Slow food
Founded in Italy, where food
is king, the movement, which advocates the slow life and authentic
foods, chose the snail as its emblem. Its membership includes
restaurateurs, farmers, doctors, nutritionists, reporters,
homemakers, and consumers who care about protecting the environment
and food safety.
In 1986, magazines ran a picture of the actor Marcello Mastroianni protesting the opening of a McDonald's, symbol of the fast life, in Rome. In 2000, José Bové, a French farmer, made headlines when he tried to destroy a McDonald's. Neither one succeeded. McDonald's is more popular than ever. Nothing can stop the global-wide spread of the golden arches.
Born in 1986 in Bra, a small northern Italian town of 27,000, the Slow Food association won converts in Italy then quickly spread to other countries. From its beginnings in Italian vineyards, it has grown into an international movement with chapters in 45 countries including France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the United States, Greece, Great Britain, New Zealand, Japan and Canada.
The movement boasts close to a hundred thousand members grouped in local or regional chapters called “convivia”. They include mushroom maniacs, organic vegetable devotees, olive oil aficionados, chocolate purists who insist on 70% chocolate, and edible flower enthusiasts, as well as raw milk militants, anti-Frankenfood activists, and hedonists who enjoy traditional, time-consuming dishes. Each Slow Food convivium organizes events that educate people's palate, celebrate cultural diversity and promote economic sustainability all in defence of taste, traditions and products. The Quebec convivium has some thirty members and regularly organizes combined lecture-tastings in collaboration with the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec in Montreal. It also celebrates Slow Day on June 21 in Montreal's Lafontaine Park.
Contrary to fast food and standardized products, Slow Food celebrates the meal as pleasure, the flavour of food, and authentic products. It strives to maintain each continent's plant and animal biodiversity as well as its culinary diversity.
Since 2000, Slow Food has honoured people from around the world who strive to save products in danger of disappearing. It wishes to recognize the work accomplished by unsung food heroes: scholars, peasants, distributors, teachers, small business people, everyone who helps to slow the disappearance of heirloom breeds, fruits and vegetables crucial to gastronomic traditions and to sustain our planet's ecological balance.
The 13 finalists in 2000 included a Canadian, Nancy Turner from Victoria, British Columbia, honoured for her research on the dietary and curative properties of plants used by native tribes. A Turkish beekeeper was recognized for his work in re-establishing native honey bees and raising them in traditional hives. Held in Porto, Portugal in 2001, and in Turin in 2002, the Ark of Taste awards recognize the work done by other men and women all around the world.
The Ark of Taste is a worldwide gastronomic catalogue of forgotten products and products threatened by standardization, economic conditions or regulatory zeal. On guard around the world, the various national Arks draw attention to traditional foods that are in danger of disappearing, support cottage products to revitalize a region, and promote biodiversity in the agri-food industry. Two such products are Belamandil fleur de sel from the Algarve, Portugal, saved from the brink of extinction by young marine biologists and Dry Monterey Jack, a California cheese rubbed with pepper and cocoa made by only two producers.
Slow Food isn't just about guarding against fast food, standardized tastes and the threat of mechanical, bionic, transgenic future. It's about celebrating the world's various culinary traditions, asserting the right to smells, tastes, cultures, – creating a “world community” of taste.
For information on Slow Food International, check out: www.slowfood.com