The connecting points between communities, local economy, health conscious eating, and global ecology meet at the center of a dinner plate. This is the basis for an international movement that is spreading slowly.
“Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment,” as stated on SlowFoodUSA.org, the base for U.S. Slow Food chapters.
Eating slowly, leisurely, is often equated with European-style dining versus the eating-on-the-go that pronounces much of city living in the U.S. So it is no surprise that the movement began in Europe. Slow Food International links chapters from Italy, France, UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan.
Carlo Petrini, an Italian chef, founded the slow food movement over two decades ago. It has only recently been introduced in the U.S. to combat the American fast food culture. At the heart of farmer’s markets across the U.S., San Francisco markets have introduced the slow food culture with cooking demonstrations, leisurely picnics and slow walks around the town. But other cities are catching on, slowly.
Slow Food Chicago has teamed up the neighborhood farmer’s markets to build around the communities of local farmers, educators, and consumers. Their goal is to “work for a food system which imparts health to the entire ecosystem and the humans who inhabit it, and that works with nature and society instead of against them.?”
Chicago farmer’s markets, which span the entire city, are coming to an end for the season. From the Austin and Beverly neighborhoods to the south and west, to North Center and Lincoln Square to the north, city dwellers can visit a farmer’s market in their neighborhood until October 28. Dates and locations are available on the website for the Mayors Office of Special Events or at ChicagoFarmersMarkets.us.
Events and demonstrations have been scheduled around market days in order to promote slow eating, educate on environmental issues, and “celebrate the grand biodiversity of Illinois’s agricultural roots.”
According to the Slow Food philosophy, “Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.”
In celebration of our communities, our health and the environment, visit your local farmer’s markets quickly. Then, eat slow food.
References: slowfoodusa.org, slowfood.com, chicagofarmersmarkets.us, cityofchicago.org.