fast food. What is the name for culinary
treasures prepared with local, seasonal foods and
savored slowly? Italian Carl Petrini decided to call it
Slow Food.
Petrini recognized in 1986 that life-styles were
encouraging fast food and the standardization of taste,
and that the phenomenon was leading to the “extinction”
of thousands of food varieties and flavors. Petrini then
founded the Slow Food Movement in Italy to fight the
fast-food mentality and everything it represents.
The belief that pleasure and quality in everyday life
can be achieved by celebrating the diversity of the
earth’s produce, slowing down, and respecting the
traditions of convivial dining is a primary focus for
the Slow Food Movement.
Jasper Mirabile Jr., owner of Jasper’s restaurant, leads
the Kansas City chapter known as a convivial.
This Slow Food convivial promotes local food artisans
and introduces members to the products and cuisine of
the Kansas City area. They host four events each year,
such as informative seminars, tastings and dinners.
Mirabile said that Slow Food is about sustainability and
having an equal partnerships between producers and
consumers.
“We must protect the
land that grows our food,” Mirabile said emphatically.
“This is a job for everyone not just the farmer.”
Mirabile also stressed the importance that the Slow Food
Movement places on eating locally produced foods.
“Slow Food must be
about all of us learning to eat seasonally again. From
the chef/restaurant owners prospective, we must learn to
create seasonal menus using food that is raised
locally,” Mirabile said.
He continued,
“Educate yourself and be responsible for knowing about
growing practices, make an effort to be a good steward
of the land, and make a commitment today to provide a
slow life style for your family.”
Mirabile concluded
by saying that there are many things consumers can do to
support the Slow Food Movement, most important of
which is to slow down.
The Slow Food
Movement works with chapters in 45 countries and more
than 65,000 members worldwide. Slow Food USA opened its
offices in New York City in 2000. Since then, Slow Food
USA has grown to 5,500 members and more than 70
“convivial,” or local chapters of the movement. A
convivium formed in Kansas City in fall 2002 and has
grown to include 70 members.
Good
Natured Family Farms is a member of the Slow Food Kansas
City Movement,.
“The Slow Food Movement mirrors what we at Good Natured
Family Farms represent and what we’ve been trying to
do,” said Diana Endicott, Farm to Market Coordinator for
Good Natured Family Farms. “We’re talking about raising
farm-fresh foods, supporting local products and the
producers who raise the products, and preparing the
foods in a way that is absolutely wholesome and
enjoyable.”
“Everyone is busy, but with a little planning, it’s
possible to prepare a meal using local, tasteful food
that reflects generations of commitment to the land
while preserving the social culture of sitting down and
eating together.”
And that is exactly what the Slow Food Movement and Good
Natured Family Farms are working to achieve.
Find
out more about Slow Food and how to become a member by
contacting Kansas City Slow Leader at
jasperjr@aol.com
or at
http://slowfoodusa.org.
