What is slow food?
We live in a fast-paced world. Fine, we are all well aware of this. It has brought with it a knock-on effect leading us to believe that everything has to be fast and efficient; we expect low cost and a maximum yield. It is the era of fast food and the microwave, buying ready-made meals to save time which can then be spent browsing the social media pages or watching television.
The Slow Food movement is the exact opposite of how we live at present. Food does not have to be quick, perfect and tasteless! It just needs to be wholesome, tasty, clean and produced in fairness to all involved. The Slow Food movement wishes to maintain each region’s biodiversity and this is why it advocates all that is traditional and homemade. Products that take time to make such as cheese, natural olive oil, beer and wine fit well in this belief; they are made with care and respect and, in many cases, have a close link to the history and culture of the people of that region.
On November 9, 1989, Slow Food disseminated its manifesto, a proclamation of ideas of how the food we eat should be. This manifesto can be summarized in the three simple principles below:
Good — food should be a pleasure, not quick-fix feeding.
Clean — food should not contain chemically harmful products (either our health or the health of our planet.)
Fair — food prices should be fair and within reach of everyone. Small scale industries/producers should be offered equal opportunities.
Slow Food philosophy promotes family-based agriculture, spreading the belief that pleasure of eating lies mostly in the knowledge of the origin of the food products along with who cooked them and the employed method.
We fell in love with this concept and off we went to Turin…
… what we saw left us well impressed! Slow Food organizes food events around the world but the biggest of them is this Salone del Gusto. It is held every two years and brings together thousands of small farmers and food lovers from all over the world. This year the number of expected visitors was 200,000, but we would not be surprised to hear that this number was surpassed.
Exhibitors are distributed in a huge area and it is difficult to choose what to do with so much on offer, from workshops, lectures, cooking classes, to street food, just to mention a few.
It is Impossible not to gawk on arrival just looking at the incredible diversity of Italian artisan products, as well as the Ark of Taste and the incredible work that is being done by Slow Food trying to catalogue, save and keep varieties of vegetables, cereals, fruit and handicraft products, cheeses, sausages, bread, cakes, wines, olive oils, etc. This is in fact is a reminder to hold on to our local varieties.
Images of the event, the fantastic food, the workshops, street food, beer and wine-tasting and of the dinner prepared by Chef Antonia Klugmann.
Enthused with the idea? Enroll for membership at 25€ / year. Together we can make a difference.
It is very rewarding to see that there is a rising number of people interested in making our planet a better world.
