What is “Slow Food”?
Victory Garden in Civic Center Plaza taken during the Slow Food Nation festival
The Slow Food movement was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy to combat fast food. It claims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within an ecoregion. It was the first established as part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to over 83,000 members in 122 countries.
The Slow Food movement incorporates a series of objectives within its mission, including:
* 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
If you would like to find out more about the Calaveras Slow Food Movement join Judy Creighton at the Val du Vino (Vina Moda) winery during the Farmers Market on September 10 from 6 -7 pm. There will be handouts with the goals and objectives. The second event will be held on October 9 at the Angels Camp Farmers Market. Judy Creighton, the celebrated “Calaveras Cheese Lady” and nationally recognized instructor at the Cheese School of San Francisco will be hosting the event.
