Good, Clean, and Fair Food: 3 Slow Food Goals All Cooks Can Pursue
by Jane Greer
CulinaryEd Columnist

March 24, 2008

The Slow Food Movement was founded in Italy in 1986 to protest a fast food chain's planned location near the ancient Spanish Steps in Rome. The movement's mantra--"Slow food is good, clean, and fair food"--means that food should taste good and not harm the environment, animals, or humans, and food producers should receive fair compensation.

As the Slow Food movement grew in popularity--it now has 80,000 members and countless nonmember practitioners--culinary schools around the world adopted its values and practices. Slow Food is all about the pleasure of preparing food and enjoying it with friends and family. It's also about supporting local producers and knowing where food comes from, how it's produced, and whether producers are paid fairly. Here are some Slow Food practices that can improve everyone's culinary adventures.

Slow Food = Good Food
  • Prepare food that takes a while. Bake a loaf of bread from scratch. Squeeze your own orange juice. Lovingly layer tiramisu for dessert.
  • When you eat, make it a social occasion. Linger over your food with friends and family. Even if you're eating by yourself, resolve at least to sit at a table with the TV off and savor your food instead of standing at the refrigerator and wolfing it down.

Slow Food = Clean Food
  • Buy locally produced food whenever possible. Culinary school students learn early on that local producers have more incentive to provide the best quality food than do unknown, far-away producers.

Slow Food = Fair Food
  • To be environmentally sound and ethically correct, food products should be sustainable and food producers receive fair compensation. Buying locally--from farmers' markets, food artisans, and grocery stores that support local producers--creates a market for locally sustainable foods and eliminates middlemen, which creates more profit for producers.

Whether you're a culinary school student, a top chef in a four-star restaurant, or a home cook, Slow Food practices can enhance the pleasure of food.

Sources
Slow Food International
Slow Food USA

About the Author
Jane Greer is a freelance writer and editor and is also brave enough to teach English grammar at a community college.

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