Basic Principles of Slow Food

Whether you're a chef, a culinary student, or a self-proclaimed "foodie," you've probably heard something about the Slow Food Movement over the past few years. If you don't have time to read the 40-plus page Slow Food Companion published by Slow Food International, we can help.

Cook, Eat, and Live Slower

The essence of the movement's philosophy can be summarized in five points. Read on to get a summary of what may be the most talked-about food trend of the 21st century. If the Slow philosophy piques your interest, you'll find plenty of additional resources online to flesh out the intricacies of this organization and lifestyle.

1. Eating is an act of pleasure to be enjoyed with others.
   As Erika Lesser, Executive Director of Slow Food USA, was recently quoted, "…everybody has to eat. But we should also enjoy what we eat. Food is the experience that we all get to have every single day that helps us connect to our friends, to our family. It is survival but it's also pleasure."
2. Food should be enjoyed in season.
   Anyone who's had the opportunity to taste recently-harvested produce can attest to its amazing flavor. For this reason, cooking Slow means planning meals and menus based on local availability and seasonality. This can mean making substitutions such as mushrooms for asparagus in your late-fall menus, for example.
3. Food producers and co-producers (the Slow Foods' term for consumers) must be connected.
   Events such as farmers' markets and fairs give farmers, food artisans, and the community members they feed the opportunity to meet one another and foster mutual support and respect. Farmers and food artisans have a lot to teach culinary students about cooking with heirloom varieties of squash, what makes a good egg, and which of their hand-crafted cheeses pairs well with your favorite wine.
4. Food and biological diversity are to be protected and celebrated.
   Traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, and animal breeds are in jeopardy of extinction, thanks in large part to industrial agricultural practices and food cultures based on convenience. Slow Food works to save these traditional foods by reintroducing them to consumers and assisting the farmers and artisans that produce them. At Slow Food-sponsored tastings, participants can try "endangered" foods such as Creole Cream Cheese, American Heirloom Pears, and Bourbon Red Turkeys.
5. Producing food is an important job and should be recognized as such.
   In addition to being good, Slow Food is clean and fair. Slow Food aims to help food producers receive fair compensation, supporting efforts such as Fair Trade certification and producer cooperatives. By directly connecting producers with chefs and other consumers through farmers' markets, profits can go directly to farmers rather than to transportation or overhead costs.

Sources

• GOOD Magazine
• Slow Food USA