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Slow Food: First Italy, Then Europe — Next Stop, America!

 
 
  No one can know, looking ahead, what the next century will bring in the culinary world. One hundred years ago, who could have predicted that Americans would be familiar with curry and congee and caponata? That we'd so often sit down to meals that came from a package or box? And who could have predicted that, in a world that seems to spin faster and faster, often we wouldn't sit down at all? Although not well-known to many Americans, one Italian organization is fighting the battle against fast food (not to mention fast-moving lives) and encouraging a style of eating closer to that of 1900. Slow Food, an organization dedicated to "a philosophy of pleasure," works in positive ways to protect traditional food and wine products, educate people about taste and keep consumers informed.

Although Slow Food now has a much wider scope, it was begun in reaction to fast food restaurants—more specifically, the opening of a McDonald's in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. Carlo Petrini, an Italian journalist horrified at this turn of events, founded Slow Food in 1989. Today the group's members—more than 60,000 in more than 35 countries, with about half located in Italy—participate in the organization's "convivia," or chapters. These are grass-roots divisions of food lovers who come together in a variety of ways. Since these groups are local, they often gather to taste regional products. They also visit restaurants, meet socially and organize lectures. New York City has a convivium of 300 members.

The Ark project is currently one of Slow Food's main initiatives. Using the imagery of Noah's ark—i.e., a protective place in which to safeguard items that might otherwise be lost—the group nominates food products, animal breeds and plants that risk extinction due to homogenization, large-scale production, misinformation and modern distribution, then works to support producers of those products in maintaining them by encouraging economic success. This project has a scientific side as well: Slow Food promotes scientific training of experts in the field of biodiversity. Slow Food is also working to set up a data bank for collecting data about cultivars, breeds, products and so forth, as well as a seed bank for heirloom produce. So far about 120 products have been inducted into the ark, 26 of them American. Among these are blacktwig apples, dry Monterey Jack cheese, Monster Ale from the Brooklyn Brewery and chipotle peppers.

Slow Food also sponsors major events such as its biannual Salone del Gusto (Salon of Taste) in Turin, the world's largest food and wine event, where artisanal foods are presented and workshops are offered. The group's Cheese show in the Italian town of Bra is also the largest of its kind. This year 100,000 visitors attended the four-day event, which takes over the streets of the entire town. In a single day, 600 kilos of buffalo mozzarella were sold, as well as 1,000 forms of robiola of Roccaverano and 400 kilos of Parmigiano Reggiano made with the milk of the red cows of Reggio. On May 6 and 7 Slow Food will present its Superwhites event in New York City, focusing on the 40 best white wines from Italy's Friuli region. This happening will encompass workshops on Italian wine, discussions of how best to combine these wines with American foods such as sushi and cheese and a buffet of Greenmarket products.

Slow Food also publishes some excellent books, including the annual Italian Wines (available in Italian, German and English) and the Guide to Wines of the World, also available in English, which it calls the only wine guidebook to address the wines of all the various wine-producing countries in a single volume. The group puts out an elegant quarterly journal, Slow, in five languages—including English, naturally—and sends it to all members. Slow contains a mix of informative articles and historical pieces.

Slow Food has been granted non-profit status in the United States, and Patrick Martins, Director of Slow Food USA, will be heading a new New York office slated to open in February 2000. From there he hopes to expand the Slow Food movement in the United States, where it already claims 2,300 members. Martins says, "I would like the New York office to be an American contact point for all our chapters, members and for all information concerning small artisanal food producers around the country. This will move us closer to our goal of serving as a voice for quality food and drink around the world."

To join Slow Food, call 1-877-SLOWFOOD (1-877-756-9366) or visit their web site at www.slowfood.com.