Slow Healing

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 419 723
Fax +39 0172 419 725
E-mail: a.amato@slowfood.it
Skype: 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.