Saturday, September 15, 2007

Slow food

As a sane reaction against the abominable American phenomenon of fast food, the "slow food" concept was invented in 1986 by an Italian sociologist, Carlo Petrini, dismayed to find a McDonald's outlet erected near the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. Three years later, the international Slow Food movement was founded in Paris [click here to visit their website], with Petrini as president [a position he still holds], and it now counts 80,000 members throughout the world. The movement's mission is clear and precise: Slow Food works to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread taste education and connect producers of excellent foods with co-producers through events and initiatives.

While reading the news this evening, I learned that the movement had chosen September 15 to organize its first national Slow Food Day in France. Unintentionally, I happened to respect the spirit of this event. For lunch, I prepared myself one of my favorite simple cold dishes: king prawns, mayonnaise [home-made, of course], Provençal olives, Gamone lettuce, tomatoes and pickled walnuts.

Local chapters of Slow Food are designated by a lovely old Latin word: convivium. Apparently, the theme of French conviviums today was one of the planet's most ancient and noble foodstuffs: the potato.

4 comments:

  1. Slow Food is movement founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy.

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  2. You're right. I've updated my article so that it mentions explicitly the fundamental role of Carlo Petrini in this fabulous project.

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  3. it's a great project, indeed!
    Are there in your area resto or similar with the slow foor brand?

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  4. I'm obliged to admit—mea culpa—that I wasn't aware of the existence of this splendid movement until the other day. That's merely because I don't often read magazines, and I spend little time in the nearby cities of Grenoble and Valence. Besides, these days, I never eat out in restaurants, simply because I prefer to cook my own (slow) food. So, the Slow Food phenomenon may well exist in these places, but I wouldn't have noticed the delightful snail logo. On the other hand, I've seen with dismay that a new McDonald's is being erected alongside my favorite Leclerc supermarket in St-Marcellin.

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