Slow food movements

slow food movements
September 13, 2020

What is the Slow Food Movement or slow food?

Slow food movements :Some already know it while others keep asking me what the slow food movement is. So I’m going to tell you what this gastronomic philosophy defends, how it all came about and what the slow diet consists of.

Since the microwave came into our lives, meal preparation has been measured in seconds. His arrival was a clear symptom of the change that society was undergoing. It was the industrial revolution and time began to run short in families.

Today speed is another travel companion. We want everything fast, for right now and we despair when it doesn’t. Food is also a reflection of the maelstrom we have gotten into.

How did Slow Food come about?

The slow food movement was born in 1986, when Italian journalist Carlo Petrini shouted to heaven when he saw that a McDonals had opened on the steps of Piazza de Spagna in Rome. That, in a country like Italy was too much.

From there he began, together with other activists, a whole campaign against the multinational fast-food or fast food. A protest that sparked the creation of this international movement.

What is Slow food movements?

Slow food movements
Slow food movements

Slow food movements is included within the Slow Life movement so its principles have the same starting point: the taste for slowness. In fact, their symbol is the snail, an unapologetic clamor for the values ​​they enact.

Despite this, do not think that slow food movements is cooking from five in the morning until three in the afternoon to make three dishes and a dessert. That is a very simplistic vision of a movement that goes much further.

Slow food movements is a philosophy of life based on the enjoyment of good food, with fresh, seasonal, organic and local products.

Slow food movements promulgates the sustainability of the planet, with crops that are respectful of nature and animals. It is a movement that creates involved consumers, promoting that each one knows what they eat and uses their decision-making power as a revolutionary spear against the food industry. It’s actually a conscious food style.

Read also:how to stop eating junk food

Today’s world surpasses us because of its unbridled pace. In virtually every area of ​​society and everyday life, we are encouraged to get things done as quickly as possible, even if that means a logical loss of quality and delight. Precisely, to combat this type of behavior that ends up bordering on the obsession to be as fast as possible, Slow Food arises. Eating according to the Slow Food movements theory means eating with attention, especially valuing quality and, therefore, taking into account the origin of the raw materials, the ingredients and the way of cooking them.

The first idea from which this movement would later be born came from Carlo Petrini in 1986, when a subsidiary of the McDonald’s fast-food chain was inaugurated next to the Spanish Steps in Rome. This generated a spontaneous protest that made a group of journalists from local newspapers organize a demonstration through the organization of a banquet, in which it was intended to protest against fast and industrial food and exalt the enjoyment of fresh, homemade and quiet. As a replica of the growing fast-food trend (fast food), they decided to create an association that promoted the pleasure of eating slowly, natural products, local recipes and the delight of the senses of taste and smell without any rush.

How Slow Food movements works

Slow food movements
Slow food movements

Slow Food movements became in 1989 an international non-profit association financed by its members. It currently has more than 100,000 members and is present in 160 countries, with national offices in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The Slow Food association has a foundation that is present in more than 50 countries and in which more than 10,000 small producers participate. It promotes sustainable agriculture that respects the environment and the culture of the people.

The Slow Food network is subdivided into local offices that organize courses, tastings, dinners and trips. But also to promote locally the campaigns launched by the association and to participate in the great events organized by Slow Food at the international level. Currently, more than 1,500 local Slow Food networks are active in 160 countries.

Slow Food and Restaurants Km. 0

Km.0 restaurants are those that transmit the Slow Food philosophy . Its chefs understand that gastronomic pleasure cannot be separated from responsibility with the producers, without whom they could not make a successful meal.

Slow Food accredits Km.0 restaurants that meet a series of requirements. Among them:

• At least 40% of the ingredients must be of local origin . This implies that the restaurant buys directly from the producer and that they are less than 100 kilometers away.
• 60% of the other ingredients must belong to some of the Slow Food categories or have organic certification.
• There can be no dish that contains GMOs.
• Aware of the limitation of artisanal production, we seek to optimize the synergies between restaurants and producers to the maximum.

Slow Food vs Fast Food

We need to eat slowly to realize that we are full and have enough energy.

Did you know that it takes about 20 minutes for the brain to register the feeling of fullness ? If you eat fast, you will stop when you feel full but it will be late.

Arrive-ask-devour-go. That is the basic sequence in a fast food restaurant. A meal at McDonalds lasts about 11 minutes. That is, if you have gotten out of the car to eat it because you can pick it up and eat it directly without stopping driving.

Get home-get something prepared from the freezer-put in the microwave-dine in front of the TV . That is the sequence in many homes. The important thing is to do something quick and go to sleep. But the health consequences are serious.

Don’t forget:The best food ideas for dinner 2020

Frozen items are loaded with so much sugar, salt, preservatives, colorings, flavor enhancers, and dressings that what little they could have was healthy got by the wayside.

However, fast food has been installed on our plates as one more sign of the stress and frenzy that we experience throughout the day.

It is true, they are quick products to prepare, comfortable and (if you are not very picky) tasty but they are not healthy. They load the body with more garbage than nutrients even though they swear and perjure on the packaging that they are “light”, “healthy”, “light” and a million more falsehoods.

Slow Food and sustainability

For all the principles that form it, the slow food movement is more sustainable. It is undeniable that if we eat organic, local, fresh and seasonal, we are respecting the natural rhythm of the environment without adding pesticides or harmful elements to the products.

At the other extreme are transgenic foods , derived from manipulated seeds, which are one of the great dangers in today’s agriculture. Corn or soybeans are some of the transgenic crops that exist.

I am not going to talk about them now because of their dangers and risks to health and the environment give for a complete post. I just throw a question on the air. Do you really want to eat a product devised between Monsanto and Bayer? 

Slow meat or the need to eat less meat

Slow food movements
Slow food movements

Within slow food, the slow meat movement was also born to raise awareness about the danger of abuse in the consumption of meat.

Its risks are not only harmful to our health but also to the environment. Did you know that it takes 15,500 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of beef?  That steak may already taste good to you because it is costing the earth a good handful of natural resources.

The international slow food movement does not prohibit the consumption of meat, but it does warn of its risks and promotes responsible consumption of quality meat.

A quality based on respect for the life of animals. Before, it took years to get a pig to weigh 100 kilos. Today it is achieved in 6 months. A clear sign that  fast food has also been installed on farms.

How is the Slow Diet? Tips for a slow meal

Voucher. After all this, you may wonder how to follow a slow diet , so here are some recommendations to get started.

  1. Ecological, local and seasonal purchase. 
    • It’s more expensive so don’t change everything at once. Start with the frescoes. Buy those of kilometre 0 and proximity. If you can go to a cooperative where farmers bring their products to sell, all the better. If not, the market or an eco products store will be enough.
  2. Forget about the processed
    • Seriously … you just need to inform yourself a little about all the crap that these products carry so that you do not eat them again. Take them out of your life little by little. This includes cold cuts, prepared meals, industrial pastries and a long etc that we all know.
  3. Eat less meat
    • If you don’t want to be a vegetarian, eat less meat. It is not necessary to eat the amounts that are currently consumed. The livestock industries have made us believe it because the business is doing it but the organization does not need it.
  4. Eat sitting at the table, without television or mobile
    • Be aware of what you are eating. Savor every bite, enjoy it, and be thankful. Not everyone can enjoy 3 meals a day (and you don’t have to go to other countries to meet people with difficulties).
  5. Dialogue
    • If you eat with someone, talk, talk but put aside the arguments. The fights at the table are also eaten and you want me to tell you a secret …. they are indigestible ?

What do you think of the Slow Food movement? Did you know him? At buzzrecipes, we love to publicize these alternatives that respect responsible consumption and healthy eating.

Enjoy!

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *