Slow Food is an international movement founded by Italian Carlo Petrini in 1986 to promote itself as an alternative to
fast food . As a movement, it has expanded internationally to over 100,000 members in more than 130 countries. It has spawned Slow Food organizations and convivial chapters all over the world. Each convivium has a leader tasked with the advancement of local skilled trade workers and farmers, and the promotion of local food flavors through regional events like wine tasting and food taste workshops, and famers markets.
The success of the movement is still not very well attained especially in Europe and the United States despite the many Slow Food Groups organized locally. But the groups, which maintain links with the movement’s main offices in Turin City, Italy, have contributed to the campaign of the movement to spread the anti-fast food ideals in the localities. The Slow Food USA had 16,000 members as of 2008, and was still growing with the help of college organizations. In the same year, the movement hosted a gathering of some 50,000 people who attended the inauguration of the Slow Food Nation California. The Slow Food UK maintains a head office in Covent Garden in London that overseas regional groups all over the United Kingdom. Community awareness of the value of local foods from the farmland to the market is also promoted by the Slow Food Australia. It has also launched a campaign that attempts to have spam Australian local foods included in the
Slow Food International’s “Ark of Taste.” Among these foods are the Queensland’s native bunya nut, the Tasmanian leatherwood honey, Ligurian bee honey from Kangaroo Island, and the bull-boar sausage from Victoria. The Slow Food Canada has regional organizations in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. They are also committed to protect foods and raw materials and the methods used for traditional cultivation. The Slow Food Ireland has also been formed initially to gather information about the foods that are deemed important to the country’s economy, physical environment, history and culture.
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Slow Food groups continue to rise in number all over the world. This is because of their belief in the objectives of the international Slow Food Movement to educate consumers about the risks of fast food, and the preservation and promotion of local and traditional food products. In line with these objectives, Slow Food groups also aim to form seed banks that will preserve heirloom or inherited food varieties in cooperation with the food systems of the localities.
Many people have also started to see that Slow Food is a new but healthy way of living and eating. They have adopted food recipes that are not offered in fast food outlets and do not contain the bad effects of fast food. In Ecuador, some of the recipes include a marinated Turkey Steak, Venison Stew, and Chicken and Chorizo Paella, among others. In the U.S., you can find Slow Food recipes such as Lemon Strawberry Parfait that is said to bring back sanity, the Ricotta Pizzetta with sun-dried tomato and Summer Squash,
Watermelon and Fennel Salad, Spaghetti with Snow Peas and Salmon, and Fava beans with Bacon and Shaved Pecorino.
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