Slow Food Movement

Social critics argue that we live in a “runaway world” of “fast capitalism.” Accelerating market forces homogenize cultures at the global scale, while prompting reactionary resistance from traditional communities at the local scale. The Slow Food Movement (SFM) resists the homogenizing effects of globalization. It does so by promoting local foods, flavors, and cultures in a way that promotes social equality and environmental sustainability.

Slow food can be explained by defining its opposite. Because companies need to preserve global brand identity, fast food has to be highly processed and laden with artificial ingredients to ensure it tastes the same regardless of where it was purchased. The need for product standardization also forces change on farms, manufacturing processes, and the scale of the agrifood system. Locally-produced foods are hard to find. The average carrot travels 1,800 miles from the farm to a Chicago consumer.

Proponents of industrial agriculture argue that it produces abundant, low-cost food. Fast food has geopolitical significance as well. It has been said that there has never been a war between two countries that both host McDonald's. A country embracing open markets will spur middle class expansion and fast food consumption. Open markets also reduce middle class support for wars because people fear financial loss. Hence, the economic system that produces food for McDonald's also secures peaceful coexistence between countries.

There are costs, though, to this industrialized agrifood system. It requires petrochemicals that pollute the environment. Fast food has high fat content and is consequently not healthy. It also contributes to the erosion of familial and community relationships because it replaces home-cooked, sit-down meals eaten with family. Also, the need for food product standardization necessarily marginalizes and even destroys local food traditions. Some argue that this homogenization is nothing short of cultural imperialism as Western foods and cultural practices are forced onto non-Western societies.

The SFM originated in the piedmont region of northern Italy in 1986 to counter globalization, especially as expressed through fast food. Its 83,000 members from 100 countries embrace the principle of slowing down and taking time to celebrate local food, wines, and culture. The SFM gradually adopted a political voice, however, as its leaders recognized that they could only preserve small-scale farming, artisanal food production, and local cultures through overt political action.

SFM philosophy borrows from the French idea of terroir, which describes how the unique geography of a place is reflected in the local wines. Similarly, SFM philosophy holds that traditional foods produced in a region reflect the sense of place of that [Page 1613]region. Paradoxically, the SFM is a global effort to preserve local culture and agriculture.

With today's industrial agriculture, the average carrot will travel 1,800 miles from the farm to a Chicago consumer.

It is important to note that values such as the desire to preserve small-scale farms, to promote biodiversity and environmentally sustainability, and to enjoy eating locally-grown foods are not unique to the SFM. Rather, the SFM should be seen as just one response to globalization.

The community-supported agriculture (CSA) movement developed contemporaneously with the SFM during the latter half of the 20th century. In its simplest form, a CSA is a small farm that grows vegetables, fruits, herbs, and other commodities. Each spring the farmer sells subscriptions or shares to families who essentially form a consumer cooperative. The farmer takes the subscription money and purchases seeds and other materials needed for planting. Each week during the growing season, subscribers receive a basket of seasonally-appropriate produce. This model enables the farmer and the subscribers to share the risks of a bad growing seasons and the bounty of a good one.

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