Slow Food Movement

Slow Food is a nonprofit, member-supported organization whose aim is to raise awareness of the social, environmental, and economic impact of food choices. Founded by grassroots efforts in 1989 in Italy by Carlo Petrini, Slow Food includes over 100,000 members from 132 countries. The movement is based on the principle of ecogastronomy—the awareness of the link between the environment and the production, preparation, and consumption of food. Embedded in Slow Food's philosophy is the belief that individuals have a fundamental [Page 394]right to pleasure as well as a responsibility in consumption. Slow Food's headquarters are in Bra, Italy, and its symbol is the snail, because it moves and eats slowly.

The slow food movement began to organize in 1986 as a result of a protest against the building of a McDonald's in the Piazza di Spagna just below the Spanish Steps in Rome. The term slow food was used as a natural counter to fast food, as well as to what organizers felt was an increasingly fast life. Poet Folco Portiari was charged with writing the Slow Food Manifesto, first published in Italy in 1987. Slow food became an international movement in 1989, when the manifesto was presented and signed at the International Slow Food Congress in Paris.

Central to Slow Food's philosophy is the support of good, clean, and fair food. That is, food should taste good and be prepared in a way that is healthy to individuals and to the environment, and food producers should receive fair compensation for their work. Slow Food believes consumption cannot be divorced from production and distribution and celebrates food traditions and diversity. Committed to sustainable agriculture, Slow Food opposes the standardization and industrialization of food. The organization seeks to highlight the consequences of the modern diet including such issues as obesity, hunger, waste, and the effect on rural economies.

The mission of Slow Food is to

• defend biodiversity by preserving traditional and local produce, grains, and animal breeds that are disappearing;
• provide education on a variety of topics from farm to table, such as the taste of food, food production, and preparation; and
• connect producers and consumers or “coproducers”—Slow Food considers consumers to be part of the production process, and therefore refers to them as coproducers.

Slow Food attempts to fulfill this mission through numerous activities and publications that have emerged over the past 20 years.

Slow Food Editore (publishing) was launched in 1990, publishing a variety of books and periodicals to support the mission of the organization. Examples of such publications include food and restaurant guides, studies and surveys, educational manuals, and magazines (e.g., Snail in the United States).

Since 1996, the Salone del Gusto (Halls of Taste) have been held every two years in Turin. A large food and wine fair, the Salone allows the public to sample a wide variety of products from around the world while simultaneously promoting good, clean, and fair food.

The International Ark of Taste, a catalog of foods in danger of extinction, began in 1996. To date, over 800 products have been catalogued worldwide. The U.S. Ark of Taste includes over 200 foods. To be included in the Ark, a product must be considered of outstanding quality (in terms of taste), linked historically to a region or culture, at risk of extinction, and produced in limited quantities.

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