The Slow Food Movement.

[Johnno]

Formed in Italy to counter "fast food" when a McDonalds was built in Piazza di Spagna, Rome. The idea has caught on, growers markets have become a feature in the Blue Mountains where I live, with all sorts of wonderful local produce for sale.

It seems a sensible and dare I say sociable idea.

http://www.slowfood.com/

The Official Slow Food Manifesto

Our century which began and has developed under the insignia of industrial civilisation first invented the machine and then took it as its life model.

We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our home and forces us to eat Fast Foods.

To be worthy of the name: Homo Sapiens, we should rid ourselves of speed before it reduces us to a species in danger of extinction.

A firm defence of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life.

May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.

Our defence should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the flavours and savours of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food.

In the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscape. So Slow Food is now the only truly progressive answer.

That is what real culture is all about: developing taste rather than demeaning it. And what better way to set about this than an international exchange of experiences, knowledge, projects?

Slow Food guarantees a better future.

Slow Food is an idea that needs plenty of qualified supporters who can help turn this (slow) motion into an international movement, with the little snail as its symbol.

Our mission

Slow Food works to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread taste education and connect producers of excellent foods with co-producers through events and initiatives.


Defence of Biodiversity

Slow Food believes the enjoyment of excellent food and drink should be combined with efforts to save the countless traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, animal breeds and food products that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and industrial agribusiness. Through the Ark of Taste and Presidia project (supported by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity) and Terra Madre, Slow Food seeks to protect our invaluable food heritage.

Taste Education

By reawakening and training their senses, Slow Food helps people rediscover the joys of eating and understand the importance of caring where their food comes from, who makes it and how it’s made. Convivium activities introduce local foods and producers to both members and non-members, while Taste Workshops offer guided tastings with food experts. School initiatives like convivium school gardens offer our youngest eaters hands-on learning experiences about the food they eat and grow themselves.

Slow Food created the University of Gastronomic Science to offer a multidisciplinary academic program in the science and culture of food. UNISG is another way in which Slow Food brings together the innovations and research of the academic and scientific world and the traditional knowledge of farmers and food producers.

Linking Producers and Co-producers

Slow Food organizes fairs, markets and events locally and internationally to showcase products of excellent gastronomic quality and to offer discerning consumers the opportunity to meet producers. For more information about events like Salone del Gusto, Cheese, Slow Fish, Aux Origine du Goût and A Taste of Slow, visit the Events listings.

 

[Miss Isness]

Yes, I think it's a great movement. I only wish everything else would slow down a little so we could enjoy it more. After all, the only way slow food comes with an affordable price tag is if you do some kind of exchange or make it yourself. There are still small, remote towns in Italy where you can indulge at a reasonable price - be prepared to eat for a good 2-3 hours! It's just a matter of making the trip. Of course, the staples like parmigiano and proscuitto can be found anywhere, but they don't come cheap, and these days a lot of people opt for the less expensive, prepackaged, industrial versions....

 

[dantem]

Huu! Italians felt really threatened by McDonald's advent! The Slow Food movement raised the food's quality in every restaurant, and a great variety of good and cheap bottles of wine just flooded the market, and so no more migraines and if you don't cook good dishes, either you close your business or morph into a pizza-only-fastfood.

Very often it's also a way to eat less and more tasty food, as Italians DO eat too much...

Try Umbria, it's very very cheap

 

[Johnno]

There was big influx of Italians, Greeks, Slavs, Poles etc post WW2 to Australia which has added incredibly to the usual Australian fare if some roasted or fried meat and two vegetables. For example there's a Croatian family in the suburb of Chester Hill who have opened a huge butchery and smokehouse with rows and rows of hams, speck and pork necks on the walls. If you could bottle the smell of the place, you'd be a millionaire. The bacon is like my grandmother and grandfather used to make when they were on the land.

Nevertheless the fast food chains seem to do well here (as they seem to do everywhere). There's a large American pizza franchise in the town where I live which seems to do well with it's meagre processed topping on baked cardboard. Mums and Dads line up for their latest $5 pizza deal, I suppose being so cheap.....it makes them popular. I prefer the local guy who uses a yeast base, homemade pizza sauce and locally sourced toppings. He seems to do pretty well too even though his pizzas are almost three times the price.

An Italian compadre of mine owns a similar pizza shop in the inner west of Sydney and has put two franchises out of business! The guy marinates his own shrimp and olives are sourced from a friend of a friend, vegetables he picks from the produce markets every second morning.

You can sit inside there and take your time...... people seem to like that.

Umbria sounds great!