The American Slow Food Movement - Case Study Example

Research Paper Research Paper Section One The American slow food movement is a global campaign created to encourage alternatives tofast food and struggle towards conserving conventional and regional dishes (Slow Food USA, 2015). The Slow Food movement also encourages the growing of plants, cultivation of seeds, and rearing of livestock innate to the domestic ecosystem. Carlo Petrini began Slow Food with a group of activists in the 1980s with the original goal of defending regional cultures, healthy meals, gastronomic pleasure, and a slow way of life (Slow Food, 2015). Organizations that support the Slow Food campaign include an International Council headed by an executive commission. Petrini chairs this commission by holding all appointments for a four-year period (Shattuck, 2013). Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity  is another organization that supports Slow Food by promoting Slow Food ventures that conserve food biodiversity and cultures (Slow Food, 2015). Began in 2004, Terra Madre Foundation also supports Slow Food to encourage the expansion of a worldwide system of food societies, chefs, scholars, and youth assist in building an appropriate food network. UNISG (University of Gastronomic Sciences) was began in 2004 to teach future food experts about the usefulness of preserving traditional foods (Shattuck, 2013). Slow Food came about after Petrini’s outrage with the development of the McDonalds’ franchise in Rome immediate to Piazza di Spagna in 1986. Petrini feared that the fast food industry would threaten the local cultures and osterias (Slow Food, 2015). Petrini knew the widespread of a conglomerate franchise in Rome meant ruining the city’s establishments of local dining. In effect, Petrini gathered his friends and community members oppose McDonalds and the social and culinary expenses of standardized dining. Rather than protesting with signs, Petrini told his friends to hold bowls of penne and protest audibly by opposing fast food and wanting “slow food!” (Slow Food, 2015). This gathering bore Slow Food in Bra, Italy. The preservation of taste was paramount for Petrini, which is why he advocated and safeguarded small farmers and artisanal growers, protect the environment, and cultivate biodiversity. During the late 1980s, world cuisines that influenced chefs were osterias and penne. Italian chefs were striving for a cuisine that intensely characterized their geographic setting and ongoing cultures. Diners in late 1980s Rome was popular for their osterias and penne. Evidently, Petrini considered penne a special cuisine as he considered it a symbol of “slow foods” at the time. Such cuisines adhere to a cycle of seasons and celebrated roman tastes, which is why chefs found them highly influential (Slow Food, 2015). Section Two Slow Food often associates itself with local sources and small farms. The American Slow Food campaign joined up with LocalHarvest to help spread its mission and manifesto proactively. Today, LocalHarvest is an example of a key player in my hometown, North Carolina that actively supports Slow Food. LocalHarvest is a thorough online encyclopedia of small growers, their markets, other domestic food sources, and link buyers to growers (Slow Food Asheville, 2015). By associating itself with local sources and small farms, Slow Food gives small-scale farmers the opportunity to revel in the flavors of the respective region. In this case, this association allows Slow Food to promote a local chef from North Carolina or diner to use the movement’s utilities and amenities. For instance, chefs and diners from North Carolina can use Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, valuables, or legacy foods on these associates’ menus for special occasions. This association further allows local sources and small farms to host a meal or chance examining the tastes and narratives of these cuisines. Other key players from North Carolina include North Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Farmhand Foods (Slow Food Asheville, 2015). Types of food promoted include sausages, wild foods such as herbs, leaves, berries, fruits, honey, fish, kola nuts, palm oil, katta pasta, and millet. The categories and types of restaurants involved with Slow Food in North Carolina are bars and bistros, coking schools, resorts, diners, buffets, fast-food joints, and even convivial festivals (Slow Food Charlotte, 2015). For the Slow Food movement in Carolina, the slow food concept does not essentially mean organic (Slow Food Asheville, 2015). Organic, foods grown using organic methods of farming, are part of the Slow Food agenda. Slow Food advocates the values under organic farming like encouraging ways that have the least effect on the natural surrounding and minimizing the usage of pesticides. However, Slow Food also contends that organic farming is the same as traditional monoculture cropping when practiced widely. As a result, Slow Food can be considered a locavore event or organization instead. Locavore, those who prefer eating foods farmed locally or within a radius of between 50 and 150 miles (Slow Food Charlotte, 2015). Sustainable produce is paramount for Slow Food too as it gathers momentum in North Carolina and members find out the best-flavored and most sustainable alternatives for fresh, periodic, and homegrown foods. Chefs deal with organic, sustainable, and locavore categories on their menus by utilizing them to their advantage. Chefs use locavore categories to show their creativity using local ingredients or wines to make their cuisines (Schneider, 2008). The food composting industry is penetrating the restaurant and hotel industry by getting of restaurants’ waste and composting it. As communities are struggling to lower their waste, tension is mounting on the restaurant sector to play its rightful role. Food composing companies may assume restaurants’ roles if restaurants are not careful about wasting foods (DiNardo, 2011). Section Three Since Slow Food’s key goal is encouraging local foods and traditional methods of gastronomy and food processing or growing, the movement opposes the food manufacturing industry and its production methods (Shattuck, 2013). Slow Food’s rejection of fast foods is an example of how the campaign attempts to link its concerns about culinary matters to other wide efforts to slow food. Slow Food is making food manufacturers realize the consequences of the infringements of globalization in terms of the new social, national, and figurative approaches they create (Severson, 2008). However, the degree to which Slow Food has more influence on manufacturing practices in sectors such as fast food and the monoculture farming method is not explored extensively. Dietary and nutritional concerns shared by Slow Food include health deterioration caused by overindulgence in fast foods and cultural degradation trough deviation in the eating habits of consumers from conventional foods. Particular health deterioration concerns that Slow Food addresses are its caloric makeup, trans fats, and share sizes (Schneider, 2008). A dietary concern by Slow Food is the lack of flavor and taste in manufactured foods because of their production process. Unlike local foods, Slow Food knows food manufacturers focus more on mass production and less on artisanal cooking. As a result, teaching consumers about the ecological, nutritional, and taste advantages of fresh, locally farmed foods is a priority for Slow Food. The trend of influencing food manufacturing by Slow Food challenges chefs and restaurants working methods in a number of ways. First, manufactured foods do not meet the gastronomical standards of local, fresh foods that chefs prefer or are used to working with. Chefs or supermarkets buying from giant retailers often end up dissatisfied with their diversity of fresh foods (Schneider, 2008). Second, local foods cost more than manufactured ones, which makes it costly for restaurants to purchase organic and sustainable foods for their locavore chefs and consumers. Nonetheless, chefs and diners may still opt to incur premium expenses and forego convenience for locally farmed foods (Severson, 2008). In conclusion, my favorite slow food dish is Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce with Pasta. The nutritional value of this dish is at par with Slow Food’s concerns and limits of calorie content and organic nature or sustainability. The dish has only 503 calories, 16.6 g of fat, no saturated fats, 26.3 g of protein, 59.7 g of carbs, 5.6 g of fiber, no cholesterol, 4.8 mg of iron, 766 mg of sodium, and 198 mg of calcium. In contrast, pizza, my favorite fast-food dish, has he following nutritional makeup per slice: 4.8 g of saturated fats, only 285 calories, 18 mg of cholesterol, 1.8 g of polyunsaturated fats, 2.8 g of monosaturated fats, 12 g of protein, only 2.5 g of dietary fiber, 3.8 g of sugar, and 640 mg of sodium. The influence that Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce with Pasta will have over my life in the next five years is slow but significant. Completely removing cholesterol and saturated fats from my diet should enable me to lose weight to a noticeable level, improve the health of my heart, and even increase my lifespan by several weeks. References DiNardo, K. (2011). Companies remove restaurants food waste by composting it. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-04-24-food- composting-restaurant.htm Schneider, S. (2008). Good, Clean, Fair: The Rhetoric of the Slow Food Movement. College English, 70(4), p. 384-402. Severson, K. (2008). Slow Food Savors Its Big Moment. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/23slow.html?ei= Shattuck, K. (2013). An Effort to Add a Key Ingredient to the Slow Food Movement: Investor Money. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/us/a- bid-to-put-money-behind-slow-food-movement.html?_r=2 Slow Food Asheville. (2015). Slow Food Asheville. Slow Food Asheville. Retrieved from http://slowfoodasheville.org/about/ Slow Food Charlotte. (n.d.). About Us. Slow Food Charlotte. Retrieved from http://www.slowfoodcharlotte.org/ Slow Food USA. (2015). About Us. Slow Food USA. Retrieved from https://www.slowfoodusa.org/about-us Slow Food USA. (2015). History. Slow Food USA. Retrieved from https://www.slowfoodusa.org/history Slow Food USA. (2015). International Programs. Slow Food USA. Retrieved from https://www.slowfoodusa.org/international-programs Slow Food USA. (2015). Small Business Supporters Spotlight. Slow Food USA. Retrieved from https://www.slowfoodusa.org/small-business-supporters-spotlight Slow Food. (2015). About Us. Slow Food. Retrieved from http://www.slowfood.com/international/1/about-us Read More