Slow Food
Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds, and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It promotes local small businesses and sustainable foods. It also focuses on food quality, rather than quantity.[2] It was the first established part of the broader slow movement. It speaks out against overproduction and food waste.[3] It sees globalization as a process in which small and local farmers and food producers should be simultaneously protected from and included in the global food system.[4][5]
For the album by Electric Company, see Slow Food (album).Formation
Wine[edit]
In 2010, Slow Food International began its independent Slow Wine project with the release of a wine guide.[34] Prior to 2010, Slow Food Worked with publisher Gambero Rosso to release a guide.[35] The first edition of Slow Food's first solo effort was released in 1993, with the title "Slow Food guide to the wines of the world", translated into five languages and sold in more than 50,000 copies.[36] The guide was an attempt to review not only the wines, but also the wineries and the people behind the bottle.[37] Two editions of the guide have been published, also available in English.[38]
Eco-gastronomy[edit]
Eco-gastronomy encompasses the Slow Food movement within a broader context. Eco-gastronomy is concerned with environmental sensitivity, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture. In relation to the Slow Food movement, gastronomic knowledge is closely related to distinct biodiversity within different cultures around the world. Utilizing this knowledge allows for it to be used and defended.[39]
In 2000, the Slow Food Presidia project was launched. The goal of the project was to protect and relaunch local and traditional agriculture at risk of extinction. Today, Slow Food Presidia includes communities that are committed to passing on traditional production techniques and crafts as well as preserving native food and livestock breeds.[40] Each Presidium represents a community of producers inspired by the slow food philosophy, a traditional food product, a place, and cultural heritage and a legacy of knowledge. The Presidia Project represents a shift from cataloging information to implementing the knowledge through the direct involvement of food producers.[41]
Criticisms[edit]
Slow Food's aims have been compared to the Arts and Crafts movement's response to 19th-century industrialisation.[10] Some of the criticisms aimed at the movement are socioeconomic. For example, without significantly altering the working day of the masses, slow food preparation can be an additional burden to whoever prepares food.[10] In contrast, the more affluent society can afford the time and expense of developing "taste", "knowledge", and "discernment". Slow Food's stated aim of preserving itself from the "contagion of the multitude" can be seen as elitist by those that consume fast food or are not part of the movement.[10] In 1989, Petrini visited Venezuela and began to recognize the socioeconomic barriers that many faced with regard to the slow food movement. To address this, he adjusted the slow food agenda to include an alternative food approach that favored healthy, local, community-based food consumption and production.[42] While this made the slow food movement more accessible for many, it did not eliminate all of the socioeconomic barriers faced within the movement.