My Inspiration

Slow Food

The Slow Food movement was started by Carlos Petrini in 1986 when McDonald's announced its opening on the Spanish Steps in Rome. The Slow Food Manifesto was signed in 1989 by delegates from 15 countries in an effort to protect traditional and regional cuisine from international business interests.

Petrini and supporters were unable to prevent the opening of the fast food chain on the Spanish Steps, but formed an organization that spread to over 132 countries with over 100,000 members.

Slow Food Objectives

• forming and sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties in cooperation with local food systems
• developing an "Ark of Taste" for each ecoregion, where local culinary traditions and foods are celebrated
• preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, along with their lore and preparation
• organizing small-scale processing (including facilities for slaughtering and short run products)
• organizing celebrations of local cuisine within regions (for example, the Feast of Fields held in some cities in Canada)
• promoting "taste education"
• educating consumers about the risks of fast food
• educating citizens about the drawbacks of commercial agribusiness and factory farms
• educating citizens about the risks of monoculture and reliance on too few genomes or varieties
• developing various political programs to preserve family farms
• lobbying for the inclusion of organic farming concerns within agricultural policy
• lobbying against government funding of genetic engineering
• lobbying against the use of pesticides
• teaching gardening skills to students and prisoners
• encouraging ethical buying in local marketplaces