Slow Food Boricua ( SFB) has launched a new campaign, called Slow Healing. Since the beginning of SFB, we've showcased several health events to educate our community on healthy food choices. This new campaign was given the green light from Slow Food International. Hopefully in time, this campaign will reach an global level, similar to 1,000 gardens in Africa, GMO, Slow Fish, etc. During the month of March, several health talks will be presented at the Old San Juan farmers market; to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the market and the opening of the Earth Market. Below you can read the description of Slow Healing, also the approval message from Slow Food International. Thanks
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Hello Elizama and Bartus,
as promised, i talked with Paolo di Croce about the Slow Healing campaign. We agreed about the fact that this is an important issue for Slow Food, but in the last years we haven't developed anything like that. I checked in example with "Slowfood", our italian magazine, and we haven't published any article on the issue in the past. I spoke also with Silvia Ceriani, the head of our Communication Office. We all agree that we should work on this thanks to your help, and i think we can have two levels:
1) the local/regional level: in which SF Boricua can develop autonomically this campaign (as you said organizing some activities at the market and/or compromising others countries as Cuba as well). Of course SF International will give visibility to these events/activities through our websites.
2) the international level: we think that we cannot open a campaign now (like GMO or LAND GRABBING) because we don't have so far too much "background" on this, like articles, materials, other Convivia or TM communities working on this issue. But, we can begin to give visibility to this issue i.e. publishing some of the articles that you'll write, giving visibility to your activities, trying to link you with existing and future groups that will have the same focus. I think that if we work on this issue together, we'll have material and a network to start a new campaign within the next 12-24 months. What do you think?
At the moment i shared the documents with Silvia, and she'll send them to Andrea Pezzana, the nutritionist and teacher at University of Gastronomic Sciences that normally collaborate with us in nutritional issues, to have his feedback.
So, we still have to find a path to walk, but i think that step by step we can work on Slow Healing.
I wait for your comments and thank you two for your work.
Best, Andrea
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Andrea Amato
Slow Food
Via della Mendicità Istruita, 14
12042, Bra (CN), Italy
Tel.
+39 0172 419 723Fax
+39 0172 419 725E-mail:
a.amato@slowfood.itSkype: andrea.amato.slow.food
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What is Slow Healing?
In the past five years, since the beginning of Slow Food Boricua; our
mission had always been dedicated to educating Puerto Ricans on the
importance of healthier body, mind, food, and lifestyle. Slow Healing is a Slow Food campaign developed to
continue the mission of educating people on the health benefits of
food and lifestyle.
What is Slow Healing? This question is complex and we may not have a definitive
answer. But for us, it's about living life and being aware of the motives and the impact of the choices that we make in our lives, our environment and our communities.
This campaign is meant to help structure individuals goals, around
self awareness, creative thinking, personal meaning and community fulfillment. Slow Food Internationale's purpose is base on these principals, but Slow Healing will highlight the value of healthy eating, lifestyle, and choices.
During major festive holidays, we experience living at a slower pace.
Many of us share a home–cooked meal with family and friends, and
appreciate what we have. Obviously celebrating holidays everyday
wouldn't be desirable or practical, but the more we can include the
spirit of these special days in our lives, the richer the other days
of the year would be. Some cultures and spiritual practice have elect
to unplug from technology one day a week so that they have more time
and attention for relaxing, reading, and playing away from screens and
phones. Mediation, dance, music, gardening and slowing down; are tools
to Slow Healing campaign.
Personal motivations for slowing down vary, but often stem from a
sense that all of the more in our lives has not made them better.
Overwhelm, stress, and a sense of disconnection are common symptoms of
trying to deal with too much in a fast–paced, commodity–filled, and
highly technological culture. This campaign addresses the desire to
lead a more balanced life and to pursue a more holistic sense of well
being in the fullest sense of the word. In addition to the personal
advantages, there are potential environmental benefits as well. When
we slow down, we often use fewer resources and produce less waste,
both of which have a lighter impact on the earth.
Living more slowly begins with becoming more aware of what is
positively and negatively impacting the quality of our lives. For
example, eating slowly has major health benefits on the the human
body. One obvious benefit to eating more slowly is that you will taste
your food more. If you double the amount of time it takes you to eat a
meal, you’ll experience more of the flavors, textures and smells of
the food you eat. Your food will become more interesting. While you
are slowing down, you might find that you learn to stop eating sooner.
You might notice that you are full and don’t need that extra bite.
Studies show that "fullness" is a complex concept that combines the
number of times you chew, the time you spend eating, the look of the
food on the plate, as well as the actual amount of food you eat. Slow
down and you may feel full with less. When you eat slowly, you end up
tasting your food more. This is good because the more you pay
attention to your foods, the more you will prefer natural, healthy
foods. Here’s why: Most factory produced foods are carefully designed
by food engineers to taste great for the first 3 or so bites. After
that the food begins to taste bland and uninteresting (if you don’t
believe me, try eating a name-brand cookie for a minute). You feel an
urge to eat another cookie or potato chip after just a few chews. If
you slow down and be sure to chew thoroughly, these heavily processed
foods will taste pretty disgusting (again, if you don’t believe me,
try chewing a potato chip 25 times times – it gets real nasty).
Natural foods, on the other hand, stay interesting as you chew them. A
strawberry starts out with a burst of juice, but then stays
interesting as you chew. Oranges, nuts and vegetables are the same.
Eating can be a social event. Meals are a time when people gather and
spend time together. Once the meal is over, everyone goes their
separate ways.
By taking more time at a meal, you’ll be able to talk with your
friends and family more, improve relationships and feel more
connected. It takes your stomach about 20 minutes to produce the
hormones that tell your brain that you are full. This process doesn’t
start until your stomach begins to stretch. If you slow down, you give
yourself more time to feel full. This gives you a better chance of
stopping before you "get stuffed." Eating slower gives your stomach
more time to start working on the food. When you send an entire meal
down your throat in 5 minutes, you may find yourself suffering from
indigestion. Instead, take 20 minutes to eat the same amount of food.
Your stomach will have a much easier job. Eating slower might also
result in you chewing more, giving your stomach a head start in the
digestive process.
Creating more community cooking & dining actives is a beautiful form
of expressing gratitude to oneself. Not only will you be preparing
your dishes together, it will help boost the flavor of your food, but
you’ll also be making your wallet happy because you can buy
collectively. It’s hard to go wrong with slow cooking with friends!
The low cooking temperatures make it difficult to burn, scorch, or
overcook your meal. In fact, oftentimes the longer cooking times bring
out the savory flavors and really help to marry your ingredients
together, plus you will have interesting stories to share with your
community members..
Healing is the process of moving mind, body, emotion, and behavior in
the direction of becoming more whole and finding a healthy balance. As
a system becomes more whole, its component parts function better, and
they function in a more coordinated, effective way in relationship to
each other. Slow Healing refers to the process of creating this
balance on all levels of the internal system and, in addition, finding
balance in relationship to the outside.
Coconuts, bananas, passion fruit, citrus fruit.. peppers, tomatoes, avocadoes, breadfruit, bread and coffee. In Old San Juan (Puerto Rico), the Mercado Agricola Natural is a feast of scents, colors and tastes. It only hosts producers from the island and is always on the move.