In a recent conversation with a friend, I learned about an outstanding grassroots organization called Slow Food, whose global actions have inspired and encouraged positive solutions to our broken food systems. It is a wonderful concept that has actually been around for twenty years! With my careful eating habits and passion for good, wholesome and organic foods, I was surprised that this global movement had some how slipped by me.
What exactly is Slow Food?
Slow Food was founded in 1989 in Italy. It began as an idea, as a direct response to the rise of the fast food industry that invaded Europe, and the ever-accelerating pace of life. The founders were concerned about the decline in local traditional foods, and that people did not seem to care what they were eating, how it tastes, or where it came from. There was a growing awareness of a world that relied on monoculture rather than on biodiversity.
Slow Food represents more than just the food we eat. It is a way of life that encompasses a whole lifestyle approach to living a better, cleaner, and a slower life. It embraces how we process and distribute our food, and our relationship to the environment. It promotes a sustainable way of producing the food we eat. They form alliances with other groups, farmers, and businesses that share the same ideals and desires to preserve, develop and promote local economies and responsible food productions. Today, Slow Food has developed into an international organization that is continually adding new nations and local community branches throughout the world. Their outreach programs include food events and fairs that bring producers and consumers together, food and taste education projects, international and local symposiums. They work tirelessly to protect and defend food biodiversity and traditions, and they create new economic models that are put into practice in different regions throughout the world.
Anyone can get involved. You can visit their website and become a member, learn more, and become informed about what is going on. They provide a list of all nation members. In the United States, they are headquartered in New York. Search for your own state, or even local community. That would be the best way to get involved, on the local level.
Food is one of our deepest connections to one another, to the environment, and to all living things. Imagine the bountiful foods set before us, the preparations made with love and care, and the gathering of the clan, the family, and the community. We all come together to share – our food, drink, and good conversation. When we nurture our relationship to the earth that provides us with all this rich variety and bounty – a relationship that is closely bonded in respect and care – we will begin to heal, both our selves and our precious earth.
It feels good to know that there are great things going on in the world. Positive and powerful movements that I feel certain will help lift human consciousness to a higher state of being.