The Slow Food Movement - Essay Example

The Slow Food Movement was started in order to preserve the traditional regional cuisines and advocate the idea of maintaining the equilibrium of the ecosystem by promoting land and cattle farming. This was an international movement started by Carlo Petrini in 1986. It has now gained immense popularity and is presently a network of more than 100000 people present in 132 countries. The movement actually initiated in 1986 in Rome where a number of protestors amassed to raise their voice against the opening of Mcdonald's near a local restaurant.

This movement immediately gained widespread popularity and the manifesto was officially signed in Paris in the year 1989 by the delegates from the fifteen participating countries. The primary purpose of this movement is to counter the growing culture of fast food and that is why the movement has been given the name ‘Slow Food’. The philosophy behind it is that everyone should have access to organically grown food that is not only good for the consumer but also leaves a greener carbon footprint on the entire planet.

The members of the movement are determined for their cause of promoting regional cuisines and slowing the accelerating growth of fast food culture. They organize events to promote the slow food culture, and seminars to tell about the health risks which fast food poses to its consumers. Among many of their events is the ‘Ark of Taste’. This event is organized in different regions of the world where local at-risk food is promoted (Petrini, 2007). The person should think about the taste and the content of the food that he is eating rather than being interested in only gobbling up what is present on his plate.

The Slow Food movement aims to convey its agenda to the youth of different countries because they are the primary consumers of fast food. The Slow Food Movement intends to create awareness regarding the importance of slow food. In previous times people used to grow their own vegetables and reared their own cattle and hence the quality of food was closely monitored by the consumers themselves. Nowadays, the lives of people have become so busy that they do not give adequate importance and time to the selection of their food.

Heavily processed fast food has become the best option for the food requirement regardless of what impact it makes on one’s health (Walsh, 2008). The freshness and various tastes that have disappeared with the advent of fast food are now being revived by the Slow Food Movement. The Slow Food movement is keen on lobbying against fast food. It is also intent on reviving the businesses of small restaurants and farm owners by elucidating the negativities attached to eating fast food. The fast food chain restaurants are still on the rise so it will require some time before the Slow Food Movement can ultimately succeed in its anti-fast food agenda.

The movement is quite young so it has not yet made a remarkable change in the food habits of the people but it is hoped that with some time it will eventually leave a greater impact on the food culture around the world.