What is Slow Food?

WHAT IS SLOW FOOD:

Slow Food began in Italy with the founding of its forerunner organisation, Arcigola, in 1986^[2] to resist the opening of a McDonald's near the Spanish Steps in Rome.^[3] In 1989, the founding manifesto of the international Slow Food movement was signed in Paris, France by delegates from 15 countries.^[4]

At its heart is the aim to promote local foods and centuries-old traditions of gastronomy and food production. Conversely this means an opposition to fast food, industrial food production and globalisation.^[5]

The Slow Food organisation has expanded to include over 100,000 members with branches in over 150 countries.^[1] Over 1,300 local convivia chapters exist. 360 convivia in Italy — to which the name condotta (singular) / condotte (plural) applies — are composed of 35,000 members, along with 450 other regional chapters around the world. The organisational structure is decentralised: each convivium has a leader who is responsible for promoting local artisans, local farmers, and local flavors through regional events such as Taste Workshops, wine tastings, and farmers' markets.

Offices have been opened in Switzerland (1995), Germany (1998), New York City (2000), France (2003), Japan (2005), the United Kingdom and Chile. Global headquarters are located in Bra, near Turin, Italy. Numerous publications are put out by the organisation, in several languages around the world. Recent efforts at publicity include the world's largest food and wine fair, the Salone de Gusto in Turin, a biennial cheese fair in Bra called Cheese, the Genoan fish festival called Slow Fish, and Turin's Terra Madre ("Mother Earth") world meeting of food communities.

In 2004, Slow Food opened a University of Gastronomic Sciences^[6] at Pollenzo, in Piedmont, and Colorno, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Carlo Petrini and Massimo Montanari are the leading figures in the creation of the University, whose goal is to promote awareness of good food and nutrition.

OBJECTIVES:

The Slow Food movement incorporates a series of objectives within its mission, including:

• developing an "Ark of Taste"^[5] for each ecoregion, where local culinary traditions and foods are celebrated
• creating "Praesidia" grassroots organisations to promote slow foods to the public^[5]
• forming and sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties in cooperation with local food systems
• preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, along with their lore and preparation
• organising small-scale processing (including facilities for slaughtering and short run products)
• organising celebrations of local cuisine within regions (for example, the Feast of Fields held in some cities in Canada)
• promoting "taste education"
• educating consumers about the risks of fast food
• educating citizens about the drawbacks of commercial agribusiness and factory farms
• educating citizens about the risks of monoculture and reliance on too few genomes or varieties
• developing various political programmes to preserve family farms
• lobbying for the inclusion of organic farming concerns within agricultural policy
• lobbying against government funding of genetic engineering
• lobbying against the use of pesticides
• teaching gardening skills to students and prisoners
• encouraging ethical buying in local marketplaces

Founder and President Carlo Petrini, believes "everyone has the right to good, clean and fair food." ^[8] Good, meaning a high quality product with a flavorful taste, clean meaning the naturalness in the way the product was produced and transported and fair, meaning adequate pricing and treatment for both the consumers and producers.