New York City in 2000. It has many local chapters and more and more restaurants are becoming advocates of slow food and supporting local gardeners and farmers by using their produce and meats for their menus. You may have been to a restaurant that boasted about its “farm-to-table” food or labeled certain ingredients as local. These are all small ways they are supporting the SFM.

In Colorado, there are 10 local chapters. Slow Food Denver has about 150 members, a number that actually seemed low to me. I think there are many people in Denver who unknowingly support slow food principles in thought and action, but are not members of the official organization. There are some great volunteer and educational opportunities within Slow Food USA, so I am going to provide some links in case anyone is interested in becoming more involved.

Denver:

Denver’s Seed-to-Table program is one of their biggest programs. Seed-to-Table works with schools to plant gardens, help the students learn how to tend to and harvest the food, and teach cooking classes using the food they have grown. One woman in my class has 3 kids whose school is part of the Seed-to-Table program. She was telling me that her elementary school-aged kids came home one day talking about how they learned how to make Baba Ghanoush with the eggplant they grew in their school garden. Impressive!

Other ways to get involved with Slow Food Denver:

Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). A CSA is when you invest in one of your local farmers by buying a part of his or her farm. In return, you get the fresh fruits or vegetables they are growing at any given time. It is a great way to support farmers and also get fresh, local organic fruits and vegetables. Through my CSA, we are getting not only fruits and veggies but also artisan bread and pastured eggs.

www.localharvest.org or www.localsustainability.net

Meet your local farmer and visit their farms. Purchase fresh milk, eggs and meat from them.

www.rodaleinstitute.org/farm_locator

Buy Colorado wine and beer:

www.coloradowine.com and www.coloradobeer.org

For other cities, go here to look up your state and see which cities have local Slow Food chapters. Each chapter has a web page and will provide more information on how to get involved, events in your city, etc.

There are challenges to the SFM. It has been criticized for being too elitist, and many believe that slow food is a luxury but not necessarily a basic human right. The paradox of slow food is something leaders in the movement struggle with every day: the poor farmers provide to the wealthiest people, and the rich farmers provide for the poorest people. Some also believe the SFM’s effectiveness is limited because they don’t have support from politicians. There are some great leaders in the SFM, but they specialize in food, not politics. They can only take the movement so far before other forces are needed.

I recommend becoming involved in some small way, whether it be supporting the restaurants in your city that focus on local ingredients; buying local breads, chocolates and honey; helping out in schools that provide cooking or nutrition education to students; or finding some other volunteer opportunities that focus on teaching people how to grow, cook and eat fresh food.

The Slow Food Movement: Part 1 of 2

Today I am giving a presentation in class on the Slow Food Movement. It’s something I’ve been interested in learning more about, and since it’s gaining so much momentum and popularity, I thought I’d share what I learned with you guys.

You may hear occasional references to the SFM around your city – farm-to-table restaurants; school garden programs; local nutrition classes; a neighbor raising chickens or bees… these are all parts of the SFM in their own way.

According to slowfoodusa.org, “Slow food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.”

The mission of the SFM is to create a significant and permanent change in the food system, and to reconnect people with the traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. The SFM wants to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces such that the food we eat is healthy and sustainable.

The SFM began in Italy in the mid-1900s with a man named Carlin Petrini. Petrini felt strongly about preserving local wines and wine production processes, and began devoting all of his time to this. Eventually he expanded into food, and created a group called Arcigola. “Gola” means “throat” and “desire for good food.” Arcigola’s goal was to support and promote quality food and wine that was produced locally at fair prices. The group, led by Petrini, would travel from town to town and visit small wineries or farms, encouraging sustainable and safe production and processing. They’d also support local restaurants who shared Arcigola’s mission and vision.

In 1986, a series of events caused Petrini’s small group to expand more rapidly: industrial farming methods in Italy led to mad cow disease, toxic pesticide runoff, and methanol tainted wine. All of these things killed some people and shocked others. In addition, the first European McDonald’s was built in Rome in the Piazza di Spagna, an event that outraged many. Arcigola became Slow Food International, and the movement officially began.

The official symbol of the SFM is the snail. Apparently the Slow Food Movement has origins in a few small Italian towns, one which translates to "snail." The snail also symbolizes slowness.

Slow Food International currently has over 100,000 members in 132 countries, and Slow Food USA has local chapters in 200 different cities. There is even a school, University of Gastronomic Sciences, which opened in 2004 with the help of Slow Food International. It has two campuses in Italy. The school’s purpose is to promote awareness of good food and nutrition.

The objectives of the SFM are as follows:

• To form seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties of food

• To preserve and promote local and traditional foods including preparation methods

• To organize small scale processing facilities (slaughtering)

• To educate consumers about fast food, factory farms, risk of monoculture, and commercial agribusiness

• To lobby for policy support in organic farming and to lobby against genetic engineering and pesticides

• To encourage ethical buying in local markets

Tomorrow I’ll talk more about Slow Food USA and ways you can get involved in your individual cities. It’s easy to be a part of the SFM and there are more opportunities now than ever before!